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#Essentially for every decision you make there’s option a b c etc.
edu123india · 10 months
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Choosing the Right Schools in Abu Dhabi: A Comprehensive Guide
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Choosing the right school is a crucial decision that significantly impacts a child’s education and overall development. The school a child attends plays a fundamental role in shaping their academic progress, social skills, and future opportunities. The Schools in Abu Dhabi provide a strong foundation for learning, personal growth, and success.
Schools in Abu Dhabi boast a diverse and thriving education landscape, offering a range of educational options to cater to the needs of its residents. The emirate is home to a mix of public, private, and international schools with unique characteristics, teaching philosophies, and curriculum offerings.
The Abu Dhabi education system is known for its commitment to quality education and its efforts to provide students with a well-rounded educational experience. The purpose of this comprehensive guide is to assist parents and guardians in making informed decisions when choosing a school in Abu Dhabi.
By providing valuable insights and practical tips, this guide aims to empower parents to navigate the educational landscape and find the school that best aligns with their child’s needs, values, and aspirations. It will cover essential factors to consider, resources for research, and steps to take in order to make a well-informed choice.
Understanding Your Needs and Preferences:
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A. Identifying your child’s educational needs and goals:
When choosing a school in Abu Dhabi, it is crucial to first identify your child’s educational needs and goals. Consider their academic strengths and weaknesses, their interests, and any specific learning requirements they may have.
This self-assessment will serve as a foundation for finding a school that can meet your child’s unique educational needs and help them reach their goals.
B. Considering your family’s values and priorities:
Every family has its own set of values and priorities when it comes to education. Consider what aspects are important to you and your family. This may include factors such as cultural or religious values, discipline methods, diversity and inclusion, extracurricular activities, and the overall school environment.
Understanding your family’s values and priorities will help you align them with the educational philosophies and practices of potential schools.
C. Assessing your child’s learning style and strengths:
Each child has a different learning style and set of strengths. Some children thrive in structured environments, while others excel in more flexible or creative settings. Consider how your child learns best — whether they are visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learners — and identify the teaching approaches that resonate with them.
This understanding will help you find a school that caters to your child’s learning style and provides opportunities for them to flourish academically and personally.
Researching Schools in Abu Dhabi:
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A. Overview of the different types of schools available (public, private, international, etc.):
Begin by understanding the different types of schools available in Abu Dhabi. Public schools are government-funded and follow the local curriculum, while private schools are independently owned and may offer different educational approaches. International schools cater to expatriate communities and often follow international curricula.
Familiarize yourself with the distinctions among these types of schools to determine which aligns best with your preferences and requirements.
B. Exploring Abu Dhabi’s educational regulations and standards:
Research the educational regulations and standards set by the Abu Dhabi education authorities. Understanding the guidelines and requirements will give you insights into the quality assurance measures implemented in schools.
Look for information on accreditation, inspections, and compliance with educational standards to ensure that the schools you consider meet the necessary benchmarks.
C. Using online resources and directories to find schools:
Utilize online resources and directories to find schools in Abu Dhabi. Visit official education websites, educational portals, and directories specific to the region. These platforms often provide comprehensive information about schools, including contact details, locations, curricula, and admission processes. Read reviews or testimonials to gather insights from other parents or students.
Evaluating School Options:
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A. Visiting school websites and reviewing their mission, vision, and values:
Visit the websites of potential schools to learn more about their mission, vision, and values. These statements reflect the school’s educational philosophy and goals. Assess how well they align with your own values and the educational aspirations you have for your child.
B. Assessing the curriculum and educational programs offered:
Evaluate the curriculum and educational programs offered by each school. Consider whether the curriculum is well-rounded, rigorous, and caters to your child’s academic needs. Look for additional programs such as language courses, arts, sports, and STEM offerings that enhance the learning experience and provide a comprehensive education.
C. Examining the school’s facilities, resources, and extracurricular activities:
Assess the school’s facilities, resources, and extracurricular activities. Look for well-maintained classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and other facilities that support effective learning. Consider the availability of resources such as technology, books, and educational materials. Additionally, explore the range of extracurricular activities, clubs, and sports programs that the school offers to foster holistic development.
D. Checking the school’s reputation and accreditations:
Research the school’s reputation and accreditations. Seek feedback from parents, students, and online communities to gain insights into their experiences. Additionally, check if the school holds any recognized accreditations or memberships with educational associations, as these can be indicators of quality and adherence to high standards.
Considering Practical Factors:
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A. Assessing the location and transportation options:
Consider the location of the school in relation to your residence or workplace. Evaluate transportation options, such as bus services or proximity to public transportation, to ensure convenience and accessibility for daily commuting.
B. Understanding the school’s admission process and requirements:
Familiarize yourself with the school’s admission process and requirements. Be aware of application deadlines, necessary documentation, and any specific admission criteria. This will help you prepare and plan accordingly.
C. Evaluating the cost of tuition and additional fees:
Evaluate the cost of tuition and any additional fees associated with attending the school. Consider your budget and financial capabilities to ensure that the chosen school is affordable without compromising on quality.
D. Considering the school’s academic calendar and schedule:
Take into account the school’s academic calendar and schedule. Check for any potential conflicts with family commitments, holidays, or other obligations. Ensure that the school’s schedule aligns with your preferences and allows for a balanced routine.
Gathering Additional Information:
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A. Seeking feedback from current or former parents and students:
Reach out to current or former parents and students of the schools you are considering. Seek their feedback and ask about their experiences, both positive and negative. Their insights can provide valuable perspectives and help you make a more informed decision.
B. Attending open houses, orientation sessions, or school fairs:
Attend open houses, orientation sessions, or school fairs organized by the schools. These events offer opportunities to interact with school staff, teachers, and administrators, allowing you to ask questions and gain a firsthand experience of the school’s atmosphere and culture.
C. Arranging meetings or interviews with school administrators, teachers, or counselors:
Consider arranging meetings or interviews with school administrators, teachers, or counselors. This allows you to have direct conversations with the key individuals involved in the school’s management and instruction. Ask questions about the school’s approach to education, support systems, and any specific concerns you may have.
Making the Final Decision:
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A. Reviewing your research and notes:
Review all the research, notes, and insights you have gathered throughout the evaluation process. Reflect on the information and consider how each school aligns with your child’s needs, your family’s values, and the practical factors you have considered.
B. Comparing pros and cons of the shortlisted schools:
Create a comparison chart or list to outline the pros and cons of the shortlisted schools. Consider aspects such as curriculum, facilities, location, cost, and extracurricular offerings. This side-by-side analysis will help you make a more objective comparison and facilitate the decision-making process.
C. Involving your child in the decision-making process:
Involve your child in the decision-making process, particularly if they are of an age where their input can be meaningful. Discuss the options with them, visit the schools together, and take their preferences and opinions into consideration. This involvement will contribute to their sense of ownership and increase the likelihood of a successful transition to the chosen school.
D. Making contact with the chosen school for enrollment:
Once you have made a decision, make contact with the chosen school to initiate the enrollment process. Follow their instructions for applications, submission of required documents, and any additional steps needed to secure your child’s admission.
Conclusion:
Take time to choose a school wisely, emphasizing that this decision will have a significant impact on your child’s educational journey and overall development. Emphasize the importance of thorough research, careful consideration, and seeking the right fit for your child and family.
The significance of ongoing communication and involvement with the chosen school. Encourage parents to maintain an open line of communication with teachers, and administrators to stay engaged in your child’s education and address any concerns or questions.
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wrenhyperfixates · 3 years
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yeah if their another timeline with loki then that means their is another time line with steve rogers as captain america, tony, natasha, gamora and what about vision?
There’s probably a timeline where vision is alive.
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askmalal · 4 years
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A few points of order.. these may offend some of you. That is not my intent. But as a long time lover of the IP, the sheer hate being shown to converters and kitbashers, as well as their suppliers, is baffling to me lately, especially given that these people -made Rogue Trader what it was-.
I’m not speaking of recasters here, incidentally.
This shouldn’t be seen as an attack on GW either, so none of that nonsense. I have good friends who work for GW, and have longed to write for them for years.
1. GW did not innovate Space Marines, Space Orks, Space Dwarves, Squats, Dark Gods, the Chaos Gods. or, incidentally, Emperors on the edge of death prolonged indefinitely by arcane machinery.
For the record, it didn’t invent miniatures gaming, let alone fantasy and sci-fi miniatures gaming, either.
2. GW has lost several cases to that effect in recent court decisions.
3. One of my mortal forms operates a small miniatures company. He knows how much it costs to sculpt, mold, and produce a miniature in terms of time and money. The markup on GW products can be upwards of 500% or more. Standard industry markup is about half that at most.
4. If you speak to most in the industry, GW’s problems with costs occur for four (4) principle reasons.
A) Greed (They are not by any means unique or even the most egregious in this regard in miniatures wargames. Think GW is bad? 1990s era Foundry, early 2000s Mongoose and Rackham; Battlefront and Knight Models would like a word with you.)
B) Admission by GW’s own official documents that it does “no market research,” which may explain why GW is operating with a pricing model that assumes there are no direct competitors.
C) Planned obsolescence in miniatures rules. Deliberate relaunch of games even when promises and assurance that this will not be the case. Modern hobbyists simply do not have the funds or the patience to contend with this.
D) Limited production facilities. GW essentially uses a single facility for most manufacturing. (this is why there are shortages of everything right now) This factory switches between GW and Forge World models (they are the same company) to make best use of facilities. This is why, for example, FW will often pull popular sets. GW has realized that if a FW model sells too well, it will require a larger amount of factory time and, hence, greatly limit the “core ranges” in production. It seems nonsensical, but for their cash poor/profit rich production model to succeed, maximum production must squeezed out of every “mainstream” mold. For example: Betrayal at Calth was the most popular GW boxed set ever, but there was never any long term plan for mass production of the Horus Heresy stuff in plastic. Nobody expected it to do so well (no market research, remember) and so most of that endeavor has been sidelined.
5. Third Party Model manufacturers exist for virtually every aspect of the miniatures hobby. They thrive in GW proxy sense because:
a) Demand exceeds supply.
b) Costs exceed most gamer budgets.
c) Paradoxically, making the game less conversion friendly in order to combat both legitimate third party options and recasters has actually increased demand.
