September 2007

The Archives

Internet, Marketing
Evidence-based website management
09.30.07 | Permalink | Comment?

I’ve read Gerry McGovern’s new thinking for a while. They are great insights and reminders of what managing content is all about, and how it’s not a stand-alone thing. His postings from September 17 and 24 are good examples.

From his Evidence-based website management posting:

The Web is the perfect environment in which to make management decisions based on evidence and facts, rather than emotion and opinion.

Absolutely. Websites are measurable. Content is measurable. Measure the effect of a page, change the page, and measure the result. It’s simple, it’s organic, it follows the rules of evolution. The better genes win. This applies to content, navigation, design, everything. There is no place for opinion if it’s not based on data. But you’d be surprised how many opinions are out there without any data to back things up.

From his Time for content to become more scientific posting:

Senior managers don’t take content seriously because people who write content don’t come across as being serious. If content professionals want more respect, they need to present content as a science, not an art.

This is true. It applies to visual design as well. The challenge is that creative people consider their delivered product perfect. But in an online environment, it’s only the perfect starting point. Evolution is key. The copy or design that produces the best results is what creates perfection.

Instead of arguing and resisting the fact that evolution is key, they should embrace it. After all, you’re working in a business environment. As a manager, you should make sure you leave plenty of budget and resources available to evolve things after something is completed.
personal
New Look
09.29.07 | Permalink | 2 Comments

I just launched the new look for my blog. Only for the homepage; not very professional, but I need to put pressure on myself to finish the other templates. The old template was the default Movable Type template and I wanted something more personal. Some details:

Header
The identification in the header is my own handwriting for a personal touch. The picture on the right is taken by my friend Steve on our trip in Holland, just after we arrived. So it’s me without sleep for 20 hours and a 9 hour flight.

Colour schema
Yes, it’s busy. But that’s intended. I wanted a geeky look and took my inspiration from a Dilbert cartoon and the colour schema of van Gogh’s Starry Night.

Web 2.0
I added two areas above my blog entries that are syndicated from Twitter and del.icio.us. The Twitter box grabs my latest tweed my my latest thoughts. The del.icio.us area displays the last links I’ve bookmarked. There is also a Flickr area in the right column where the last photos I’ve uploaded on Flickr are displayed.

I’m reasonably happy with it.
Internet, personal, tourism bc
Interview on the Canada-e-Connect blog
09.20.07 | Permalink | Comment?
Chris Clarke interviewed me on the Canada-e-Connect blog. If you’re visiting from this blog and are interested in more information, check out these posts:
Karin Schmollgruber from the Fastenyourseatbelts blog also interviewed me a while ago.