Strategy

How Do You Keep, Develop and Execute Ideas?

July 30, 2009 By J. Angelo Racoma

I’m fond of keeping an idea notebook close at hand. It’s usually my mobile phone, since I’m unlikely to lose it (crossing my fingers here!), and I can sync notes to my computer. I often have fleeting ideas of some great design concept, web application, or article, and it’s usually gone the minute I get distracted. For that reason, I need to be able to grab the opportunity and note down my thoughts.

It’s not such an easy task incubating and execute ideas if all you have are bullet points on a piece of paper, or on a .TXT file, though. While it’s not an elegant solution, it helps me remember. But being loose files and lines of text, the difficulty is connecting these pieces of information with each other, which would probably result in even better ideas.

Mind mapping. I’ve recently tried exploring mindmapping software, which are basically electronic equivalents of writing down your ideas and plans in text bubbles on paper, interconnected with lines, and represented by different symbols. I haven’t gotten the hang of it, but I plan to plot all my ideas, business plans, and strategies on mindmaps. Hopefully, this will help me become more organized.

And because I usually work on different desktops, notebooks and netbooks, I save my mindmaps on a folder commonly accessble via Dropbox, so I can work on it regardless of the computer, platform or even location, as long as I have an Internet connection.

Execution and follow through. Oftentimes, I am able to start with great ideas for a blog or web application. I buy a domain, write copy, and partner with designer and developer colleagues. We start out hyped, excited and energized. But then somewhere along the way the energy fizzles out. Real world concerns like servicing clients, catching deadlines and even cooking dinner might be distracting for one’s focus on executing an idea.

One solution I saw to address this is by not closing any important application windows or browser tabs on my computer. I just close the lid and put it to sleep at the end of the workday. But then with the multitude of tasks I consider important and essential, my workspace becomes too cluttered, and I am left with half-baked plans, half-executed projects, and deadlines still ominously looming over, seemingly waiting to bite me without notice.

Start with a bang. Of the many ideas I’ve incubated in my head and seen the light of day, the ones that succeed, or at least are sustained, are the ones that I’ve sat upon and continuously worked on until launch. Whether it’s building a blog from scratch, finishing a proposal for a client, or writing marketing copy for a new web app or service, I find it best if I get to finish it in one sitting. In find that if it takes too many emails back and forth to confirm designs, edit the text, and other negotiations, energy that could’ve been put towards actually executing an idea might get wasted. Not only that–if you dilly dally too much, you might find yourself having doubts and second thoughts, and therefore the idea fizzles out.

There are so-called serial entrepreneurs who are fond of jumping from one great execution of an idea to another. And more often than not, they gain much experience–and money–in the process. They probably have a tried and tested formula for doing this. Or perhaps they have a lucky streak. Or maybe it just boils down to good habits, good contacts, and a great mindset for developing and executing a good business idea.

Different things might work for different people. What are your “magic formulas” for success?

What Drives Your Website?

March 18, 2009 By Lorraine

For designers, there’s always the danger of putting form before function, of providing dazzle without enough substance. I know I’ve been guilty of this more times than I care to admit- even to myself. The truth is, it’s just easier, less of a challenge to pretty something up and leave it at that.

But designs, like so many other things in life, only work when they truly serve their purpose. A website should fulfill its goals and look great while doing it. I like to think of this as the motivation behind the design, and find that it helps to keep a few questions in mind when working on a new website:

What does the visitor want?
Always, always put yourself in the shoes of the person viewing your page- whether for the first time, or the tenth. Ask yourself what he wants, why he’s looking at your page in the first place, how he got there. This progresses naturally to the next question…

What does the visitor need?
I once read that the secret behind the luxury Four Seasons Hotels’ impeccable service is that their staff is trained to anticipate their guests’ needs. That’s something you should strive for when creating your website. Will your visitor need to contact you after visiting a page? Make sure you include a contact form there (or place an obvious link to one). This way, you give them what they need before they even know they need it.