6. GW did the right thing shutting down for the pandemic. But the shutdown did its robbing Peter to pay Paul production system no favors. The costs you pay are not because of third party alternatives; they are because of poor pricing strategy by GW as well as generally bad decisions regarding the withdrawal of popular models in order to spite competitors. Which is quite literally cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face.
7. A final point. Some GW employees have exacerbated the problems because after the “dark period” of the late 90s and early 2000s, GW has gone to great lengths to improve employee rights. As a socialist, I laud this. But it also complicates matters. Consider these issues:
- Black Library and FW have very little communication. They often contradict each other. Any Horus Heresy player can tell you this. For example: according to BL... Post Istvaan Nathaniel Garro’s armor has no “bling” ; there are loyalists and traitors in -every- Legion, etc.
- There is no “plot bible”: not for the novels (GW has -never-, for example, said that the Chaos Dwarves are extinct or that there are no loyalist chapters descended from traitor Legion loyalists, no matter what your favorite author’s personal social media account might say); and not for the miniatures: Mk. IV armor is described different ways by different writers and interpreted differently by different sculptors. This is actually a more significant problem for the tabletop gamer than you might think (to say nothing of the role player or users of other licensed products such as board games)
- GW tries to be very open minded, officially, with regards to players and their armies. The so-called “your dudes” approach works well. This does not stop employees from making absurd statements or contradicting rules clarifications.
Let us not even begin with the absurd assumptions made by tournament players about the rest of the community, or vice versa. These complicate matters regarding all of the aforesaid issues ever more.
That’s my tuppence. Now back to your regularly scheduled being a bad guy. (Don’t get me started on -Malal’s- IP issues....)
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aprilrph · 4 years
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hello friends !! i recently got a dm asking for some advice in regards to running a successful group rp. one quesiton is specific for multifandoms, but the rest is general advice that should apply to pretty much any group you’re in.
anything you think would be helpful for someone who’s never created/modded an rp before would be very much appreciated!!
the first and most important thing that i can say is: be the kind of member you want your members to be.
do you want to have a diverse group? then you need to be playing muses of color, trans/enby muses, etc. no excuse.
do you want to have an inclusive group? be the first to include everyone. react equally to starter calls, plotting calls. reply to every open starter. every. single. one. don’t wait a week and a half to do it, either – you need to be proactive and set the example for the group. also, don’t ignore people replying to your opens.
do you want to have an active group? be active, for fuck’s sake. if you’re not writing on the dash, people notice. if you take two months to reply to threads, people lose interest. activity falls apart if the admins don’t pull their weight.
beyond that: have an admin team that you trust and are good with communication. how many you need depends on the size of a group, but any more than 4 is... well, excessive. hold each other responsible for being good members on top of being admins. maturity is really important to make sure that things don’t become full of pettiness.
how do you plot events/tasks between mods? how often do you do them?
i’m going to separate events and tasks.
events: having some kind of chat to bounce ideas off of each other is essential. discord is ideal because you sort into different channels for different ideas, have a channel for a specific event, etc. – this keeps it from getting lost.
as far as plotting the actual event, most of the time, it’s either a) something typical for rps, like a carnival, ball, party, etc. b) something that effects every character in the rpg, like the setting changes, some kind of new species is introduced, etc. or c) something inspired by the members/muses of the group. 
a) is pretty easy. this is good for kicking off groups, keeping the group active, without having to put too much work into it.  i actually have an old masterlist of event ideas that you can find and reference right here for some inspiration, and there are others out there. be mindful, especially around holidays, to be inclusive. don’t just do a christmas thing, do something secular or something for everyone. thanksgiving? mmm, not a great idea.
b) so this varies a lot depending on what the group is. for a supernatural rp, maybe a new species is introduced. for a horror rp, someone could be murdered. for a celeb/band/etc rp, a new gossip blog spills something huge. for a town rp, there could be a new law, maybe new locations, curfew after something bad, power outage, etc. for a scifi rp, maybe aliens. you can really play with this depending on the vibe of your group and where you want to go with it. 
c) this, by far, is my favorite thing to do, but also the most challenging, because if people ghost then it can all fall apart. but at the same time, you don’t want it to be centered on the admins, because then it’s not inclusive of members. again, it varies a lot per group, but get your member’s input !! see if they have a muse who could cause some kind of massive thing, whether it’s a witch ruining a town, a journalist unveiling a big secret, etc.
tasks: this section is much shorter i promise lmao. i would not do them more often than every other week. don’t make them too complicated, don’t make photoshop necessary. make them optional, but see if you can find some kind of reward to incentivize members to do them. do them yourself, to set the example. character development tasks are great, but the longer and more developed they are, the less people that will participate in them. again, i have an old masterlist here that you can look through for inspiration.
what’s advertising like? how often do you do promos? 
picloadr is your friend. learn it, use it, save yourself the headache. picloadr combined with xkit’s tag bundling extension can save you a lot of time. have a sideblog to promo on.
hit tags like “appless rp” “town rp” “oc rp” “multifandom rp” etc. often, because they move faster. personally, i wouldn’t want to be in the tag more than once an hour. if you’re going for something more specific, like a fandom tag, be very cautious about spamming those as you will get indie rpers sending you anons about flooding the tag.
in addition, i think it’s cute and more effective to make posts from the main in the tags, letting people know you’re online, maybe plugging what’s going on in the group, and definitely plugging most wanted characters or wanted connections. with this, though, be courteous not to spam your members who just want to rp on the dash, not see th emain flooding it.
is there a lot of drama to handle?
yes, and no.
drama in a group can be really hit or mess, so it is just luck of the draw most of the time. the best way to prevent drama in your group is to a) not start any yourself and b) be able to nip it in the bud without hurting your member’s.
please take a moment to note things like racism, transphobia, misgendering (this is usually frequent and excused), homophobia, anti-semitism, etc. are not drama. these are serious issues that should be addressed immediately. 
some drama that i have seen in my day has ultimately come from differing opinions on fandom related matters, and people not being able to accept that other’s just have different opinions, interpretations, etc. people get petty, passive aggressive, and that’s the kind of thing that you have to nip in the bud before it can turn into something bigger. be firm, and kind. you don’t want a thing between two members to disintegrate the whole group. genuinely hear people out before you make a decision / take any kind of action.
other drama usually comes from a clash of personalities. some people are pushy, some people are anxious. one can come out as forceful, another comes out as not being inclusive. you have to set up your members in a way that makes it easy for both sides to get along. equally elevate things like open starters. push inclusivity – make a thread roulette, randomly pair up people for threads that don’t usually interact with each other. 
the most important thing is to make yourself available so that members feel comfortable coming to you when they’re having issues. being comfortable to talk to admins can fix a lot of things, and people just don’t get that these days. make sure that people know they can beyond just saying they can. show it, act like it.
(multifandom specific) how do you look at apps/characters for fandoms you aren’t at all familiar with? 
fandom wikias are your friend.
i’ll usually check that + previous casting to make sure that a fc is casted appropriately. some fandoms are tricky, like atla, but most are pretty easy to navigate even if you’re unfamiliar. also, if the first glance at a character tells me that they’re a villain type, then i’ll usually dive a little deeper to make sure that they’re not explicitly problematic.
most multifandoms have copied the same banned list from older groups. honestly? pretty good thing. usually it consistents of media like you, handmaid’s tale, 13 reasons why, as well as various other historically-based items. banning nazi/nazi-affiliated characters, rapists, etc. is pretty necessary. you don’t have to ban all villains, but not all villains are equitable.
another note on multifandoms:
be creative, please, with your plots. 
hint: if the plot is “all muses are in cutesy little town with memories of a fake life”, then the plot isn’t original. it’s been done so, so many times. not even just by groups that have since died but in multiple currently active groups (and in many deceased groups).
do something new !! make it themed !! hell, do it based on that one weird episode of supernatural where they got thrust into the ‘real world’. literally, just be creative !!
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malarkiness · 3 years
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Finished Nier Automata, and I have many.... many thoughts.
I just want to start by saying that this game is aggressively bleak once you hit Routes C/D. Endings A/B are really the last bright spots in the story, and then it's just tragedy after tragedy from that point forward, and the worst part of it is that none of these tragedies result in anything good or even decent or even narratively satisfying. They just happen, and you're left thinking "wow, that fucking sucks" before you shake it off and proceed with the game.
Despite that, I kept playing because I thought all these tragedies would eventually result in something that would've made the characters' suffering worth it because that's just how a good story works, right? But that never really happens (at least, not within the context of the story itself), so when I finally got to Endings C/D, I honestly felt like I'd spent ~27 hours playing a game just to watch the leads die terrible deaths. It just felt really hollow and pointless.
But then I got Ending E, and that kind of changed my entire way of looking at this game.
So this ending shows the PODs deciding to try salvaging the androids' data rather than deleting it all as ordered. The game warns you that saving the data is risky and unlikely to work, then says "Knowing that, do you still wish for them to survive?" Choosing yes turns the credits scroll into a hacking minigame that is UNFORGIVABLY!!!!! difficult, but each game over screen reels you back in with something like "IS IT ALL POINTLESS?"/"DO YOU WANT TO GIVE UP?"/etc.
Now if you're connected to PSN, you'll also get little encouraging messages from players all over the world on each game over screen, but I wasn't connected for my first playthrough lmfao, so I just suffered through it for like 20 minutes and was starting to think the whole thing was deliberately impossible just to give the player one last kick in the teeth and show that yes, it really was pointless and that they're wasting their time trying to fix something that can't be changed. With the way this game's storyline played out, that really wouldn't have surprised me.
But then I restarted the segment and connected to """The Network""" when prompted, then died a few more times before getting a screen asking me if I'd like help. And I really wish I'd screencapped that prompt because that was when I started noticing all the little messages that other players left. There was one from someone in China that really got to me for some reason, and I can't even remember what it was lol, but it made me tear up. Once you restart after that, a bunch of other players' cursors will join in the fight to help you and the solo singer turns into a chorus, and I just.
😭
Every time you lose a player, though, you're told that "[name]'s data has been lost," which I thought was kind of sad, but it wasn't until I finally beat that segment that I realized what they all had actually done. After the credits wrap up, you learn that all the players who helped you finish the game gave up their save data to do it, and then you're asked if you'd like to do the same to help someone else. And while I've since learned that all this actually does is let you leave an encouraging message for other players and have your username show up during the ending sequence for someone else (sort of like an arcade game's scoreboard), the game presents it as an opportunity to really help other players finish the story, so of course I said yes. It wasn't a hard decision at all, and making that choice after playing through the credits was easily the most rewarding part of the entire game, or really any game I've ever played.
