A wealthy and wise merchant rode into town in search of a craftsman who could design a website for his company. The merchant had heard that having a website would enable him to reach marketplaces in far-off lands, and that he could profit handsomely. He also knew that he would need to spend some money before he could make money. He had not become a wealthy merchant by spending money foolishly, so he determined to shop around and compare the offerings of the town’s two web design shops.

The merchant stepped into the first shop, told the proprietor that he needed a website, and asked how much such a device would cost.

“One thousand gold pieces,” was the prompt response from the webmaster. “Best price in town. Time is money, you know, so we’ll get started on it right away and have it delivered to your door in one week.”

The merchant was impressed. The price sounded very reasonable based on the research he had done beforehand, plus the webmaster seemed to understand the value of his time as a business man. And having it ready so quickly would mean that he could be up and running and doing business before his competitors even knew what hit them.

Feeling very good about his prospects already, he strode confidently into the second shop. “Your competition across the street can build me a website in one week for a thousand gold pieces,” he announced, chin elevated just ever-so-slightly. “Think you can do any better?”

The proprietor considered that for a moment, then replied “Of course. But it will cost you five times as much, and take five times as long.”

“What?” The merchant, who had been leafing absently through the brochures and printed portfolio samples displayed on the proprietor’s desk, snapped upward with a start and nearly scattered papers all over the room. “I asked if you could do better! How is five times as much and five times as long a better deal for ME?” He turned and started to leave.

“Because we’ll put at least five times the effort into it,” the designer continued. “Time is money, you know, and it takes time to do things right. Five times the effort spent to learn about your business and the challenges you face. Five times the research into your market, your competition, and the trends you need to get in front of. Five times the amount of sketching, prototyping, concepting, and planning. And five times the communication with you so that you’re satisfied that the end result is exactly as you need.”

Now it was the merchant’s turn to consider. Being a very wise merchant, he knew that you usually get what you pay for. Still, five thousand gold pieces was a big investment, even in those days. “So, will you guarantee that if I hire you, I’ll generate five times the profit than if I go with the other guy?”

“No, I can’t guarantee that. All I can do is ask you this: As an obviously wise merchant, which do you think is likely to be more profitable over the long term? The quick-and cheap website, or the site that’s been carefully calibrated to your unique requirements?”

As the merchant rode towards home, he know that he would sleep well that night, having made the wise decision.

My question to you, wise reader, is this: Which web design shop did the merchant choose?

Brainstorming: Breaking Through the Wall of Mediocrity

Source: Lateral Action
Author: Mark Dykeman

If you use brainstorming as a method to generate innovative ideas for your business, you’ve probably noticed mixed results. This article analayzes the brainstorming process, and notes where the really good ideas tend to be generated in effective sessions.

Your Perception of Business Growth Is Wrong

Source: Business Week
Author: Karen E. Klein

So is “grow or die” really the only choice? Poorly managed growth can kill you just as dead. “Improve or die,” as in “improve your customer value proposition,” is the choice this article argues is more relevant to small businesses.

The Case For Open-Source Design: Can Design By Committee Work?

Source: Smashing Magazine
Author: Mushon Zer-Aviv

I’ve been involved in more projects than I’d like to admit that were reduced to utter dreck because the powers that be insisted on a design by committee approach. But sometimes, the nature of the work leaves no choice. Here’s a fairly technical article that explores some ways that collaborative challenges have been addressed in open-source projects

B2B Search and Content Marketing: Getting Found by Prospects

Source: Savvy B2B Marketing
Author: Stephanie Tilton

We all know that ranking well in search queries is key to guiding prospects to your B2B services. Read on to learn a little about search’s ever-increasing importance to B2B marketing, along with some recommended content publishing and SEO best practices. As with all best practices, though, be sure to do your due diligence about whether ’tis better to follow along or buck the trend.

12 Tips for Writing Better Content

Source: Small Business Trends
Author: Lisa Barone

All the SEO best practices in the world aren’t going to help you if your content just plain stinks. Get it right, then get it found.

It’s almost inevitable: You’re sitting around the table with your team, planning out your project, when some well-meaning soul announces “We need to make sure that we’re following best practices with (fill in the blank).

