Did you hear? The Superbowl is this Sunday.

Of course, I’m kidding. There’s no way you haven’t heard about it. Between the phenomenon of “Tebowing” and the epic rise and subsequent loss of the San Francisco 49ers, the 2011-2012 NFL season has been dramatic, to say the least.

The best part? The way we’re “hearing” about it has changed. Promoting Game Day through traditional media has given way to a much more exciting, engaging PR machine: good old social media. (Also, if you shop at Whole Foods, you’ve probably noticed that each store is strategically stockpiled with about five extra vats of organic avocados versus the usual two. It’s for, you know, “healthy” guacamole.)

Chances are, if you use Facebook or Twitter—especially if you have friends living in the New York tri-state area—the topic of the big Pats-Giants faceoff on February 5 is coming up with increasing frequency. Is the chatter always about football? No. As football-averse women with a penchant for sporty dudes have known for years, the biggest annual sporting event is also a chance for brands to shine. For some of us, the commercials are the best part. And social media makes ‘em even better.

Starting in mid-January, our feeds started seeing teaser trailers for ad campaigns. Let us repeat that: Teaser trailers. For ad campaigns. The incremental bang for the buck for advertisers borders on genius—teasing the ad, and even releasing it before the game, gets the brand double the exposure. And in my case, makes me doubly as excited to eat my weight in triple-layer dip and watch a few hilarious commercials (I’m still not excited about the half time show, though…who watches that, anyway?).

Here’s a few of my favorites – what are yours?

Volkswagen’s The Bark Side: I can’t tell you how many times this one’s been viewed in the office.

Matthew Broderick’s Day Off: If only Ferris Bueller was really coming back.

Make your Own Doritos: A nice little parody of hipsters and foodies alike.

It’s mid January and I’ve already crossed one of my 2012 resolutions off the list: to become a swimmer.  While this may sound like bragging, it isn’t… swimming was a 2011 resolution… and a 2010 resolution.  Two years ago, I bought a proper lap swimsuit, and last year I managed to purchase the swim cap and goggles, neither of which were ever removed from their packaging.

It isn’t that I don’t know how to swim – I learned how to swim as a kid and spent summers at the pool across the street – but most of my experience was on the side of the pool lathered up in baby oil with a magazine.  And if I was thrown overboard, I could keep myself afloat and get to solid ground (as long as it wasn’t very far), but seeing me in a pool doesn’t resemble the same fluid, succinct sport that Michael Phelps or Dara Torres compete at.

I don’t actually care about swimming all that much and am not compelled to become good at it.  The goal to become a swimmer is part of a larger issue that I’ve noticed as I grow older: it is increasingly harder to do things I’m not already good at.  I used to jump at the chance to try something new – taking dance classes in college, learning to play ultimate frisbee, attempting to telemark ski. I was always willing to be the one flailing in the back of the room.  But as the years go by, I’ve grown more reluctant to be a beginner.

My fear is that this habit of sticking with what feels easy and comfortable will start to creep into my personal and professional life.   There is a lot to be said about being an expert in one field, but the landscape of our industry is constantly changing and evolving – that is the beauty of digital marketing.  Those of us who are stuck with what always feels comfortable and safe are certain to be left behind.

Last week, I donned my ill-fitting swim cap and goggles and dove in.  It was actually more of a timid descent down the pool ladder, but I swam my unattractive, beginner, flailing laps.  This week, I might even ask for some help.

Dorking around online is part of our job. And it should be part of yours too. As a digital agency, we need to stay abreast of social media trends and technology, not to mention managing content for our clients, which is why nobody bats an eye around here when you spend an hour or two on Facebook. But checking out fun stuff online serves another purpose: It gives your brain a break and keeps you fresh, motivated and productive at work, whether your job is writing tweets or analyzing insurance claims.

Not convinced? Read the Wall Street Journal’s report on a study, “Impact of Cyberloafing on Psychological Engagement,” that examines this phenomenon. So if you’ve got a case of the Mondays that’s lasted all week long, you might want to consider fitting more baby animals into your agenda.

