Lately  there has been a resurgence in the discussion over using design for the greater good. From using design principles at the boardroom table, to solving third world problems with better interaction design.  Who are we really kidding!

While the concepts are very noble and I can see how it can be done. There really needs to be a dose of reality in all this.

The overriding principle is that we can change the world through design. We do this by influencing everything we design.  Such that we are producing high quality products that take into account sustainability, inclusivity and still focus on the business and audiences at hand.

Yes I know this isn’t impossible and is a great idea.

Still let’s just stop and think about this.   I don’t know about you, but I don’t think the scope of the clients I deal with day to day are really going to have any influence on a large scale.

Sure I work hard and consider all the angles that I can for my clients.   But realistically their budgets and scope of their business just doesn’t allow for much alurtistic design.

Now I would just love to follow these outstanding principles if the opportunity arises.

I  would also love to see a dose of realism thrown into this mix.   It’s all very well and good, for a group of luminaries working on top end projects to spout on about these principles.  Frankly I don’t believe the web sites, we are all designing and building on a daily basis, here at the other end of the specrum are going to make any real difference.

What do you think, can our design make a difference anymore?  Can we change the world one design at a time.

Over the years I have found that web awards tend to fall into three types:

• The mindless handout of awards to favour colleagues.
• Awards for the prettiest or most unusable but funky hip design.
• An award that is a true test and representation of the best in the industry.

What I find that you are really  looking for is a web award competition that acts as a yard stick to measure your skills that is judged by your peers in the web industry, not advertising executives.

Something that congratulates the web designers and developers that are following web standards and producing sites that are accessible and inline with the latest in best practices.

That means something. It should be hard won, against the best that the Australia web industry has to offer.   With lots of meaningful categories that complement the sites you develop.

An award that will give you that recognition for all those late nights, un-billable hours and murderous deadlines.

You know it would be perfect if it was also a value asset that would promote you and your clients business as well.

Maybe I’m just dreaming.

…However this is what the Australian Web Awards, now in its 5 year of handing out awards, has been doing.

Now I have been involved with the Australian Web Awards committee now for two years. This is  a completely volunteer run event.  In a way it’s totally about giving back to the community.  It was amazing last year to see the high quality of the submissions to the Web Awards.   Also of interest was the outstanding effort  of entries that made it through the judging and vetting process to the finals.

Last year, I was expecting the East Coast to be dominate in the awards and produce an overall winner.  However it seems the East Coast doesn’t have what it takes, and the the West Coast was triumphant.

Which is a strange outcome given there where very few Western Australian judges.  I do wonder if the East Coast really does have  what it takes.

Nominations for the Australian Web Awards are open now, yes right now! They close on the 8 July 2010. No extensions.   I would be thinking about getting your entry in now.

The bottom line is if you think some of the web sites, produced over the last financial year are good enough to stand up with the best in Australia, then you should be entering the Australian Web Awards.

Do you have what it takes. I’m sure you do!

Social networking sites like Facebook and the like were fun when they started.   You could be ensured of a reasonable degree of trust with them.

I don’t know if you have noticed lately, but Facebook have been slowly but surely selling off your privacy, and rights  to the information you put on their site. They are doing this by just changing their Terms and Conditions from time to time.   The changes have been slow and almost calculated.

Upload a photo to Facebook and they own rights to it, or can reuse or sell it as they want.   They also tried to take control of any posts or articles submitted to Facebook as well.

Now with more privacy concerns, it has come the time to take a serious look to social networking services, as Nathanael Boehm suggests, and our business relationship with them.

Responsibility as the Gatekeepers

I know to some sections of the community  think that Facebook is the web and nothing else,  just like with google is the browser.

For us in the technological driving seat, we know that the web is much more than this walled garden.   Just like AOL and other closed sites (requiring a password to see the content) Facebook is just a sub section of the greater content of the open web.

As the gatekeepers of this knowledge we really must use it wisely when directing clients and the general public.   When we advise people on how to use web, we have to be constantly thinking of the bigger picture.

It maybe that we see a certain social networking site as the latest and greatest crazy.   We may see it as a great place for gathering business leads, or maintaining a community.   Still remember  we are not our clients users.  Our experience is not their experience.

