PROCEDE® is the R.BIRD method for exploring creative strategies and greater possibilities. Its principles are drawn from more than a quarter century of experience and, not, merely invented for the sake of marketing. Our work at R.BIRD respects our Procede principles on every project.

I’d like to share some thoughts with you on the fourth principle of Procede:

There are no wrong answers It’s better to consider an option than to presume an objection.

This week, we are beginning a large-scale redesign for the corporate information and branded websites for a growing, multi-national, consumer product company. Like most website design projects, particularly at this scale, it’s not easy. Suddenly, every division at every level in every location, worldwide, is a stakeholder and has an unique opinion.

This is exactly why it’s important, as designers in the process, to have a 360-degree perspective.

[flashback]

Two examples.

One of our most professionally-rewarding programs in the design of corporate brands and communication was the “ME” program for Mercer. ME & Mercer The stated need was, “We need a PowerPoint template for a new employee welcoming event.” That seems simple enough. Many designers might move right to the drawing board and start cranking. Instead, we asked questions. Why is this meeting being held? How is this event different from those in the past? What is prompting a change? It soon became apparent that what was really needed was a cohesive employee communications program to support specific, organizational change goals. In the end, we delivered a highly visible and wide-reaching, branded communications platform to be applauded by leadership and employees alike.

Oversimplified explanation, yes, but, not just a PowerPoint template. Why did R.BIRD ask questions that might seem, at first, to be irrelevant to the tactical assignment?

Procede Principle #4.

Second example: Tempur-Pedic is a well-known brand, yes? We associate its name with best in quality and highest in price for its product category.

Just before IPO, management recognized that presentation at retail was less than best. R.BIRD was engaged to raise the bar. We were given a brief, of course, with very specific requirements and well-documented parameters. We always include existing background in our work.

Then, we consider options - greater possibilities - we prefer. Our findings suggested that a “health, mind, body, spirit” positioning was where the opportunity for growth would come. “Objection!” The client ruled, “We’ve considered this idea and rejected it.” We continued to explore the option and others. The evidence was overwhelmingly convincing. Today, the objectionable option is endorsed as overarching brand language for Tempur-Pedic throughout the marketing, advertising, and packaging of the Tempur-Pedic brand.

Procede Principle #4.

By the way, stock ticker TPX is up 150%.

[Return to Present]

Our multi-national, website redesign client has made it clear that the strategic focus is brand-building with consumers. The strategy is appropriate, assumed and currently ubiquitous.

However, two-thirds of revenue comes from retail buyers and wholesale distributors and the rest from consumer purchases at retail.

R.BIRD Procede Principle #4 says, “There are no wrong answers.” Then, of course, there must be no wrong questions.

What right questions would you ask? What options should be considered? And, what objections will need to be answered?

Bottom line: Assume Nothing. Consider Everything.

Thanks to a new friend I got an invitation to The Behance Network. Basically it’s a network for creative people to promote their work, but much more than that, its a platform for projects and collaboration. As they slogan says "make ideas happen".

Represent your work professionally.

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Have you ever heard “Make the logo bigger” or “there’s too much white space” or perhaps “can you make it pop a little more” from a client? Well, this video is for you. I don’t want to ruin it for you. You just have to watch it. (Oh, and you might need a tissue so soak up all of the tears of laughter)

MakeMyLogoBiggerCream.com >>

(more…)

I keep forgetting to read this everyday: it's a filtered view of all twitter posts by mefi members.

Several tools that help troubleshooting CSS are available. Some come with the browser, like the Web Inspector in Safari, while others are plugins or extensions, like Firebug or the Web Developer Extension.

There are occasions where you can't or don't want to install an extension though, and that's where John Allsopp's two bookmarklets XRAY and MRI come in handy.

XRAY lets you inspect the properties of any element on the page by opening a floating palette that displays the element type, id, class, position, size, border, margin, and padding of any element you click on. It also displays the element's inheritance hierarchy.

MRI opens a similar floating window and has an input field where you can enter a CSS selector. When you click the MRI button, MRI highlights the elements on the page that are matched by the selector. MRI also works the other way around. Click anywhere on the page and it will suggest CSS selectors for the element you clicked on.

XRAY and MRI are obviously not as feature rich or advanced as extension-based tools, but they do have their use. The plan is also to make them work in all contemporary browsers, not just Firefox.

John writes a bit more about the bookmarklets in Introducing XRAY for your browser and Introducing MRI.

Visit site to read or post comments…

Add 456 Berea Street to your Technorati favorites.

Posted in Browsers, CSS.

Last weekend we took in a cheesy exhibit about Da Vinci. I was struck by this image.

Da Vinci is suggesting a physical connection between the eyes and the brain; that the eyes are almost external-facing brain organs. I don’t know anatomy (beyond what’s on the outside) so I don’t know if this accurate, presumably it was based on some dissection work. But the representation suggestions a mental model of how things work up there; the windows to the soul are linked right into the house of the soul.

