‘The Lost Tribes of New York City’ is not an ad for Virgin Atlantic. But what if it was? Let’s say you’re based in London. Would you remember VA the next time you’re about to buy an airline ticket to New York after seeing this fantastic short film? I think you would. You would probably also tell people about the video. You might even reference the work of Aardman Animations and their brilliant stop motion series Creature Comforts.

If this short film was a promo and ended with a Virgin Atlantic logo I would be a fan of VA even before I got on the plane, let alone bought a ticket.

Bring on the “Thought Narrative”!

It’s a sort of running commentary by the client of their own thoughts, inspiration, and reasoning. It shows you how and also why they come to a certain conclusion.

Thought Narratives are ideally written in plain-as-you-speak language, but recoding them via webcam is fine too. Either way it provides honest and contextual information on how your client thinks and what they want.

Some clients prefer to write it all down (or record it) in one go, others make notes over a longer or shorter period of time which they then compile and send over. Whatever works for the client works for me.

I usually introduce the idea of a Thought Narrative early in the “discovery” stage of the project process as part of capturing the crucial project start-up info.

It might read like this when the client has spent some time formulating a content and design preference.

I looked at the different examples of how images can be displayed in a portfolio section to help me understand what’s important to us.

First I checked out chantyce.com and I really liked what they had done with the wide slideshow. The speed of the “sliding” impressed me too. After that I spent some time on www.delarocque.com.br but the overlay layer thing is beginning to feel old. Plus it’s slow.

The third example, to which I’ve managed to loose the URL, where you could see all the thumbnails (the size of grains of rice!) laid out in a grid - awful, so very 1999!

I am now confident that the large (wide) imagery really is the way to go for us. Less images, but better ones is what will make our portfolio fly. It’s ok that we don’t use thumbs, we’ll present a small selection that our audience can quickly click/slide through.

Result!

Similar narratives can be recorded for any part of a web project and they help both you and the client. Do clients like it? Yes indeed.

Feedback frequently includes relief over being able to speak plainly about a topic, feeling a deeper sense of involvement, appreciating having their own records of what they said, the realization that it’s a time saver, seeing a clear correlation between input and the delivered output, and feeling a greater sense of ownership of the project.

I have also found that clients are 1) less likely to change their minds, 2) more inclined to advocate a specific solution internally, and 3) understand, emphasize and appreciate the concept of Good Web after including a “Thought Narrative” session as part of the prep process.

Result!

It comes down to simplicity. When we get to speak our minds in a way that fits us, in our own words, we are more likely to get our point across, and other people are more likely to understand us.

Result!

I’m curious to try this on a larger project with people from different departments (i.e. stakeholders with different agendas) to see how it might pan out. As soon as I find the courage to ask a Big Corp to participate I’ll let you know how it went!

Until then, give the Thought Narrative approach a try if it fits your working style and clients. I’ve used it on and off for years and it has worked really well. Share your thoughts in the comments or @orvet.

Today I came across a fantastic example of Good Web. The Stockholm Jazz Festival site is a collaboration between Happiness and Storåkers McCann, and it fits my idea of Good Web almost perfectly.

“Good Web is about impression, real world fit, whether a site is tangible, [...] a feeling of completeness, a sense that everything is where it should be and that the site fits in the culture and environment where it is supposed to be primarily used.”

Grammatical vagaries aside, my theory of Good Web takes a step back from all things verifiable (once those things have been completed). Good Web is about impression, real world fit, whether a site is tangible, and what your snapshot helicopter view of it is.

This means it is about vibe and feel as much as anything. The way we feel about something (occasionally referred to as “a gut feeling”) is based on our knowledge, skills and experiences compressed in to a short decision-facilitating burst of information.

When I’m looking for Good Web in one of my projects I want a feeling of completeness, a sense that everything is where it should be and that the site fits in the culture and environment where it is supposed to be primarily used.