Lessons to Learn

We tend to live in a rarefied bubble of the advancing technology of the web industry.   This is not the real world, as I’m often reminded when conducting user testing.

We need to remember:

• Not everyone is on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, FourSquare or the like.
• Not everyone has access to various social networking site at their main point of access.
• Not everyone wants to be on a social networking site.

Sure, yes we all know that.   So why do we:

• Setup links to events on a closed systems (like Facebook).
• Setup links of feeds or photo galleries on a closed system.
• Post information and articles for customers on a closed systems.
• Use a comment system or publication system that is invite only or closed system (like Dribble, FriendFeed).

Not the greatest experience in the world  - you read about this great article, but the link is to a closed site.  There is a must attend event, but it’s on a closed site for members only.   You don’t have the time to muck around signing up.  So you move on, frustrated.

Sound familiar, it should that’s how some people react.

So when you next organise an event, post an article, link to a video, upload photos, or recommend the like to a client.   How about doing it on the normal Open Web, and linking that to your social networking site of choice.

Towards the Open Web

It’s simple.  use the web that isn’t behind a closed wall.  The web that isn’t controlled by someone else’s Terms and Conditions, that are forever changing.

Use the  Open Web that is going to reach all the people, use the web as it was originally intended.   If I suggested you use AOL as the basis for a client business web site years ago, you would all have laughed at me.  So why use Facebook?

There are alternatives.   I shouldn’t have to point you to them, but they do exist, ones that  don’t make you sell your soul to use them.

More importantly when we recommend the use of social media in a business promotional strategy, make sure the client and you are fully aware of the relevant Terms and Conditions.

You also really need to have a handle on their audience, will the audience to interested in the online social network for the client or not. Winging it on your gut instinct or the clients say so just isn’t going to cut it in today’s business world.

It’s not hard, use the Open Web first over the Closed Web of the walled gardens.  What about you, Closed or Open Web?

You have been to all the networking events, chatted to people, exchanged business cards. Even found a few contacts that would be worthwhile leads in the future.

Still after all this, it just doesn’t seem to be working.

So you go to few more events, you have been really listening to people and you have your opening  networking pitch perfect, it’s all going well.

However still the results aren’t that great. Sound familiar?

The problem is business networking doesn’t stop once you have left the event. It’s about the longer term networking post event. This is often the most important aspect of networking besides the event.

1. It’s Not about Collecting Cards

   Going to networking events is not about collecting business cards. It’s not a game where the person with the most cards wins. In fact if you have a load of cards from contacts you aren’t interested in, then maybe you aren’t focusing on the right people at the events.  It’s about quality, not quantity.

2. Record Your Contacts

   You know that stack of business cards you have collected.  You need to immediately transfer them to your address books (or CRM) and also  write down everything you can remember about the person you met for each card.

   I will often record peoples details, impressions, their specialities and professions along with their details of their business card.  If you do this within hours of an event you will remember most of the points. A lot ore than you will days or weeks later. Don’t rely on your memory as it fades.

3. Make Contact

   The day after a networking event you have to make contact with all the people you met. By doing this you will reaffirm and re-enforce your details with your contacts. You need to go over and summarise any topics that were discussed as well. Making contact gives the person an easier way to add your details to their address book.

   Also if you promised anything, ensure you provide the information immediately.  Any delay just looks like you don’t care.

   Yes I know it’s hard work but it really does help make an impression.

4. Have a Style of Contact

   The style of contact you use to make contact isn’t really important, but the quality is.  Some people send out handwritten postcards, these are a great idea in this digital age. Especially if you possess a good degree of penmanship. A parchment postcard handwritten with say a fountain pen is something to be treasured.

   Mind you an email is just as good, be that a plain text email or rich text one with formatting and pictures. Here it’s the content of the email that is important and will make the impression.  If you are sending out a rich text email (HTML email) ensure that it is formatted so it looks good in the recipients email application.  Otherwise again you look unprofessional.

   What fails, I find, is people attaching product brochures, PDF resumes, word documents, Power point presentations (yes I had one of those the other day) or the like to an email. I’m just not going to open them.   I have just met you,  I don’t feel like I want to exchange attachments… yet.   Get a website, put the details on there.

