07/09/07
For One More Day - Live
Our new site for Mitch Albom’s new paperback, For One More Day, has just gone live. We think it’s quite special.
For One More Day (which was the first ever Starbucks pick in the US) is already selling like hot cakes in paperback, and this is the blurb:
This is the story of a man named Charley who loses his job, leaves his family, and decides, one night, to end his life. Somewhere between this world and the next, he encounters his mother, who died years ago, and he spends one last day with her – a day he never had on earth. This ‘ordinary’ day covers the whole of their existence, and reveals how Charley, like many children, was constantly forced to choose between his mother and his father. He gets the chance many of us yearn for – to ask the questions never asked while our parents are alive. In the end, Charley learns how little he really knew about his mother, how her love saved their family, and how deeply he wants the chance to save his own.
Our site - produced with Hoss Gifford and his team at ThirdEye Glasgow - takes the idea of having one more day and runs with it. The site is geared up for people who wish they had that one more day - and I *know* it sounds cheesy but hold with us - to leave a message for the person they’re thinking of.
If you were being cruel you’d say it’s like Confessions on the web, but actually I think it’s really sweet. A bit like an inter-galactic Postsecret. And we’re absolutely blown away by the execution.
You can post any message, either for a lost loved one, or for someone you maybe hurt in the past, or (as I did) to say thanks to someone for something they’ve done. It’s both public and private. It doesn’t have to be mawkish. (But if it’s rude, we have applied the Profanosaurus). You can also comment on stars and send your star to a friend.
It’s early days yet - there are only a few posts (and therefore stars) up there, but you can zoom around the galaxy reading other people’s messages, which is a bit like reading other people’s diaries.
One of the other lovely parts - other than the sound effects and the wonderful 3d galaxy - is that you don’t just write your “Star” content, you can also design your own.
Anyway, do take a look and let us know what you think.
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# Comment by Alex Fiennes @ 11:08 am, September 7, 2007:
“Express Install is not supported by this version of the Flash Player. To upgrade, please visit: Flash Player Download Center”
“You have version 9,0,31,0 installed”
Which version do I actually need?
# Comment by Alex Fiennes @ 11:09 am, September 7, 2007:
(and thats on firefox and konqueror on linux)
# Comment by Alex Fiennes @ 11:15 am, September 7, 2007:
I’ve upgraded to 9.0.48.0 and it now works.
I think that if you are going to have a tech that is *so* fussy about which version of flash you have installed (ie a specific release of the latest minor revision) then you should probably have some more elegant failure processes in the detection process.
# Comment by Alex Fiennes @ 11:23 am, September 7, 2007:
I think its really nice and really pretty, but it makes a lot more sense if you read your blog entry first. If you just utilise the site cold then it is very hard to work out what the point of creating a star is or who you are supposed to dedicate stars to or what they do. Once you read the blog then it all makes sense, but I’d be tempted to add in an FAQ about the site itself. I spent a bit of time scanning through the About the book section and didn’t find anything about stars and it didn’t enlighten me…
# Comment by Mark @ 11:40 am, September 7, 2007:
Express install worked ok for me (not sure from what version).
And the site is cool indeed!
# Comment by Michael Shamoon @ 11:41 am, September 10, 2007:
(I’m one of the developers of the site)
Personally, I have always felt that a large part of what makes the site unique is that it ‘pushes’ the user ever-so-slightly. It requires a little imagination, willingness to explore and an open mind.
More directly, I don’t think the site really needs an explanation (let alone an FAQ). At startup a user is presented with, ‘create a star’, ‘search the stars’ or ‘read about the book’, all of which seem to me to clearly indicate what they do. In terms of usability, most everything has an explanation of how to use it.
I think the commenter’s real problem is that he is looking for a box into which he can neatly fit the site—and there isnt one. Even just re-reading through his comment, ‘it is very hard to work out what the point of creating a star is or who you are supposed to dedicate stars to or what they do’. What’s the point? Who you are supposed to dedicate stars to? What they do? To me, the beauty of the site lies in the fact that the answer to every one of those questions depends solely on who you ask, and what it means to them.
# Comment by Alex Fiennes @ 9:18 am, September 11, 2007:
Firstly a note, I’m having to write this blind ‘cos the 9.0.48.0 version of flash, while able to view the site fine was responsible for a number of firefox crashes and I’ve reverted back down to 9,0,31,0 and now have a stable browser again - but it means that I can’t see the site any more.
Michael: maybe I didn’t get my point across. It isn’t the usability of the individual actions that are tricky for me. I worked out pretty fast how to look at stars, and how to add stars and so forth. My issue was more that I didn’t understand what the connection was between being able to attach a message to a star and the book. However, as I can’t read the “read about the book” then I may just be misremembering things. Once there is a new stable version of flash out that lets me look at it then I’ll revisit it.