And I know I've spent like... 75% of this post talking about a credits sequence lmfao, but that really did change how I look at this game. When you finish the storyline with Endings C/D, the answer to this game's whole thematic question of "What's the point of living?" seems to be "There ain't one, chief." But finishing with Ending E, the answer leans more toward "The point is hoping for and working toward something better because you believe it's there." Add in the fact that you're given the option to "sacrifice" yourself to help someone else continue, and that the game makes this such a painless decision despite what an actual pain in the ass it is for you as a Gamer™, and it actually makes for a more satisfying ending than the in-story ending.
SE could've just had that one sequel-hook scene play at the end of the credits without the minigame at all, or just gone the typical RPG route and made that scene unlockable if you got 100% or whatever. But instead, they took this really creative meta approach that not only pushes you to do a task that's seemingly impossible, but also asks you to sacrifice something you've worked hard for just to help someone else get through that same task. And the fact that so many other players made that choice is just really sweet and honestly kind of touching. Like I'm sure plenty of people just got around it by saving their data on a usb lmao, but still. It's a nice thought. And for the record, my username is Larkey, and my message was "I bet you're having a tough time right now. But we've got this!"
Anyway! Other things about this game:
2B's history of killing 9S over and over or A2's backstory with Anemone and the YoRHa troops definitely should've been given actual screentime, and not just stated in the last 2 minutes of the story or shoved into some optional text. Watching 9S's grief-turned-madness was fascinating, sure, but 2B and A2 deserved just as much focus on their grief (which would've been way more interesting, just for the record. 2B purposefully distancing herself emotionally from someone she has to repeatedly kill, and A2 feeling betrayed by her own creators after watching her friends die needlessly, are storylines that would likely have a lot more emotional weight than "angry teenage boy goes on murder spree before finally getting his revenge only to fall on his opponent's sword and die like a dumbass." I know the Nier franchise has approximately 93 trillion pieces of supplemental material that fill in the gaps from the games, so it's possible that some of those cover 2B and A2 more, but come on. These characters are just as important to the story as 9S; They should've gotten actual in-game screentime devoted to contemplating their existences/grief/etc.
I talked about how bleak this game's storyline is, but the real kicker for me was the scene where all the children in Pascal's village commit suicide. That just seemed so needlessly cruel, and the fact that it happens (depending on how you play) maybe an hour after A2's shown to have warmed up a bit towards the machines is just... cheap? It really did feel like emotional string-pulling just for the sake of it, like the kind of silly edgelord shit I wrote when I was 14. It's so over-the-top that I almost couldn't take it seriously. And if all that wasn't 3edgy5me enough, Pascal then asks you to either wipe his memory or kill him because he can't live with the heartbreak. Fuck's sake. I think what really annoys me about this whole scene is that... This game introduces us to A2 by having her kill a defenseless baby machine, right? So you'd think there'd be some kind of reflection from her after Pascal loses all the children in his village. She fought an insane battle to protect them, too, and she's clearly horrified when she finds out what happens to them, but... that's kind of it. This incident is never brought up again, despite the huge impact it should have on her character. The only thing this scene really does for the narrative, I think, is set up a parallel between Pascal and YoRHa troops like 2B and 9S. And in that way, it does fit into game's overall theme of finding meaning for your life, especially after you've lost what you were living for in the first place (so Pascal's community, and YoRHa's "god worth dying for"). But like I said, the game never really seems to resolve that thematic question within the context of the story itself. And even if that parallel was the point, you could've accomplished it by just having everyone in the village die during the cannibal machine attack and Pascal + A2 failing to save them, no baby suicide needed. I dunno, I've gone back and forth on how I feel about this scene, but honestly, more than anything, it just comes off as a try-hard, eyeroll-worthy way for this game to earn its M-rating. And the fact that A2 gets 0 character development out of it just makes it seem lazy.
Characterwise, I'd definitely say A2 is my favorite. Her ending on the C/D routes was probably the most satisfying just because she essentially gets the only thing she's really wanted ever since she lost her friends, and I thought her unusual relationship with 2B was interesting (and again, deserved more screentime). 2B's also great, especially on the second playthrough when you know why she purposefully tries to get 9S to shut up anytime he innocently wonders something out loud. And I like 9S too just because he's so endearing in Routes A/B, making his stark personality shift in C/D that much more jarring. I'm a little annoyed that he never finds out why A2 killed 2B, though by the end of C/D, he's probably too far gone to actually take that in. I liked most of the NPCs, too. Anemone and Jackass are my favs, but 6O and 21O have some good moments, too. And while a lot of the female YoRHa designs are just... embarrassingly male, there are some really creative character/boss designs here and there. Simone's corpse dress is probably something I'll never forget.
The soundtrack is incredible. "Weight of the World/End of YoRHa" is a standout track not just because of the ending it plays through, but also just because of how cleanly it blends together the 8-bit sound from the hacking minigames and the English and Japanese versions of the song, and how it ends with the game's fictional "Chaos" language (which is apparently meant to be a futuristic blend of English, Japanese, Gaelic, and a few others). I definitely want to check out more of Keiichi Okabe's work, and that of the singers for all three languages. Some other favs are "Vague Hope," "Wretched Weaponry," "Alien Manifestation," and "The Tower."
I enjoyed most of the gameplay. The hacking minigames could be a little tedious sometimes, but overall, I found myself enjoying 9S's gameplay more than the other leads' because of it. I also actually liked most of the sidequests, too, and I normally don't like those all that much in other games (well, okay, I mainly just hate them in FF7R). I think I liked the machine quests the most because so many of them were just silly and low stakes, which was a nice change of pace compared to the main story. I remember the Father Servo one making me laugh a few times. And as for the androids, I liked 11B's memento quest and the Amnesia one (partly because 2B and 9S bicker so much through it, and partly because it's the first we hear about execution models).
I loved the voicework in this game, especially A2 and Anemone's. And whoever voiced 9S did his job perfectly.
I was crying through that whole Ending E sequence, but the part where the POD asks you something like "You put all that work into unlocking Chapter Select. Are you SURE you want to delete all your save data?" made me crack up. I'm doing a replay now, and Chapter Select is probably what I miss most from my original save data lmfao.
So... yeah? Overall, I liked it. I really do think that credits sequence was what sold me on this game as a whole, as weird as that sounds. I'd say the game's biggest faults are the unbalanced focus on the leads and its tendency to throw in pointless angst here and there, and I really wish those two things could've been smoothed out to make a good story even better, but eh. I'm enjoying my replay now, and I'm taking my time doing more quests and exploring areas. I'm going to try to get more of the joke endings, too.
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scottriice · 4 years
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Personal Capital
A Comprehensive Personal Capital Review
Investing typically takes one of two approaches. The first one would be to follow an active investing strategy where you personally select the ETFs and stocks to invest in. The other option would be to follow a passive investing strategy where you let someone else do the selection on your behalf.
If you wanted to follow a passive investing strategy in the past, you had to work with an in-person financial advisor. You then had to schedule a meeting with them, build a suitable portfolio depending on your goals, and pay the financial advisor an asset management fee every year.
Today, things have really changed since robo-advisors have been introduced to streamline the process. Instead of meeting a financial advisor, you simply fill out a questionnaire online. The fees charged by the robo-advisors are considerably lower than those charged by traditional financial advisors. When it comes to robo-advisors, Personal Capital is one of the best.
What is Personal Capital?
Personal Capital is one of the leading robo-advisors that offers both completely free and paid financial planning tools. However, the company insists that it isn’t a pure robo-advisor since there’s still a lot of human involvement in some of the products it offers, especially the paid tools.
Personal Capital offers a wide selection of features available with the free financial planning tools. For investors with at least $100,000 to invest, the company has more advanced features. The company aims to be a one-stop-shop when it comes to managing your financial life.
The investment services offered by Personal Capital are somewhat of a mix between a robo-advisor and a traditional investment platform that involves human-guided investing. However, the company’s investing features are more geared towards higher net worth investors.
About Personal Capital
Personal Capital was established in 2009 and its headquarters are in San Carlos, California. Over 2 million people use it and most of them primarily use the free version. Still, the paid wealth management service has over 18,000 clients with over $8 billion in assets under management.
Users typically start out with the free version before upgrading to the paid wealth management services, especially those that want direct investment management of their investment portfolio. Still, users that don’t upgrade find that the free version has many investment tools that are definitely worth having.
First things first though. Once you register / open your account (all that is needed is your name, email and phone number) you need to link your accounts to enable you to begin using the management platform.
How Does Personal Capital Work?
Personal Capital has grown to become one of the leading financial management platforms currently available. It comes in two versions:
– Free Financial Dashboard
– Wealth Management Service
The Free Financial Dashboard is essentially a budgeting application, but it still offers investing tools in abundance. The Wealth Management Service is a comprehensive investment management service that functions somewhat as a robo-advisor while still offering a generous amount of live support from human financial advisors. The following is a more in-depth look into the two versions of Personal Capital:
Free Financial Dashboard
The Free Financial Dashboard is often viewed primarily as a tool for budgeting, but it is actually quite limited in that regard. The investment tools offered in this version are still extensive. Even if you might not have any intention of using Personal Capital as a budgeting tool, the free version provides valuable investment support.
The dashboard plays the primary role of a financial aggregator, where all your accounts can be included i.e. checking, savings, investments, credit cards, and loan accounts. It lets you assemble the entirety of your financial life on one platform. It is even possible to include employer-sponsored retirement plans and it is actually here that this version really shines.
Features
The Free Financial Dashboard offers the following features:
I. Budgeting
The free version of Personal Capital can be used for tracking your cash flow and spending patterns. It is even possible to analyze individual transactions and spending categories. You will receive summaries every month that help you know exactly where your money is going.
If you would like to use Personal Capital primarily for budgeting, that would not be the best decision. For instance, while it provides alerts for upcoming bills, there’s no bill payment function. You will still have to pay bills directly from your bank account.