5. Don’t Spam Me

   Now when someone gives you their business card, it means they are interested in staying in contact.  Not in suddenly being on your weekly newsletter.   You should ask people before putting them on any newsletter at all.  Otherwise you are going to get the reputation as a sleazy serial marketeer.   Remember receiving a business card is an act of trust, don’t abuse it.

6. It’s About Conversion

   Whether you make contact or they do. The best thing you can do is have a small conversation, don’t force it, in the very least  politely saying thank you.  Again having a small conversation remind people that you care at least a little about them.

7. Helping People

   Remember that networking is about paying it forward, helping people. Not making business contacts you can get work from. Yes that will come, but I find the helping people will bring you more work in the longer term.

   You need to leverage your networking of contacts to help your new contacts with anything they need or are looking for.

8. Sometimes it Doesn’t Work

   Sometimes you make contact with people and they are just being polite at the event. It’s okay, sometimes it just doesn’t work out for various reasons.  They may already have a web designer (for example) in their network they refer people too. Or they may just be not interested in your services, that happens.

   Also not everyone gets the paying it forward principle of networking as well.

9. Staying in Long Term Contact

   You need to ensure that you keep in contact with the people who are responsive to your secondary contacts.  You need to be in regular contact with them, say once every six months at least.  An easy way to do this is to email people a link to an article they maybe interested in and sentence summary of it.

   Also I find grouping people via interests helps, to do this I tag people with various interests.  This way your can target your emails with similar information, saving you time.   I also note when I last contacted them and why.  Okay a bit anal, but I do this because I find it’s one less thing to remember.

10. Online Social Networks

    Online Social networks are great. They are also bad.

    Now I wouldn’t recommend using Facebook for business contacts. I know some people do, but I would just steer clear of it.

    I tend to use the business focused online networks like Linkedin (here is my profile) instead, these are made for business networking and have a higher degree of privacy .

    Now social networks can be great for maintaining contact details and maybe the status of what a person has been doing. But they are not good generally for longer term contact generation. You have to do that, the social network will not do it for you.

    For instance in Linkedin, you have to join and contribute to the groups or answer the submitted questions, you’re effectively are paying forward online.  Problem is the ROI in this online world will take longer to achieve.

    However Twitter does break this rule, people you are following and those following you will often be having conversations and build relationships daily via Twitter. But you still have to work at it. You have to put the effort in to stay in contact.

So as you see in a way the real networking starts after the event, this is when the longer term relationships are built.  I know that we all suck at this from time to time.  Yes even I forget or just get too busy to do some of these things.  Still next time you attend a networking event try these suggestions out the next day and maintain that network of contacts.

Also this list is by no means complete, do you have any other suggestions for the morning after networking, please comment below?

I’ll tell you a story.

We have been working with a development company, who support a various range of their own products. Products that one of our clients use.   Straight forward, when we have issues with their product we email their support line. The other day we discover that the client’s site was down, we trace the issue back to badly written script injection hack. Easy to fix.

This doesn’t normally happen often, but it does occur from time to time. Usually it’s a attack on the hosts server.

So immediately I began the process of isolating the cleaning the site.  No major issue.  Having daily backups of all our clients sites does help.

When the site was operational and all passwords have been changed I began the process of determine how this all happened.   Seems a vendor support password had been activated once a few hours before and a file uploaded then deleted.  Same time the site failed.

I contact the said support vendor.   Only when presented with evidence of the compromised systems (via the FTP and PHP log)  did they admit to the issue.   No assurance of the issue not happening again, no statement that they have changed their security procedures.  At least they said sorry, cold comfort really.

Now as a support company surely they have an obligation, if only from an ethical view point to inform their clients that their passwords have been compromised as soon as they are aware of the issue.  This would at least allow their client to vigilant and reset  any system passwords or the like.

It appears in this case, that the client (my client) was on their own, we have to discover the issue and work it out for ourselves.  Despite the fact that the issue is clearly their fault.   I know there are legal issues here, but putting those aside, there is the moral issue as well.