One of our favorite sources of online refreshment is Tumblr.com. Tumblr differs from other social networks in that it lends itself so favorably to visual media. While some people do use it for text-based blogs and relationship building, there are boatloads of Tumblrs that function primarily as image streams—more inspiration than conversation (although one could argue that the reblogs, trends and take-offs create a conversation without words). We use them as a cultural barometer and design inspiration, and also just for the pleasure of looking at a stunning landscape or laughing at a visual joke. Here are some of our favorite feeds.

http://thisisnthappiness.com (pictured above)

-Laura Trimmell, Designer

http://hoveringartdirectors.tumblr.com (pictured above)

-Rick Albano, Hovering Art Director

http://spotifyi.tumblr.com/ (pictured above)

-Ryan Schmidt, Producer

http://awelltraveledwoman.tumblr.com (pictured above)

-Jacqueline Smith, Associate Producer

http://doucheyaccountguy.tumblr.com (pictured above)

-Matt Devincenzi, Community Manager

http://neaq.tumblr.com (pictured above)

-Shoshanna Cohen, Writer

http://unhappyhipsters.tumblr.com (pictured above)

- Sarah Grace McCandless, Director of Social Media Strategy

Get in shape. Eat better. Take vitamins. Explore a new hobby. Travel more. Quit [insert bad habit here: smoking, biting your nails, being habitually late]. Finally finish [insert project that never gets done but always gets talked about here: novel, house renovation, closet reorg].

The New Year is upon us, and with it, a slew of new resolutions. Declaring one is the easy part; seeing it through is another story. Research from a variety of sources suggests the odds are stacked against us, such as University of Bristol study which showed that a whopping 78% of those who set New Year’s resolutions fail.

Stats be damned, I intend to be on the WIN side of that equation this year, and for those who want to follow suit, the good news is, technology is also on our side. There’s been an explosion of apps (for both iPhone and Android) created for the sheer intention of helping you reach your goals – virtual life coaches of sorts, whether your resolution is financial, physical, emotional, spiritual, creative, or all of the above.

My 2012 goal? Sleep better. I have a hard time drifting off, but my real issue is I wake up at least 5-10 times every night. I don’t stay awake for long periods of time, but my sleep is constantly interrupted (and even when I am asleep, it’s usually light at best). This is not ideal on a number of fronts – sleep deprivation has been linked with other conditions including memory issues, weight gain, lackluster skin, and more. (So THAT’S why I can’t find my keys/fit in my jeans/look 100 years old!)

I’m always on the hunt for new solutions to help with my Zzz’s, and recently came across a product called Zeo Sleep Manager. My parents gifted me with the mobile version for Christmas. Essentially it’s an app that syncs with a headband worn at night, which works in tandem to track and evaluate sleep patterns, and then makes suggestions accordingly for ways to improve.

Yes, it looks a little ridiculous (think futuristic Olivia Newton-John a la “Let’s Get Physical” era), takes a bit to get used to wearing, and might be giving me brain cancer, but hey, that’s a small price to pay for some serious shut eye! I’ve only been using it for a few days, but so far, it’s confirmed my suspicions, as evident by the red (wake time) and grey (light sleep) bars in my sleep graph. Now I’m kind of obsessed with seeing how this fluctuates, and evaluating the factors behind better or worse nights.

What are your 2012 resolutions? Share yours as a comment below, and check out some of our other favorite apps to keep you on track, covering various types of goals (and bonus, they’re all free).

NIKE TRAINING CLUB – iPhone app featuring hundreds of 30, 45, even 15 minute workouts that you can do anytime, anywhere. The more workout minutes you log, the more workouts you unlock.

MINT – Take control of your personal finances with this Android app that automatically connects with accounts (bank, credit cards, etc.) and creates one primary dashboard to monitor activity.

EVERNOTE – Get organized with this iPhone app that syncs notes, ideas, snapshots and recordings to Mac or Windows laptop or desktop.

GOAL MANAGER – Set and track goals (daily, monthly, or yearly) with this Android app that includes widgets and results sharing functions as well.

QUIT NOW – Free Android app to help kick bad habits, including motivational facts to keep you going.

