BlogmyQuery – BMQ

Everyone loves a happy ending: the hero slays the dragon, true love conquers all, the Death Star is destroyed, the new website is launched and both client and users alike are thrilled. While this last example may not have the Hollywood ending that the first few examples do, for those of us in the Web design industry, it is the story ending we want for all our project.

Much attention is given to how you kickoff projects, or how best to design and develop websites. But the final stages of the Web design process are never discussed as much as those early and middle stages are. How you wrap up a project, as well as what you do after the project is completed, is critical when it comes to building long-term relationships that will lead to future business.

In this article we will look at some ways in which you can end projects on the right note, and also what you can do after they are launched to help your project stories have happy endings (and many successful sequels).

We want a fairy tale ending for all our project stories – (Image: ZeRo’SKiLL).

Avoiding Unhappy Endings

Before you can create a happy ending to your project’s story, you need to make sure you do not create an unhappy ending. Oftentimes, when a project goes bad, it happens in the final stages of the process. There are a variety of reasons why this happens, but a few easy ways to avoid some of these common pitfalls.

• Address issues as they happen — When a problem arises, discuss it with your client immediately. We often avoid issues (such as a bit of scope creep, or something taking a little longer than expected) hoping that we can “make it up at the end.â€� We do this so we can avoid having an uncomfortable discussion with our clients about change orders and increased budgets.

  This is a nice sentiment, but it usually does not work out. Budgets don’t magically grow at the end of a project to compensate for overages earlier in the process. If you wait until the final stage of an engagement to address a problem, your client will feel blindsided by the news coming at that late hour, instead of being able to handle the issue when it occurred. One way or another, you will need to discuss the situation with your client, but if you do it later rather than sooner, you risk leaving them with a negative final memory of an otherwise successful project.

• Planning a website’s launch — The date of a website’s launch is usually planned very early in the process. Other times, that launch date is more flexible and is determined as the project nears completion. In either scenario, preparing for the launch of a new website is extremely important.

  Regardless of testing done prior to a launch, last minute issues discovered after a website “goes live� are certainly not uncommon. Preparing for the launch means that you take a look at website analytics to determine the best time (based on website traffic) to make the changes needed. You want to find a time that will have as little impact on business as possible as these changes are made. You also want to ensure your team is available and ready to resolve any issues that may arise. Whether the date of the launch was determined well in advance or more recently, as you firm up those launch plans, you want to make sure you have the appropriate personnel on hand for that launch.

  By preparing to quickly address unexpected issues, you minimize chances that a small problem will turn into a large one, resulting in downtime, frustration, and that aforementioned negative final memory.

  
  Planning for a website’s launch ensures your team is on hand to handle any issues. (Image: Pedro Vezini).

• Dealing with the money situation — Very few of us enjoy talking about money and payments with clients. It is an often uncomfortable (yet necessary) part of our jobs. Whether your contract calls for your project to be paid in full prior to the launch of the new website, or if you make other arrangements with your client, problems with payments are one of the quickest ways to turn a good relationship into a strained one. There is no secret formula for handling issues with payments, just some common sense rules you can follow to minimize any damage that outstanding money concerns may affect your client relationship.

  This includes discussing the payment terms and your expectations at the very start of the process, getting everyone in agreement on. It also includes giving clients ample time to pay any invoices and being respectful (and as accommodating as possible), when something does not go according to plan. Financial issues can cause a strain on any relationship, client or otherwise. How you handle those strains can either damage (or strengthen) that relationship.

Leaving A Lasting Impression

First impressions are important, but lasting impressions are just as crucial. Just as a few mistakes at the end of the process can cast a pall over an otherwise successful project, a really great and memorable end to a project can turn an engagement that was unremarkable into one that clients will enthusiastically share with others. Here are a few simple ways you can leave your clients with a very positive, final memory of their experience:

• Send a token of your appreciation — It seems so basic (and it really is), but it amazes me how rarely we take the time to show our appreciation after a project is completed. This isn’t unique to Web design. When was the last time a company you hired to provide a service went out of their way to thank you after the work was completed and paid for? It doesn’t happen very often — which is why it will have an impact if you do it.