Trust and Obligation

If you consider that we have an extreme sense of trust with our clients.  After all we have a guardianship to look after their web.   We can control their information resources, the presentation and branding for their organisation online.   There is a distinct duty of care that we have with each client.

Besides the various legislative requirements of the privacy and client information, do we have an ethical obligation to look after a clients data?  Should we tell them when things go wrong that are under our control?   Should we be 100% honest with our clients and work  with them all the time.   Or should we just deliver our service and leave it at that.   Should we just play the deny everything game, until we are presented with evidence in an effort avoid any legal implications.

It may seem like a clear issue.

However, if you don’t tell your client,  this gives your  client the impression that you are just in it for  the money and aren’t interested in them in the longer term.  On the flip side  if you do tell your client of the issue they may perceive you as incompetent, in that you let it happen in the first place.  In a way your are damned both ways.

Still personally I have found that being 100% and up front is the way to go.   Clients will respect you for this.

Other Issues of Ethics.

Our industry is just full of moral choices.  Not just this duty of care and information guardianship.

As a User Experience Designer I know that I can use my skills to leverage the psychology of  design and in fact I can influence customers, leading or tempting them to buy goods that they  don’t really need.   Now just because I can do this, does that mean I should.  I can make a lot more money doing this, should I?

This also extends to what industries you will work with.   From my view I don’t work with the gambling industry, religious groups and businesses that use high pressure sales tactics at any cost.

It could be said that we just have to provide our services and that’s it.  All this duty of care  and information guardianship is just a load of rubbish.  It’s not like it’s in the contract or written anywhere.

This is true, to a degree.  Maybe an industry code of conduct wouldn’t go a miss for our industry.  Mind you I have yet to see any of the fledgling web industry associations move in that direction.

Still till that happens, we all have to make our own personal choices on these issues.

The burning question is what would have you done in the case above, not told your clients?   Also where do you draw the line, what type of work would you not take on?

Listening is one of those skills that no one really talks about, and yet listening is critical to User Research and general business as well.

You have to understand, and in some cases even become emotive, with the users you are listening to.  Yes we can all listen to some degree, but the reality is this will not be that thorough, there will be gaps, major things that you will miss or just did not understand completely.

It follows in the field of user experience listening is critical. Without it you just aren’t going to a able to understand the issues your users are telling you, or worse you will miss important information.

Hearing on the other hand is something we do all the time, it’s something that we frankly can’t turn off.  However listening is very different.  Listening is hearing with the processing of the information added in, this  takes a reasonably conscious intent.

This is demonstrated by the moment, we have all had, when we are not really paying attention and  stop listening to a conversation and are subsequently are lost as we try and tune back in again.

It’s Hard to Listen

Years ago I learnt the basic rules of listening, techniques  that can help you improve and assist you  with becoming aware of your environment when listening to people.  It’s amazing skills learn 25 years ago are still relevant today.

One thing stands out however -  listening is really hard work.  It doesn’t come naturally.   You have to train yourself to really listen and observe. Like any skill it also needs to be practiced or you will loose it.

Unfortunately we are not programmed  to be good listeners.

This is because our mind will wander off onto another topic, after it has processed about a 7 to 17 second sound bite of information.  During this processing period, your mind is already lining up all the mental, and sensory stimulus or distractions around you, just so it can tempt  you with something more interesting.  On a side note you also process and will form an option on what you are listening to in this 7-17 second time period as well.

Improving Your Listening Skill

What you need to do is train yourself to listen. To overcome this 17 second sound bite limitation.  That’s where these tips can help:

1. Focus.

   Give the user 100% attention – remind yourself what you are there to do, to focused on the user.

2. Remove Distraction.

   Remove all distractions, this includes phones, emails,  background noise, make the user the focus of your attention. Put a do not disturb sign on the door, and ensure your mobile is on silent mode.

3. Take notes.

   You will be doing this anyway, or should be.   Taking notes is a great reminder,  it gets you to automatically focus on the person, and distill what they are saying into key thematic elements.  Note taking is also great for sequential information collection and reinforcement as it forces you into a routine, that breaks the 17 second processing loop as  you are  filling it with the over lapping note taking processing.

