Marketing – Todd Chambers

June 25, 2015 — No Comments

Content Strategy is Tedious. Let Me Count the Ways.

A Content Strategy Project Update

The design team and I just finished a two day workshop that found us digging out the scissors and tape. Yep, we went old school. If you've happened to read some of the past posts documenting our ongoing content strategy project, you may have noticed we've been employing some high tech solutions to our tasks. We've explored software for completing site inventories and cataloging content. We've employed spreadsheets, word docs, open source online collaboration tools (much to the chagrin of our IT team) and even new cloud based site mapping tools like slickplan.

But in the end, we've found ourselves returning again and again to the old ways. If we were to look at the process thus far through the lens of the Pareto principle (80/20 rule), my guess is that the 20% of our efforts that have driven the most insight, or provided the greatest thrust toward client deliverables will have come from tried and true analogue methods. Whiteboard sessions, standup meetings, and of course the cutting/pasting and red-pen markup of printed pages.

I'm encouraged by the myriad tools that are coming online to help us UX folk hone our skills. And while it feels a bit odd to dig so deeply into the old bag of tricks, I'm quite relieved to know that so much our craft can be accomplished via bootstrap tactics. As a leader of a small UX team housed within a small digital agency it's reassuring that high budgets and fancy office infrastructure aren't required to produce quality products. What's really needed? Good people, genuine concern for the client and the product evolution. And of course a sharp pair of scissors.

Published by Todd Chambers in Content, Creative Process, Marketing, Uncategorized, Usability, UX

June 2, 2015 — No Comments

Are Flat Wireframes a Thing of the Past?

Earlier this week I spent the entire morning and the better part of the afternoon (sigh) in a client meeting. I'm sure you're familiar with this kind of gathering. The client drives or flies in from the other side of the state (or country) for the big milestone meeting that's been months in the making. The agency's design and content team has spent the preceding weeks getting all the deliverables ready for the big reveal. The day has finally come. Each client-facing document is printed in color, collated, kept under lock and key and eventually (with some fanfare of course) handed out at the appropriate time during the marathon meeting. The PowerPoint slides are micro-managed and double-vetted. They're routed, proofed, approved. A dry run of the presentation is enacted to ensure proper visibility in the conference room (unexpected light can be a killer when looking at nuanced marketing charts). And then quickly the whole thing is whisked away to be securely placed on a server, two laptops and at least one flash drive just to ensure absolute redundancy. The presentation itself is meticulously timed, using the industry standard 2 minutes per slide rule, and of course bio breaks and the occasional disruptive phone call or technical hiccup are all planned for to ensure that once the meeting starts there are no surprises.

Don't get me wrong, Contrary to the hyperbole I just spewed, I actually like these big shindigs. I think most creatives do, deep down. Agency folk have been having meetings like this since the day of Mad Men and for a host of good reasons. Who doesn't like a bit of dog and pony show? Client's are paying good money to have agencies create the magic, why not make a fuss over the unveiling of the deliverables? Plus, big meetings allow agency & client teams valuable face time. Time set aside to roll up sleeves and dig into the details of a project in a way that weekly status calls and Basecamp updates just can't approximate. Still I can't help but lament a missing element in the afore-mentioned paradigm. Namely, collaboration.

As a UX professional I thrive on the collaborative process. The client is the domain expert. That should go without saying. The client has the most acute awareness of the challenge needing a solution. The agency on the other hand knows how to craft experiences, showcase storytelling, leverage market trends and buy media. It only makes sense then, that the creative process capitalize on the synergy of the client/agency dynamic. Two teams aiming leading with their strengths working together for a shared outcome.

In the meeting I mentioned moments ago this bridge between stakeholders and agency became painfully obvious as the design team began presenting the wireframes we'd created for the meeting. I just couldn't shake the feeling that we were missing a level of buy-in. While everyone in the room we're nodding in agreement and conversation remained generally positive, it wanted something more. If only we could facilitate realtime feedback and incorporate it directly into the deliverables so that everyone in the room became a part of the solution. So that everyone felt a level of ownership over the product we're creating. It didn't take long once the meeting was over for me to begin my search for a collaborative wireframing tool.

