Not sure what the world will be doing in 2010, but Vancouver (our home-town) is ready for 2010. And zooming in even closer, DesignStamp is set to forge ahead into the new year as well. Here are the top 5 things that have us excited right now in broad sketchy details, just so that we can remain open to the possibilities that present themselves to us after the Holidays.

We, at DesignStamp are particularly excited about 2010 because:

1. Coming Soon. Yup, without displaying the ever-popular construction man animated icon, we will soon launch a new site for ourselves that will better reflect what we do and who we are. (You say: Soon is not a date. I say: I know, but as we tell our clients, don’t make promises of dates and things, unless you can be sure to stick to them. So we’re taking our time, between client projects to get this done. We want to do this right).
2. Team. What bites about the current site is that it gives you no sense of who we are. That will be more transparent in 2010.
3. Partnerships. As we grow as a team, we have also been working closely with some great companies. We will release collaborative work in 2010 that will help us build on shared strengths and leverage each others specialties.
4. Clients. We have been very proud to work with premier non-profit organizations that are affecting real change across the globe. We are also equally proud to help large brands communicate effectively. We will launch 3 new projects in the first quarter of 2010.
5. Blogging. For reals. This has been inactive, sorry excuse for an Opinion for way too long. We are going to use our site, and our social networks more regularly and be better contributors to conversations in 2010. For now, follow us on Twitter. While we work with clients to help them get social, we have not done the same for ourselves consciously. “If you don’t have the bandwidth, and not sure of how you are going to participate: Don’t!”. That said, our presentation on getting social on SlideShare has been the most tweeted presentation, twice in 2009!

We wish you and yours a peaceful holiday season. Look forward to working, tweeting, sharing with you in the days ahead!

“Present the data from one of the world’s most reliable sources of international development statistics.”

The magnitude of the project seemed inconceivable at first glance, and its social and economic ramifications staggering. But I am happy to report that our work for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has become one of our most successful projects to date. I write this blog entry after-the-fact, the project has gone ‘live’ and you can read more about the OECD here and learn about the project itself from 2Paths, the company that hired us to conduct user research and design the user interface to drive this web application.

The project began back in November 2007, with 2Paths having initiated a detailed scoping and budget phase with the client. They decided early on to bring design experts on to the team to lead the interface development for this project.  DesignStamp joined in January and development was to begin in March.  Our task was to gather as much knowledge about the project as possible, from the work 2Paths had already done, the various user types identified and also understand business requirements from the client.

1. Our search for this knowledge meant doing extensive interviews with users from around the world who came in contact with OECD data for a variety of reasons. We conducted in-person interviews, phone interviews and also relied on video conferencing technology to be able to do small focus group style interviews.
2. We then made the trip to Paris, to gather business requirements from the OECD and echo our understanding of their vision, as well as what the end-users desired.  It was important that we speak with the staff that managed the current databases on international development statistics.  We learnt about the issues OECD development staff had in using the OECD.Stat interface and also documented queries from users.
3. This knowledge combined with our user research gave us enough information to be able to create the set of user personae (PDF) that would inform the rest of the project work ahead. The persona process is invaluable in helping not only help keep the end-user in mind when designing solutions but also lend focus to project scope.
4. We moved quickly from a lo-fi wireframing deliverable whereby we explained our proposed solution to the client using sketches, to high fidelity prototypes that enabled us to present click through scenarios and validate our approach based on common tasks that users may undertake to extract data from the interface.
5. Having received approval on the wireframes, we worked with the 2Paths development team and the client to hit 2 to 3 week iterations and tackle off user stories that helped us build components of the project in a priority sequence.
6. We worked with 2Paths to merge our design with their agile development process.  DesignStamp designers were kept a minimum of 2 weeks ahead of developer work, so that we could get client approval on the interface decisions and be ready with assets for developers to complete the user stories in time.

Lessons learned from this project:

1. One of our big wins was to align ourselves with the client from the get-go and work with them as partners trying to solve the problem. We took the time to understand the “pain”, and appreciate their goals before we started to do any design work.
2. The time 2Paths spent educating the client on how an agile development process works was worth the effort. Having client buy-in was invaluable, as they knew what to expect, what not to expect and just how we would tackle off the project in incremental bits. 2Paths did a great job managing this.
3. The OECD was the perfect client in many ways. Perfect client=Accommodating, collaborative and open to providing us with the knowledge we needed to do our job well.
4. The agile process works only when the client, and the entire team appreciate the benefit of frequent deliverables. It was also important that designers were kept 2 weeks ahead of the developer work, so that we could have time to work on, and gain approval on interface decisions, prior to the developers needing graphic assets.
5. Modern communication tools helped our global team produce a global project. Say what you will but the project would have been severely impacted if we could not rely on web conferencing and being able to share our desktops in Vancouver with a client in Paris. We had weekly check-in points to keep the client in the loop at all times. Remote conferencing was invaluable for that (even if it meant that the Vancouver team was bleary eyed, attending conference calls at 7 am in the morning!).