II. Cash Flow Analyzer
The Cash Flow Analyzer is a tool that creates a budget for you. Once you have set it up, it will track your income and expenses from the various financial accounts linked to the platform. It is even possible to set financial goals, such as paying off your debts or preparing for retirement. The Cash Flow Analyzer helps you come up with effective strategies for achieving your goals.
III. Retirement Planner
To help you determine whether or not you are on course with your retirement goals, the Retirement Planner uses a series of “What If” scenarios. You can adjust for changes in your individual situation, such as a career or job change, saving for college, the birth of a child, etc. it even considers outside factors that may impact your retirement.
IV. 401(k) Analyzer
Millions of Americans are part of employer sponsored retirement plans, but only a handful know about the hidden investment fees inherent in such plans. The 401 (k) analyzer offered by Personal Capital will show you the exact amount that each fund in your plan is costing you. It then recommends alternative allocations for lowering the costs of the funds.
V. Net Worth Calculator
If you track your assets as well as liabilities, it becomes easy to determine your net worth fairly quickly. That’s an important thing to know since net worth is a key metric when determining your overall financial strength.
VI. Investment Checkup
Investment Checkup is perhaps one of the most important tools offered by Personal Capital. Once you have aggregated your investment accounts on the platform, the Investment Checkup tool helps you optimize your accounts. It may suggest that you adjust your portfolio mix to improve the overall performance of your investment.
VII. Personal Advisor
The Financial Dashboard offered by Personal Capital is free to use, but you still have the option to contact a personal advisor. While the advisor won’t give you any investment advice, they can still answer your questions regarding the service while also providing additional information regarding recommendations that Personal Capital makes.
Wealth Management Service
The Wealth Management Service that Personal Capital offers is at times grouped with robo-advisors, and that’s not completely true. While the company uses some automated investment tools, there’s still a strong element of active human engagement. That’s why the service is grouped somewhere between robo-advisors and traditional human investment advisors.
Personal Capital first determines your investment goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon, just like robo-advisors do. However, the company also considers your personal preferences when building your portfolio. The Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) guides the management of your portfolio, which involves investing across multiple classes of assets to ensure proper diversification. The company even rebalances your portfolio periodically to ensure that target asset allocations are maintained.
Your portfolio is invested in 6 classes of assets:
– U.S. Bonds
– International Bonds
– U.S. Stocks
– International Stocks
– Cash
– Alternative Investments, which Include Gold, Energy, and Real Estate Investment Trusts
Your investor profile will determine the specific percentage of your portfolio that’s allocated to each asset class depending on your personal preferences, time horizon, investment goals, as well as risk tolerance.
To provide broad market exposure at a low expense ratio, each of the asset classes is invested in a low-cost index-based exchange traded fund (ETF). The portion allocated to U.S. equities, however, will be held in a diversified sample of not less than 70 individual stocks. That allows Personal Capital to provide tax optimization and tactical weighing.
Investment Strategies Used in Personal Capital’s Wealth Management Service
A. Tactical Weighing
It is an investment approach that improves upon traditional indexing by ensuring more evenly weighted exposure to easy style and sector. The strategy has been shown to outperform the S&P 500 by 1.5% annually, but with less volatility.
B. Smart Indexing
It incorporates Modern Portfolio Theory as well as equal size/sector weighting.
C. Tax Optimization
It is an investment strategy geared towards lowering the income tax liability that results from your investing activity. It uses several techniques:
– Using ETFs as opposed to mutual funds because they generate less capital gains
– Using individual stocks since they can be easily sold or bought to generate tax-loss harvesting
D. Automatic Rebalancing
If your portfolio passes your preferred asset allocation proportion, Personal Capital will automatically rebalance it.
E. Socially Responsible Investing
If you wish to incorporate Socially Responsible Investing into your investing activities, Personal Capital will select specific investment based on their compliance with the environmental, social, and governance. It will give you the opportunity to invest in what you believe in and avoid what you don’t.
Wealth Management Features
– Accounts Available: Taxable and joint investment accounts; Roth, Traditional, Rollover, and SEP IRAs; Trusts
– Minimum Initial Investment: $100,000 or $200,000 if you wish to enjoy regular access to financial advisors
– Advice for 401(k) and 529 Plans: While Personal Capital cannot manage these accounts directly, it will offer you advice regarding the same.
– Account Protection: All accounts are protected by SIPC, for up to $500,000 in cash and securities, which includes up to $250,000 in cash. The coverage protects against broker failure and not against monetary losses caused by fluctuations in the market.
– Account Custodian: All Wealth Management portfolios are held with Pershing Advisor Solutions, which is one of the largest investment custodians and clearing agencies in the world. The company is the custodian for over $1 trillion in assets throughout the globe.
– Financial Advisors: It is a major aspect of the Wealth Management Service. You can reach the financial advisors 24/7 via email, phone, live chat, or web conference. You will have 2 dedicated financial advisors if you choose to become a client of the Wealth Management Service.
How Much Does Personal Capital Cost
The fees that Personal Capital charges for investing advice and management are outlined below. The fees cover everything including tax loss harvesting, ETF expense ratios, portfolio rebalancing, etc. The fees are higher than those charged by pure robo-advisors, but are lower than those charged by traditional investment managers.
– $1 Million or Less: 0.89 Percent Annual Fee
– $1- to 3- Million: 0.79 Percent Annual Fee
– $3- to 5- Million: 0.69 Percent Annual Fee
– $5- to $10- Million: 0.59 Percent Annual Fee
– $10 Million or Higher: 0.49 Percent Annual Fee
Personal Capital: The Pros
– Budgeting and Investment Management Offered in a Single Platform: Personal Capital offers both budgeting/personal financial management as well as investment management on one platform.
– Tax Optimization: Extensive tax optimization strategies are used in the Wealth Management service to minimize the income taxes your investments generate.
– Free Financial Dashboard: The dashboard includes many different investment tools and budgeting capabilities and is free to use.
– Socially Responsible Investing: If you think of yourself as being socially responsible you want to ensure that your investments align with your values and Personal Capital allows you to do exactly that.
– Financial Advisors: If you select the Wealth Management service, you will have 2 financial advisors that can help with the management of your financial life.
Personal Capital: The Cons
– Limited Budgeting Capabilities: The budgeting tools offered by Personal Capital are considerably more limited compared to fully dedicated budgeting apps such as Quicken or Mint.
– Upsells: If you sign up for the free version, Personal Capital will constantly try to upsell the paid Wealth Management Service. Users have found this to be irritating.
– High Minimum for Wealth Management: $100,000 is the minimum initial investment amount required for the Wealth Management Service, which effectively locks out most small and medium size investors.
– High Fees: The 0.89 percent fee that investors have to pay for Personal Capital’s Wealth Management Service is considerably higher than that of robo-advisors, such as Betterment, who charge from 0.25 to 0.40 percent.
Personal Capital Vs. Betterment
Personal Capital is obviously not the only online investment management firm available. It has its competitors and one of the most popular of these competitors is Betterment, which is best known as one of the first major robo-advisors. However, it still has a human aspect as Personal Capital does.
Either Personal Capital or Betterment can be an excellent option when it comes to your investment, but each has its own strengths and pricing model. The following is a comparison of the two to find out which one is a better fit for your unique investment needs.
How Are They Similar?
Personal Capital and Betterment are similar in the following ways:
– Accounts Offered: Personal Capital and Betterment are both robo-advisors offering taxable joint and individual accounts, as well as traditional IRA, rollover IRA, and Roth IRA and trust accounts.
– Tax Loss harvesting: Personal Capital and Betterment both have tax loss harvesting features that help you save money on any losses incurred.
– 401(k) Assistance: Personal Capital and Betterment can both help you with your employer-sponsored 401(k) plan.
– Portfolio Rebalancing: Personal Capital and Betterment both offer automatic portfolio rebalancing to ensure that your ideal asset allocation is maintained.
– Socially Responsible Investing: Personal Capital and Betterment both offer investment options that are socially conscious.
– Security: Personal Capital and Betterment both use very strong security to ensure that your account information and money are safe and secure.
How Are They Different?
Personal Capital and Betterment are different in the following aspects:
Personal Advisor
Personal Capital and Betterment both offer the services of a robo-advisor, which include automated portfolio building and management. The difference is that Personal Capital provides a personalized service to help you deal with specific situations that you may require clarification or providing portfolio customization.
Holistic Wealth Management
The wealth management approach is yet another area where Personal Capital and Betterment differ. While Betterment focuses on managing your investment account, Personal Capital offers this as well as other services that can be of additional value to you.
Investment Style
Robo-advisors such as Personal Capital and Betterment usually offer similar asset allocations. Still, there are some differences that you should consider. Personal Capital, for instance, offers equal style and sector weighting that strives to lower volatility by equalizing across sectors, style, and company size. If you are an investor that’s worried about good returns with minimal volatility, this can be a key consideration.
Minimum Deposit
If you choose Betterment, you can actually start with no minimum. You could even start with a $1 investment if you want. However, to use the Premium service, you will require a balance of at least $100,000.
Personal Capital does not require that you have a minimum investment amount to use the free tools, but you will require a minimum investment amount of $100,000 to use the paid service. Additional premium services require a $200,000 minimum and $1 million minimum.
Annual Fees
Personal Capital’s fees depend on the total assets that the service manages for you. You will pay 0.89% in annual fees for accounts with $100,000 to $1 Million. It goes down to 0.79% for accounts with $1million to $3 million. It goes even lower to 0.695 for accounts with up to $5million, 0.595 for accounts with up to $10 million, and even further lower to 0.49% for accounts with $10 million or more.
Betterment charges 0.25% annually for the Digital Plan that includes the self-service robo-advisor. If you choose the Premium Account, you will pay 0.40% in fees, which includes unlimited access to a certified financial planner as well as a financial plan for all your assets, even those that are not managed by Betterment.
Personal Capital Vs. Betterment: Which One Should You Choose?
The decision regarding which one to choose between Personal Capital and Betterment is a tough one. You have to consider several different factors. However, Personal Capital has an edge over Betterment since it offers excellent free tools and delivers better investment performance over Betterment even though both have very similar investing styles.
How to Sign Up with Personal Capital
Now that you have seen just how great Personal Capital is for investing, you should head over to the official website to sign up and start using the service. You start by providing some details about yourself such as your email address and phone number, then creating a password.
You will then be asked to provide additional details such as your name, current age, age at which you wish to retire, and the amount of money that you have saved towards retirement. Once you provide that information you can start to link your accounts.
