"I hate it."

The words every designer dreads hearing.

When you hate your first (or second or third) website design, it’s easy to assume that somebody must have done something wrong. Maybe the designer was lazy, or your sales representative is an idiot, or maybe it’s you, maybe you didn’t "ask right." But there’s really no "right" and "wrong" when it comes to designs. You probably didn’t do anything "wrong" and your sales rep and designer probably didn’t either. You just don’t like your first design. The question is not, "what went wrong?", the question is "where do we go from here?"

The first thing is, try to figure out why you hate the design. Review the specifications and example sites you supplied to the designer. Sometimes it will be because the designer actually did miss one of your specifications, sometimes it will be because the designer didn’t understand your requirements, and sometimes it will be because your requirements didn’t include something crucial. If that is the case, it should be fairly simple to add or clarify the missed specifications.

Of course, sometimes you will hate the design simply because it doesn’t look like how you imagined it would. Or, really, because your reaction when looking at it is not the reaction you hoped you would have. Maybe you didn’t even know your requirements included "no green" until you saw a site that used a lot of green and hated it. Or you didn’t know that you wanted soft edges, or a curve in the header, or a background that’s not white, or an extra-glossy wet look throughout. Well, now you do know. So, even if you hate the first design, you’re now that much closer to a design you’ll love.

All that assumes you can pinpoint what you don’t like. But sometimes you can’t. Sometimes you just don’t like it and that’s all there is to it. In that case, it might be a good idea to supply your sales rep with a longer list of sites liked and sites disliked. Be sure to explain why. If the designer sees a list of six sites that you like, he or she might observe something they all have in common — such as rounded edges, or a textured background or a smaller than usual header image — that you never consciously noticed.

Finally, if you really, really dislike a design, it is important to let the designer know that you want to see something completely different next time. Otherwise the designer might produce a second draft that addresses your individual problem points (wrong logo, different colors, etc.) but still give you a design that looks very much like the one you already know you hate.

Last week I discussed Communication, Why is it so hard? ; we analyzed a few very important items that all of your PMS posts should include. This week we are going to look into enhancing your PMS posts to emphasize important features.

Net Solutions North America makes every effort to allow you contact with our Developers and Graphic Artists. This allows you greater control and input in the Website Design and Creation.

Providing unedited & unapproved control to our clients is a double edged sword. While it is quick and efficient to get changes made to your site, it also has the potential to overwhelm our lead developers with hundreds of emails every day. With that in mind I have created a few tips and tricks to organizing your posts more effectively to produce a more readable post.

All of my tips and tricks are downloadable here, below is a summary of my favorites. You can use these symbols around your word/sentences to add emphasis to the post.

Here are a few more tips/tricks to enhance your posts:1. When creating a new thread there is a link: “Message body: (Show extended message body)” below the Title and the Category. By clicking on this link you are able to create a two part post. The upper section should be a summary of what you require, the lower section can then be used to cut and paste an email correspondence, or a summary of an IM thread, or other information that should be posted for reference but does not necessarily require the reader to process immediately.

2. On the right hand side of the PMS, is a link to “formatting guide” this will change the layout of the PMS screen to show formatting guidelines for your PMS post. This can be used as a reminder of what you can do to enhance your posts.

3. Stay current on your projects status by subscribing to the project RSS feed. If you go to the overview section of the project. In the upper right hand corner is a link to the personal RSS feed for this project.

4. Change the color of the text in your post. Do this by starting your sentence with “%{color:red}”then place your text here and finish with a “%” symbol.
Example: %{color:red}Blog’s are Wonderful!%

Remember, not every post needs to be bold and colored red, but the occasional word or sentence will add emphasis to what you are trying to accomplish.

Tune in Next Week for Shane’s Update on Organic Search Engine Optimization

Do you ever find yourself using Instant Messenger (IM) to communicate with another person; the conversation has drawn on for so long your fingers are getting tired? Or you have typed so long trying to relay an issue that you find yourself back where you started? Usually, these IM conversations are done in an effort to avoid having to call the person you are IM’ing with. Sometimes this is faster and easier, allowing you to have three and four instant message conversations at one time. In today’s day and age this is amazingly efficient. IM is an invaluable tool when used properly. However, conversations need to be clear and direct; otherwise picking up the telephone is far easier and more efficient.

In the same light, Net Solutions North America provides another method of communication that allows for multiple people to communicate on an individual project. It allows all interested parties to be contacted via email every time there is a post or comment made to a project. As remarkable as this technology is it does not work properly when certain communication features are avoided or neglected. Below are a few tips to communicating effectively on the Project Management System (PMS).

Be Clear and Concise; Brevity is the Key…The key to a good post or comment is brevity. Not all posts can be minimized down to a few words but most can be reduced significantly with a little effort.

Mark Twain once said “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”

Twain clearly expresses the idea, that it is difficult and time consuming to keep thoughts and ideas as clear and concise. However, when communicating via the PMS, clarity and brevity are two mandatory qualities of any proper post.

Provide a call to ActionThe first few sentences of your post should express what action is required. Then the rest of the message can be used to communicate the required information to complete the task. This allows all readers to understand the issue at hand and then to follow your line of thought. A call to action in the first sentence also serves as a reminder to everyone when they go back to review your post at a later time/date.

Proof Reading/SpellingWhen you have finished writing a post you should re-read your post out loud. This will allow you to “hear” your message. Often times when you are reading a message that you just wrote, your mind you will read what you “intended” to write instead of what you actually wrote.

In addition, if you know that your spelling is sub-par. It is very helpful if you cut and paste your message into Microsoft Word and then use the spell check feature before you post to the PMS.

This process takes about 5-10seconds for you and eliminates multiple minutes for all readers; who have to read and reread your message until they understand what you are trying to convey.

Remember, you know what you wrote; it is your readers you who must understand your words and sentences. If you do not write in a legible manner, your readers will misunderstand your intentions and directions, resulting in delays on your project.

Address your Post
Every message you write should be addressed to someone. In modern time we all receive countless emails everyday, if the message is not addressed to you, then you are less likely to read it.

Start every post with the name of the people you would like to read your message. If your message is intended for everyone then put “All” at the top of your message.

By remembering these four simple ideas when writing a post to the PMS, both you and your readers will be more efficient and effective.

Stay tuned for next week when I discuss:

Tips and Secrets to make your Posts more Readable…