A big part of what we do at Swift is interpretation. Not necessarily from one language to another; rather, we distill and craft brand language for a variety of media channels—the most challenging of which is Twitter.

You see, Twitter is kind of like Project Runway for writers. Picture Tim Gunn explaining that your mission is to explain a brand new, groundbreaking, innovative, fabulous, trust-us-it’s-life-changing product…in, oh, 140 characters or less. Not 140 words. Characters. Luckily, Swift staff writers love a good challenge; we’re all about the putting the proverbial puzzle pieces into place. Brevity is a good thing. As Shakespeare said, it’s the soul of wit.

But here’s a neat sociological side effect: For example, the hashtag: what was once a way to catalogue a trend or word for searchability has actually infiltrated the Swift water cooler conversation. For brands, hashtags are a great way to assign a tagline to campaigns. For people, they’re a handy way to serve up a punchline—somehow, #somethingwrittenalltogether takes on a certain hilarity. Plus, it easily translates into conversation. Witness:

LAURA: Hey SG, how was your weekend?

SG: I ran four miles. And fell. Hashtag FAIL.

We’ve even created a hand signal to go along with it—think air quotes but better. Here’s how it works: make a peace sign. Swipe the two fingers down, then across, as though you’re drawing a hashtag. This can be demonstrated while saying “hashtag,” or live on its own…it’s up to you.

#hashtagsarefun

#wethinkwearetotallyfunny

#welovewhatwedo

Portlanders have a lot to be proud of: amazing eateries, bike friendly initiatives, curbside compost options… the list goes on.  Recently I’ve added another item to the “why I love Portland” list – amazing talent.   Portland’s new tagline (whether we like it or not) is that it is the place where young people go to retire… and there is some truth to that, but I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by the wealth of professional talent here, especially among the young Portland transplants. According to the 2010 census, the largest represented age group here is 25 to 44 year olds (34.7%).

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to me – as a Portland native, I grew up with lots of smart, driven peers.  Many of us went away to college and then dispersed throughout the country.  When I returned to Portland in 2004, I have to admit I was swayed by the outside perception that it isn’t a hotbed for professional talent.  I’d been living in New York and become accustomed to the professional beat there with finance, consulting, lawyers, etc.  The landscape in Portland was different and at first glance the nontraditional professional scene might appear lazy.  But that certainly isn’t the case.

The people I’ve met in my role with Swift have been contrary to any notion that Portland is the place where people move so they can sleep until noon.  They are, in fact, incredibly hard workers with the ability to juggle heavy workloads and creative passions outside of work.  Swift is growing and I’ve spent the last few months interviewing, networking and meeting a very talented pool of candidates.  The people I’ve met are well spoken, focused on results and eager to dive in and work hard.

From what I’ve seen, Portland is the place where young people go not to retire, but to blend professional drive with creativity and make a career out of it.  This is good news for Swift as we look to 2012 with an eye on adding top talent to our growing team.

The availability of ever more specialized music filtering online means we can all listen to exactly what we want – but at the expense of sharing a soundtrack with everybody else. (This amazing article from the New York Times explores this phenomenon in depth.)

Music sites are getting more social, letting you simultaneously drill into the sub-sub-subgenres you like and share them across your social networks to find a happy medium: you and your friends can cultivate a shared music culture that resonates. Most of us are already familiar with Pandora and YouTube. We love both of those dearly and use them constantly, but we’re also intrigued by these three newer services that are taking social listening one step further, each in a different way.

THIS IS MY JAM

Basic unit: the track

You know how you get obsessed with a song and listen to it over and over on YouTube? This site lets you track those obsessions and share them easily with friends. Showcase one current fixation at a time, chosen from everything on the internet.

Best for:

- Theme songs and anthems

- Immediate, easy sharing

- Tracking down obscure songs

8 TRACKS

Basic unit: the playlist

Create mixes (playlists) of at least eight songs and share them with your friends – upload tracks from your computer or get them from the SoundCloud. Search for mixes you’ll like using tags, artist or description, and follow people whose taste you like so you can listen to their new mixes.