4. Shut Up.

   You are listening, so you shouldn’t be  talking that much.  No interruptions, the user is telling the story not you.  Your only conversation should be with questions to clarify or investigate.   No options, no stories and definitely no soapbox rants.

5. Questioning is Good.

   We all know that it’s important to ask the right type of questions during an interview.   In fact you could have an entire post just on interview questions and strategy.  When questioning you don’t want to lead the person at all.  You need to ask investigative (open ended questions)  or confirmation questions that paraphrase what the user has just said.  It’s a good idea not to use your own words (and avoid the buzz words) – use theirs.  Don’t  evaluate by giving any option with a question.  Also watch your body language giving off the wrong non verbal cues.  Thinking up questions on the fly is initially not easy, but after a while you will discover that you have lots of time, and the right question instantly, more on this later.

6. Body Language.

   Yes there are going to be non verbal cues, and you have to be observant and pick them up. They could be a change in facial expression, voice tone, a postural shift or just hand actions.  These are all important and can indicate an emotion shift.  Watch for this, don’t be afraid to ask about it gently.

7. Silence is Good.

   It’s okay for the user to be silent and think about the subject at hand.  This gives you time to watch for those non verbal cues and the like.  Be passive, don’t interrupt the silent time, especially if they look like they are thinking. Patience is the key.

8. Give No Advice.

   Again it’s not about you, it’s about the user, let them find the solution, let them see the alternatives. Yes you may need to repeat their own alternatives back to them and ask  how the feel about them and such.   But this is not the same as giving your person option. The reason giving an option is bad is by doing so it will re focus the listening process on you and will give the impression that you are not listening at all as you have not helped them find the solution at all.

9. Remove Bias.

   Reset you mind for each interview or conversation, don’t go into one with any preconceived ideas, bias, prejudices or the like.  Remember that each person is different and you can learn lots if you just listen to them. Ensure you start without a preconceived option from maybe age, gender,  race, ethnic group, culture or previous contact.   You can’t assume you  know what they are going to say, want or even tell you, they are not you.

10. Learn to Say No.

    If you are really tired, can’t focus,  don’t even try and continue with an interview.  You are just going to ruin the results you get as they will be half hearted at best.  Better to reschedule for when you can give your full attention.  I find the best solution is not to overload the day with interviews,  testing subjects or the like.

11. Practice.

    I find it best to really practice listening very intently about 2-3 times a week at first, then after a while you will get better.  Ensure that after a listening session you take the time to review what you have done and note down the mistakes you made and what caused them.  Also it’s a good idea to  seek out colleagues to give you honest reviews on your listening skills.

More Bonuses

I have found after a while you become very aware when you are listening.  You notice lots of small details, and you will also end up with a large amount of dead time to think.  It’s almost as if by removing your conversation you have slowed down time, giving you these large slabs of free time in which to process the conversation and respond.  Use them wisely.

Another aspect of being a good listener is that you will show people that you care about them and will connect with them.  Remember once you find the topic people love to talk about, you often can’t stop them, especially when its a topics they are passionate about.   Yes this does apply to even ultra shy introverts as well.

Taking the time to listen to someone, will also make them feel good, wanted, understood, this will gain you a lot of allies in the long term.

Interestingly these tips can also be applied to general day to day life as well, so what you have learnt for user research has a number of carry overs.

Can you think of any more techniques you have used to improve your listening skills? If you can please add them below.

I don’t know about you, but I have been to face to face networking events where it’s basically been like pulling teeth to get the people in the room to talk and discuss what they do and the benifits it has for me.   There is nothing wrong with the event itself, it’s just some of the attendees don’t know how to network.

Networking doesn’t come easy, you can’t just expect to turn up to an event and it happens, you have to work at it. You have to build the trust and connections with people.  You have to get people interested in you and vice-versa.

We are all Lazy

When you are talking to someone you have not met before you have about 10-20 seconds to make a good first impression, that will hopefully spark their interest. It’s the first visual and verbal impression that counts. This is why the elevator pitch is so important.

To often people in the web industry do this so wrong, I too have been guilty of this as well. To be really honest you need to kill any techo-babble.

Often people not in your industry just aren’t going to understand the jargon or the like.  No it doesn’t make you look smart. No one wants to have to translate what you have said into something they can understand.  We are all basically lazy and would rather just turn off and stop listening to you.