Much if not all of this is very subjective, and that’s the way it should be. After all, you were likely commissioned because you possess a clear point of view that the client wants applied to their project.

Here’s how I ‘test’ for Good Web.

• I quickly scroll the full length of key pages up and down a few times, establishing the site in my mind and seeing what stands out in a positive or negative way. I often do this on my iPhone first so that the page details don’t distract me.
• I look at the laptop screen from 4-5 meters/yards away. What stands out, what does the site tell me when I can’t see the details but I view it in an actual physical environment (like my workspace)?
• I approach the site on the screen as I would a physical object, evaluating how I am about to interact with it. Does it feel like something I want to pick up, push away, or poke at?
• I complete 1 or 2 simple actions like clicking a link, reloading a page, submitting an email newsletter subscription, or changing my local zip code in the weather display. I want to see what things look and feel like in between the pages, how what I just saw lingers in my mind before the next page has finished loading.

That’s it. Usually the sites pass with flying colors. Sometimes I find something I or the team have missed, a rough edge that needs sanding down, a nick that could not have been spotted until all the site elements were available and compiled in to a whole.

Some of the steps above are great to use earlier in the process too, especially in UX and design work. If you do, don’t forget to use them again at the end of the project to get that Good Web seal of approval from your self.

Do you have an equivalent of Good Web? Or do you think it is better to stick with just verifiable methods of evaluation? Do you agree that the Good Web ‘test’ has a place in web development? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments or via Twitter where I will for ever be known as @orvet.

I think this is a brilliant idea, especially when it comes to elected officials, emergency services etc. And especially since I actually believed that the real Dalai Lama was following me earlier this year…

The program is not likely to include us regular users any time soon. Cost and time are quoted as reasons why the service is not offered on a larger scale (that and the “beta” tag, presumably… and maybe the fact that not many people would actually benefit from being verified).

Despite, or thanks to this, the “Verified Account” badge on Twitter pages is certain to become something of a status symbol.

What is your take on the initiative? Is it a good idea that will cut confusion, or would Twitter’s resources be better served elsewhere? Will the badge become a status symbol? Please share your thoughts in the comments, or on Twitter where I am @orvet (unverified, but it’s me I promise).

None of it is rocket science, yet all four misconceptions are part and parcel of everyday client work. And it’s not just the clients either. Agencies can be as opposed to even thinking about the end user experience as their clients.

Feel free to use this super basic list next time someone tells you UX is a waste of time.

“There’s no budget for it”
If you have allocated an enormous amount of time for design and mock-ups you are probably trying to achieve some level of UX without knowing it.

UX does not equal design, yet this is where many people think UX work gets done. It’s not, at least not exclusively. Keeping the user’s best interest in mind should happen from the first to the last day of a project. The more time you spend on UX work upfront - before you “start designing” - the less likely it is that you have to draft sketches until the cows come home.

“We/our users don’t need it”
It’s a bit like saying you should eat your morning cereal without a bowl and a spoon. It can be done, but why remove a logical and important part of enjoying breakfast?

Thinking about the user experience upfront helps with every other aspect of the project, from design through coding to user testing and even project management.

It’s about getting your ducks in a row and setting the foundation for the whole project. You’ll save time, and deliver a higher quality product.

“We’ll add that later”
It’s a bit like saying “we’ll add taste to the food once the guest has finished eating”. While you can revise a project - at additional cost - once it has been completed, it is hard if not impossible to deliver a meaningful user experience by tacking on a few hours or a day at the end of a project.

It can certainly be better to do something than nothing, but the difference between seasoning the food as part of cooking the dish and just throwing some pepper on it as the guest is about to dig in should be acknowledged.

Crafting web sites and apps is all about the user experience. (That’s why user testing is also a key step on the path to satisfied users.)

“The project is to small for UX”
No project is ever to small to think about the user experience. Even a quick one day turnaround, two page site needs to fulfill its purpose. You may only need a small amount of time at the start of it all to think through what it is you want the site’s user to accomplish, apply a few basic best practices, and then get to work.