Personal Capital can sync with over 12,000 financial institutions, or you can just enter the name of your institution and web address. The platform will then start analyzing your financial accounts going back 1 to 3 months. Once the analysis is complete, you will have access to the tools on the Free Dashboard, along with recommendations by Personal Capital regarding your investment accounts.
To sign up for the Wealth Management service, contact a financial advisor to get started with the process. You will be required to provide further information, which includes documentation to verify your identity. You will then have to link one or more financial accounts to transfer funds into the account that will be holding your investment.
You will also be required to fill out a questionnaire that determines your investment goals, risk tolerance, investment goals, and time horizon. You will also have a web conference with a financial advisor who will gather more specific information. Your portfolio will be built based on the answers provided in the questionnaire and the information you provide to the financial advisor.
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Summary
If you are looking for a great online investment management platform, then Personal Capital is all you need. It is easy to understand and useful. It offers free tools that give users an in-depth look at their own personal finance health, retirement potential, and investments. Paying customers get the assistance needed too take their investments to the next level.
It might be up to paying users to determine whether or not the paid services are worth the costs, but everyone should sign up for a free Personal Capital account. The free tools are simply to helpful to ignore. Personal Capital can be an excellent tool for helping you get a stronger grip on your finances, regardless of who you are, so try it out today!
Visit Personal Capital For More Info
source https://www.youreview.net/personal-capital/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=personal-capital source https://youreview1.blogspot.com/2020/04/personal-capital.html
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symposiumgo · 5 years
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The Recent Changes In Medical Coding And Its Effect In Your Practice
Introduction
As technology became more reliant in the healthcare industry, medical coding has developed into a crucial part of it. Medical practitioners as well as insurance companies have grown contingent to medical coding with each passing improvement.  
The coding process originated in the 17th century England has today advanced into a systematic procedure in the industry.
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What is Medical Coding?
Medical coding principally translates healthcare record, diagnosis, reports, medical services and systems into specific alphanumeric codes.
It is centrally the process of translating extensive medical data and services into efficient and uncomplicated codes. Daily, numerous patients visit the hospital, and with each visit the data multiplies several folds, making it a lengthy process for medical practitioners to evaluate.
Medical coding helps in the assessment of records by generating appropriate codes and labels mitigating the daily burden of billers and coders. It is essential for medical coders to translate and update the codes correctly to make the billing procedure free of any errors.
These codes, later on, help in claiming reimbursements during billing by the hospitals which benefits both the patient and the doctor. Therefore, due to the recent overhaul in the industry, every hospital is in acute need of a medical coder.  
Medical Coders- The new foundation in Healthcare
Translating all the patient records into codes is not an easy job in healthcare. A certified Medical coder must work well with numbers, computer systems, and various software programs. He can work in hospitals, clinics, urgent care facilities, nursing homes, treatment centers, etc.
The coder first takes the medical charts and records from the doctors and read the patients' reports. After reading and understanding the procedures, they assign codes, feed data in the computer and finally translate the records for an enhanced coding and billing system. It is important to decipher the data accurately as any change in a minuscule code can result in an erroneous judgment during a medical procedure.
A medical coder plays a vital role in the reimbursement process. After giving required services to a patient, medical practitioners or hospitals need to be reimbursed by the insurance companies. The codes of services and facilities provided by medical coders help the doctors claim their reimbursements.
Why is medical coding the next best thing?
With each patient visit, there exist at least 2-3 set of records and documentation. These records can get as descriptive as the visits increase. And to decode such intricate reports, certified medical coders are a must.
In the years to come, the rate of hospital visits will cross over 6 billion visits a year which directly indicates a hike in the proportion of patient data. These complex data need to be converted into simple terms for medical practitioners, billers and insurance companies to understand. Medical coding helps the practitioners to follow the previous visit's data. It includes the necessary treatment, kinds of symptoms a patient has or any other detailed analysis helpful in the diagnosis of a patient.
These codes make communication with the doctor easy by providing the documentation and comprehensive patient data into an easy to understand the coding system.
Commercial payers like insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid use these codes while paying a claim.
It is indispensable to submit and communicate appropriate codes because these organizations can even refuse to pay if these codes are in any way inappropriate or erroneous. The common language is too vague for the insurance companies to know what type of reimbursement they have to pay.
The coding and billing system helps the companies segment their payment options easily. The insurance companies use these codes in eliminating the fraudulent claims or any other errors in payments.
Big changes ahead in medical coding
CMS administrator, Seema Verma, in the proposed rule has manifested the patient over paperwork initiative. The recent changes in the various codes and modifiers only corroborate with what the CMS's agenda was.
1. E/M changes
a- The key change made in the E/M visits is the use of time basis or the decision making capability of the practitioner rather than the 1995 or 1997 guidelines. This change has made the E/M visits less papery and strenuous for the coders.
b- E/M codes are part of the CPT codes which holds a prominent position while translating the records in the codes.
2. Additions in CPT codes
a- From 1st, January 2019 the new CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) codes have come into effect. CMS has deleted 72 codes, added 164 new codes and revised 49 codes in the latest rule.
b- Category II codes, under surgery –Integumentary, Pathology and the Medicine section has testified the highest revisions in the updated codes.
c- In the 2019 updates, CPTs 99446, 99447, 99448 and 99449 are now covered for Medicare patients.
3.     Latest ICD-10 CM revisions
a- ICD-10 CM codes are effective from October 1, 2018, through September 31, 2019, with various revisions, additions, and deletions.
b- The latest updates include 279 new codes, 51 deleted codes, and 143 revised codes.  A total of 71,932 active codes have been recorded with the most recent CMS revisions.
c- Chapters 1, 3 and 8 witnessed no new changes whereas chapter 2,7,11,14,15,16 and 19 went through the highest changes.
4.     HCPCS codes overhaul
a- CMS has also changed HCPCS codes Q9994, effective December 3, 2018.
b- The HCPCS code B4105 is changed from D "Special Coverage Instructions Apply" to C "Contractor Discretion. Code B4105 replaces code Q9994 effective for claims with dates of service on or after January 1, 2019.
With the latest live Healthcare Webinar, SymposiumGo is bringing you all the latest updates related to the latest changes in the coding environment as well as other healthcare topics.
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creatingnikki · 6 years
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What I’ve learned in 2017
1. Burning bridges is not a bad thing.  Because burning bridges saves you. It saves you from running back to toxic people and it protects you against them running after you. If they have no path to get to you, chances are, they are too lazy to create one. Or at least not bothered enough.  Burn the bridges you need to. It’s not a destructive habit. Sometimes, it’s the most constructive burning you will ever do.  2. Decisions are daunting but they are not final.  If you decide to opt for A instead of B, you may not always be able to go back to B in case you realize you have made the wrong decision BUT you can always research on options C, D, E and more. You can change the course of your life at any time you wish. Regretting is not productive, discovering a new path definitely is.  3. People will think what they want to. No matter what you say, no matter what you do, they will think as they please.  ‘You know what is harder than getting someone to put their money in your wallet? Forcing your thoughts in their head.’ -Pinocchio (Kdrama) So why would you want to waste all that time and effort? Leave them alone with their thoughts as they may be and continue to do what brings peace to you.  4. We tend to inflate things in our head. When we are thinking of all the possibilities of certain choices, actions and situations, we tend to inflate the bad, the unwanted, the scary possibilities in our head. This makes us anxious and stressed more than is needed. That makes us want to back out of things, run away, not get out of bed. But in reality, even the worst possible outcome is not half as bad as we make it out to be in our head. Just show up.  That’s when you will realize that the universe isn’t against you. That life isn’t that hard. That people aren’t that intimidating or superior (skills, knowledge, beauty, etc). That everyone is just as nervous and anxious and unsure. Of course, they are better in containing that. But that’s not always a good thing anyway.  5. People say things about us. Good and bad. But we can’t base our decisions on that. And we can’t base our opinion of ourselves on that. Why? Because what people say isn’t reliable and what people say isn’t constant and what they say definitely isn’t so much about us as it is about them. We can’t let a compliment make our day because if we give the words of others that kind of power, a rude remark can also completely ruin our day. And sadly, the latter is usually more in abundance than genuine compliments.  6. People change. But so do you. And maybe it is harder to accept the changes in yourself than it is to accept them in others. I used to be a night person. I wouldn’t go to bed before 5 am. My sleep cycle was this messed up for 5 years. But that changed this year. However, I found it so hard to stop describing myself as a night owl when I met new people even though now I was going to bed by midnight. It is so important to accept the changes in yourself and to use correct language.  I used to be someone who would binge eat.  I used to be someone who would send long, emotional texts at 4 am to people who abandoned me.  I used to be someone who would give people more chances than they deserved.  Used to.  7. People at work don’t give a shit about your emotions. Or your anxiety. You need to better take care of yourself. You need to be better composed. Being an emotional mess is usually okay. But not at work. Anywhere but at work.  8. Some people know what they want to do in their life right from school. They are very clear about what they want and what they have to do in order to get it. And they do exactly that. 
But then there are those like you who don’t have a very solid idea of what your life should look like in terms of your career or life in general. It is scary. It is very overwhelming. And it is super confusing. But you will figure it out. 
