Building it right: web design Rule 1.1 (overhead from those who actually do it)

Long title I know. Punchy. 

Last night I attended the Conversation Thursday event, this time focusing on User Experience (UX). The speakers (Hammad Khan of Zabisco, Paul Rourke of PRWD and Adam Gutteridge of Elisa-DBI) and the crowd were a super interesting and friendly bunch. The phrase "bat shit insane" (check out the highly successful Lingscars.com and you'll know what we were talking about) was also used, which you have to appreciate in any presentation!

Amongst the aha moments for me (there was a lot given I'm neither from a UX or web analytics background), was one that really resonated. It's simple: 

Get everyone responsible for the delivery of the site involved. In the beginning. 

Sounds obvious. Is obvious. But so rarely done. In marketing, advertising, people are always moaning about what they were handed by the person above them in the chain. The finished artist creating from a concept design, the designer from the art director, the art director from the client handlers and the client handlers from the client. Remember Chinese whispers?

Same thing in web design - the people doing the build handed optimistic briefs by designers and the designer responding to a potentially non-expert brief from the client. In fact, I am sure I have been guilty of writing some of those!

Enough with moaning! There are so many brilliant people who really do 'get it' along the way. But if we don't connect with them, we miss the goodness we pay them for - their skill in their particular area. 


Hence Rule 1.1: Get everyone responsible for the delivery of the site involved. In the beginning. 

What's Building it right: web design Rule 1.0? Get everyone excited by the brilliant thing  the new site we are creating will achieve by making the vision clear, vivid and shared. In the beginning.

You can see @paulrouke's entertaining presentation here.

Legacy people

In the technology world we rapidly become familiar with the term legacy systems. This term is always accompanied by a grimace and a mental image of a world of expensive pain to move away from them. 


Sure, at the time they were implemented, they were the best, but now time and context has moved on...and often the business can't because we face the huge hurdle of moving from the legacy system. 


Speaking with a recruitment specialist today we discussed a term for the other oft-quoted problem for large organisations - legacy people. People who were once the best, the right person at the right time, but now are perceived as not quite what the company needs.


But what if we look at legacy and its positive meaning? 


A personal gift by Will. 


A body of persons sent on a mission. (the original 14c. meaning)


Just because someone is different from us, doesn't mean they don't have a gift or a mission to give to our team, our company. So often we look at older people at work as 'them', what if we feel that they are 'us'? 


What can we learn from their experience, relationships and advice? From their 'brand authenticity' that comes from 10 or 20 years of service? What happens if we have honest, adult conversations about how we can work together to build the business, acknowledging their background and situation and without fear? What awesomeness could we create? 

You? Do we have time for dialogue in an environment that is so pressured for rapid change, rapid profit. Is this kind of talking just not practical? Or have you had great experiences working with your whole staff, including the legacy ones?

The humble promo pen

Anyone in marketing (particularly medical and technology) will be familiar with the humble promo pen. Cheap, common and still strangely ubiquitous. 

The most common rationale for pens and other promotional products are that it is sustained brand exposure for a brand. Often, it is because sales people feel good having something to give to clients, no matter how small. Easy to dismiss, particularly when you see people actively making a game of collecting them for their children at trade shows. 

But it is not about the pen, it is about the moment of delight, no matter how small, that comes from being given a gift. 

The talented team at Truly Deeply use a phrase called Brand Gestures. A brand gesture can be a way of treating clients and guests at your trade show, it can be providing luxury hand cream to people on a flight or it can be a the provision of a humble promo pen. The better linked with the brand essence, the stronger the brand differentiation. 

As one organisation doing award winning promotional work, Zinc, says: we remember what we touch and feel. 

What brand gesture can you give your customers, remembering it is not the size of the gesture, but the gesture itself that is meaningful? 

You? What do you think? Are promotional gifts passe or do the right ones still have a powerful role to play for brands?

Obvious to you.

At a fabulous event to stimulate and inspire entrepreneurship from a surprising source - The British Library, I was reminded about the importance of placing yourself in your customers' shoes. 

Christina Richardson, founder of the Nurture Network, an outsourced marketing function for small business did a succinct presentation on key steps as you market your new business. 

With respect, to me it was obvious. With even more respect, I saw many people in the audience madly scribbling notes. 

It was a reminder to think about what of value can be shared, however obvious it may be to you. 

You? What could you share that may be obvious to you, but helpful to your customers?