Heads nod vigorously. “Of course!” Oh, absolutely!” “We don’t want to re-invent the wheel, now, do we?”

Adhering to whatever your industry considers to be best practices is the default position for many organizations, and for good reason: There’s no sense in repeating avoidable mistakes for which smart people have already invented a remedy.

Play it Safe, or Take the Plunge?

But how often do you stop and ask yourself exactly why you’re following best practices in a given situation? Before you simply apply a paint-by-numbers BP solution (funny, that those initials are shared by a certain oil company), take a moment to answer the following questions:

• Do the unique variables in my situation map closely to an existing best practice solution?
• Am I just trying to cover my ass?
• Is there an opportunity to invent a unique approach that can translate into a competitive advantage?
• Is the goal of the project to maintain a position, or to advance to a better one?
• Can I defend a non-BP solution rationally, with facts, figures, and educated predictions?

What it boils down to, is you need figure out whether or not the tried-and-true approach aligns well with your overall business objectives, or whether those objectives are better met by embracing a certain level of innovation and risk. If your goal is to set youself apart from your competition in some way, then you really have no choice: Pick your spots wisely, but be prepared to buck convention. Do it well, and it’ll be someone else’s turn to debate whether or not to adopt the best practice that you invented.

Image: “Sheep on the Road,” by adulau on Flickr

When designing your website, the temptation is often to provide access to as much info as possible about your company, product, or service, and have it all immediately available on every page of the site. The result is lots and lots of buttons, links, snippets, blurbs and widgets all competing for space and attention.

On the one hand, you want visitors to explore your site and learn all the great things you have to offer, but on the other hand you do want them to ultimately take some sort of action and buy your product or sign up for your newsletter. If you present a confusing jumble of screen elements, the danger is that your visitor isn’t able to easily locate important information that leads to your desired result.

Perception Is Key

Your task is to find a balance between providing ample access and achieving your outcome goals.

The key is to simplify the perception of available options. Even in sites with substantial depth and complexity, careful design of your site architecture can permit easy access to all that the site has to offer, while still moving customers toward that all-important transaction your site ultimately exists for.

DO:

• Do build a visual hierarchy, giving prominence to those items that are most valuable in directing visitors toward your desired outcome.
• Do pay attention to logical groupings of similar or related content. If it all simply must be available onscreen, grouping like items together and visually setting them apart will contribute to a more organized feel.
• Do include your call-to-action on every page. If you write your copy carefully so that it aligns well with your overall goals, the call-to-action is less likely to appear tacky or contrived. By doing this, you can ensure that “all roads lead to Rome” regardless of whether the visitor arrived at a given page via a direct or serendipitous path.

DON’T:

• Don’t use an overly wide variety of different button and link styles. Just as too many fonts can give your page that “ransom note” look, too many button styles can make an otherwise well-organized screen look bewildering.
• Don’t use every color available on your color picker. Pick a tasteful color scheme and stick to it, using tints and shades of the basic colors for variety.
• Don’t forget to leave generous margins and white space!

Image: MiG-21MF Cockpit, by Kecko on Flickr

This week, we’ve got a lot of good social media stuff to talk about. No surprise, there – social media is such a rapidly emerging field, with fascinating developments occurring daily.

Making User Interface Elements Difficult to Use By Intent

Source: Six Revisions
Author: Jacob Gube
Subject: Web Design

Don’t let the title mislead you – Jacob’s not trying to be difficult. What he’s talking about in his article is that sometimes, there are functions on your website that you don’t want users to easily access. Accidentally deleting content, for example, is an undesirable action that you can shield your users from with a little planning and careful design. Read on…

Reminder to B2B Marketers: Social Media is NOT Spectator Sport, its Contact Sport

Source: The Buzz Bin
Author: Priya Ramesh
Subject: Social Media

This post reviews some smart guidelines for engaging online in those cases where you or your company have been the recipient of negative coverage or comments. Read On…

An Open Letter to Marketers Who Abuse Social Media for Selfish Gain

Source: KISSMetrics
Author: Jon Morrow
Subject: Social Media

You’ve seen them cluttering up your inbox, Twitter feed, and other media channels: Those annoying “marketers” who constantly get in your face and honk their horns every way from Sunday, but don’t seem to be aware that all that effort is just turning off potential customers. Don’t be one of those people!  Read On…

Social Media R.O.I. for associations and non-profits/NFPs

Source: The Brand Builder
Author: Olivier Blanchard
Subject: Social Media

If you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and subscribe to The BrandBuilder Blog. Then follow him on Twitter. Now. No need to read the article first. Trust me.