Specialist job titles are as a no no too. They are just going to be meaningless to the average joe. Basically they are  show stoppers that can and often do stop the conversation dead in the water.

The only exception is when you are networking within your own industry. You can then use your special industry job title, like say “user experience designer”,  but then you have to add on what makes you different from everyone else. What is your speciality, the unique selling point, more on this later.

Giving People What They Want

What you have to so is ensuring the people you are talking to are interested in you, and want to continue the conversation about you and how you can help them.    Sadly you maybe the most knowledgable talented person in the room, but unless you can maintain that interest you aren’t going to get anywhere networking.

The key to doing this is to give people what they want.

We are self centered. Sorry but it’s true. All I really want to hear is what you can do for me.  I just don’t care what you have done or can do unless it pertains to me.  Don’t assme that what you want to say to people is what they want to hear, because in reality  it isn’t!

Therefore it follows you need to make the opening statement count. It needs to focus on the benefits for the person you are talking with, and  in a language they going to understand and relate to.

Saying, “Hi I’m Joe, I design web sites”, isn’t going to get you anywhere, compared to the approach of “Hi I’m Joe, I design web sites that double the sales and productivity of the business, by providing their customers what really want”.

Now it may sound a little bit wanky, but you have instantly told them what you do and how you do it.   It’s now that the magical response occurs, “So how do you do that?”  Getting to this point is what you want.

As opposed to , “Oh, my 11 year old nephew makes websites.” Instantly, you have been placed in the bottom draw, forgotten.

Building Your Profile Pitch

Now we all know how we should be doing it. That’s the easy bit.  The hard bit is working out what people want.

There are a number of techniques you can use here to help you determine  what people want to hear.  My favourite is a little visualisation exercise – first imagine you are in a crowded room, and you can over hearing all the various conversations around you.  Now imagine that you cane here the perfect comments that would make you think, “humm that’s a perfect client, I could help them out”.

Once you have this, you have the basis of an your pitch.   You just have to turn around the context and apply your own information.

Now you just need a good opening statement  for the profile pitch, a statement to sell you. You need to build something succinct that is all about you and what you do. Ideally this should be only a small paragraph, a few sentences.  I find this is best said in your own words as it will flow into the conversation better that way.

Ideally a pitch should be made up of the following elements :

1. Introduce yourself.
2. Overview of your services – a really simple top level overview.
3. Who uses your services – your target market, this would be your ideal client.
4. Demonstrate the way you overcome critical issues – from their business view point.
5. Key business benefits of  your services – what are the benefits to their business.
6. Unique selling point – why pick you over your competitors.

I always find writing a pitch hard.   Generally I  just starting and brain dumping ideas into a word processor, this I find  helps. Then I rework it over and over , refining as I go. Don’t expect the pitch to come easily first time around.  The first few drafts will just be way to long, and possibility way to technical.   Just simplify, condense, calarify and above all present it from the potential clients view, you will get there. This is a bit like writing for a web site.

The final pitch should be such that anyone, yes anyone, even the general public can understand it.  Also when you have one, practice it, practice over and over, but ensure you deliver it in a casual tone.

The Gotacha

Now the issue is you are going to have to develop several layers of pitch.

One for general business, one for semi-business social events, and one for your own industry.   The pitch will vary in techinical detail and presentation dependant on the audience, but the core will still remain the same –  it’s not about you but it’s about them.

That’s my take, what’s your tips for developing a networking pitch?

So the year has been and gone. A decade down. 2009 was a mixed year for me personally and business wise. It was an interesting year overall now I look back on it with hindsight. It was a year for discovering what I really wanted and achieving a few professional goals. However it wasn’t without frustration and disappointment.  Time to reflect on it all.

The Professional View

Despite all the doom and gloom with the 2009 global financial crisis, from the business perspective I did manage to keep things moving forward and the dollars rolling in. Which is very important for a freelancer with a family. However I’ll be honest I did find for the first time in 15 years, that I had no work in the pipeline for a few weeks. This was a bit of a shock from a business view point. But I took solace in the fact that others in the web industry where in a similar or worse situation.

