Archive for February, 2006
While I still hold to everything I said in my Social Bookmarking “Research” post, I am developing more respect for Reddit’s radical democratic culture every day. I credit this post with helping me reorient my thinking.
My initial frustration came from receiving negative feedback on bookmarked stories (sometimes a great deal) with no context provided by comments. Now that I understand why the feedback comes without context, I can put it in its proper perspective.
Reddit’s feedback mechanism is so heavily used, at least from what I can tell, because of its ability to predict stories that will interest a reader based on their likes and dislikes. After I voted several stories up and down (I’d rather just ignore the ones I don’t like), I started receiving recommended stories that interested me without having to filter through the entire list of submitted stories myself.
Though I’m not sure that Reddit will be an everyday tool, it is an example of the rapidly emerging software built around the come to me Web structure that is made possible by RSS feeds.
February 18th, 2006
This is a cool tool that takes any image and converts it to SVG outlining it with words that you input. An example using my logo is here.
read more | digg story
February 17th, 2006
Though we at Design Delineations have been doing Web site design and even blog theme design long enough to feel quite expert in this area, I have been relatively ignorant regarding social bookmarking. Today I set out to find out exactly what goes on in the world of social bookmarking.
Here are some things I learned. First, there are several Web sites that allow users to subscribe to RSS feeds, store their bookmarks online and share them with friends. These are del.icio.us, Furl, Simpy and many more. I tested all of the ones mentioned above and liked each of them about equally.
What I found when I tested both Digg and Reddit though really surprised me. These are sophisticated content filtration systems that allow peers to critique and promote articles. What rises to the top is likely to be heavily reviewed and therefore, hopefully, worth reading.
On Reddit.com and Digg.com I posted similar content and received similar response. However, friendly fact checkers at Digg corrected some errors in my post while at Reddit, all I received were negative votes. Which community will serve me better?
Edit: Another social bookmarking Web site that I found extremely fun to use and not super combative was BlinkList.
Edit2: I submitted other content to Reddit - better researched and written - and have not received the strongly negative response.
Edit3: Steve Rubel says, “Yahoo won when they bought del.icio.us. Game over. Move along. Nothing to see here. The bookmarks have left the building.” I need to pick one service and stick to it to avoid hassles managing mulitple lists. It will likely be del.icio.us. Not because of Rubel, but because it is easy to use, the standard tool by which all others are measured, and well supported by plugin developers for many Web applications.
February 15th, 2006
I downloaded IE7 primarily to see what problems it would cause with my existing clients’ Web sites. I must say, I was surprised at how little trouble this upgrade will cause! Microsoft seems to be listening well and learning about what designers and end users want in a browser.
IE7 adds tabbed browsing, RSS subscription, and best of all - ClearType. After a couple of weeks of regularly using IE7, I have to say that this enhancement is by far the most significant change for the better in Web browsing history in the last few years.
IE7 is easy on my eyes! For someone who spends most of every day in front of a computer, that’s a compliment indeed. Edit 2/18/2005: Still easy on my eyes when reading sans-serif type, but I’m beginning to see the blurriness on serif type as a real problem with cleartype.
Of course, not everyone agrees!
There’s an interesting article about ClearType over at Designorati.
Edit: As pointed out over on Digg by Rob, ClearType is a Windows XP feature that has been integrated into IE7. It is not technically an IE feature. Until now, it had to be enabled for every application at a system level. IE7 allows you to apply it to the browser only.
February 15th, 2006
I want to dispel myths that some people may believe about Web designers. If you don’t recognize these myths, it could be because I’m the only one who ever believed them. I can only speak for myself!
- Web designers are super creative types who see visions, dream dreams, and make remarkable designs appear out of thin air.
Rebuttal: Web designers must have the ability to hear their client’s requests, goals, and personality through verbal and nonverbal communication and translate it into a tangible design. This is not magic, but a process based on careful thought, improvisation, and client feedback.
- Web designers are super smart.
Rebuttal: Again, I can only speak for myself! I’m certainly smart enough to add and subtract, but I am human and make mistakes from time to time.
There is no substitute for feedback from a client. Questions that challenge a designer’s assumptions can be extremely helpful to the process. Try asking, “Why did you make the logo that size?” or “What message do you think that color scheme sends?” etc. Non-designers need do little more than ask questions and offer direction to get an above average design from an attentive designer.
- Web designers can’t take criticism.
Rebuttal: Perhaps there’s some truth here. At my company, which is myself and any sub-contractors needed, we work hard to take a non-defensive posture. Depending how sleep deprived I am, my ability to respond with class may be diminished. However, constructive criticism is the lifeblood of good design. Good designers know this, and treat criticism with respect - even if it hurts.
