It all matters

Interesting day at work. Sitting quietly, well, listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan, so I was entirely quiet. An email comes in with the the red-exclamation-point-of-doom.

"Why do we have an app for ___, but not for ___?"

Why?

Why.

Because we never thought about our universe.

Because we didn't build the one, so we can't be responsible for not building the other.

But what about all the other ____'s that exist, but don't have an _____ to compliment them? What about the guests who come to us via _____ but all our work is built for _____ instead.

Hmm. And what about the hand-off between the homepage and _______. What do the user's expect to see when they get to that page?

Well this sucks. We spend all this time building great _____s and they don't work because [ someone else, ANYONE ELSE ] didn't complete the thought. What would the customer expect? What would they need once they click that link? Will my site generate enough positive business results to maintain my employment?

All good questions.

Here's the upshot of today, boys and girls. It is not an inconvenience to work on two sites that make up one customer experience.

It is not intrusive or "a power grab" to talk to other groups about where they pick up the customer experience. It is not "their job" to be concerned with the customer's experience. The customer does not perceive "we" or "they" - to the user, it's just us.

So look at your blind alley's and dead-ends. Admit that your link should take them to an interior page rather than a landing page. Confess that your menu system is repetitive and pare it down. Did you know that when faced with too many choices (especially when user is unsure what they are seeking), the most common choice is to exit. True. Ask Susan Weinshenk. It's in her book, "Neuro Web".

Large organizations have large digital footprints. It's easy to put up walls and defend your castle and ignore everything outside your castle walls. It's easy, but it is very, very stupid. No customer in the world has ever said, "the _____ section was great, but when I clicked in to the _____'s area it all went to crap."

They just say "that site stinks".

Fix it.

Well, I could be wrong. Maybe.

I have one "go to" example of the worst site user interface ever. I've shared it, shown it, laughed at it and cursed it's existence. I've used words and phrases like "worst thing ever", "insulting", "abomination" and others to describe it.

It is to UI what Larry the Cable Guys is to Opera.

I'm no tease. There's a screenshot coming. So, it has no introduction, no orientation for the reader, nothing. Just circles and lines and boxes and abbreviations. Get the dramamine. It's just link after link to pdf's of text.

Click it. I dare you. You couldn't stop yourself, could you? The ultimate attraction at the world wide freak show web. Did I lie? Did it disappoint? Did you look? Look again. It gets worse, like one of those mosaics in the newspaper, the longer you stare the more it morphs and new images appear.

So recently I was with a group of engineering students. They were talking about horrible websites. I said, "I have the worst site in the world and it's from YOUR university!"

I felt like Perry Mason about to turn the accuser into the accused. Deer in the headlights.

The site loaded, I spun my laptop dramatically around, I saw their eyes trying to follow it. They leaned in with great expectation. They collectively fixed their gaze upon the monster.

"Oh", the only sound. Quick glances shot back and forth between them. A palpable sense of discomfort took the room over.

"That's my favorite site here. It is so clear and easy to understand."

"... no, look at it. See? It's horrible." I said, stating the obvious.

"No, I love that site".

Maybe the sky isn't blue.

Another student glanced at me, making eye contact for a fraction of a second, "Yeah, I like it too. It's how we're taught."

The moon is made of cheese. The earth is flat. Prius driver's aren't pretentious. Obamacare is the answer.

I just don't know anything.

"what the hell..." is all I could mumble. "how... I mean... it's got the... "

Momentarily I panicked. I have to stop using this as an example of the worst of the worst. It's not the worst. It's the best. Dizzy. Can't breathe.

But then, like someone removing kryptonite from the room, my powers began to return. A fresh breeze seemed to restore my senses. I could see again! Hallelujah, I could see!

These are engineering students. They have been taught to be engineers. They have studied and learned to speak engineering. They have spent hours, years, untold thousands of dollars to learn this visual form of engineering communication.

This page does suck! It is horrible! It is wrong in every way and for every reason because this page is not designed or intended for engineering students. It's designed for prospective students and their parents!

We cannot assume, and there is no reason to believe, that these prospective students, or their families, have any engineering training. They don't possess an understanding of schematics. They aren't versed in any of the hundreds of abbreviations and acronyms thrown about on this site the way a monkey throws his own crap!

Hooray, it's wrong! I'm right.

Whatever you build, whatever you create, make sure it is built and created FOR the intended audience. Not what the intended audience will be or what they will know, but what they are and what they know when they are on your site.

Do that and you can teach them whatever you want.

Don't do that and you'll never have the chance to teach them anything.