If you are not designing a site for its user… who are you designing it for?

In addition to understanding the web site’s purpose and goals, you need to know who will use the site. If you know me, you know that I always harp on how important it is to understand your user. Have you ever heard the saying, “The customer is always right?” Well, for the purposes of web design (or instructional design for that matter), the user is always right. And they know what they want. It is all about them. Take the image at the right. This user is a male, age 5-10, and is looking for information about his favorite cartoon. Sites like Cartoon Network are specifically designed to meet the needs of this type of user. Consider the following quote:

Comprehensive planning and analysis ensures that designers and developers will provide what their users want. If you start to code your Web pages without thorough planning and analysis, you run the risk of missing pertinent information. It is much less expensive to make corrections to a Web site in the early phases of a project development that it is to alter Web pages that are completed. –HTML, XHTML, & CSS Complete

Getting started thinking about the user is the bridge that takes us over into the analysis phase which is where a designer may spend a majority of their time. Knowing the makeup of the target audience is key. For example, how old are they, what is their gender, what do they like, how well do they know computers, etc.  I often find it helpful to think in extremes and then meet in the middle. Imagine the following fictitious users:

• A 10 year old boy needs a cartoon web site to find out information about his favorite characters.
• A 75 year old man needs a tax web site to find information out about his itemized deductions.

While there are attributes of these users that are similar, e.g., both sites are basically informational. Although, where they are different would truly effect the design and development of the site. Like I stated above, knowing the target audience will help you design a web site that will meet their needs.

Think about it. If you are not designing a site for its user, who are you designing it for?

These days it is not as crucial to take the users computing environments into consideration with the way that the internet and speeds have evolved. We used to state that it was important because some users could have low-speed connections and then we would not want to create pages with large graphics or multimedia elements. While I say this, it is still best practice not to have pages with large images but if they are necessary, provide a link to download rather than automatically load.

It’s all about the user. Always about the user. The web site is for the user. Not for the designer or the client. For example, Amazon’s website is not for the company Amazon. It is for their customers… the users.

 

Take your client through a planning process…

If you do some searching on the web, you will find out that there are numerous iterations of what could be described as a web site development process that I presented previously (see Process & Developing Your “Eye” For Design…). Some have many more phases than what I will be discussing here and some are more simplified. Although, they all basically say the same thing, e.g., gathering initial information, the creation of your web site, and finally to maintenance to keep your web site up to date and current. When I teach web design courses I like to categorize these into six phases we mentioned previously, e.g., planning, analyzing, designing, developing, reviewing/testing, and publishing/maintaining.

So what should a designer do? How can we move forward with our clients?  In the “planning” phase, the web designer/developer gathers information from the client and other relevant parties involved. We try to put together the pieces of the puzzle so to speak. Many things need to be taken into consideration as the initial design of a site takes shape. Start by asking a lot of questions to make sure you understand the needs of the site and of course it’s users. The following are some suggested considerations that could be adapted for any initial planning consultation:

• Purpose
  What is the purpose of the site? Do you want to provide information, promote a service, sell a product… to the user?
• Goals
  What do you hope to accomplish by building this web site? Two of the more common goals are either to make money for a client or share information to the user.
• Target Audience
  Is there a specific user that will help you to reach your goals? It is helpful to picture the “ideal” user that you want to visit your web site. Consider their age, gender, and interests. This information will help you determine the best design style for the site.
• Content
  What kind of information will the target user be looking for on your site? Are they looking for specific information, a particular product, or service…?

As web site planning is the first phase of the Web Development Life Cycle, it involves the elements above, e.g., identifying the goals or purpose of the site.

• What do you think would happen if these were not determined at the onset of design and development?
• What in the world would end up taking shape?
• Would it be what the client wants or what the users need? Probably not. So good luck getting a call back is this information is not gathered.