  Your “thank youâ€� doesn’t need to be extravagant to be effective. Some companies you work with may even have a policy against “gifts.â€� One of my favorite ways to show appreciation at the end of a project is quite inexpensive and very simple — sending a handwritten note, with a personal message, for the client. I also like to have others in our organization (including people who didn’t work on the project, or have any interaction with the client at all) sign the card. This shows how important their business is to the company — the entire company, not just the few of us that they’ve worked with so far.

  The main thing here is to show the client that, even after their project was completed, you were thinking of them. The handwritten nature of the note shows that they were important enough for you to take the time to recognize them in a personal way (instead of just sending a standard “thank you for your business� card or email). Simple, yet effective.

• Celebrate the launch — A celebratory event of some kind is a great way to cap off a project. Again, this does not need to be elaborate. The “partyâ€� could simply be a breakfast or lunch for the client and their employees to introduce them to the new website. Doing this not only shows your appreciation, it also gives you some time with a larger segment of the organization. It allows members of the company who may not have worked directly with you on the project a chance to connect with you and ask any questions they may have about the new website. In some cases, a project may actually warrant a bigger party.

  If the new website is part of a larger initiative (such as the launch of a new company, or a big change in that organization), then they may already be planning an “open houseâ€� type event. Ask your client about their plans, and if they are intending to throw a party, request to be involved. Being involved in this party is great for you, giving you exposure to all the attendees in a very positive way — but it is not only a self-serving request. I have found that clients love it when you ask to be involved. They truly appreciate the fact that you care enough to want to be a part of their event and they like the idea that someone who can speak for the technical side of the project may be included in the festivities. It’s really a win-win situation.

  
  Celebrate the launch of a new website and end the project in a memorable way. (Image: SimonWhitaker).

• Share with others — Clients are often very proud of their new website and are eager to show it to others. As such, they will be very appreciative when you help them spread the word of that new website.

  As long as your contract allows you to do so, you can help raise awareness of the new website by blogging about the project or sharing lessons you have learned during its creation in articles that you author. You can also share it with the Web design community through websites like dribbble or others social networks you use to communicate with your peers or your friends. You should also be on the lookout for the occasions when others talk about or share the new website. If the website is recognized in one of the many online Web design galleries out there, be sure to point this out to your client.

  Seeing this type of recognition from outside sources is a great way to remind them of the successful process and positive results of your project with them.

• Refer some business — Another simple way to do something positive for your client after a project is completed is to refer them some business. One of my favorite things to do is to identify two clients of mine who may be able to help out each other with the services that they offer, and to make a connection between the two. Schedule a casual lunch to introduce the two companies and you will not only be able to make business referrals for each of them, but you will also get some time with both of those clients under very positive circumstances. This process of referring business and connecting with clients after the project is completed is a perfect segue into this article’s next section — how to build long-term relationships with your clients.

An Ongoing Relationship

The best source of new business for your company comes from your existing clients. It is much easier to work with organizations that already know and trust you than it is to sell your services to companies you have never engaged with before. As such, a process to connect with your existing clients on a regular basis can be very important to your long-term success.

As a project is wrapping up, one of the final things you should do is schedule a follow-up meeting — or better yet, a series of follow up meetings (to review the website post-launch). Regularly scheduled meetings between you and your client allow you to discuss not only how the website is performing and what feedback they have received from their audience, but also what changes may be happening with their company (or what changes you are seeing in the industry that they may need to be aware of). It is a rare instance that I sit down with a client to discuss their business where some kind of work doesn’t come out of it. This is the value of long-term relationships and being a trusted partner to their business. When you help them identify business needs, and can help offer solutions for them, you are more able to develop new business for yourself.