Best for:

- Exploring eclectic genres by keyword

- Gifting mixes to friends: the best modern equivalent of the mix tape

SPOTIFY

Basic unit: the universe

Search and listen to anything you want when you want, including everything online and all the music on your computer. Create stations based on artists. Spotify also lets you opt out of social sharing, in case you don’t want people to know you spent your weekend listening to Miss Piggy singing Christmas songs. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Best for:

- Total control

- Merging the music you own with what’s online

- Keeping your personal obsessions personal

The holiday season is officially in full swing, and we Swifties are swooning over some of the coolest gifts up for grabs this season. While the visions dancing in our heads may lack a bit on the sugarplum front, we’ve got the food, drink, tech, style, and fun bases covered. Check out our top picks, then leave a comment and tell us what’s on your holiday wish list, too.

WINE & DINE

Owl Dessert Plates, $32 – Probably comes as no surprise that we have a bit of a bird fixation here at Swift, including several of us who are in the ‘I Heart Owls’ club, which pretty much guarantees these plates would get used every day – just need to make sure there’s enough to go around.

Kitchen-Aid Ravioli Maker, $169.99 – Chef Boyardee may qualify as five-star dining for the 8 and under set, but our palates crave something with a homemade spin.

Breville Barista Express machine with grinder, $599.95 – We’re primarily a French press-focused office, but wouldn’t argue against this upgrade.

Breville One-touch Tea Maker, $249.95 – We’re equal opportunity tea drinkers as well, and this maker does all the work for you (well, except for the best part – actually drinking the tea).

Avanti Freestanding Wine Cooler, $1,339 – To be clear, we mean “Wine Cooler” as in “Wine Fridge,” not as in “Sun Country” – which is not a variety you’re likely to find nestled in one of the 166 bottle slots, if we have anything to say about it.

GORGEOUS GADGETS

Barky Turntable, $1,298 – With its ash wood base featuring a Premotech motor and Rega tonearm, this turntable screams Pacific Northwest (and makes us drool).

Bose Wireless Speakers with Bluetooth, $299.95 – Turns your iPhone, Android, tablet or laptop into the ultimate boombox.

Wood iPhone Case, $44 – High tech meets old school with this wooden cover that’s designed to look like a retro camera. It’s the perfect Portlandia makeover to make Siri blend in during Saturday brunch at Doug Fir. Currently out of stock, but that doesn’t make it any less desirable. We’ll wait.

STYLE & SUBSTANCE

Haruka Cut Paper Art, $1,700 – As recently seen in the November 2011 show at Compound Gallery here in PDX, Haruka’s style is called “Kirie,” which involves cutting small pieces of paper that are then used as various fields of color in her work. Simply stunning.

Sunstache, $8 – In the “Kill Two Birds with One Stone” department, these sunglasses come with a built-in hipster mustache. With Portland averaging 222 cloudy days per year (according to the Western Regional Climate Center), these glasses may be less about function and more about style, but we’re down with that.

Xylobooks Blank Book, $38 – Beautiful, handmade books made from recycled paper and reclaimed wood.

Worn Effect Leather Chuck Taylor Sneakers, $87.50 – A new spin on a timeless classic. Case closed.

Nike Tempo Track Shorts, $32 – The multitude of color combinations to choose from for these versatile shorts (or Norts, as they’re known in social media circles) inspires us to get on our mark, get set and go.

RECESS TIME

Surftech Standup Paddle Board, $1,715 – We’ve got several dedicated short boarders on the Swift staff, but we also love to paddleboard  - really, any excuse to get in the water, any season.

Volkswagon Bulli, NFS – This concept-only (for now) spin on the classic VW bus includes an iPad-controlled entertainment system in console, among other mouthwatering features.

Annual membership to The Bar Method Portland, $2,100 ($175 month) – Built around core principles practiced in ballet, pilates and yoga, we’re dying to try out these classes at the Pearl District studio just a stone’s throw from Swift HQ.

Truffle Dog Training Seminar, $300-$1,000 – We are definitely pro-pet here at Swift. Our four-legged “kids” include Harley, Coco, Daisy, Bella, Poo-poo, Nancy Drew and the latest edition, Lucy, Liz’s 11-month-old Lagotta Romagnolo, an Italian breed that specializes in hunting for truffles. As luck would have it, there’s an upcoming seminar taking place in Eugene, Oregon (home of the Ducks!) that teaches just that. We can smell the homemade truffle oil now.