Just like you figured out how to be able to breathe after having your lungs crushed along with your heart or when you should say no or that time when you refrained from saying anything at all because you realized it wouldn’t change a thing. You will get this. It isn’t a race. And there should be no comparisons.  9. A very wise person coined ‘health is wealth’ because it is one of the truest things I’ve heard since I was little. Most other things were just sexist or racist. But this. THIS IS SO TRUE. It may be hard to realize now, being young and all. Right now your body may be able to take everything you throw at it. But just like everything else, this will not last. Physical exercise and eating right are essentials. There is no easy way and there are no pills. Your body very well understands the concept of ‘you will get what you give’. Treat it wisely.  10. Needs vs Wants. What would you like to hear? That you have won a world tour or you have a brain tumour? I think I know your answer. But were this not a hypothetical situation, you would benefit from hearing what you don’t want to hear rather than hearing what you want to. Had you only got the news of the world tour and not the required diagnosis, your health would further deteriorate. That’s the difference between a want and a need. Most times, a need is essential to survival. Know the difference. Make that choice which though hard in the present, will be super beneficial in the long term.  11. Globalization includes more than just a few countries. I think this was an obvious one, but for some reason it took me watching Korean TV shows this year to realize that all countries in the world have a beautiful culture and so much to offer and it would be really fun to know more about different countries than to be fixated on just my own and a few others.  12. The healing time for different people is different. So it may hurt to see her make new friends and party while you are all alone, but you will get there too. It may just take a little longer. And that’s okay.  13. Skills are super important. I mean, if somehow you ended up in like the 16th century, how would your knowledge and skills help the then world in advancement? This realization made me feel really lacking. But I won’t be sitting here and cribbing. I already have a list of things I want to learn in 2018. They might not necessarily help the hypothetical situation of being in the 16th century, but they will definitely add to me as a person.  14. Take your time.  Take your time to reply back to that text.  Take your time to give an answer.  Take your time to be ready.  Don’t overwhelm yourself with the expectations of others. Because maybe they don’t care as much about you replying back as much as you’re getting anxious about not having replied yet.  15. Show. Don’t tell.  Don’t share your plan or goal with others. I mean, sure, maybe with one or two super close people, but don’t go ahead yelling it on the microphone (or well social media) every time you get a new idea or make a new choice because people have a way of fucking it up. Intentionally or otherwise. Even if you want to tell them, at least don’t hand them the blueprint.  It is always nice to share once you’ve achieved your goal than to tell everyone when you are yet to start with the execution. It’s better that they see what you’ve achieved or done rather you telling them before it has even materialized. 16. Don’t sympathize with people too much. Especially not if you start feeling guilty about not having as many problems as them. Because most times, if you sympathize THAT much, you tend to alter your life to make theirs better and chances are, their life isn’t as bad as they make it to be. So you end up giving up on things for them and later realize that that wasn’t quite needed. Not that they are intentionally trying to make things seem worse than they are, just that maybe you feel every word of what they say deeply. In any case, you don’t have to feel guilty about having a better life.  17. Happiness and satisfaction are two different things. And what you want to aim for is satisfaction. Because happiness is getting a new phone or getting a good morning text from someone you like. It is external. It is short lived. It will never be enough. Satisfaction is internal, it isn’t attached to materialistic things and it isn’t tied to other people. Satisfaction is working hard on a project and learning a lot. It is learning a new skill. It is making a choice trusting your instinct. It is living your life in a way that lets you sleep well at night and have a light heart. 2017 was quick. But 2017 was healing. It was realizing that after all the damage done in 2016, I can still be okay. And that throughout my life, I will fluctuate in my ‘okay-ness’ and that’s completely okay.
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onisionhurtspeople · 6 years
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i’m 100% for lainey labeling their gender in whatever way feels right for them, dressing however feels right, and using whatever pronouns feel right. i’m not gonna doubt or question their identity or anyone else’s. what rubs me the wrong way is how they emulate and almost fetishize the “teen” aesthetic. when they’ve said they look like a 12 year old boy and implied that it was attractive/hot/a good thing, i was kinda creeped out. idk how to explain it but i think it sends a really bad message.
Ah, yeah, that’s another thing I’ve been considering writing about for a while: how much Lainey seems to fetishize adolescence. Get ready for another one of my pointless tl;drs that nobody ever reads or cares about, y’all!
If Lainey was removed from the context surrounding the reasons why we all spend so much time scrutinizing her behavior in the first place, I doubt most people would have a problem with the fact that she seems almost pathologically obsessed with portraying herself as a 15-year-old girl in both style and personality, rather than as the 23-year-old wife and mother of two that she is. 
But the issue, of course, is that Lainey’s preferences do not exist in a vacuum; they mean something, and that’s what we’re here to analyze. She is married to a man who fetishizes teenage girls himself, because they’re easier to control and manipulate. She indulges in, and relates to, a culture that heavily emphasizes youth and immaturity (referring to boyfriends as “daddy”, having a DDlg (Daddy Dom/little girl) fetish, being “taken care of” by men (and treated like a little princess in bed), constantly alluding to not knowing what they’re doing in life, assuming a guileless pose in selfies that reflect a certain youthful confusion and spontaneity, constantly referencing their childlike habits (”touch my butt and buy me pizza”, “I have no idea what I’m doing”, “im a crybaby” flavors of meme), dressing like a 12-year-old in overalls, children’s Pokemon panties, and pastel-colored hair and clothing with simplistic, childlike patterns, etc - not that I think there’s anything inherently wrong with any of these things, but all of these pieces of the puzzle fit together to paint the picture of a person who is unhealthily obsessed with living out their life as a teenager. You guys know the ~aesthetic~ that I’m trying to drive at here).
She indulges in cultural trends targeted towards children and young teens. Her entire personality revolves around sensitivity, helplessness, passivity; she exudes anxiety, uncertainty, and confusion; and openly discusses being so sensitive that she becomes completely overwhelmed by even the most simple of tasks that adults are expected to be able to do. And again, I’m not saying that these are inherently negative traits (although obviously when these qualities run your life, it can become problematic); but Lainey seems almost proud of these traits. She’s more than just open about it. She brags about them. She romanticizes them. She constructs elaborate internal fantasies around them. Her entire identity revolves around being a ~smol sensitive anxious space prince daddy~. 
On top of all these things, almost everybody that she hangs out with or considers to be her friend (from Sarah, who lives with her, all the way down to the girls who she interacts with on Discord) is a teenager. She does not speak to women her own age. It’s bizarre. I used to have a friend who was quite a bit younger than me, by three and a half years - the first time we met in real life was on her 16th birthday, and I was 19, almost 20; and despite the fact that we were best friends and that I had so many other friends my own age, there was a very obvious and noticeable difference in our maturity levels. I’m not saying that uneven friendships like this can’t work or are inherently inappropriate, but again, within the context of Lainey’s life, it’s an enormous red flag that she seems to be unable to relate with women her own age, and can only form friendships with teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 21. Even outside of the context of her marriage (because let’s not forget that she’s married to a man who openly admits to having a sexual preference for young women, because they’re at “peak fertility” according to him), the fact that she relates the most with teenage girls is a huge indication that Lainey herself is either a) extremely mature, b) purposely seeks to enter uneven friendships with younger girls because it balances the friendship in her favor, giving her more power and control (which wouldn’t surprise me if true, given that she’s married to Onision - she needs to be able to exercise control in SOME way), c) is emotionally stunted and frozen at the age of ~18 due to Onision’s influence on her psychological development, or d) a sexual predator who herself prefers teenage girls. I’m sure everybody has their own theory on why this is, but personally I think it’s probably a mixture of all four, with option c being the most prominent motivation. 
I think Lainey projects herself onto teenage girls because she feels very much unprepared for this world, threatened by it, and does not trust her own ability to navigate adulthood successfully. In this regard, I think Greg managed to find almost a perfect partner for himself - a girl who is trapped in her adolescence in perpetuity (largely by choice, but partly through direction by Onision), who purposely cuts herself off from growing and learning and emerging as a young adult because it’s less dangerous and challenging for her to remain within her psychological safe zone, being coddled like a baby and completely controlled and taken care of by Greg, who looks after all of the hard things in her life that she struggles with (doing taxes, making money, going outside to get groceries, paying bills, interacting with strangers, making appointments, earning a living wage) - all of the practical, adult things that Lainey is terrified of doing, because it’s so overwhelming to her. Greg, of course, loves this. Lainey is his ideal partner: a woman who needs to be with a man like him, who defines her entire identity for her. A man who directs her, tells her what to do, is domineering and aggressive, and who makes all of her decisions for her. Tells her what to do, who to be, what to feel, how to act. A man who has complete control over every aspect of her life. A narcissist (him) and an inverted narcissist, or codependent (her). 
And so this is why Lainey is so obsessed with portraying herself as a teenager. Teenagers hit that sweet spot in between childhood and adulthood that Lainey feels trapped by in perpetuity. On the one hand, she is not a child - she is a sexual being; she has kinks, and preferences, and desires to express herself and her sexual identity. On the other hand, though, neither is she an adult - she is immature, self-absorbed, has an unstable sense of self, doesn’t know who she is, hypersensitive, anxious, gets overwhelmed easily, indulges often in her learned helplessness, and makes no attempt to change any of this - she revels in her dysfunction; she romanticizes it. And there is no age that typifies this combination of traits better than a teenage girl does. She doesn’t just relate to teenagers; she wants to be a teenager, forever–and in some ways, she really is, because the interference of Greg on Lainey’s emotional, psychological, social, and sexual growth has had a catastrophic impact on her development. She is essentially a 16-year-old girl trapped within the body of a 23-year-old mother of two. And that’s exactly what she wants. 
I think what’s ultimately going to be what destroys Greg and Lainey’s marriage is that eventually, Lainey is going to be too old for Greg, and he’s going to feel compelled to pick up another 17-, 18-, and 19-year-old girl again from his existing pool of die-hard fans. Already it’s quite apparent that Greg is bored of Lainey (as evidenced by the fact that he is still actively trying to find women to cheat on her with, even after what happened with Billie); but once the cost of maintaining her becomes more expensive than the cost of replacing her with a new, hot, young, alternative, impressionable teenage girl, he will do what he tried to do once before with Billie, and eject Lainey in favor of a new wife to manipulate. And the whole process will start all over again, until the day that either Greg dies, or he becomes incapable of drawing in new women. And at that point, sadly, the fact that Lainey is still a teenager - but only on the inside - will end up becoming the most painful struggle of her life, when she is forced to take on all of the adult responsibilities that Greg currently carries for her, and realizes that she is dangerously under-qualified to live her life as an adult woman instead of a pampered, permanent 16-year-old girl. 
(Sadly - or maybe luckily - I think that Lainey is the type of woman who needs to be in a relationship with someone like Greg (an inverted narcissist; in other words, a codependent), so I guess here’s to hoping that when this inevitably happens, she will quickly find herself a new narcissist to date and define her entire identity for her, I suppose?)
Press F to pay respects for this ridiculously, unnecessarily long fucking essay that I just wrote that NOBODY is going to read. Praise the Noodle Lord. Amen. 