So I don’t give the wrong impression here, let me be clear — even though there is a sales element to these meetings, these are not sales calls. I have long trumpeted the value of creating real relationships with your clients, and these follow-up meetings are part of that process. This is less about selling them something and more about having a conversation to determine what they may need, and how you can continue to help their business succeed.

Clients Spread The Word

Another great way to get new business is through word of mouth, and the words that come from the mouths of your clients carry lots of weight.

Clients talk to others about their website and the company that helped them build it, so striving to forge a good relationship with them will result in more leads for you.

Clients talk to others about you and the work you have done with them. (Image: lawgeek).

You can also encourage your clients to talk about the work you did for them by asking them for a testimonial as soon as the project is done. Even if you don’t use testimonials on your own website, asking your client to provide one (or asking them to act as a reference, or provide a recommendation on LinkedIn) allows them to verbalize their experience with you and your company while it’s still fresh in their mind. The process of writing it down will also help them commit it to memory. Later, when someone asks them who did their website and how their experience was, the positive comments they wrote will come to mind and you will get a quality referral.

Your Work Spreads The Word

Your clients’ websites can also help spread the word of your services if you add a link to your website at the bottom of theirs. This practice of “signing� the website is a bit controversial. I have heard passionate debates from both sides of the argument as to whether or not it is appropriate to add a “designed by� link to a website, one that you were paid good money to create. In fact, for many years I felt it was wrong to do so. What changed my mind was two things:

1. I saw many other Web design agencies, both big and small, doing this on the websites that they had developed. Many of the agencies I saw doing this were ones that I greatly admired and whose teachings and examples I had followed in many other aspects of my work. I decided to also follow in this and give it a try with my own projects. This led to the second reason why I changed my tune on this practice of signing websites…
2. The company I work for has added a “website designed by� message and link to every client project that we have launched over the last few years, and in all of that time, not one client has complained. On the contrary, I have had clients actually tell me that they liked having our link on their website because it made it easier for them to find us or to send others our way.

Needless to say, my mind has been completely changed on this practice of adding our link to clients’ websites and hearing “I saw your link on a website and I really liked your workâ€� from a qualified lead is a great start to a conversation with a prospective new client.

Consistency Is The Key

As you read through this article, you most likely said “I do that alreadyâ€� for some (or maybe even all) of the examples presented here — but how often do you do them? It’s one thing to say that you show your appreciation to clients or schedule regular follow-up meetings, but do you do it for all projects, every single time? Not likely.

It is very easy to put off sending a thank you note until later, only to have it be forgotten in the mix of other responsibilities that you have. It is easy for a meeting to be cancelled and never revisited, causing your schedule of regular conversations with your client to fall apart. The ideas presented in this article are not ground-breaking — they are all things you can easily add to your projects, but they are also things that are easy to dismiss or set slide.

The key to realizing consistent returns from these practices is to apply them consistently to your work. If you make them a part of your regular workflow and essential to your process, then the positive results you enjoy from them will also be consistent.

Happily ever after starts by ending projects well and building client relationships. (Image: Steve Snodgrass).

In Summary

• Be mindful that bumps at the end of a project do not derail an otherwise successful engagement.
• Look for small things you can do at a project’s end to really leave a positive lasting impression with your client.
• Connect with your clients for regularly scheduled meetings and build long-term relationships that will lead to future projects (and great referrals).
• Establish a process internally to make these tasks a consistent part of your workflow so you can consistently realize the positive benefits that they can deliver.

By ending projects well, and establishing quality relationships with your clients, you will be one step closer to ending all of your project stories with “happily ever after.�

(jc)

© Jeremy Girard for Smashing Magazine, 2012.

I recently spoke with a prospective client who started the conversation by saying that he had called us because he was unhappy with his website’s current design and development team. Questioning what about his current team he didn’t care for, I discovered that it wasn’t the company’s product or its prices — he was satisfied with the work they did for him and felt that he was charged fairly for it. He was unhappy with their communication.