Most of us have come across the hipster-geek phrenology heads at one point or another.

Interesting to consider this image, then.

which connotes a scientific accuracy, tied to machines, computers, technology and of course, objectivity. How will these images be interpreted in 300 years? Will they be just as quaint and amusing as the other ones seem to us?

This page takes a thorough and scholarly approach about the history of representations of mental mapping, plus they have some more cool pictures!

I’ve been interested in how the lessons learned from game design can be used to improve online experiences for a while now. I guess this interest started when I started learning about the concept of a “flow states”.

Flow is the state of being where you lose all perception of time and you flow from one successful task to another with seeming ease. It’s great if you can get into this state at work as you feel “in the zone” and can get a lot done in a short space of time. Sadly the number of distraction in the modern work place, combined with the fact that we’re perpetual multi-taskers, makes entering into the flow state at work a rare occurrence.

The place where we’re most likely to experience flow is when we’re playing a new computer game. As you start playing a new game you start encountering a multitude of small challenges and rewards. The high from each reward spurs you on the the next challenge, creating a cyclic effect.

If each challenge was as simple as the last you’d soon get bored, so computer games create a user experience curve. As the game progresses, challenges get incrementally harder, as do the rewards. However if the challenges get too hard too quickly, people give up. So the skill is in getting the curve just right.

Creating the perfect game curve used to be the preserve of level designers and was more art than science. However as game development budgets start outpacing those of the average Hollywood movie, the market needs to expand. Blockbuster titles are no longer the preserve of the hardcore gamer, demonstrating their l33t fragging skills. Instead these games need to appeal to a much broader audience. People who want to pick up and play, without having to learn overly complicated controls.

As an increasing number of these titles are sequels, the game designers also want to make sure that people can complete the games and are primed for a sequel. Because of this, games have become less about skills and more about creating an experience, a narrative and a sense of momentum. It would be no good if your newbie gamer gets stuck on level one and gives up.

I bought a copy of Wired magazine recently, and was fascinated by an article on the user experience design of Halo 3. The developers set up a fully featured testing lab and recorded more than 3,000 hours of play from 600 gamers. Normally game testing is restricted to bug testing, but what Bungie did was usability and user experience testing in it’s purest form.

Though usability testing the developers were able to pinpoint areas of the game where inordinate numbers of players were getting lost of killed. By examining real user interaction they were able to figure out what was going wrong and come up with ways to smooth out the user experience. This involved everything from making ammo more obvious, through to channelling users in the desired direction by stopping them from going backwards.

While this could be seen as an overly prescriptive way of creating games, it’s the essence of good user experience design. By removing usability barriers and helping people achieve their goals in an enjoyable manner, you end up crafting the optimal experience.

I was really excited by this article, and think there are a lot of lessons we can learn here. Not least the importance of usability testing on the user experience. At Clearleft we always budget for at least one round of testing, and even the smallest test produces amazing results. However imagine the improvements we could make if customers really started to value the importance of usability testing and budget accordingly.

With a mixture of regret and anticipation, I boarded my flight from San Francisco back to London. I was looking forward to getting back to Brighton and seeing Jessica again. But I had such a good time in San Francisco, it was hard to leave.

It’s funny to think that up until this year, I had never been to Shaky Town. And now I’ve just returned from my third visit. I was ostensibly there for the Voices That Matter conference but if truth be told, I probably wouldn’t have attended the conference if it weren’t for the location—especially considering the speakers’ fee (or lack thereof).

During the conference proper, I was staying at a very pleasant hotel downtown. That was bookended with a few days on either side staying with Tantek. I couldn’t have asked for a better host. He showed me around the neighbourhood, shared his WiFi and generally showed me a good time.

The day before I skipped town, I went along to the geek picnic that Ariel organised in South Park. Nibbling on a nice selection of cheeses while Hugh McLeod churned out a cornucopia of cartoons, we enjoyed the last of the Summer sunshine in the epicentre of the geek mindhive.

That evening, I attempted to repay Tantek for his kindness by cooking up a pot of my signature chili while he organised guests for a little dinner party—the second in as many days. My last two evenings in San Francisco were spent eating good food, sipping good wine and enjoying really good company. It’s always fun to hang with the people who make the web apps I use—Blaine from Twitter, Leah from Pownce, Ted from Satisfaction—ply them with booze and then slip in a feature request or two.

All in all, this trip to San Francisco was the perfect mixture of seeing old friends and making new ones. Thanks to New Riders for giving me the opportunity to visit one my favourite places and thanks to everyone else for making me feel so welcome. As always, visual documentation is provided for your viewing pleasure.

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Tagged with sanfrancisco conference tantek travel

Lizzie Hunter experiments with hand lettering based on spam subject lines in her mailbox. If only all spam looked like this – maybe we’d read it? Link (via Drawn!)