Sometimes objects accumulate. My own desk has several sticky notes on the monitor, a couple of check lists, some small stacks of project paperwork, and electronic equipment. These items are what Sam calls “behavioral residue”. If you were to peek at these, you might find out that I’ve recently been working on a mobile version of swiftcollective.com, along with some other interesting projects. You might find that I am not only a user experience designer, but a programmer and motion designer. You’ll also see that I have two very cute kids.

Knowing more about me may or may not be very interesting to you. The point is, you can tell a lot about a person by analyzing their behavioral residue. And whether we are aware of it or not, we all leave behavioral residue as we surf  the web. Residue that can tell a lot about our collective behaviors and motivations.

As a user experience designer, one of the first places that I start researching for a new project is looking at website analytics. I typically take both a  top-down and bottom-up approach. Together these provide a good overview of some primary behaviors and motivations.

A top-down approach looks at the most-visited content. What content are people looking at? How much time are they spending looking at it? Finding the top content can either confirm assumptions or reveal new insights about what content is important to visitors. I once worked on a ski resort website, where the conditions page received twice as much traffic as the home page. It is rare to see a page other than the home page get the most traffic on a site. This information helps paint a picture of how people are behaving on your site, and what content they are interested in.

A bottom-up approach is looking at site search analytics. What information are people searching for? What words do they use to find it? What do they see on the results page and what do they click on? Answering these questions provide a great view into motivation. People typically use site search for one of two reasons: they are looking for something specific and think they will find it fastest by searching, or they are looking for something on your site, but can’t find it. Both of these cases point to information that is important to your visitors. From this information you can identify potential opportunities to provide valuable content that you are not currently providing. You can also gain insight into what words people think of when searching for content on your site. If you are using different terms than your site visitors, they may not find your content.

These two approaches can’t tell you everything, but they are a great place to start. Sam Gosling notes that snooping often leads to questions. Why does someone keep a certain picture on their desk? These questions may not be answered without talking to the owner of the picture. Likewise, fully understanding why visitors find some content more important than others may not be possible without actually talking to some customers. However, behavioral residue can help shed light, and provide meaningful questions that you can seek to understand when you do get to talk with your customers.

Take a minute to do some snooping today. What questions are you inspired to ask?

You may think I’m a pack rat, (in fact, a quick glance in my basement will probably confirm this). The truth is, these shoes have been through a lot with me. In the summer of 1999 I hiked 2,500 miles of the 2,700 mile Pacific Crest trail. When you walk thirty miles of trail in a day, your shoes are the most important piece of equipment you have. This was the last pair of shoes that I walked in on my trip. When I put them on my feet today, I am taken back to the feeling of being on the trail.

I am intrigued by objects that evoke emotions. You can view my post on chickens for an introduction to emotions and how they relate to design. I love to find new objects that have meaning on a personal level, and within a culture. Shoes often have both personal and cultural meanings associated with them. They evoke memories, cause or relieve pain, and even make a statement about who we are. Cultural associations can be manufactured, but they often emerge on their own. Associations emerge that are out of line with those intended by the product brand. Rob Walker wrote a great book about this phenomenon called Buying In, What We Buy and Who We Are. Rob sites examples such as Chuck Taylors, Timberland boots, and PBR as products with meanings defined by the consumer, not the brand.

I consider that hike a defining moment in my life. It changed me, and helps define who I am today. My emotional attachment to those shoes comes through their connection with that experience.

Personal and cultural meanings aside, I can’t keep my old shoes forever. The next round of basement clean-out will likely end with those shoes going in the trash. It will be a sad, but necessary departure. I’m sure that my new shoes will be much better to hike in, but I will miss the pair that carried me through forests and meadows, over mud and rocks, through frigid river fords, and clouds of mosquitoes, and into the tales and memories that are all I have left of a defining experience.

What items do you have an emotional connection with? I’d love to hear about them.