Communication Breakdown

Poor communication is a surefire way to damage any project or relationship, but when I dug deeper into this particular case, I realized that lack of communication was not the issue; the company provided regular updates on projects and milestones and so on. Rather, it was the words they used when giving those updates and answering questions. The problem was that the provider spoke “Web speak� and nothing else.

Communication will fail if your messages are confusing to your audience. (Image: Jon Wiley)

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this complaint from someone when discussing their Web team. While they appreciate the provider’s knowledge of the profession and industry, they bemoan the reality that they cannot translate that knowledge into language that someone who is not a fellow Web professional would understand. While the updates may be plentiful, the communication is still poor.

Peer-To-Peer Communication

Those of us in the Web industry enjoy countless opportunities to exchange knowledge with our peers. From attending conferences and meetups to contributing to conversations on blogs to communicating on platforms such as Twitter and Dribbble — Web designers and developers can share information and learn from each other in a myriad of ways. The way we communicate in these circles, however, is very different from how we must communicate outside of them, even though we are often discussing the same topics.

The way we speak about issues such as browser inconsistencies and approaches such as progressive enhancement and responsive Web design must be tailored to the audience we are addressing. This is, of course, easier said than done. After speaking with our peers in technical terms that we all understand, how do we then alter our language and way of speaking to present a technical piece of information in a non-technical way? The truth is that, like everything else in our industry and in life, it takes practice.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Over the years, I have been told by a number of clients that they enjoy meeting with me and discussing their website because I “make it easy to understand.� I have been commended on presenting these technical concepts in a very accessible way and on the fact that it seems to come naturally to me. While I appreciate that my clients feel this way about my presentational skills, the truth is that I have worked hard to be able to talk in this way.

In this article, I will go over a few of the ways that have helped me adjust how I speak about what I do in order to better communicate with my clients. I will also address some warning signs of communication breakdown, as well as ways to get those conversations back on track if they do falter.

Business Second

I have long praised the benefits of having casual non-business conversations with clients. This practice also has a place here as you strive for more effective communication with clients. Too often, communication is strained from the start because a client fears you will speak to them in terms they do not understand. No one wants to appear confused or uninformed, especially in a business setting, and that type of anxiety can make a bad situation even worse. By starting a meeting off with light informal conversation, you help to minimize any anxiety the client may have and set the tone for the rest of the meeting. Additionally, you might learn something about the client or they about you, helping you to continue building a genuine, long-term relationship that goes beyond just the business you do together.

By starting out the conversation with something other than business talk, you enable the client to see you as someone other than just “their Web designer,� and you have a chance to break the ice and strengthen the relationship before the discussion turns to business.

Learn Their Language

While casual conversation is a good way to start a meeting, you will have to get to business sooner or later. To complement the technical explanations that you normally give, you could also learn your client’s language and speak to them in terms they understand and are comfortable with.

“Speaking their language� doesn’t mean adding horrible business jargon to your vocabulary. It just means understanding what is important to the client and speaking to those topics. By correlating technical information to their business goals, you will find that the message is much better received.

Understanding what is import to your clients and tailoring your communication to those needs will help get your message heard. (Image: darkmatter)

For example, you may be well versed in topics such as HTML5, CSS3, responsive design and so on, but you should go beyond the technical application of these topics. You must also know how they can be used to help meet the business goals of your clients. This is the language that clients speak. If you explain how CSS3 media queries enable a website layout to reflow according to screen resolution, creating a UX that is optimized for the user’s current environment, then you will usually be met with a blank stare. Instead, say that you will build the website to work well on a variety of devices, from large desktop monitors to handheld mobile phones, thus enabling the visitor to complete their task as easily as possible, whether that task is to read content, sign up for an account or make a purchase. Such tasks are the purpose of the website and are directly in line with your client’s business goals. By making it easy for people to complete those tasks with whatever device they are using at that time, you give the website the best chance to convert those visitors into actual customers.

