What Google would look like if they followed the herd

By /
Most sites (not all and a lot less than used to be) have screens and screens of "happy talk". You know the stuff, "Welcome to our ...", "On this page all you need to do is ...", "If you want help then please follow the ...".

As Steve Krug says so aptly in his Don't Make Me Think book (still THE book for anyone thinking of putting anything onto a computer screen) - "Happy talk must die!"

Comments on Rachel McAlpine's building/book posting (my review) has lead her to link to an over the top version of what Google would be like with "happy talk". This is from her CONTENTED course which seems like everyone should have a go at!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular articles

Knowing good info from bad - how do we?

This posting inspired by the latest Gerry McGovern newsletter - read it for his views We vote. As an example, that's the power of Google search - it uses the concept that web pages with the highest 'vote' get put at the top of page 1. The 'vote' is a weighted one using the number of pages that reference it multiplied by a lot of clever algorithmic type activity - highly technical insight from Google themselves . In essence you voted me top of the "mike riversdale" Google list by linking to me. However, voting is spreading through the web in many more ways than simply linking to pages and I believe the driver is that people are starting to use the tools to group themselves into communities. In the good ol' days before " Web 2.0" (say before mid-2005) there were many informal methods of finding the 'best* content' - we would send emails to our mates pointing out cool sites, read about it from dedicated "Best of the Web ..."

How To Facilitate A Barcamp/Unconference

Image
I have been privileged to help create a number of successful barcamps ( Wikipedia ) alongside an ever growing number of committee members here in Wellington over the past few years both public and internally at client sites. I've also attended others around the country which have been mostly awesome but sometimes missing a certain "something". During this time I've managed to crystalise what I believe helps create and facilitate (NOT "run) a successful barcamp - here it is, by all means share it around. Oh, one more thing - barcamps are traditionally held within the realm of the geeks but there's NOTHING about a barcamp that limits it to such an industry and, much like you can hold a traditional conference on any subject under the sun, so you can with a barcamp. What do you need for a barcamp? I've always said you only need the following to get have a barcamp A venue A date A logo People On reflection I should also add, "a need" - dur. The date

50 reasons not to change

Image
Change should always be from one way to a better way. If it's change because it's newer, trendier, keeping up with the Jones' or because the IT Department want to play with new toys then I say, don't both changing. However all change ("good" or "bad") is scary and involves fear and apprehension on those going through it - that includes those instigating the change and those having the change "applied" to them. Sometime the fear is too much and the response to a proposed change is one of the below (click for bigness): Thanks to the Biocultural Science & Management blog for this article

The 3 C’s – Communication, Consultation and Collaboration

Image
[this is an old WaveAdept post archived here] You've got the technology (be it Google Apps, SharePoint or whatever) and your IT people have integrated it, patched it, set you up and handed it over... now what? Well, for a start, sit back and congratulate yourself that your organisation is: Saving costs (NZ$2 million per year for NZ Post with their Google Apps roll-out, and they've just started) Freed up your IT staff to concentrate on your company's particular 'secret sauce' No longer have to wait to benefit from the latest features Instantly given access 'anywhere, any time and (almost) any device' Really, celebrate that you have switched from old to new. But once the party is over you're going to have to get back to work getting the true benefits from your new toolset. And before you dive into the full on, "let's all collaborate, be open with everything and change the world" maybe planning out some interim steps to world domination

Change Management Is So Simple

Image
No, change management is not simple and for one very easy to understand reason - it involves people. And that's the first, most important, all encompassing and ultimately only real point of change management. People are what we are endeavouring to help through change and the outcome of change management is people doing something different (there is a change) But dropping the other attributes of change management can leave you open to a non-starter of a process or, at best, one that flops over the line with many weary participants huffing and puffing behind you. A little self disclosure before we get to the 6 main components of "change management". I'm actually someone that believes in constant change, that companies, Govt agencies, NGO's, communities and all people are constantly adapting to the environment within which they operate. Therefore a "Enterprise Change Process" (or even a "Transformation Programme") is a slightly false worldview