Tommi Kaikkonen explains why so many websites have light-colored backgrounds:

The whole Google network of websites and applications is based primarily on white. They aren’t very exciting or arousing to our senses. But what if they switched the background color to a different one, such as red? My guess is that while the sites might look more exciting, you wouldn’t be as comfortable using them. The color red causes a non-conditional physiological reaction, increasing your heart and respiratory rate. This reaction is something we humans are born with.

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Engage’s Patrick Rufini has put together a thorough analysis of the Obama campaign’s technology efforts.

Drawing on data from public sources and private briefings, the 93-page report covers:

• How the campaign structured itself to directly integrate its online and data analysis teams, including its hiring practices;
• The innovative techniques the campaign used to measure, analyze, and model its supporters and the electorate;
• What the campaign did to optimize its online fundraising, including A/​B testing, so it could meet its $1 billion fundraising goal;
• The campaign’s use of custom-built technology tools and cloud-based services to give itself an edge over Mitt Romney; and
• How social media and online advertising played a big role in reaching voters and bringing them to the polls.

The report (behind a registration wall) is definitely worth your time.

Simple typographical changes like line spacing and column width can affect your website’s readability. Tommi Kaikkonen has created an interactive guide so you can see these changes in real time.

(Via Inspect Element.)

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Tim Stanley: “How reassuring to know that the British are still capable of carving up large parts of the world and renaming them after monarchs!”

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Daniel Burstein explains some interesting research into how marketers can leverage humans’ natural curiosity to improve e-mail performance.

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