I know, I know, I'm not the first to lament over the lack of collaboration in the UX process. And truth be told, I probably should have explored these particular solutions before now. But you know what they say recognition of the problem is the first step toward recovery. So the search for a new mousetrap begins.

Below are a few of the standouts I uncovered in my initial search:

HotGloo
Gliffy
MockFlow
Wireframe.cc
UXPin

Each solution has their own advantages of course and I'm still in the process of sharing these product options with our design team (remember, it's all about collaboration). I'd love to receive your feedback as well. If you or your team have successfully implemented a tool and workflow like this please, by all means, share the details. Nothing beats a recommendation form a fellow pro. I'm a marketer so I know the real value of testimonials. And for what it's worth, once my team and I have made a decision on which product or process to use, I'll pass along the update.

Published by Todd Chambers in Creative Process, Marketing, Resources, Uncategorized, Usability, UX

May 14, 2015 — No Comments

Feeding My Creativity Is My Responsibility

Working in the creative field for nearly 20 years has allowed me plenty of time for this truth to sink in. No one else is responsible for fulfilling my creative needs. There, I said it. Not my boss, not my coworkers (as talented as they are) or even the biz dev team. And no, certainly not my clients. Let's face it, as creative professionals we have a ravenous appetite for new and interesting creative outlets. We want to explore new design techniques, try out alternative website navigation schemas, exercise our video production skills. We want to be the first to write about a bleeding edge UX theory or convince a client to try a crazy new layout. But if we're brave enough to face reality, we'll quickly realize it's simply not fair to go around asking those that pay us to also act as our muse and creative patrons.

Truth be told, this isn't the first time I've come to this liberating conclusion. Nope, sadly there has been times in the past I've found myself secretly holding others responsible for the harsh reality that client work isn't always as fulfilling as I'd like. I've suffered, as most you probably have, the painful valleys of creative burnout when you just couldn't find the joy in the work at hand. Those days (or weeks) where everything feels more like a task than a passion project. The elephant in the room? Sometimes work is just that - work.

Recently I decided to combat this nagging reality head on. I decided to begin drawing again. I deliberately look for opportunities to put pen to paper - or as is the case of the image above - chalk to blackboard. I figured why not go back to the basics. Drawing is as rudimentary a creative outlet as there is. Like cavemen with manganese or iron oxide, there is no simpler creative exercise. And the best part, I don't need anyone's permission to do it and I can take it with me anywhere. A sketch book and a ballpoint pen is all it takes to get in the game. And yeah, I've also volunteered to help keep the company break room's new chalkboard up to date. The good news is, I love it. Drawing recharges my batteries, it keeps me thinking creatively and prepares me for those opportune moments when my boss or a client says "We need something cool, something new, something out of the box. Whatcha got?"

So, let's hear it, how do you feed your creativity when the work just isn't cutting it? How do you fight the demon-monster of creative status quo?

Published by Todd Chambers in Art, Creative Process, Marketing, Painting, Personal

May 5, 2015 — No Comments

UX Audit Update & Resource Sharing

I'm several weeks into a lengthy project for a new client. We're prepping for a big redesign and so we're taking a big step back and looking at where we are and how we got here prior to charting the next leg of the journey. It's a smart approach to a redesign, but sadly not one taken by many brands due to the cost and effort. Seems lots of companies have bought into the idea that movement equals progress, and therefore stopping, if only to gain perspective, is counter productive. If you've visited my site recently you may have stumbled across other updates like this one. I understand that reading through other practitioners list of resources isn't the sexiest kind of content but hopefully you'll find the links and summaries below useful in one of your upcoming projects.