The first step is to answer the question, “What is the purpose of this web site?” As you may already know, there could be any number and a variety of reasons. Perhaps you, an individual, might want a web site to share your hobbies? Perhaps showcase your experiences and have an online portfolio of sorts? Often organizations would have a web site to keep their members informed of upcoming events or to recruit new members. The same if true for a business that would have a site to carry on their business and perhaps business activities, e.g., sell products, customer support, advertise, etc.

The second step is to answer the question, “What do you hope to accomplish by building this web site?” For those who are instructional designers reading this, we need to think of these as measurable objectives. We may be asked to show exactly how their web site can accomplish these goals. Perhaps provide evidence after a predetermined time to show that these were accomplished. At this time we also need to distinguish the as goals for the site. As you progress with the WDLC you will be looking into goals of the user.

Process & Developing Your “Eye” For Design…

Often as an instructional designer I also dabble into web design and development. When I do, I try to follow a process that I plan on outlining over the course of a few posts this month. I hope this information will help you wither you are an “hobbyist” or a “opportunist” freelance web designer like myself. Notice the diagram to the right. This is what I would call a web development life cycle.

When I teach Introduction to XHTML and Web Editors at the university level I ask my students to utilize this process to inevitably create sites for their term projects… but also hope to instill in them a process for any further web design/development that they are a part with.

As instructional/web designers/developers we should always be observant of what is out there as instruction e.g., the web. Does something look incorrect? Maybe I can contact them and help out? Wow that is really cool… maybe I could learn how to do that and add it to my site. I always try to get my students to be out there consuming the web as usual, but always pay special close attention to and keep an eye out for:

• Functionality
• Design

The development of this “eye” is so crucial because it is up to you to make sure your client’s and students, users, etc. get what they need. If they do then you will save you and/or your company a lot of money, and/or get a greater return on the instructional or web site investment.

More to follow.

Trying To Move Up In Your Company?

I had a question recently come across my desk about some suggestions for someone interviewing for a position within the company that they are already working. This is a slightly different can of worms from interviewing for a new job/company. For this particular situation, the new job would be a promotion into the position of their direct manager (Level 1) … which means that the hiring manager is the direct manager’s… manager (Level 2).

After some thought, I would say that the most important point to get across to the hiring manager is that you are best person for the job while at the same time communicate how you can meet the main job requirements. During the interview, be sure to tie every question back to how you meet those main job requirements.

Remember, fifty percent of any decision about hiring someone is always if they will be a good “fit” for the position. This is just a professional way of saying … “will you get along with and not annoy people in the office?” Here are some other things that I shared with them:

• Think about the main job requirements for the Level 1 manager (i.e., your potential promoted position) from the prospective of the Level 2 manager. How would this new position for you make things easier on them?
• How has your current position prepared you for this new position?

What about some tricky questions you could be asked during the interview with the Level 2 manager:

• Who from our team do you believe to be the best person for the job? Why do you think you are the best person for the job? How could you answer this and also say positive things about your co-workers?
• Discuss working under the Level 1 manager. How would you have done things different? (depending on the Level 2 manager, they may not like an answer of anything different.  They may just want things to stay the same… maybe they really liked Level 1 who is leaving and wished they weren’t…)

I then shared with them a little light reading. While these two blog posts from The 99% which are geared toward resume writing, I think definitely is a good resource for anyone presenting themselves in an interview:

• The Resume Is Dead, The Bio Is King
  If you’re a designer, entrepreneur, or creative – you probably haven’t been asked for your resume in a long time. Instead, people Google you – and quickly assess your talents based on your website, portfolio, and social media profiles. Do they resonate with what you’re sharing? Do they identify with your story? Are you even giving them a story to wrap their head around?
• Present Yourself
  Creative achievements seldom happen in isolation. A big part of making ideas happen is controlling how you come across to others. Of course, the Creative’s tendency is to say, “who gives a crap what other people think.” While there is merit in never compromising oneself for the sake of another’s opinion, creative professionals need to make an effort to be understood. You need to present yourself effectively to engage others and get the support (and the business) you need to push ideas forward.

