Adventures in My Mind
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Jun 23, 2003
Q: What is the most important part of user experience consulting? Methodology? Usability testing? Personas? Wireframes? Prototypes?
A: None of the above.
The most important part of user experience consulting is to effectively change the way the client does business in relation to its online and/or interactive properties. Regardless of how good the recommendations for change are, they will, in the end, be completely ineffective until there is a shift in the way the product is viewed by key decision makers.
Many recommendations will simply be ignored. Others will thrown out because of intervening business reasons. Still others will be completely misunderstood.
Needless to say, changing organizational thinking is also the most difficult part of user experience consulting. Changing entrenched philosophies and ways of doing business often eqaute to the ease of walking on water. Design, by comparison, is easy. Especially when it is the entrenched thinking that caused the design flaws to begin with. We as consultants bring a fresh perspective that is not weighed down by corporate think. Combined with our skills as professional designers we can often see some rather obvious errors (the low hanging fruit, if you will). We then work with stakeholders and user groups to find the not so obvious errors and omissions that often surprise all involved in the project.
A larger portion of our time should be spent educating those who still don't get it. The simple fact is that the internet and other recent technologies have indeed changed the way we do business. Whether it is supply chain automation, grass-roots marketing, e-commerce, CRM, ERP, or whatever the next big thing is, a new mode of thinking is necessary to successfully merge new technology into everyday business. And, as we see, that merger becomes more important every day.
The savvy customer rejects the idea of being shoe-horned into a market. They know that they are individuals and expect to be treated as such. That thought is the core of user-centered design principles. Make a product useful to the individual and the market will respond, not vice versa. Markets like race and gendered are imposed by those who look to shorthand more complicated expressions of individualty.
Making an organization understand that is a difficult task to be sure, but it can be done. The quickest way is to show how these new methods of thinking can positively affect the bottom line. That's right, even though new thinking is necessary to achieve success in the wired world, the only way to get there is to prove to those writing the checks that profits and expenses are directly impacted by old, out-moded ways of thinking. Show them the results.
Every project should be followed by ROI reports. Show increased traffic which resulted in more items placed in a shopping cart which resulted in more items being purchased. Show how the customer service apps on the site decreased call center traffic which lowered expenses. Show them the results.
In time, those who don't get it will. They will speak our language, because we took the time to speak theirs. In the end it is a win-win for everyone. The organization profits. The user has a better experience. You get more work. A perfect case study.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 2:28 PM
Jun 21, 2003
Hollywood is so friggin' dense, it's astounding. Their screw ups are legendary. They opposed both sound and color in their movies. They cried that audio and video cassettes would destroy their industries. And now, of course, they are crying the same hysterical notes about technology and the Internet. How have these dinosaurs in the entertainment lived on such outdated ideas and methodologies for so long. The withered and gray Jack Valenti and the shrill and incoherent Hillary Rosen are perfect mouth pieces for the idiotic CEOs that run Hollywood.
But just when you think that they are doomed to repeat their thug-like cease and desist tactics for ever and ever, a bright spot peaks through the clouds:
Fans use their muscle to shape the movie
The article talks about how some movie executives have actually listened (gasp) to the fans of their movies instead of making pronouncements from high upon Mt. Hollywood. It uses the stupid example of The Hulk's purple pants to get the story rolling, but further examples and quotes show that the myopic haze of profit at all cost may be clearing from their view.''I used to hate the Internet,'' Arad says. ''I thought it was just a place where people stole our products. But I see how influential these fans can be when they build a consensus, which is what we seek. I now consider them filmmaking partners.'' ...
Kevin Campbell, Universal's senior vice president for online marketing, says that ''no one quite got it at first, and we initially resisted'' with attempts to shut down many of the sites for trademark infringement. ''We didn't see what a brilliant two-way communication we had on our hands.''"Two-way communication?" No! Imagine that. Actually conversing with your market and not force-feeding them crap and calling it caviar. What a concept. Actually imagining that 'consumers' are people with brains, feelings, and ideas instead of open-mouthed carp awaiting their next beneficent castoff. Say it ain't so!
I know this small example will not set the stage for the entire industry, but one can hope.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 10:13 AM
Jun 19, 2003
Open Mouth, Insert Foot
Orrin Hatch: Software Pirate?Sen. Orrin Hatch caused a stir by suggesting copyright holders should have the right to remotely destroy computers of suspected pirates. It turns out the senator is using unlicensed software on his website
From Wired
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 11:08 PM
Do you ever wonder when you're going to grow up? I don't mean get older and act older. I mean grow up, get on with your life, accomplish something, be the person you dream of being. Whether it's famous or wealthy or successful or just being a nice person. I wonder about this all of the time. I'm nearly 34 years old and feel like I've got very little to show for it.
I have the desire to achieve. I daresay that I even have the talent. What I seem to lack is the drive. Anyone who has ever achieved anything of note has drive and determination in abundance. I don't. I stumble from thing to the next without ever being driven to take that thing or idea or job and turn it into something more than just potential. Talent, potential, ability, skill, knowledge, training, education, etc.: These things are meaningless without drive.