In the end, you are still talking about responsive design and CSS3 media queries, but you are focusing on the business results instead of the technical execution required to achieve the results — and your client can certainly understand and get excited about business results.

Write Non-Technical Articles

As you begin to use new technologies and experiment with new techniques, one way to reinforce your learning is to write about it. Authoring an article helps you to fully think through the process. It can also generate conversation that furthers your knowledge of the subject. However, if the only articles you author are technical ones meant for other designers and developers, then you may be compounding the challenge of being able to communicate with a non-technical audience.

If you enjoy writing articles about Web design, try producing some that are geared to your clients or other business owners. By writing about the aspects of Web design in a non-technical, client-focused way, you can continue to explore the best way to present those topics. Over time, you will find that your explanations in the articles become part of your normal vocabulary with clients, giving you talking points that find their way into your meetings and conversations.

Teach What You Know

In addition to writing articles, also take your knowledge and experience to the classroom or stage and verbally teach what you know to others. The website design and development course that I have been fortunate enough to teach at the University of Rhode Island for the past few years has been an enormous help to my presentational skills. Being able to present technical information to students, a group that actually bridges the gap between technical and non-technical, has helped me find ways to discuss these topics in a manner that is accessible to beginners but also informative enough to be applied to the work they are doing.

Even if you don’t have the opportunity to teach a class at the university level, consider volunteering to lead a class on basic HTML and CSS at your local library or high school. The benefits you get from the experience will influence how you speak with clients and help you better present technical concepts in a way that is easy to understand, never condescending and always productive.

Communication Is A Two-Way Street

While these tips may help you improve your own skills, the fact of the matter is that quality communication is not one-sided. It has to flow in both directions: from you to your clients and from your clients back to you. Part of your job is not only to improve your own skills, but to ensure that your client’s are up to snuff as well.

Communication is a two-way street between you and the client. (Image: Jerad Heffner)

Here are a few things to look out for on your client’s end of the conversation.

Lost In Translation

When kicking off a project or speaking with a prospective client, one of the first things you should do is determine who you are speaking with and what their role in the project will be. Are they a decision maker with the authority to provide quality feedback on the project, or are they a messenger? If you are dealing with someone who is essentially a go-between, then you run the risk that your words will be mangled when recounted to the actual decision makers or that their words will be mangled when recounted back to you. This is a recipe for misunderstanding and tension.

This scenario is especially common when dealing with large companies in which meeting with the decision makers is very hard to arrange. Still, you should be pushing for this. Key decision makers must be present at key meetings and presentations in order to maintain quality communication. This might sound strict and a bit unrealistic, but anything less will not do, and this is what you should demand. Explain that you understand that their schedules are tight — yours is as well — but developing a successful solution will be a team effort, and key personnel from both sides must be in contact with each other directly for it to work. This doesn’t mean that C-level executives need to be at every meeting, but it does mean that you shouldn’t be meeting with only a messenger.

The success of a project is directly related to the quality of the communication during the process. Make sure you are speaking with the right people during it.

Responding Before Reading

Feedback given in a project will often contradict previous feedback or decisions. In some instances, this happens because the client gave that initial feedback hastily without fully understanding the nature of the issue or the decision being made. Whenever this happens to me, it is almost always because an email was not fully read and the reply was sent too quickly.

Email is a necessary form of communication, but it is also easy to rush through and even dismiss entirely. If you rely solely on email or another kind of digital communication, then you risk the conversation breaking down.

Pick up the phone or schedule an in-person or video meeting to review and decide on key points in the project. Dismissing a conversation is much harder in a meeting than when opening one of the hundreds of emails they likely get each day. If you require digital communication as a record of the decisions made, then you could certainly follow up on the meeting with a recap of what was discussed and decided. Meeting to make decisions and then using email to recap and reinforce those decisions lead to fewer misunderstandings caused by hurried responses from a distracted team.