Two things
Finally, two things to do in order to put user experience at the heart of your next project.

If you are a provider…

Bring UX in to the discussion early on. You don’t need to shout “UX!” every time it’s your turn to speak. But do talk about, for example, how the user should be able to easily complete tasks, feel that they are in control and so forth. Bring in the fact that proper groundwork can save time and money both in the build and on future updates (see above). Point to the competition and how your client can offer a better product, or needs to keep up.

If you are a buyer…

Ask lots of questions about UX. That’s what your users will be looking at, interacting with, and judging you on whether they are aware of it or not. And UX saves you money, often upfront and certainly in the long term as you won’t need to tweak your site over and over again in order to reach an acceptable level. If you feel that you need to learn more about UX, ask your agency to point you to some good resources based on their knowledge of you and your projects.

What misconceptions do you come across, and how do you deal with them? Are your clients receptive? Please let me know in the comments or on Twitter where I am @orvet.

My favorite is the way Apture allows me to display people’s Twitter info. Like this: Jaan Orvet

The exploration continues…

Much of the early info on “gwave” focuses on collaboration, the cloud and transparency in communication. It is therefore fair to wonder whether Google Wave is in fact the world’s first true Noded app. An application that is true to the non-hierarchical, collaborative spirit of Noded, and through its inherent functionality and possibilities also evolves the very meaning of Noded networks.

Right now it is to early to say how much of a Noded impact Google Wave will have. Both Andreas Carlsson and I will follow future announcements closely, and keep posting about it (and with any luck the poor piece of ASCII art I created as part of my Google Wave notification signup will get us in through the door a bit quicker…).

Do you think Google Wave is a Noded app? Why, or why not? This is a BIG story, a game changer, and we very much want to hear your thoughts on it! Please use the comments, or hit us up on Twitter where I’m @orvet and Andreas is @nofont. Thanks.

I have happily and enthusiastically taken on “Words = UX” as a bit of a mantra lately.

I believe good copy, the right navigational content (the text bits that gently direct the user to the right action), and a clear content strategy coupled with more traditional UX elements like information architecture and interaction design are key in creating successful sites and apps.

For those of you who have worked with me know that I always go that extra mile to make websites as usable as possible, and this increased push for words as part of the UX work should come as no surprise. I’m thinking it’s that journalism background snuggling up to my work/life philosophy of ’simplicity and clarity’.

So far I’ve achieved some nice results with it. A few weeks back I was asked by the always clued-in @kim_blomkvist to meet with a very large public health organization and help them get to grips with reaching their audience for a quality of care project. It didn’t take long before the “Words = UX” concept had cut right through the challenges they faced, and presented a clear path for the upcoming phase in the project.

We all relate to words with meaning, words that cut to the chase and offer something relevant. Words on the web should always be used to resolve and progress things on behalf of the user. Words = UX.

More on this topic soon.

I’d very much like to hear your thoughts on the “Words = UX” concept. Either in the comments, via Twitter where I’m @orvet, or via email jo [at] sharpenr [dot] net. Thank you.

Passion drives everything, and should be the most important thing to look for in new people. Sure skills are key, but skills without passion is not worth much.

Skills combined with passion, how ever, equals magic.

Passion means you take responsibility. That you want to do well. That you give a damn. That you want others to love what you love. Passion means that you’ll be there when the going gets really tough. Passion means you are humble and want to learn. Passion means you lead, improve and evolve. Passion means quality.

Passionate people are doers, not whiners. Passionate people make those around them better. They are the opposite of the mediocre doing-what-I’m-told-and-not-an-inch-more slacker set. And don’t mistake noise for passion - if in doubt remember that passionate people deliver, again and again.

If you’re not “hiring passion” you’re hard at work killing your business and disappointing your clients.

Soon everyone, including your clients, will want to know if the people they work with are passionate or not. In hard times no one can afford anything less.