This project tested our process by the shear magnitude of the design brief. This project has proved to us once again, that we don’t just create good looking work; we solve problems. We do so by following a user-centric design process that marries business objectives with user goals. And at the end of the project, our biggest rewards: The glowing testimonials from the client and the users who have tested our new interface. You can view our design solution for this project here or contact us if you would like to learn more about our process for solving complex business problems.

So what does it mean to me to be good? I am not sure as yet, but here are a few words that come to mind. I told myself that I won’t spend hours and hours on this blog and write from the heart and not the head. So here goes in no particular order:

• Respect. Yup that word again. I believe in this so much that I chide myself when I don’t follow the mantra. It helps me see things more objectively.
• Curious. To want to learn more because I owe it to my craft to be ‘good’ and more importantly, to always be searching for the ‘better’ way to solve problems.
• Caring. From telling someone that their shirt’s tag is showing to giving a team member timely feedback, it is important to “see” people and demonstrate that noticing and acknowledging behavior and yes, even appearances.
• Educate. This I need to do more. I strongly believe that through education you can positively change a life, and this planet’s course is via education. That is why I teach, and if I ever accumulated wealth, that is what I would want to do with my money. Facilitate learning.
• Question. If I want to improve how things are, and make them how they ought to be, I need to remember to think outside the construct and question status quo.
• Happy. If I am happy, I do better work, and I am good to those around me. I owe others to be happy, so I should take the time to do things that make me happy.
• Travel. What better way to appreciate different cultures and ways of living than to see the world. My work, my attitude to people who are different than me is informed by what I think I know about them. I don’t understand how traveling can not be a priority. It’s mine.
• Give. I need to do more of this. But related to “Educate”, for me giving people money or the basics for living (food, shelter) is not the most productive way to change their life for the better. You have to empower people to be able to make choices, to see the world for what it can be for them, and a way out of where they may be stuck. (Gawd, I sound like a preacher, but I have a story that is too long to type, so ask me and I’ll tell you)
• Voice. If you don’t got one, you ain’t going to be able to change nuthin’. If it’s good, than I need to be able to talk about it, start discussions and challenge others to follow. So it’s important to have a clear message about that good thing, and a voice that can be heard.
• Relate. Even if you have to fake it for a bit, you should try and see the other point of view and ‘relate’. World politics could be very different if we stopped trying to vilify nations and whole continents. How about just trying to relate with those people? Why are they hating us so much, and what did we do to make them feel this way?
• Humility. My mamma taught me this. To do good, to be good, and want good things for those around me, I must remember that I am not the best. I am only one person trying to become better because it’s my obligation to do so. Ego is destructive and I am a designer because I want to be constructive.

So there you go, a blog post more for me than you, but I hope that it will ignite a desire in someone, somewhere to not just do, but think a bit about what they do, how they do it, and why they do it.

Client X (in email): XYZ referred me to you. We saw your work for Rouxbe and were impressed. We need a serious web2.0 redesign.

Me(in email): I would really appreciate it if you could complete our project initiation survey (it is only a few questions). This will help us to be better prepared for our meeting on Thursday.

Client X (in Survey): We want a best of breed, slick website that is just like myspace, linkedin, facebook, flickr and digg. Our site needs features from all of the above but be different.

Me (reading Survey): …Scratching head…

The above scenario is familiar to most designers. Everyone wants to be part of the big bandwagon called Web 2.0. Most have no idea what Web 2.0 is or it’s value. What they do know is that their current site doesn’t work and they want something better. I attended the DocTrain conference in Vancouver and the folks from Adaptive Path shared similar stories. In fact, they go one step further, and now use Web 2.0 as a shield to break through traditional bureaucracy. Tell people that what you are proposing is very web 2.0, and the cool, vague term opens doors for new ways of doing things.

This article is broken into several parts because this is a loaded topic, with lots of unknowns to unpack. This month, we look at how to know if it’s time to freshen up your website and redesign it. We will then make sense of the process of redesign and then apply Web 2.0 innovation , where appropriate, to bring the website in line with where we want it to be.

So…

Your company already has a website. And without knowing who you are, what your company does, and why you have come to DesignStamp to help you redesign your site, let me tell you what is probably wrong with your site right now:

1. Old, and Not In a Good Way:You had it designed about 5 years ago, and while it looked good then, it’s starting to feel tired today. It’s failing to display correctly on modern browsers, and the look and feel of the site is very 1990’s. Like a pair of jeans, it hugged your butt for a while, but now it’s starting to sag.
2. The Site Map ala the Winchester House .Time has taken it’s toll on planning as well, and every reactive addition to the website has resulted in several hundred orphaned pages. If you can’t draw a mental site map of your site’s structure, chances are your user most certainly cannot, so they may never find what they came looking for. You’ve inadvertently built stairs that lead to the ceiling!
3. Your Copy Lies About You. The market has done a 360°. Your customer has changed and so has your competition. You are no longer selling the same vision, and in some really bad cases, not even the same product(s). Your website is, essentially, lying about what you do and why you do it.
4. No Funnel, No Conversions, No Happy. Most websites that were designed in the 90’s and early 00’s lacked one small detail on their home page: stating the reason to exist or what the french call raison d’etre.Which means that while attention was paid to adding cool animations, we lacked the wisdom(that comes from failure), to make sure that people quickly understood what the website (and company) does, and then lead the user to the crux of the matter in the most targeted manner. See the home-page of Rouxbe.com: nothing stands in the way from telling people about the site and getting them signed up and all set to watch food videos. Now look at http://www.sap8.com/. Enough said.
5. Your Brand’s Clothes Don’t Match. Make sure the logo and colors of your website match with your biz card, your delivery van and the trade show collateral you just got designed. Your corporate identity are the clothes that your brand wears, and they need to match! A consistent, well-matched corporate identity builds trust and trust leads to the magic money-in-the-bank word… credibility!
6. You’re doing all the talkin’! In this brave new world, companies now have to have the courage to have a two-way conversation with their customer. So if your website features a lowly contact form as the only way for your customer to speak with you and create dialog, then perhaps, it’s time to consider creating a community around your website, and more importantly, around your brand.
7. Accessibility is a Dirty Word. Chances are that when your website was designed, the possibility of someone coming to your site unable to use a mouse was an edge-case not worth considering. There are several compelling business reasons to ensure that your website is accessible. One compelling way to think about accessibility and having xhtml standard compliant sites today is that they have a better chance of working on handheld devices and nifty little cell phones and Wii consoles. You never know where your customer thinks about you and wants access to your site.
8. Your Sales Staff Shudder, Your Tech Staff Dream Bad Dreams.Old websites usually have un-fresh first point of contact information and offer poor after-sales support. After all if the content is difficult to update then who will ever want to update it? And if the content is difficult to upkeep, your tech staff (or the guy who knows a lot about computers) is stressed out by just having to do simple text replaces in this very cumbersome website.
9. Your Competition Looks Better. While a me-too approach is never the best one, we do need to keep up with the Jones’ in this case. If your competition provides helpful features such as side-by-side comparisons, external online resources etc, they are stealing your online business from right under your nose. Your customer is turning to them as a trusted source for what they are looking for.
10. You Know It. Most organizations know that their website needs a refresh. While some may disagree about the extent of that refresh (a makeover, or a new beginning), most will acknowledge that the website has stopped meeting the organization’s needs. This checklist may just help you advocate internally for that change, and the need to hire professionals to do the job right!

Related footnote. I made a presentation entitled web design makeover in conjunction with VFS and Vancouver Public Library. Check out the PDF

Whether you are building a product or even a campaign to sell it, read this article, consider its impact on how you have traditionally thought about things, and then ensure that your company is working responsibly (and hiring responsible designers). Pre-thought, planning and good judgement are your most powerful allies and secret weapons for survival in this increasingly complex, fast moving economy.

Lets’ assume you goal is to make a ‘good’ product. What will define this goodness? Is it:

• The feature list?
• Launching in time for (insert your choice of event here). Or
• Making your investors happy?

I can assure you, that if you answered yes to any or all of the above, you are not alone. Most businesses tend to start to stare at their belly buttons at one time or another. It’s natural and it’s a reaction to concentrating on the known instead of dealing with the unknown. While it is good to look inward at times, there is a danger off being blindsided by the real changes that are occuring in the marketplace everyday. Navel gazing is comfortable and offers an addictive sense of control. You can bully your developer into producing the feature list you desire, and working crazy hours will produce a broken alpha product ready for your targeted launch date. You can present a bouncy PowerPoint presentation to your investors and their eyes will glisten with the promise of what you put forth as a future release.

But the global market is littered with the ghosts of companies, big and small, that died from the effects of navel gazing. To stare at your collective navel as a company leads any one or all to the following phenomenon. (Consider the following to be the ‘what not to do’ part of the article’s title.)

1. Amnesia (Simple questions such as: What are we doing? Who are we? Why are we in business, remain unanswered)
2. Blindness (Our competition is way too far behind us for us to care)
3. Paranoia (Make our NDA longer, with more legal clauses than the next prenup Anna Nicole Smith would have to sign…they are out to steal our idea)
4. Temporal Megalomania (We control time. We lead the industry and have the best product. The market only changes when we are ready for that change)
5. Self-Inflating egos (We will always be better than them. We know best)
6. Manic Mood Swings (We have the world’s best product, we have the world’s worst red-tape, we have competent management, we have incompetent workers)
7. Self Mutilation (Fire, lay off and basically chop off limbs in an effort to fix the unknown problem)
8. Suicidal Tendencies (Work on the basis of a fixed burn rate. Spend the money today, we may not have a tomorrow to look forward to)
9. Prostitution (We are building a cool product because we want a company like Yahoo! Or Google to buy us. We don’t need to ship to market, we just need to build the bloody thing, so we don’t need to prove worth)
10. Inertia (The inability to react to anything due to all of the above)

So who’s thinking about your end-user? No one. The user is, for all intents and purposes, dead. They have been sacrificed for a quick turnaround and a bloated piece of technology. In next month article we will delve into the elements to focus on instead of that navel.

Companies that have thought about these elements have always prospered. Whether it is huge success such as that enjoyed by companies like Google or Apple, or the small resounding success of your neighborhood ‘no-brand’ coffee shop. They all share something in common.

Till next time…!