Why does this page exist?
For example, your front page: it exists to highlight important elements, to link to the various sections, to establish the design feel of the site. Ask this of every new page you create, whether it’s an About page or a Site Map or a Privacy Policy. Asking why a particular page or section exists is also a great way to keep to the essentials: how important is it? Remember, if it’s necessary, it’ll always be useful.

SEO and Personal Blogs, What to Do?

June 24, 2007 By Connor Wilson

Running a personal blog can be great. You have total free reign on the topics, you can build relationships with readers and you can express yourself in any way you like.

Running a well read, well visited personal blog is even better. It’s no secret that the best traffic is organic traffic, from search engines.

The reason why SE traffic converts so well and is held on such a high pedestal is the SE user is essentially looking for your site. They might not know it, and you certainly don’t but once they do find your site they’re happy. They’ll look at some other pages, maybe subscribe or buy something.

But a personal blog doesn’t have anything to sell, except for your self, of course. The thing with personal blogs and search engines are that you’ll be getting mostly long tail terms or your name popping up in Mint, or your favourite analytics app.

There are exceptions like everything else, where people may target certain terms that are mildly relevant, but the main purpose is for that oh-so-golden traffic.

What Should you do With Your Personal Blog?

There are tons of things you can do to better optimize your blog for search engines. After all, if you’re not getting that one juicy term, then you’re going to be relying on the inevitable long tail.

First, let me explain long tail search terms to those no savvy at the moment. The term simply refers to search terms, usually three or more words, that can seem random but the user finds a post or page from your blog that has the aforementioned words scattered on the page. Basically you’re getting refined terms. A searcher looking for “design blog” might refine their search by looking for “web design and development tips blog”.

So, lets get down to it, shall we? You want to optimize your blog to increase SE traffic which will in turn raise your overall traffic, readership and earnings if you’ve monetized. Sounds like a good idea to me.

The Definitive Guide to Semantic Web Markup is exactly what it says it is. Tell search engines what parts are important and in what order is very important, and will help your site in terms of SEO. Post titles are back links, and when they’re served in <H1>’s they really increase the long tail possibilities.

When you’re writing your headlines, you also have to think about search terms. I’ve personally written a couple of posts with titles laser targeted at range of long tail terms. While these posts are stale to my current readers, they bring in SE hits every day. Blog post titles can come from a couple categories, you just need to choose clever, concise or made for Google.

Another great article made to set you on your way to SEO heaven is “Search Engine Optimization for Blogs“. SEO is something most personal bloggers don’t know about, but it’s something that is really simple at the basic levels. After you start developing, meaning more posts, better posts, more backlinks, more link exchanges and relationships, you’ll notice your traffic increase.

Connor Wilson is a freelance web designer living in Toronto, Ontario writing his own personal blog.

Ready for May 1st?

April 30, 2007 By Devlounge

Ahh, May 1st. The annual “right of passage”, where designers across the globe come together for one day of freshness, a day to reinvent themselves and usher in a season of changes for the upcoming summer. Participants are scattered throughout every continent, and find themselves participating in one if not all of the many reboots out there today. Regardless of which one or ones you may be participating in, the message is the same – it’s time to reboot.

Last Minute Checks

On the eve of May 1st, many people frantically find themselves trying to fine-tune final elements of their sites before the big launch date. Many may have already filled their sites with temporary placeholders to increase the suspense between the final hours and the actual launch time. Some meanwhile, missed the invitation and are trying frantically in the last remaining hours to put together a new site just so they can say they were part of the event. No matter what you’re situation, be on the look out for some common checks that somehow get lost in all the madness.

Make sure your site is validated – Particularly if you are participating in a “standards reboot“. It was sad to see many of the submitted sites in the Fall Standards Reboot didn’t even validate. As a judge this year, one of the things we’re looking for is sites that actually read and meet the criteria for participating, and aren’t just trying to leech off free traffic.
Check for cross-browser compatibility – The last thing you want after an exciting (re)launch date is people complaining about a site not looking properly in their os / browser of choice. Make sure you go through some extensive checking to prevent discrepancies between different browsers. You can also turn to services such as Browsershots, iCapture, and ieCapture.
Re-read your content – If your site is being filled with new content (for example, you created some new pages, etc, with writing in them), make sure you have everything spell checked. Obviously, if you have a huge collection of past blog entries and articles, it could be impossible to go back and check everything, but make sure all new sections of your site are properly polished up. Eliminating mistakes will help leave people more impressed in the long run.