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theprocast · 6 years
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1. Burning bridges is not a bad thing. Because burning bridges saves you. It saves you from running back to toxic people and it protects you against them running after you. If they have no path to get to you, chances are, they are too lazy to create one. Or at least not bothered enough. Burn the bridges you need to. It’s not a destructive habit. Sometimes, it’s the most constructive burning you will ever do. 2. Decisions are daunting but they are not final. If you decide to opt for A instead of B, you may not always be able to go back to B in case you realize you have made the wrong decision BUT you can always research on options C, D, E and more. You can change the course of your life at any time you wish. Regretting is not productive, discovering a new path definitely is. 3. People will think what they want to. No matter what you say, no matter what you do, they will think as they please. ‘You know what is harder than getting someone to put their money in your wallet? Forcing your thoughts in their head.’ -Pinocchio (Kdrama) So why would you want to waste all that time and effort? Leave them alone with their thoughts as they may be and continue to do what brings peace to you. 4. We tend to inflate things in our head. When we are thinking of all the possibilities of certain choices, actions and situations, we tend to inflate the bad, the unwanted, the scary possibilities in our head. This makes us anxious and stressed more than is needed. That makes us want to back out of things, run away, not get out of bed. But in reality, even the worst possible outcome is not half as bad as we make it out to be in our head. Just show up. That’s when you will realize that the universe isn’t against you. That life isn’t that hard. That people aren’t that intimidating or superior (skills, knowledge, beauty, etc). That everyone is just as nervous and anxious and unsure. Of course, they are better in containing that. But that’s not always a good thing anyway. 5. People say things about us. Good and bad. But we can’t base our decisions on that. And we can’t base our opinion of ourselves on that. Why? Because what people say isn’t reliable and what people say isn’t constant and what they say definitely isn’t so much about us as it is about them. We can’t let a compliment make our day because if we give the words of others that kind of power, a rude remark can also completely ruin our day. And sadly, the latter is usually more in abundance than genuine compliments. 6. People change. But so do you. And maybe it is harder to accept the changes in yourself than it is to accept them in others. I used to be a night person. I wouldn’t go to bed before 5 am. My sleep cycle was this messed up for 5 years. But that changed this year. However, I found it so hard to stop describing myself as a night owl when I met new people even though now I was going to bed by midnight. It is so important to accept the changes in yourself and to use correct language. I used to be someone who would binge eat. I used to be someone who would send long, emotional texts at 4 am to people who abandoned me. I used to be someone who would give people more chances than they deserved. Used to. 7. People at work don’t give a shit about your emotions. Or your anxiety. You need to better take care of yourself. You need to be better composed. Being an emotional mess is usually okay. But not at work. Anywhere but at work. 8. Some people know what they want to do in their life right from school. They are very clear about what they want and what they have to do in order to get it. And they do exactly that. But then there are those like you who don’t have a very solid idea of what your life should look like in terms of your career or life in general. It is scary. It is very overwhelming. And it is super confusing. But you will figure it out. Just like you figured out how to be able to breathe after having your lungs crushed along with your heart or when you should say no or that time when you refrained from saying anything at all because you realized it wouldn’t change a thing. You will get this. It isn’t a race. And there should be no comparisons. 9. A very wise person coined ‘health is wealth’ because it is one of the truest things I’ve heard since I was little. Most other things were just sexist or racist. But this. THIS IS SO TRUE. It may be hard to realize now, being young and all. Right now your body may be able to take everything you throw at it. But just like everything else, this will not last. Physical exercise and eating right are essentials. There is no easy way and there are no pills. Your body very well understands the concept of ‘you will get what you give’. Treat it wisely. 10. Needs vs Wants. What would you like to hear? That you have won a world tour or you have a brain tumour? I think I know your answer. But were this not a hypothetical situation, you would benefit from hearing what you don’t want to hear rather than hearing what you want to. Had you only got the news of the world tour and not the required diagnosis, your health would further deteriorate. That’s the difference between a want and a need. Most times, a need is essential to survival. Know the difference. Make that choice which though hard in the present, will be super beneficial in the long term. 11. Globalization includes more than just a few countries. I think this was an obvious one, but for some reason it took me watching Korean TV shows this year to realize that all countries in the world have a beautiful culture and so much to offer and it would be really fun to know more about different countries than to be fixated on just my own and a few others. 12. The healing time for different people is different. So it may hurt to see her make new friends and party while you are all alone, but you will get there too. It may just take a little longer. And that’s okay. 13. Skills are super important. I mean, if somehow you ended up in like the 16th century, how would your knowledge and skills help the then world in advancement? This realization made me feel really lacking. But I won’t be sitting here and cribbing. I already have a list of things I want to learn in 2018. They might not necessarily help the hypothetical situation of being in the 16th century, but they will definitely add to me as a person. 14. Take your time. Take your time to reply back to that text. Take your time to give an answer. Take your time to be ready. Don’t overwhelm yourself with the expectations of others. Because maybe they don’t care as much about you replying back as much as you’re getting anxious about not having replied yet. 15. Show. Don’t tell. Don’t share your plan or goal with others. I mean, sure, maybe with one or two super close people, but don’t go ahead yelling it on the microphone (or well social media) every time you get a new idea or make a new choice because people have a way of fucking it up. Intentionally or otherwise. Even if you want to tell them, at least don’t hand them the blueprint. It is always nice to share once you’ve achieved your goal than to tell everyone when you are yet to start with the execution. It’s better that they see what you’ve achieved or done rather you telling them before it has even materialized. 16. Don’t sympathize with people too much. Especially not if you start feeling guilty about not having as many problems as them. Because most times, if you sympathize THAT much, you tend to alter your life to make theirs better and chances are, their life isn’t as bad as they make it to be. So you end up giving up on things for them and later realize that that wasn’t quite needed. Not that they are intentionally trying to make things seem worse than they are, just that maybe you feel every word of what they say deeply. In any case, you don’t have to feel guilty about having a better life. 17. Happiness and satisfaction are two different things. And what you want to aim for is satisfaction. Because happiness is getting a new phone or getting a good morning text from someone you like. It is external. It is short lived. It will never be enough. Satisfaction is internal, it isn’t attached to materialistic things and it isn’t tied to other people. Satisfaction is working hard on a project and learning a lot. It is learning a new skill. It is making a choice trusting your instinct. It is living your life in a way that lets you sleep well at night and have a light heart. 2017 was quick. But 2017 was healing. It was realizing that after all the damage done in 2016, I can still be okay. And that throughout my life, I will fluctuate in my ‘okay-ness’ and that’s completely okay.
What I’ve Learned in 2017  creatingnikki
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swifterm · 3 years
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Content personalisation is not web personalisation
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Content personalisation is not web personalisation. A few years ago, David Weinberger, a technologist and co-author of  The Cluetrain Manifesto, wrote, “Personalisation: the automatic tailoring of sites and messages to the individuals viewing them so that we can feel that somewhere there’s a piece of software that loves us for who we are.”
Two decades later, ironically, personalisation is being used by companies attempting to make the online experience more human.
Personalisation has grown rapidly since David’s statement. So much so that personalised experiences have become the norm, not an option.
But is personalisation really the key to a better user experience? Does it actually impact conversion rates?
What is web personalisation?
“Personalisation” is rather self-explanatory, but more complex than it’s given credit for. For example, you could be dealing with different channels (on-site, in-app, mobile web, and so on).
Essentially, it’s the real-time individualisation of a site to suit each visitor’s unique needs and guide them through a custom conversion.
Here’s an example of on-site personalisation from Bunting. Visitor 1 is a woman from the USA, who is browsing in June or July…
Visitor 2 is a man from the UK who has browsed Nixon watches before, but never purchased. He is visiting the same site (not a separate landing page)…
Notice how the two pages are different based on either the visitor’s demographic or previous behavior? That’s on-site (segmenting) personalisation in action.
Why is this relevant? People are drowning in information and options. Personalisation reduces the amount of information and the number of options to help guide visitors through a funnel that’s designed just for them and their individual needs.
So, how do marketers feel when it comes to personalisation? According to a survey by Evergage, an overwhelming 98% of marketers believe that personalisation advances customer relationships. Indeed this is supported by empirical evidence now.
When it comes to using personalisation, this is the current channel breakdown:
Conversion rate is the main measure of personalisation success…
The hypothesis is that the more personalised the site / user experience, the more likely visitors are to convert.
So, how exactly are marketers personalising their sites?
Popups, information bars, call-outs—nothing you haven’t seen before. In-line content and edits are at least holding their own, but there hasn’t been much innovation in the space when it comes to “types of personalised web experiences.”
Personalisation is powered by big data, which means you have a lot of options when choosing how to segment your audience for personalisation purposes. With your go-to marketing SwiftERM now personalises each and every product selection to the individual consumer receiving it, with zero segmentation necessary. It complements marketing and promotional email campaigns, out-performing them multiple times over, including rule based segmentation.
Evergage’s data from a few years ago revealed that many marketers rely on elements such as device, geolocation, and content viewed as personalisation criteria. Fresh data revealed and added to that list campaign source, email opens and clickthroughs, purchased products, and more:
Customisation vs. personalisation: what’s the difference?
This is a common question: What’s the difference between customisation and personalisation?
Often, you’ll see the two terms being used interchangeably. That’s unfortunate because there is a distinction between the two. Definitions may vary, but to summarise…
Customisation: The visitor deliberately chooses between options designed to make the user experience more personal.
Personalisation: The visitor is automatically shown personalised pages based on anticipated needs or wants.
Customisation is the visitor’s conscious decision to alert the user experience. Personalisation is making predictions and automatically altering the user experience based on big data.
Good(ish) example:
Netflix
Amazon is an obvious example of personalisation. Their product recommendation engine is often applauded. Instead, let’s look at another big company that’s personalising the user experience well: Netflix.
When you log into my Netflix account, here’s what you see…
Netflix is predicting, based on viewing history. One thing Netflix could do to improve the user experience (vs. focusing only on showing personalised content) is de-prioritise shows and movies that have been recently watched from their recommendations.
The experience isn’t as personalised as it was before. The system didn’t keep learning.
Recommendations based on what has been recently watched could be based on actors, directors, genre, rating from people like me, and so on. In this case, a lot of data is being combined to personalise the experience.
A lot more goes into personalisation strategy than most people think. It’s not just popups, call-outs and “product recommendations like Amazon.”
What tools can you use?
When you’re dealing with so much data, you’re going to need a tool to help you out. Here are just a few of the top web personalisation tools available today…
Evergage
Granify
Marketo
Omniconvert
Bunting
Optimizely
Maxymiser
SwiftERM
Static content vs. dynamic content: which converts better?