Something you might also want to keep in mind that that this hiring manager might know your history and or other information about you since you are applying for the position from within…

The Parallels of Instructional Design & Ferrari

I recently came across an episode of Ultimate Factories, which showcased the Ferrari Factory in Italy. The Ferrari factory which produces the car that everyone dreams of owning and few ever do, has some striking similar characteristics to the field of instructional design. Specifically the role of an instructional designer plays in the organization which they work. Here are some of the takeaways that I picked up from watching the show:

• Ferrari’s Are Iconic
  Each sports car has its claim to fame. But none are as iconic as the Ferrari. It sets itself apart because of the precision and perfection behind the wheel. Imagine if this was how a designer looked at each piece of instruction they are developing. Others can develop something to teach X, but if a designer could get their hands on it…
• Ferrari’s Are A Work Of Art
  To some, a Ferrari is just a car. Something that can take you from point A to B. This is true for the instruction that a designer develops. It can take a learner from a starting point to a point where they can perform some measurable objectives. To those who know design and appreciate instruction, they can tell the difference between a really good design, i.e., a work of art from something that is just words and images on a page.
• Ferrari Factory Conforms Raw Metal To Raw Power
  It the video it shows the meticulous nature of melting metal which will inevitable fill a specific mold. Majority of factories mass produce these create molds on an assembly line. Not in this factory. Each mold is essentially made by hand, inspected, and worked with over an extensive period time. Many molds are rejected and thrown back into the fire due to imperfections. A separate mold is made for every single engine. It takes 5 hours for a metal worker to apply the finishing touches to a mold. Each piece is fit together like a 3D jigsaw. This is often how a designer works with content—analyzing, designing, developing, etc. Often our ideas are scrapped until we can produce… that raw power. We have to look at each event individually. What works for one event does not necessarily work for another and often should not be pushed into that mold. If one piece fails so could the whole event.
• Ferrari Factory Checks & Cross Checks For Imperfections
  The video discussed how many people and other technologies that are often involved in ensuring one part does what it is designed to do. The same is true in ID. Receiving feedback on all aspects of the design, constantly evaluating how effective and efficient an event is what we should be doing daily. The video states that there is a reason on this instance for imperfection, “the slightest flaw in a high performance sports car could create the ripple effect, because the flaw could magnify, all of the other components depend upon it. The high pressures placed on a Ferrari could turn cracks into fishers! This could severely compromise the cars structural integrity.” The same is true for one piece in a series of instruction. Imagine if what would happen if a pilot was trained incorrectly about using the landing gear?
•  Ferrari Factory Makes Cars For The Street & Race Track
  Just as the Ferrari factory makes cars for both the street and the Formula 1 cars for the race track, an instructional designer is diverse as well. We work in both higher education, but also major corporations. Our industry is quite unique in that we essentially, wither an organization knows or not,  can and should be used. Our filter is quite valuable to analyze processes, evaluate programs, design instructional events, etc.
• Ferrari Factory Has A Two Mile Private Race Track
  I am sure that most car companies have a similar setup, but this one is private. As a designer I may design an instructional event or “learning object” and as I see the project through to the end, much of my time is devoted to testing. I need to make sure that the object instructs the way it is intended to instruct and functions the way it was designs. This obviously has to happen before a learner gets their eyes and hands on it. Same is true in the Ferrari factory.
• Ferrari Factory Has The Ever Present Threat Of Industrial Espionage
  Similar to the previous bullet with the private track, but a designer always needs to be on the outlook for others trying to steel our work, take credit for the things that we designed, or more importantly trivialize the process because of the simplicity of the output. I see this time and time again that someone might think they can do “____” too, when in fact they can’t. Could Ford start putting out a Ferrari?
• The Fiorano 599 Took Five Years Of R&D
  The newest, fastest, most expensive Ferrari is perfection and it took five years to create this work of art. In the video, the CEO is quoted talking about the music the engine makes and how important that is to the buyer. The same is true for effective and efficient instruction. It takes time which is often a constraint working against us.
• The Fiorano 599 Has The Sole & Speed Of A Formula-1 Racer
  The designers at Ferrari faced a daunting challenge, to create a street car with the sole and speed of a Formula-1 racer. The Formula-1 model being crème de la crème of what Ferrari produces and at one time, the sole purpose of the company. The documentary mentions that at one time Ferrari only made street models just to be able to afford the development of Formula-1. As I was discussing earlier in this post, all designer should look at each piece of instruction this way. We are often asked to, and I think that is for good reason.