Wrong Directions

One major thing last year frustrated me was my business. The market seemed to be pushing me into a direction that I was frankly not happy with. I have been designing and developing websites now on various levels since 1995, yes I was a generalist.

I have in reality lost count of the number of sites I have designed and developed over this time. I was finding the industry and market as a whole was pushing me into operated the business as a standard web design shop for a while now.  Still I get the impression there is no place for a designer/developer combo anymore.

However since 2005 I have been trying to move away from just the standard web design business and into the more specialised User Experience consultancy / design market. Problem is I don’t really think the local market is ready for this. Seems a lot of education is going to be needed in 2010.

So I see 2010 as being  the year when I take out all road blocks and focus on moving the business into this direction, away from the rest of the market.

The Personal View

One thing that 2009 did teach me – life is just too short. Way to short to be spent doing things you have grown tired of or even hate doing. It has made me refocus on ensuring both my family and professional life are more enjoyable. Sadly to achieve this I had to let a number of personal projects go – being on the Australian Web Industry Committee was one of them.

The importance of ones health was also re-enforced during the year. This I have always consider this to be of an extreme importance, however I have been a little slack of late.   Tis is now changing, which will be reflected in my coming changes in my business direction. No amount of money or anything is worth that much if you can’t enjoy it.

So the previous and upcoming year in review:

Major Events for 2009

• Speaking at several conferences and to professional groups throughout the year; I just love public speaking and educating people about the web.
• Starting up rock climbing (after a very long absence) lots has changed, for the better. Issues are still in finding climbing partners.
• Overcoming long term injuries allowing an increase in my training routines.
• Resigning from the AWIA committee, this was a personal low, but it was for the best.
• Writing more consistently with longer articles. Also writing more business focused articles.  This is something again I enjoy.
• Attending 5 major web events during the year; despite the economic downturn.  Played around with sketchnotes at these events too.
• Assisting AWIA in the organisation of several web events.  I will miss doing this.
• Running Freelance Coffee and attending UXBookclub (Perth) and the UPA Chapter

The Wish List for 2010

• To professionally read more, I really need to put aside several evenings a week to do this.
• Network more and socialise less. Sometimes networking meetings just become social meetups and have no long term benefit.
• Get into a consistent training routine. Main issue here is that I don’t yet have a training goal. Time will see on this one.
• Change the business direction away from the industry norm, as discussed above. Maybe I need to get back into longer term contracting to achieve this.
• Write at least one article a week. Considered doing Project52.  This should be easy, but reality will see.
• Take more photos. I have been really slack, need to take more photographs and just improve my skills. Especially considering the equipment I brought last year.
• Enjoy the simple things. Enjoy the quiet moments.
• Get more sleep!  Drink less coffee.
• Speak at more events, even outside of the web industry – I just get too much of a buzz out of this to let it go.

Yeah I know another year in review article, but in a way it’s good to reflect on what you have done or not done for the year.

What about you, what did you achieve?

Interestingly recently I had a very bad experience booking some accommodation. Out of anything that bad, can come some good.  It seems that sometimes we are just loosing sight of the fact that customer (experience) service  is in many cases more important than the products we are selling.   So I have put together this quick list of what went wrong and how any business can learn from these mistakes:

1. Answer correspondence

   If you offer a method of communication with your customer, be that email, phone, fax, sms, online chat, whatever,  ensure that you do in fact communicate with them and reply to any correspondence. Use an answering machine or voice mail for your phone would be a very good starting point.  Also review your recorded messages and auto response emails from time to time.

2. Keep information up to date.

   Ensure that the information you provide is current be that on your web site, or with a reseller or the like.  There is nothing worse than promoting services that you  no longer provide. You do all the work selling then just can’t deliver.  It just leaves bad feelings all around.

3. Computer illiteracy is not an excuse

   It is nearly 2010, saying that you don’t know how to use your website, or even your computer to check for emails is not an excuse. If you are in business you need to get your head around this technology. If you or your staff can’t then you really have to seriously look at why you should remain in business.