Get your launch post ready to go

If you are relaunching a blog of some sort, a great way to kick things off is with an introductory / about the redesign post. Share your own experiences from the reboot, showcase new site features, and finally, explain the process that went into the redesign. It’s always insightful to read someones methods of designing, because everyone does something different. It’s also a great way to focus visitors to specific areas of a redesign, such as new pages, favorite articles, etc. It really helps tie the whole event together, and it takes things a lot further than just saying “well here’s my new design, hope you enjoy it.”

Ready…or not?

An important thing to remember is that there is no need to rush a site relaunch simply for the sake of participating in the May reboot. Even if you are already registered somewhere as a participant, don’t stress over it. When things are rushed, you end up half-assing the work, which leads to a poor job. Do you think visitors would rather see a fully polished site launched all at once, or a semi-completed design that was put out that way too soon for it’s own good? You don’t need one specific day to refresh a design. There are 364 other days in a year that are fully open for the taking. Just because they don’t have a special label on them doesn’t mean you can’t hold your own reboot. Please, for everyone’s sake (yours, your visitors, and the judges of these events), don’t publish something that you don’t take pride in. It’s not good for business, and it’s not good for yourself.

Listen to your visitors

March 19, 2007 By Devlounge

As a resource that brings you articles, tips, and suggestions of what to do and what not to do, you would expect us to be on the top of our game since we put ourselves in the position to be giving you advice. Yet, that’s not always true.

It wasn’t until a few days ago when a kind reader pointed out to me a brutal mistake on my end, especially considering the type of site I’m running here. I had been using javascript to show and hide the search bar for months, and more recently, I applied the same effect to the subpage bar for our extras. The issue, was that without javascript enabled, a big portion of functionality was being lost, and so were a few extra pages.

How could we falter in such an important area? Forgetfulness, laziness, lack of (or too much) alcohol in the system – who knows really? It was a simple mistake that could have caused big problems, and because it was overlooked for so long, it went unnoticed until someone else was able to point it out.

But it is not just about who to thank, but the path taken afterwards. There were two routes I could have taken after being informed about this bug. Sit here and do nothing, like I had for the first few months, because it was an isolated issue, and because really, why would anyone have javascript disabled? The other route I could take was to look into it and get it fixed quickly, to show readers that, hey, I am actually listening to what you’re saying.

Lucky for me (and you without javascript), I took the second route. Thankfully, this reader had even been kind enough to point me to an article that mentioned an alternative method, so we could continue to show the same show/hide effect for people with JS, and just show them the search if they were without it.

The Customer is Always Right

Just like when your at the market and you see that tantalizing candy bar and you peel off a .99 cent sticker from another item and smack it on the candy bar, then proceed to bring it to the cashier and say that was the price advertised, you walk out with a candy bar and a couple extra cents.

Alright, maybe not.

But that “customer is always right” theory applies to your site(s) as well. When someone makes a suggestion or comment, whether it be bad or good, it’s important to look into it. Even if it’s a meager percentage of people complaining about something, or wanting something changed, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

A lot of times, you’ll find yourself making stupid mistakes, whether it be typos, design errors, and a host of other things, and you won’t even notice, because it takes someone else’s eyes to notice the problem. But yet, when someone does report something, you can annoyed. I know, especially in the early going of Devlounge, I would get extremely angry when people would point out multiple spelling errors in each of my articles. While it may have angered me, I made the fixes, and it turn it helped me be a lot more careful when typing, which has brought my countless mistakes down a hell of a lot.

Always remember, visitors know more than you. It’s vital to listen to their thoughts, comments, bug reports, typo reports, and general feedback and do something about it! You may the boss, but that doesn’t mean you’re the best.