If you are interested, check out the video and see if it was as inspiring to you as it was to me. Do you see any other parallels?

 

 

Designers should drive change through continual cycles of creation…

This is my 3^rd post discussing a recent article in TechTrends, by Jason McDonald—The Creative Spirit of Design. The article discusses characteristics that instructional designers, like myself, may exemplify. This post specifically deals with the second characteristic of the “Creative Spirit”—being creation-oriented, or to drive change through continual cycles of creation.

Much of my time each day is devoted to “creation” activities with raw content from the instructors that I work with.

• Analyze Using a Designers Lens
  These are some of the questions that I ask myself as I am initially analyzing the content with a designers lens and often placing myself in the learners shoes. What can I do with this? Does this make sense to me? How can this be presented online? Etc.
• Design With a Creative Spirit
  As I am getting in content I try to think about its presentation outside of the box. That is always easier to say than done, because it is sometimes easier to just get it done and off your plate. But there are times where you have an opportunity, little to no constraints, or that idea that just pops into your head.
• Implement With Tact
  Sometimes another large part of my job is seeing the ideas through to fruition. Getting an instructor on board with something that is new and innovative is often difficult because they want to do what they have always done. Getting the instructor on board is an art and often requires lots of patience. My best advice… sound excited about what you want to do. Talk about how much it will engage the learners. Talk about how much more efficient the outcomes will be.

So like Jason is saying, designers with the creative spirit spend much of their time … trying to “understand possible solutions but also to meaningfully shape their understanding of problems and opportunities.” I also like how he points out that the “creation orientation” is different from solving a problem. This is where our filter or “design lens” comes out. Rather than just recognizing that patters are there, we are looking for those patterns to influence the presentation of content. This is because we are not just copying and pasting the content into a different medium, we are stepping back to see how we can get the “construct” the pattern into something were learners can learn.

This often comes out for me personally when I am brainstorming with an instructor. We talk about the outcomes and I just shoot out ideas. We look at the content and I off the top of my head talk about how it can be presented. This often is a fun and involved process that happens in the beginning of a design project when the client, SME, or instructor (in my case) is most interested. As long as they know that is me who will be building and all they have to do is send it to me in a word doc, they are happy.

Jason ends with a quote from Design Expertise, “in many design situations, the generation of possible solutions and their gradual improvement is the only way forward.” It is from these ideas within this initial brainstorming that we can choose some gems… even if they are difficult to find or create. Imagine the flipside of not thinking big and only thinking small? How sad is that? Can’t you hear the learners begging for more?

Currently researching technologies that complement our online classes…

I am now involved in an interdepartmental group—Complementing Technologies. The group just started up and we are researching technologies out there that complement what we do in our online courses.

I just sent out an email to two of my instructors asking them if they could write up a brief note that I can share with my colleagues that discusses how their recent use of [insert tool] has met a need in their course and discuss their use of it. I bet I will get some interesting replies that I can share at the next meeting. These art tools that I recently have recommended and know have been in use by some classes with great success:

• Techsmith’s Jing
  The instructor utilizes this tool to provide JIT help with students who are having trouble with html coding, programing, etc. She captures a video w/audio of her comp screen and then the video is automatically uploaded to screencast.com, and then she shares the students a link so they can view video.
• Tiki-Toki
  The instructor uses this is the collaborative timeline that allows students to review and add entries to a class timeline. Students can add images and descriptions to the entries they are making. She is presenting this as a collaborative strategy in an upcoming K-Higher Ed Fine Arts conference.