The honest answer is a frustrating one: it depends. Perhaps all of your visitors expect / need a similar experience, maybe you personalise the experience with the wrong messaging, maybe you try to personalise at the wrong time, etc. There’s always the need to test (and optimise) it for yourself on your own audience.
However, there is a lot of logic behind the hypothesis that a more personalised, guided experience converts better. There are also quite a few case studies to support it.
Product recommendation case studies from Bunting
We’ve already talked about how Amazon and Netflix do product recommendations, so this should feel familiar. Bunting worked with At Home In The Country to add personalised product recommendations to their site, which resulted in a…
13% increase in revenue;
3% increase in average visit duration;
12.5% increase in conversions;
4.5% increase in product views.
What’s interesting is the use of the word “Buy” in “What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?” Normally, you’d see something like “Customers also viewed…” Buy is much more active, giving the visitor more confidence.
Bunting also helped Bras N Things implement product recommendations, which resulted in …
9.6% increase in average order value; 3.5% increase in average visit duration; 3.3% increase in product views; 2.4% increase in site visits. Here’s what they did…
Where personalisation goes wrong
While the four case studies above demonstrate that personalisation does work, it’s important to remember that it can go wrong. And when it does, it goes very wrong.
There are two major mistakes marketers make when it comes to personalisation: not truly personalising the experience, and segmenting audiences ineffectively.
1. Content vs. experience personalisation
Context is important here.
Who is this person?
Have they been here before?
Have they entered the conversion funnel at all?
Have they made a purchase before?
What pages have they read?
How thoroughly are they reading those pages?
Once context is accounted for, you can focus on intent, motivation and anxiety for that individual visitor.
Instead of stopping at a popup advertising a home equity eBook, go the extra mile to cover the entire experience. Remove distracting sections of the site that are unrelated, simplify the navigation, change images to match their demographic, and so on. There are tons of possibilities.
Understand
Let’s say you’re a distributed startup team frustrated with your web meeting software. You start looking for alternatives and find a viable one, but the UX is a disaster…
They don’t have the same information his existing web meeting software company would. What they do have is his behavioural data, demographic information, and more.
If you combine personalisation and customisation, you can get as granular as switching from Product A, Product B, or Product C to your product.
What’s important here is that you understand:
Who the visitor is;
Why the visitor is there;
Where the visitor is in the buying process.
When you understand that, you can create entire user experiences for very specific segments.
2. Segmenting ineffectively
When you’re segmenting for personalisation, you have options. Here are just a few examples of the type of information you can use to segment your audience…
Behavior on any channel (web, email, mobile).
Demographic information like age, gender, education, ethnicity, martial status, etc.
Geographic information like city, state / province, country, time of year / season, time of day / day of week.
First-party data (i.e. data you have collected yourself).
Third-party data (i.e. data from your CRM or POS).
You aren’t limited whatsoever. This is a big data industry, so take advantage of it instead of sticking to site behavior, gender, and age.
For example, Nielsen Norman Group found that personalising intranet portals based on the person’s role at the company vs. the person’s previous behavior is more effective.
You can find a lot of segmentation inspiration in your first-party data. The best way to do that is to go to your Google Analytics account and begin segmenting your data as you normally would. What segments are you using?
Some examples include…
Browser / Device type. How would you change the UX for an Android visitor? Or someone who uses IE 9?
Page load time. Should you treat visitors who waited longer for your site to load the same way?
Day of week / Time of day. Does someone browsing your site at 3 a.m. on a Friday have different motivations, intentions, and anxieties than someone browsing your site at 1 p.m. on a Monday?
Conversion funnels. Where do people drop out of your funnel most often? Combine the quantitative data with heuristic analysis. Why are people dropping out? What is so difficult about this step in particular? How can personalisation fix it?
Landing page type. Are you dealing with someone who is on your main site or a dedicated landing page?
A/B test variation. If you’re running A/B tests, visitors who land on variation A will have a slightly different experience than visitors who land on variation B, right?
New vs. returning visitors. Will someone who has visited your site three times in the last 24 hours have different motivations, intentions, and anxieties than someone who has just landed on your site for the first time?
Use your existing data to inform your personalisation efforts. It’ll show you problem pages and the parts of your conversion funnel that need work, which is where you should begin.
Conclusion
Most marketers have personalised content, not a personalised UX.
It’s the shift in thinking that you need if you want to take full advantage of personalization. Marketers need to be more creative than deploying a popup when exit intention is shown or when a cart is abandoned.
Here’s a simple process you can use to excel at web personalisation…
Set your goal and choose your KPIs.
Conduct qualitative research. How do your “power users” use your site? How do new users? Personalisation can bridge the gap there.
Conduct quantitative research. What part of your funnel are dropping out most often? Start there.
Choose your segments and conduct additional research to understand their motivations, intentions, anxieties, habits, etc.
Design entire UXs for each segment. Eliminate distractions, simplify navigations, update creative and copy, etc.
Choose a personalisation tool and deploy your strategy.
Think outside the box to come up with creative hypotheses to test. Rarely will your original UXs be the best available options. Always be tweaking and optimizing for the best results.We hope you enjoyed this article, intended to help improve our client’s profitability. It reflects the care SwiftERM offer. If you haven’t already done so, then please enjoy a FREE month’s trial and let us know what you think. Register, call us on 0207 998 3901, or book a call with us https://calendly.com/swifterm/15min or Zoom ID 964 515 7464
Other articles of interest below: (Index to all articles here)
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thebaileynina · 3 years
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Consider product suggestions on your eCommerce website.
Did you know that companies that personalize their web experience through product suggestions experience a significant increase in conversion? According to a report by Mckinsey & Co, 35% of purchases on Amazon are the result of its recommendation engine. These days, nearly every online business is leveraging product recommendations to improve customer satisfaction, increase revenue, and solidify personalization. Obviously, if done correctly, they can increase click-through rates, average order value, conversions, and other important business metrics. What is a product recommendation engine?
It is a system that collects information and uses algorithms to make recommendations for the benefit of the client and the business. Information is accumulated for each user and analyzed based on categories such as past purchases, demographics, or search history. On this basis, the system delivers content that is tailored to the customer’s needs. Showing limited options of highly relevant products makes decision making easier. According to a Salesforce analyst, this system may represent a small percentage (7%) of visits, but a significant part of revenue (22%).
How to take advantage of product recommendations on websites?
When browsing or shopping online, shoppers expect a seamless and personalized experience. To meet this expectation and increase conversions, an advanced recommendation engine is more necessary than ever.
A Business Insider report reveals that while most customers are looking for an improved personalized experience, only 22% are satisfied with the level of personalization they receive. Improving the shopping experience through product recommendations gives your business a boost. The type of recommendation to show depends on where the buyer is on their trip.
Here are the best practices to consider when developing effective recommendations:
1. Home page
For any user visiting the website for the first time, the homepage is the main point of interaction. New visitors don’t have a specific intention in mind, and as a result, stores can’t collect enough data about them to recommend relevant products. Therefore, the recommendations for first-time home visitors go to great lengths to help them explore and discover products. Since you already have enough data for loyal customers, personalized product recommendations can be easily used. For example, if the consumer has bought a television before, it can display the latest television accessories.
Product recommendations that can be used include:
a. Most popular products: various rules can be based on popularity. b. Best selling products. c. Recently Released Items. d. Products that have discounts or offers. e. For returning visitors, products related to past purchases or discounts on recently viewed items.
2. Category pages
Category pages need to be differentiated accurately and quickly. Recommendations on category pages are almost similar to those on the homepage, although there is only one difference. The items displayed are specific to the category or subcategory that users see. Here, the products displayed are based on the interaction between the customers and the website.
Product recommendations that can be used include:
a. Top selling items in category. b. Popular products in category. c. Recently added products in category. d. Products with offer or sale in the category. e. For returning visitors, the items associated with their previous purchase in this category.
3. Product pages
Detailed information about the product you are selling is displayed on the product information page. When consumers visit a product page, we collect data to determine if this is their first product or if they have seen other products. Personalized suggestions can be provided using this available data. The recommendations on the product pages aim to increase the average order value and the conversion rate.
Product recommendations that can be used include:
a. Associated or complementary products (cross-selling). b. Similar products. c. Often bought together (top sellers).
4. Cart pages
During the last stage of the customer journey, it is essential to allow them to complete the transaction without distraction. However, companies can take this opportunity to drive sales by recommending products effectively. The main purpose of product recommendations on the shopping cart page is to increase the order value.
Product recommendations that can be used include:
a. Complements or accessories (cross-selling). b. Recently Viewed Products. c. Higher value alternative of products added to cart (best selling). d. Add-ons to benefit from free shipping or other offers. e. Products that are frequently purchased together for items added to the cart (best selling).
5. Order confirmation page
Most businesses believe the deal is complete after customers make the purchase. However, this is not always correct. Still, they should recommend items based on user interaction. The main purpose of this recommendation is to provide users with another hook so that they can continue their journey through the website and thus repeat the cycle. Knowing that we have important data at this point, these recommendations should be more personalized.
Product recommendations that can be used include:
a. Cross-category recommendation b. Best sellers (related to items purchased) c. Trendy items d. New Arrivals
6. Error or exhausted pages
Reaching an “out of stock” or “404 error” page increases the chances that users will abandon the purchase. The exit rate is usually very high for these error pages, leading to possible loss of conversion. These pages can be turned into potential business opportunities by displaying top sellers (to keep users engaged), items based on browsing history, etc. This can act as an excellent catalyst to repeat the experience that would otherwise be interrupted.
Product recommendations that can be used include:
a. Products similar to out-of-stock or wanted items b. Recently viewed articles c. Best sale
Conclusion
Consumers access a website from different channels. Whether you’re developing your current recommendation engine or building one from scratch, you need to provide users with smart advice. Once a basic structure for product recommendations has been established, a detailed system of data entry and analysis should be implemented adding another layer of data. Therefore, applying machine learning can improve recommendations.
Companies can use a variety of product recommendations to increase revenue, customer experience, and engagement. But the key here is to consider the short and long term objects and implement them in a structured way. Therefore, a robust product recommendation engine will help your customers to make more informed decisions very easily, thus increasing your revenue and profits. Advanced product recommendation with cutting edge technology is the way to stay ahead of the competition.
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