You get to see a project through from start to finish, influencing nearly every part of it. You get to watch proudly as a mere idea transforms into a great portfolio piece. You put your blood, sweat and tears into content creation and development. You get to work with great people to reach the end product. You get to use your skill of turning studio language into something your clients can wrap their brains around. Sometimes you even get to hand deliver the finished product with a big pretty bow on it.

But when something goes wrong, you’re the person it always makes sense to blame.

(Sigh.)

Regardless of who actually made the mistake, if you’re the last one to touch it before it goes to a client, you have to take partial responsibility. Sometimes this can make your hard work seem all for naught. After all, your goal was a perfect project, right?

Adjust your expectations. Take the error in stride, assume the responsibility, and own it. The key to dealing with mistakes as a PM is to grow from and build on them. When you turn ugly red check marks into pretty green plus signs, see it as an opportunity to make your team stronger, and improve your relationship with the client.

So, being a project manager is really like accidentally deleting that term paper only to find it backed up on your key-ring zip drive. You’re learning fast…

Content and Design Merge in Jumpchart

Jumpchart has always been about putting content first, and that hasn’t changed. But now Jumpchart can play an even more active role in your website project by letting you seamlessly transition into the design phase.

In the sleek new design section, you can upload mockups to the project, collaborate on them with your clients and team members, and get straightforward approval from the person in charge. We’re big on tracking revisions, and you can do that here, too. Upload as many versions as it takes to get the job done; switch back to an old version at any time. For more information, check out the support article on design mockups.

There’s something else we thought would make Jumpchart a more well-rounded tool for website planning…

Store Project Details in Jumpchart.

It’s easy for things to get lost in the e-mail shuffle, but now it’s even easier to keep track of it all. Passwords, deadlines, launch details, quotes- you name it. If it’s important to your project, you can store it in the new Notes section of Jumpchart. Never waste time searching your inbox again. All collaborators can comment on the notes, or add notes themselves. Organization has always been important to us, but we took it to the next level with this new feature. To get a deeper idea of what the new Notes section can do for your project, read the related support article.

We’re really proud of the new features we added to Jumpchart. We think they’re really going to change the way you do your job for the better.

It’s a crucial (and largely underrated) part of writing website content: the call to action.

What’s the Point?
When users visit your site, they’re either looking for something specific (which is why you make your navigation incredibly user-friendly- so they can get in and get out.) or they’re interested in learning more about your company/product. Either way, what they don’t want is to reach the end of a page and think “Okay, what do I do now?”

Calls to action help increase conversions on your end, but they also make the visitor feel more confident about getting what they want out of your site. For example, let’s say you have a website for your party planning business. The visitor just read a page about the most important steps of party planning. You need to make it easy for them to take the next step. Give them a reason to spend a few more minutes on your site by guiding them through the process of learning, and then taking action. It’s as simple as including a sentence like this to your page. “Interested in how we can help plan your party? Schedule a consultation here!” Then link to your contact page which clearly provides the information they’ll need to get a hold of you, or link directly to the online form where they can submit their information and wait for you to get a hold of them. Easy, easy easy.

Internal and External Calls to Action.
There are ways to track what your users are doing online through various forms of analytics. That being said, you can vary your call to action. Maybe you want the visitor to simply click to the next page to read more about the topic. Or maybe your goal is persuade them to fill out an online quote form.

I like to distinguish these by whether or not the action taken will happen internally (read more!) or extend outside the site (Fill out this form for more information. We’ll be in touch soon!). If your site is content heavy, it’s beneficial to have these tidbits infused throughout the content on each page.

Working a Call to Action into Your Site.
There are a million and a half tips out there telling you how to write a strongly worded, effective call to action that will get visitors to drop what they’re doing and buy your product. But you know as well as I do that a call to action can be much more than persuading someone to buy something. The “Action” can in fact be anything. It can be big and loud, or it can be subtle and helpful. Both can be good choices depending on the context! First and foremost, you have to decide exactly what you want your visitors to do.

The Action, and How to Implement it.
Here are some examples of how to put into action the action you want your uses to take.
Action: Call the office for more information
Make it Happen: Link to the contact page, and/or list the phone number right there in the text.
Example: “Talk to an expert today!” “Call us!” “For more information, please call or e-mail us.”

Action: Fill out the contact form so someone can get in touch with you.
Make it Happen:  Link right to the form. Make it as easy as possible for the user.
Example: “Fill out the form below for more information- we’ll be in touch soon!”

Action: Schedule an appointment
Make it Happen: Link to the page where the user can either schedule online, or call someone direct to get it set up.
Example: “To schedule an appointment, give us a call or fill out the form here.”

Action: Read more
Make it Happen: Post a compelling snippet of the content on one page, and include a link to the rest of the content via a “Read more” link.
Example: “Read the rest of the story here.”

A good call to action can generate measurable ROI one way or another, so working it into your website is not only easy, but necessary.

• Use of jargon: Every industry and company has its jargon. Web design is certainly no exception with more acronyms than you can shake a stick at. The problem is that you can never assume your users will know all the acronyms. They maybe new to the sector or use a slightly different variation of your companies terminology. The names of your sections and pages should be free of jargon and where possible, product names that the users will not have previously encountered. Page and section titles should be descriptive of their content in the plainest language possible.
• Long names: Although naming should be descriptive they should also be short. Ideally all menu items should be one or two words long. The idea is that users should be able to quickly scan down the list of pages available and identify the one most likely to have content they need.
• Inconsistent naming: Be careful that the way you refer to pages does not change depending on which section you are in. Every link to a page should be referred to in the same way. Where a page title needs to be longer than the wording used in menu items make sure it mirrors it closely. Inconsistent naming can cause confusion and doubt in users making them unsure if they have previously viewed a particular page.”

I have a deep appreciation for group communication. People working together, touching base frequently, actively collaborating and working toward the best possible result. There’s nothing negative about that.

I just think there are ways to go about it that don’t require half a day’s attention. Frequent e-mails showing progress, phone calls to touch base, and some occasional face time is nice! And I like to think our clients agree. After all, once we’ve determined we’re all on the same page, don’t they want us spending more time working on their project than talking about it?

Inventor Portrait: Ralph Baer from David Friedman on Vimeo.

Bret Victor – Inventing on Principle from CUSEC on Vimeo.

via http://waxy.org/links/