Another tool that came up in conversation at the meeting was Voice Thread it allows users to add audio to a discussion around an image or presentation. From what we can see, it is a pretty slick “digital storytelling” tool that has been mentioned numerous times in Faculty Focus, Edutopia, The Chronicle, THE Journal, etc.

Also, here is a link that I shared with the group—Web 2.0 Guru (see http://web20guru.wikispaces.com/Web+2.0+Resources ). This link is the main page on his site to check out. It categorizes an exhaustive list of Web 2.0 tools. Categories like blogging, collaboration, communication, games, mobile tools, note taking, podcasting, polls/surveys, portfolios, text speech, wikis, etc.

Most are free, some are old, some links are even bad, but there are some gems! If you are looking for a place to explore, this would be a fun place to start. But don’t hit this page unless you want to spend an hour clicking around… there is a ton of stuff…

What do you think about these technologies? I would love to share with my group what you:

• What you like/dislike about the tool
• What you wish the tool would do but doesn’t
• How easy it was to pick up and use the first time
• How easy it is for your students to use, what they find difficult
• Advantages/disadvantages of using the free version
• Discuss your cost incurred (if)
• The maintenance involved
• The customization or lack of

More to come on my involvement in this group.

Designers should envision the unexpressed and unrealized…

This post discusses a recent article in TechTrends, by Jason McDonald—The Creative Spirit of Design. The article discusses three characteristics instructional designers, like myself, may exemplify, i.e., imagination, creation-oriented, and inter-disciplinary action. This post specifically deals with the first characteristic of the “Creative Spirit”—imagination, or the ability to envision the unexpressed and unrealized. To establish this point, Jason quotes another article which states:

…design is the ability to imagine that-which-does-not-yet exist, and to make it appear in concrete form as a new, purposeful addition to the real world.

I am always trying to get my online instructors envision their online class not as an online class. I will say things to them like, what would you do if you were teaching this class face-to-face? What would you show? What would you talk about? What would you do? What would you have your students do? This may seem like a fairly easy question for someone to answer, but it essentially asks them to imagine… which is often taxing. I as the designer am often asked to “imagine” this face-to-face class for them. I look at the objectives and the hard content and imagine, what could I design so that these objectives can be measured and how to get the students to perform such a measurement.

Jason discusses that when a designer should be inspired by the imaginative potential. We should not “uncritically” accept obvious or commonly-understood assumptions about problems, opportunities, or solution possibilities. It is easy to fall into that formalistic routines or the “design rut” which I discussed previously (see Fostering Creative Design Opportunities). It is so easy to do what is easy but:

• What if we could force ourselves to take a second and even a third look… and imagine?
• What if we could only redefining the situation in another way… and imagine?
• What if we could only questioning the legitimacy of apparent constraints… and imagine?

What if this deliberate act of risking could motivates us?  If we could only imagine (sorry for the cliché song title reference) and as Jason says:

…believe that the impossible can be achieved and draw energy precisely because of such a prospect might scares me, and is at the edge of their capabilities, where I might fail.

Maybe this act of risking will actually motivate us? This risk is an intrinsic motivator that should motivate us because we definitely don’t have any external motivators, e.g., year-end bonus, the promotion, etc. Perhaps you do?  All and all, the dangled carrot approach doesn’t cut it. For more information on why the dangled carrot doesn’t work see What Motivates Us To Do Great Work form The 99%.

The Interview: Everything is observed…

If you were wondering about my friend whom I recently helped redesign his resume (see The 1 Minute Resume), he has been asked for a phone interview! This means that the resume (or tool) did what it was designed to do… i.e., did it’s job. Now comes the discussion about how to present yourself in an interview… My friend has a phone interview coming up and I did have some thoughts that I passed onto him.