Storyscaping. I picked up this gem recently while doing research on the art and science of storytelling as a marketing strategy. I've not been disappointed. Focused identifying your customer segments, fully realizing your brands unique purpose and organizing and crafting a compelling story, this book is sure to set some board rooms on fire.

Identify and define your core desired consumer segment.
Unlock or define your brand or organization's Purpose.
Understand the emotional desires of your consumer.

Paul Boag is a designer and UX professional hailing from the UK. I always find his perspective fresh and his writing actionable. Here are two recent articles that helped me as I was digging for inspiration and process clarification on web accessibility and site reviews.

And finally I've been digging into some great resources from Colleen Jones. She the Founder and CEO of Content Science and the author of Clout_TheArtAndScienceOfInfluentialWebContent and Does Your Content Work?
If you're interested in optimizing your content and crafting a strategy that resonates with your customers, you need to make sure both books make it to your shortlist.

So, there you go - what are you waiting for - dig in. I hope these resources prove as helpful to you as they have to me.

Published by Todd Chambers in Content, Creative Process, Marketing, Resources, Uncategorized, Usability, UX

April 24, 2015 — No Comments

Finding the Right Heuristic Evaluation Tool

Just minutes ago I completed a very long and tedious heuristic evaluation. Several weeks in hibernation, a couple dozen cups of coffee and more than a few headache powders later and I'm all done. Earlier this evening I actually threw my hands in the air as if I had crossed some imaginary marathon finish line. Nope, not kidding, I really did. Right there at my desk for all to see. Sometimes you've just gotta celebrate.

Recently, a client asked us to help them review their current digital collateral. They needed assistance working through a brand update and website redesign. The project was to include UX evaluations, brand inventories, competitive analysis, site architecture, the whole nine yards. Just my kinda gig. However I realized once I began prepping for the evaluation that I hadn't updated my processes and documentation in a while and I wasn't fully satisfied with them after their last use. So, I was faced with the evergreen question of recycle, refine or retool. After much hand-ringing and more than a few dozen glances at the timeline and milestone documents, I bit the bullet and decided to retool. It was time for a new approach, new processes and while I was at it I might as well see if another format afforded better outcome.

In the past I've used Word documents, Fireworks files, PowerPoint, Excel spreadsheets and other software mash-ups to perform and document my heuristic evaluations. All of them have their place, but each has shown some major drawbacks. I've struggled with retaining control of formatting, operating system tug-o-wars and version control. This time I was looking for something different. I wanted something scalable, something I could easy edit remotely and most importantly it had to be easy for other team members to access and contribute. So, I decided to go with Google docs. And so far, I've been more than pleased with my decision.

First thing I had to do was port over all my heuristics into the new format. Quite frankly, I thought this might be the worst task I'd taken on in a while. I've died the death of a thousand spreadsheet cells in the past, and as I'm sure you're aware, it's a torture like no other. Surprisingly, once I jumped in and begin nudging those columns and color coding the rows, it came together quite nicely, thank you. As a matter of fact I think Google's minimal design esthetic and my penchant for removing cruft work well together. Here's a screen grab of one of the sections.

Screengrab of evaluation

I'm happy to report that we shared the first draft of the audit with the client earlier this week and it was a huge hit. I credit the simple layout and the document's high level of readability (even as a screen grab) for the warm welcome the presentation received.

Now the next test comes into play. I'll route the document this week internally for final contributions from other team members and for the all important proofing stage. Usually my heuristic reports route as flat copies for old school style redlining (for those not in the agency world, that means someone actually taken a red pen to mark up my spelling and grammatical gaffs). I'm guessing that being able to edit the document directly is gonna be a big hit. Fingers officially crossed.

I'll post updates as the project continues. And in the spirit of sharing, if we decide to adopt this process, I'll explore the idea of providing access to a google doc template of the evaluation so those of you searching for a new form of documentation can give it a test drive for your next project. So, stay tuned.

Published by Todd Chambers in Content, Creative Process, Marketing, Usability, UX

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