Olivier Blanchard has got to be one of the smartest people in social media, and is a must-read because he focuses on cold, hard business facts as applied to social media. And he isn’t afraid to bust the fairy-tales being shilled by “Social Media Gurus” who are long on promises of zillions of followers, but short on actual bottom-line impacts. Read On…

An Open Letter to CRM and Social Media People

Source: Jacob Morgan
Author: Jacob Morgan
Subject: Social Media

Not only our second Jacob, but our second Open Letter as well! This article is worthwhile because it attempts to find some common ground between practioners of two converging approaches to customer engagement. I’m personally of the opinion that finding common ground is a far more productive starting point on which to build a working relationship than is highlighting differences, which is perhaps why this post appealed to me. Now, if somebody could please relay this to Democrats and Republicans… Read On…

Designing a website is very much like writing a good piece of music.

Music composition is often a process of reduction. The first draft usually contains lots of unnecessary notes and rhythmic inflections that only get in the way and muddy up the mix. Successive revisions strip away the fluff, ultimately leaving only the essentials.

A web design often starts out with a lengthy wish list. But how many of the possible features and adornments that are out there directly support your primary goal? Figure out what’s essential, and forget the rest, or risk confusing your customers and losing them to a more focused competitor.

Image: Music in the Sky, by tanakawho on Flickr

The client was marveling at the fact that the more dimensions such as design direction, engagement methods, social media tactics, etc. that we took into account, the less certain he became as to his positioning within the online space and in the market in general. Before our discussion, he thought he knew exactly where he stood. Now, after beginning to get an understanding of critical factors he hadn’t necessarily considered before, he wasn’t so sure. The problem was that he knew where he wanted to go, but determining the exact direction for how to get there was difficult because he didn’t know exactly where he was starting from.

The story this situation reminded me of had to do with the differences in how sailors would determine their position using old-school dead reckoning techniques. They’d note the position of the sun, moon, and stars, measure with their sextants, sniff the wind, check the clock, and so on. Then, armed with the data they’d collected, they’d mark their estimated position on their navigational chart.

Although the tools and techniques used were generally the same (at a given point in history), what differed was the certainty with which crew members would mark the ship’s position:

The least experienced crew members would mark a dot exactly where the data told them it should be.

Sailors with a bit of experience would draw a small circle around the area instead of a dot.

And so on. The more experienced the crew member, the larger the circle, all the way up to the captain, who made the largest circle of all.

The reason for this was that experience taught that the methods of the day were imprecise, and that factoring in a degree of uncertainty from the start produced better outcomes than betting everything based on inaccurate information. What separated the top officers from the rest was their ability to manage the uncertainty. The good officers would set off in the general direction indicated by their initial assessment, knowing fully well that they would need to periodically reassess and adjust along the way in order to reach their destination.

Just as with the ancient sailors in the story, there are always factors in a web design project that are unclear at the start. The mix of factors depends on your unique situation, but regardless, you have a decision to make: You can succumb to “analysis paralysis,” allowing the uncertainty to delay or even cancel progress, or you can begin developing based on what you do know, and build out the details based on later assessments.

By taking action and at least getting something in place, you’ll have something real and measurable upon which you can make highly informed adjustments. Accepting the fact of uncertainty frees you to get in the game now, make improvements along the way, and ultimately build a stronger and more effective website.

The Challenge

A non-profit art gallery I work with regularly hosts exhibitions of excellent artwork, but struggles with generating the turnout they desire. After reviewing their materials, one of the problems we identified was that the focus of their web copy (and of much of the rest of their marketing collateral) tended to be directed toward the artists themselves. They had written plenty of good stuff about techniques, materials, and studio spaces, but not much that was of interest to a non-artist. As a result, their copy just wasn’t forming a connection with potential customers.