I hope the lighthearted tone of this post comes through. I enjoy working on design projects and the give and take that it requires.
February 15th, 2006
In part two of this series, I mentioned taking advantage of the geo-location efforts of the major search engines. It seems to me that the association of a confirmed physical address with a Web site will count favorably. Perhaps moreso in the future.
Today, I want to mention briefly a content strategy that will help to drive traffic to your Web site for targeted keywords that you have preselected. How can this be achieved? By doing effective keyword research, and by carefully crafted content based on themes derived from your keyword research.
But how can you do effective keyword research? Search Engine Visibility author, Shari Thurow, has published an excellent article on this subject. She points to several reliable tools for keyword research. “Many of you probably already use the keyword research tools available at Overture, Google, and Wordtracker. By all means, keep using these tools.”
Creating themed content is not as simple as keyword research. However, using a systematic archiving approach and creating regular content relevent to the keyword themes you have researched will easily begin to return results.
Conceptually, it is not difficult to create articles based on keyword themes, however, it does take work and a commitment to continue developing content. When it comes to search engine results, a large number of pages of related content is very valuable.
February 13th, 2006
Ok, just for fun. No heavy stuff here. Browsing the blogosphere, I found a link for the Worth 1000 If Canadians Ruled Contest.
There are some funny Photoshop experiments here.
February 11th, 2006
This post assumes you read part one of the series.
If you are a small business contacting me for Web design services, you will receive different treatment than a corporate client who comes knocking (by email of course!). Why is this? By experience, I have learned that I need to make some assumptions about types of clients.
Assumptions About Corporate Clients
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The first assumption I make is that a corporation knows its marketing challenges and that it has already set a direction for advertising/marketing/promotion that is working. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have the budget to call me.
- My second assumption is that my feedback to a corporate client will deal with content suggestions and design approaches exclusively.
Though these two assumptions may not prove to be universally true, they have been a relatively reliable guide. Usually, if a corporation has a marketing challenge their budget allow an expert consultant to advise them in a particular area. This takes the load off of me in regards to their success and failure and allows me to focus on my core competency, which is after all, Web design!
Assumptions About Small Businesses
- What small businesses usually need is a marketing solution. While I can’t offer all pieces of this, I can help them think through their product offering, their likely allies, and we can research together what experts might need to be consulted to reach their goals.
- Small business clients (at least those just getting started) rarely have clearly articulated, measurable goals. I will try to determine if these goals are in place and how a Web site might help reach those goals.
Once we have an idea of what goals are set and what challenges there will be to their achievement, we can begin working on a small business Web site.
Without very clearly articulated goals, most small businesses do not continue to maintain a Web site and will not likely gain much from having one. Since I am invested in the success of my clients, this is something I want to avoid.
I love working with small businesses, it is where the greatest rewards can be had … and the greatest heartbreaks and losses. This is why, potential small business client, when you open a dialog I am likely to tell you hard truths as I see them and ask you tough questions before I ever design a Web site.
February 11th, 2006
I opened my blog up to guest articles a week or two ago. I am happy to publish articles that share valuable information. However, I did not do proper research on this article and it contained links to a site that promoted a spyware toolbar called the SearchSpot Toolbar. I’ve removed the article.
If you wish to submit articles of REAL value for my readers, please feel free to do so after carefully reading this post.
February 11th, 2006
Fresh out of college with a BFA in Visual Communications, I thought what every client needed was an attractive Web site. The only real problem with the Web, I thought, was that it was filled with poorly designed, outdated Web sites that had navigation problems.
Imagine my surprise when I began to turn out Web sites for clients that met my standards for quality, design, and navigation and yet did not achieve the level of sales or public acclaim that I expected.
At Design Delineations, I am processing the fact that clients rarely come to me for a Web design or redesign even though this is their stated objective. They come for a marketing solution. As a small company with many small businesse clients whose budgets do not merit a marketing department, it is incumbent on me to learn how to deliver these solutions, and learning I am!
Some of this post’s content has already revealed my reluctance to partition roles, concepts, and processes rigidly. Most Web designers would just say that marketing is the responsibility of the marketing department or client, and it is. Yet, there is something in me that demands I try to draw it out of the client.
On occasion, there has been an assumption that a Web site IS a marketing strategy. Perhaps it can be such, but not if it is simply assumed. The days of the field of dreams have come and gone … at least as it pertains to the WWW.
Here is a question for passers by, clients, and potential clients: How can I chart a course for Design Delineations that will help my customers use their Web sites as part of a marketing strategy?
By the way, I define Marketing Strategy as a plan to achieve a specific customer response.
February 11th, 2006
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