The world is full of very capable people living very mediocre lives. I fear that I am one. Yes, fear. I fear that I am fully capable of settling for second or even third best when I know deep-down that I can do more. I often ask myself, "What the hell is holding you back?" I never have an answer.
What about you? Do you have drive? Do you think that you will realize your dreams?
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 3:16 PM
Jun 13, 2003
5:30 reservations for Shogun tonight. Mmmmm, hibachi. While I do like watching the cooking and the showmanship, I really go for the food. I love hibachi cooking. Combine my fillet with some shrimp, fried rice and few pieces of sushi and ... mmm, mmm, mmm!
We're going tonight because Sami has to work on Father's Day. So far things are going okay with the Carroll's Mr. Mom experiment, but I don't think that I'm quite as funny as Michael Keaton. Anyway, tonight - sushi, hibachi, saki, Yum!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 10:20 AM
Jun 11, 2003
I am in style sheet hell! I'm trying to come up with some new designs for the site and it's not working out that well. I have been temporarily thwarted by my limited understanding of CSS. I've used it create this version of the site, but things are not going well for the redesign.
Do any of you dear readers have a nice little two column layout with a header that spans both columns done with css? I really do need the help. The positioning thing is killing me! I've got one column that drops nicely right after the header, but the other is very uncooperative, lining up whereever the hell it damn well pleases. Argh! I can do what I want with tables but that is such a pain in the arse. Of course so is my style sheet right now. Sigh.
And how about this weather, huh? We've had so much rain that my ass is pruning. As Aidan would say, "Sure is a nice day for a duck."
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 3:09 PM
Jun 10, 2003
There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.
--Baron De Montesquieu, 1742
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 5:54 PM
Jun 6, 2003
Big Brother is watching you.
In two days, it will be the 54th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell's 1984.
(My god! How that picture scares me!)There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live - did live, from habit that became instinct - in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and except in darkness, every movement scrutinised.The last line of course is outdated given the advent of infrared technology. Even the dark is no longer an escape.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 10:35 AM
Jun 5, 2003
Two things from Mr. Green:
Firstly ...Once again an amendment to the Constitution has been proposed that would make it illegal to burn the flag.
The irony of such an amendment is monumental.
Theoretically, Americans claim to love freedom. The American flag is a symbol of the country, and it's purported value of liberty. Essential to freedom is the right of dissent.
Whether we agree with a person who is burning the flag or not, we must grant them the freedom to express their opinion in this symbolic act.
It is often said by proponents of flag burning laws that men and women have died for the flag. I disagree. They have died to uphold the liberty for which the flag is meant to stand.
We must not get caught in the trappings of American patriotism: flags, eagles, pledges, et al. Instead, we must remember what it is what these symbols stand for: liberty, justice, equality, that is important. We can not advocate these principals by the suffocation of ideas and expressions, to do so is to act in contradiction to the values we claim to hold.
I've written my representatives voicing my concern. I encourage you to do so as well.Secondly ...
Mr. Green and Miss Karen up and got married. Yes, that's right. In a move that is sure to shake the firmament and challenge all of the things that we thought we knew, Glen Green and Karen Matu entered their vows of matrimony in a private ceremony in Pittsbrugh's North Park on May 15th. They promptly set off for Hawaii, where they spent the next two weeks waking up next to each other smiling and thinking to themselves, "My God! What have I done?"
The Carroll Clan wishes for nothing but happiness and contentment for Glen and Karen as they enter this new phase of life. Congratulations!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 10:22 AM
Jun 3, 2003
Have you made your millions yet?
In the soon-to-be merger-mad world of Big Media, heart rates are elevated, blood vessels are constricted, breathing is quickened, and pupils are dialated. Sounds a lot like little Tommy Jenkins from down the street as he fumbles with the zipper on Katy Rasmussens prom dress. It's not. It's just deregulation ... again.
In what is surely the ugliest marriage of politics and capitalism, the FCC has decided to ease (again) many of the rules of media ownership. This is the equivalent to WalMart doors opening at 6 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving, except the people waiting outside like a pack of hungry wolves are not white and blue haired grandmas named Betty or Marge but white and blue haired corporate titans named Sumner and Rupert.
Mega-companies like Viacom, Newscorp, and Clear Channels will soon be going on unprecedented buying sprees thanks to this latest round of deregulation dreamed up by Michael Powell and Co. at the FCC. Combine that with deflated costs of media outlets thanks to the shrinkage of the all important advertising dollar and the mergers and "market consolidations" will have all of our heads spinning. The prospectus of potential harm from this affects everything from access to the airwaves to public domain to choice of viewing/listening to journalistic integrity and beyond.
I wonder if Microsoft-Newscorp or Viacom GE Time-Warner will be interested in paying me 7 figures for the hot media property otherwise known as Adventures in My Mind? If not, I'm sure I'll get nastygrams from their attorneys telling me to cease and desist from "deep-linking" into their copyrighted blah, blah, blah or illegally "pirating" their yadda yadda or some other drivel. Teddy Roosevelt is surly spinning in his grave.
Thank you to the FCC for once again convincing us that government is only out to protect those who can spend the most and thereby talk the loudest. I'm utterly sickened by this latest round of government of the (rich) people, by the (rich) people, for the (rich) people.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 11:45 PM