Tip # 1
Be prepared to discuss all points of your resume, have rehearsed things to say about the common interview questions, e.g., strengths, weaknesses, challenges, current projects, recent projects, why should we hire you, tell us a little about yourself, etc. As you think of things to say prior to these common questions, shape your responses to the position you are applying for. It is a good idea to refer to your resume a few times because I guarantee that the interviewers will have it in front of them.

Tip # 2
Never say anything negative about where you work or previous experiences. Always turn everything to a positive.

Fifty percent of any decision about hiring someone is always if they will be a good “fit” for the position. This is just a professional way of saying … “will you get along with and not annoy people in the office?” It is important to note that the “best fit” is determined in the first few minutes from when you park your car to sitting down for the interview. Just imagine you are onstage! Everything is observed. How you talk to the receptionist, wither you have car seats in your car, did you call for directions, etc.

For further reading on this issue, see a post on one of my favorite blogs, The 99%. Their post, Present Yourself discusses that a big part of [any interview] is controlling how you come across to others:

Of course, the Creative’s tendency is to say, “who gives a crap what other people think.” While there is merit in never compromising oneself for the sake of another’s opinion, creative professionals need to make an effort to be understood. You need to present yourself effectively to engage others and get the support (and the business) you need to push ideas forward.

In order to truly “present yourself effectively” you have to be able to “engage others” as discussed in the above quote. This potentially be blocked within the first few minutes. Remember… everything is observed…

Wish my friend luck!

Designers should have a “chess game” design perspective in mind…

This post discusses a recent article in TechTrends, by Jason McDonald—The Creative Spirit of Design. The article discusses three characteristics instructional designers, like myself, may exemplify, i.e., imagination, creation-oriented, and inter-disciplinary action. These will be tentatively discussed in subsequent posts individually. This “creative spirit,” as Jason discusses:

…is further meant to suggest the curious, playful, experimental, and sometimes rebellious attitudes that designers can exhibit. The creative spirit leads designers to be active agents, not just reacting to problems but vigorously searching out opportunities for change.

In the introduction of the article, Jason recalls Ivor Davies definition of ID which was described as a chess game. An instructional designer essentially engages in an intellectual activity which largely depends on the “character of the problem.” In chess there is often multiple ways to proceed in capturing the queen. There are various strategies that someone who learns to play chess can learn, but there is not one definitive strategy that works every time. The same is true in ID. Each course, image, module, message, etc. is analyzed, designed, developed, implemented, and evaluated uniquely. What works for one does not necessarily mean it will work for another. Or as Davies’ puts it, “… everything depends upon the situation, and the skills available.” Remember the age old “constraints” adage—Good, Fast, Cheep… pick only two (see Good, Fast, Cheep… pick only two > Rapid Prototyping)?

Jason goes on to discuss that by having a Davies’ “chess game” design perspective in mind, the designer can better develop instruction that can be aligned against measurable objectives as well as have an innovative, effective, and efficient instructional event.  He states that “if a designer holds a more limited perspective, they sometimes translate innovative instructional approaches into formulaic routines.” I discussed the issue of “design rut” previously (see Fostering Creative Design Opportunities).  There I discuss some tips that I picked up from music producer Brian Eno (U2, Talking Heads, Roxy Music) and applied them to instructional design. Jason proposes that:

This pull away from one’s ideals into undesirable routine is both common and powerful. It is like a form of gravity that draws designers toward an overly simplified view of their practice, blinding them to opportunities that might help them better reach the levels of instructional quality they aim to achieve.

I look forward to reading a previous article in Educational Technology of Jason’s that discusses how designers can develop “guiding principles for their practice” –Resisting Technological Gravity: Using Guiding Principles for Instructional Design. Thankfully my institution that I work at has a subscription to this journal…