The Solution

As a solution, we put together the checklist below. The idea was to help their writers jump-start their thinking by getting them to focus on the appeal of art, rather than the making of art. By using these as a starting point, their copy appeals to customers on a much more personal and emotional level than the previous technically oriented copy was doing.

• Origins. How and why did you arrive at the theme for the show? What was the thought process behind it, the personal journey that led there, current cultural and aesthetic trends that inform the theme?
• Participants. Talk to a particular artist who is showing work. A few quotes from the artist about a particular piece, their approach to the work, etc. will help give a little personality to the show.
• Similarities. What are some previous shows (whether at your gallery or elsewhere) that you can highlight as a comparison (e.g., “If you liked that show, you’ll love this one!).
• Differences. What’s unique about the show? Things that make a show unique also make it inherently interesting – people love novelty!
• Opportunities. Does the exhibit feature any up-and-comers who seem destined for bigger and better things? Everyone loves to be able to say, “I knew them when…” They also love the opportunity to acquire a piece from a good artist before they make a name for themselves and raise their prices accordingly.
• The Cool. Why will attending this show make someone more hip than their friends who don’t attend. Just kidding….sort of!

Swap out the art gallery-specific subjects in the list for items having to do with your company or industry, and you’ll have a tool you can use the next time you need to create web copy that connects with your customers.

Got something that should be added to the list? Leave a comment!

“Chameleon” places eighteen of the most common social networks’ logos (plus one shameless self-promo!) upon a simple, semi-transparent background that allows the colors and textures of your site to show through. No matter your style, Chameleon will work with it.

Search the web for social media icon sets, and you’ll find no shortage of gorgeous, specialized designs. Need something to fit with the Web 2.0 look? Plenty of options. Doing the grunge thing? Got that, too. The hand-sketched look, huge 3D constructions, kitschy-cute—it’s all out there for the taking.

But on a recent project, I was looking for a “workhorse” set that would work well across a variety of styles. I’d been using a fairly standard set for a while on a number of projects but was ready for a change, and didn’t find quite what I was looking for out on the interwebs. So, I finally decided to delve into that favorite sport of web designers, and designed my own social media icon set.

What You Get

Apple

Blogger

Delicious

Digg

Facebook

Flickr

FriendFeed

Google

Last.fm

LinkedIn

MySpace

RSS

StumbleUpon

Technorati

Twitter

Google Wave

WordPress

YouTube

Eric Heinzman

 

Chameleon Social Media Icon Set by Eric Heinzman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Based on a work at www.ericheinzman.com.

The logos used in these icons are copyright their respective companies and I claim no copyright in their creation.

In every design project, there is a point in the process where you ask yourself, “Do I want to use cutting-edge features and techniques, or will I be better off playing it safe?” The question may arise early on during high-level strategy discussions, or later on when weighing options for how to handle a specific component, but how you answer can have major impacts on how well your site meets your needs. As in most things, the answer depends on your particular goals, markets, and circumstances. If your brand involves an early adopter component, then taking chances on the latest and greatest aligns well with your strategy, but if you are more in the technological mainstream, proceed with caution.

Assess the Risk

In designing for the Web, pushing the envelope often equates to exploring the limits of what we can do with current browser and platform technology. Since the tools your audience uses can vary widely, deciding whether or not to build a cutting-edge feature usually comes down to listing the pros and cons of going forward with it. Some typical responses are:

Pros

• Pushing the limits forces you to think more creatively and critically.
• Pushing the limits also presents the possibility of uncovering previously unforeseen opportunities you can take advantage of.
• Discover and solve problems related to the feature before your competitors.
• Promote an avant-garde image.
• Build a reputation as being ahead of the curve.

Cons

• The latest technology may be theoretically nice, but practically useless to the vast majority of your audience.
• Your user base uses older technology that cannot support the newest features.
• Code may have to be turned over to less skilled maintenance staff.
• Immature technology can be buggy. If something doesn’t work, your audience won’t be impressed with your efforts to be cutting-edge – they’ll just think you’re inept.
• Usability may suffer if you stray too far from expectations.

Your Turn

Obviously, your list will vary and be specific to the feature you’re considering. Comments are welcome – what pros and cons to cutting-edge features and techniques have you encountered in your web design projects?

Image: Skydiving 2009, by divemasterking2000 on Flickr