4. Appearance and business currency

   It is very important to ensure that you don’t give the appearance that you are no longer in business. This is essential in an online world. The web is littered with sites that are dead, abandoned businesses, that are no longer in operation. Still they appear in search engines. Usually the average Joe determines if the site is active or not based completely on the currency of the content and professional appearance of the web site. Having not updated your site in six or even  twelve months and having the same design as it had in 1998 isn’t really going to help you much.  Customers will just assume you are no longer in business.

5. Sell the Service

   To often people forget  to be able to present your best customer experience you have to forget about the products you are selling, and instead focus on the service that you provide in selling those products.   As people really like to interact with other people, so it’s often the service that makes the difference in relation to customer loyalty, not the product, but how you delivery it.  In an online world this can be little things in the design of the website or your delivery process that provides for  that perfect service.

6. Relate to your customers

   Your customers are people. Yes I know it’s hard to remember this sometimes, but they are. Often it pays to just stop for a moment and think about what your customers are seeing.  What does your business look like from their initial contact with you. Be that from your  website, phone or reseller to the final service (even product) provision. Try and relate and understand their feelings, concerns and rectify any nagging doubts they may have.  They will love you for it.

Regardless there will be some items that I have missed, feel free to add them below.

Any business needs to present itself in its best possible light to its customers.

With a new customer every aspect of the business is on display, under review constantly as the customer gains the confidence in that business. From the website, initial customer contact to service provision.

We have all done this, be it from the corner shop, a local cafe, a hotel, to ordering things online. It’s pretty much a given isn’t it, the initial user experience is everything. Or is it?

Recently I came across what  was a very bad initial customer experience – not that they aren’t that hard to find.

However I found myself pursuing with the experience, defending the vendor. All because of several recommendations from trusted friends.

The Experience

We were looking for last minute accommodation in a nearby town. Having reviewed the available accommodation on the local tourist bureau web site, we selected one that met our dates and various requirements. We were advised to approached the accommodation provider directly.  So we did…

This when the bad experience started. The website was something from 1998, plus it just didn’t seem to render correctly in any of our browsers, even Internet Explorer 6.  Okay this is not that unusual in the accommodation trade as secondary accommodation directory sites (like the tourist bureau) or reseller vendors like wotif tend to do all the promotional work for the accommodation. Still it was a little off putting.

Anyway we used their online form and emailed them with our requirements and requested dates.

Time went by, two, three, four days, other emails were sent – no reply.

Maybe they where no longer in business. A quick check on a satellite photo from last month on  Nearmaps showed they where still operational. Maybe they are just not that Internet savvy.

It was funny at this point I was making excuses from the vendor. Wanting them to shape up and be outstanding,  a beacon of customer service with a rough exterior.

So we resorted to the old school methods – the telephone.

We rang them, mid morning, usually the best time to get any accommodation provider I have found.  No answer, not even an answering machine.   It’s at this point real alarm bells went off.   I contacted the tourist bureau in question, yes they confirmed the business was still in operation, they suggested that we must have just been unlucky.

We rang at different times over the next few days, until we finally go someone on the phone. They explained in detail they were busy, and what did we want…

Clearly at this point I had somehow fallen into the set of Fawlty Towers.  After some strained conversation we determined that they didn’t have the accommodation we were looking for. And yet they were advertising that they did.  This fact they  were not in the least bit  concerned about.

After another phone call we learn that the same accommodation was available, just with one day difference. However they were clearly not prepared to tell us this unless we asked.

It gets better, to date we have never got a reply to the emails.

And finally it came time to confirm the booking, again it took several phone calls to reach one flustered employee. Who at least this time was helpful – Basil Fawlty mustn’t have been on duty that day.

The Trust Factor

Why did we even bother with this accommodation provider.  Why did we give them chance after chance.

It was the trust factor. It was because we trusted the reviews and recommendations  we had been given face to face from friends about the accommodation provider that really made us put aside the bad (well no service) that they were providing.

It’s something to consider, that recommendation factor, reviews, testimonials from real people, given freely, independently can be the key factor.

Despite all the bad experience and warning signs, all that is put aside, as appearances can be deceiving, but a word of mouth recommendation is worth pure gold!  This we should be using on the web, as small business embraces the social media of the web, the recommendation of your customers is king.

Something to consider.