“Chris Rock says: ‘A lot of comedians have great jokes, and they’re like, ‘Why is this not working?’ It’s not working because the audience doesn’t understand the premise. If I set this premise up right, this joke will always work.’ The comics talk about ensuring the audience — so demanding, so easily distracted — is with them for every joke during the act. This doesn’t mean talking down or pandering. Rather, it’s good old-fashioned respect. I sometimes tell students that every design needs a welcome mat and a doorknob. The first helps a person realize, ‘Hey, this is for me.’ The second gives them a way into the design. Good design, like good comedy, is about surprise. But surprise can’t happen in a vacuum. It needs a context that establishes familiarity. If you respect your audience, you provide that context.’ http://observersroom.designobserver.com/oblog/post/seven-things-designers-can-learn-from-stand-up-comics/27038/
Publishing content that is self-absorbed in substance or style alienates readers. Most successful organizations have realized this, yet many sites are still built around internal org charts, clogged with mission statements designed for internal use, and beset by jargon and proprietary names for common ideas.
If you’re the only one offering a desirable product or service, you might not see the effects of narcissistic content right away, but someone will eventually come along and eat your lunch by offering the exact same thing in a user-centered way.”
“The percentage of our time we spend on DVD by mail [still Netflix’s biggest revenue source by far] is tiny. We’re entirely focused on streaming.” Most newspaper companies’ organization and usage of staff time is focused on print. That means it is facing today, if not yesterday. Expend as few resources on the current operating model as possible, says Hastings, and run to the future. Put your best minds there — and most of your company. ‘We knew that the DVD business was temporary when we founded the company. That’s why we named it Netflix and not DVD by mail. We wanted to become Netflix.’ Whatever the brand name, aspire to what and who you want to become.”
“I’m kind of weird, I love negative feedback. Unsolicited complaint means somebody cared enough to write it down, and then when you fix their pet peeve they transform into a fan. Plus you got to fix a real problem for a real person, which is pretty rewarding.”
Notice how content has become the byword for stuff on a website? There’s a simple explanation; it’s the same shit sliced differently.
For years digital media types have been creating new words to resell old ideas to existing clients:”
Moving forward = vague description of actually doing work.
Low hanging fruit = the least amount of work completed for the same money.
Social Media Evangelists = out of work journalists.
So ‘content’ is just expensive copy?
No. Content describes all the elements that make a website worth looking at. It’s design that doesn’t make your eyes bleed, copy that gives direction and usability that’s, well, useable. Content is a word that describes all these elements working together to form a cohesive message. We’ve just started using it more openly because we think you’re ready for it, dear.
Every once in a while I print a blog post to PDF just in case it ever gets consumed by the short memory that is the internet. Even more rarely, sometimes I print a blog post. On physical paper made of atoms and wood, and ink.
Read this. Maybe print it. It might make you feel like a planet, or a rabbit, or a human. But it will make you feel something. You should probably print it.
“Thoughtfulness is free and burns on time and empathy.”
After hand coding the demo in PHP in front of the live audience, he makes the app call everyone in the conference room’s cell phone. (about 6 minutes in)
I’ve always laughed at clients who insist on printing out websites for review. It’s like looking at a picture of a painting… The medium itself is what makes the thing what it is. Once you remove the media, the identity of the thing you’re reviewing is essentially lost.
But when I saw this slide in the excellent slide deck called Good vs. Great Design by Cameron Moll I sort of wanted to print a website. Now I have no idea what Cameron is saying during this slide in the real presentation. Maybe he’s making fun of people who print websites too. But what I see is a tactile way to review content and hierarchy.
There are lots of markup tools for online mockup reviews. But they all feel like using a butter knife to cut steak. You want to directly interact and scribble with your hands, not draw boxes and type text in Markerfelt. Why not print out a website big, stand 10 feet away and blur your eyes? We’ve been doing that stuff for print work for years. Maybe a change in perspective will help you focus more clearly on making the site read at a glance. Plus being able to doodle, sketch, and cross things out is always a liberating experience.