Late to the Game

Another scenario to be mindful of is when someone jumps into the communication loop deep into the project. Even if you have excellent documentation on the decisions and communication that have happened so far through project management software like Basecamp, these late additions to the group will rarely be able to assimilate all of the information that has been accumulated, meaning their feedback and comments will not have the benefit of this historical knowledge. This can be dangerous. The new team member will often want to make an impact on the project, but if they do not understand the decisions that have been made thus far or why they have been made, then they could easily derail the project. Of course, you want to avoid this.

If a new member does jump into the project, bring them up to speed and direct their enthusiasm in a positive way. Schedule a meeting or a call with them and perhaps one or two others from the team, just to “get up to speed.� Explain what the team has decided so far and detail what the next decision points are and how their input into those upcoming decisions will be helpful.

By directing their enthusiasm at upcoming decisions instead of back to previous decisions, you enable their contributions to help, rather than hinder, the project.

Paying Attention To The Signs Along The Road

Despite your best efforts, there will always be times when communication breaks down and the project is put at risk because of it. While working to avoid those breakdowns is important, being able to identify them and recover quickly is just as important.

Paying attention to signs along the road will help you determine whether you are traveling at a comfortable speed or need to proceed with caution. (Image: Eric Bjerke)

Obvious signs of strained communication in email include expressions of frustration, clearly miscommunicated messages and decisions that contradict previous conversations. When you see these emails, do not reply to them to “set the record straight.� Pick up the phone and do it. When communication is already strained, a flurry of emails back and forth usually does little else than compound the frustration. Once again, this is where an in-person or video meeting helps.

By discussing the issue verbally, you stand a much better chance of resolving it and getting everyone back to healthy communication. Regularly scheduled meetings are great, but if you notice signs of miscommunication, don’t wait until the next one happens; ask for a quick call or meeting to address the issue immediately.

Quality Communication For All

Communication skills do not benefit Web professionals alone. They apply to anyone, from any industry or business, who has to communicate with others. No matter what business you are in, healthy communication skills will help you do it better. Fittingly for an article about conversation, I invite your contribution to the discussion:

What ways have you found to improve communication with your own clients?

(al) (il)

© Jeremy Girard for Smashing Magazine, 2012.

As Web designers and developers, each project we work with has a unique set of goals and requirements. But one goal we have for all of our projects is that we want them to make an impression on people — we want the websites that we create to be memorable.

A fun experience is often an enjoyable one and an enjoyable experience is usually a memorable one. Therefore, it stands to reason that one of the ways to create a memorable experience is to make it a fun experience. In this article, we’ll take a look at how adding a bit of “fun” into the mix can help us produce more engaging, and hopefully more successful, websites.

The Fun Theory

Some time ago, I was sent a link to a Volkswagen sponsored project called The Fun Theory. This website featured a contest where users could redesign or rethink something they encounter in everyday life — adding some “fun’” into it. The purpose was to see if they could get more people to use it simply because it was enjoyable to do so.

While there are a number of great videos on the site, the one that I love the most is called Piano Staircase. In this video, an experiment takes place with a flight of stairs in a subway station. Beside the stairs is an escalator. As I am sure you can guess, far more people would use the escalator, rather than the stairs, during their daily commute.

Volkswagen’s “The Fun Theory” website challenges people to redesign something they encounter in everyday life by adding “fun” into it, and to see if more people will then use it.

One evening, while the station was closed, the steps were turned into giant piano keys that would make a sound when they were stepped on. As commuters exited the station the next day, they were greeted with this giant piano staircase and many of them opted to try it instead of using the escalator. In fact, 66% more people than normal used the stairs while the installation was in place — an amazing increase by anyone’s standards.

Adding Fun To Our Websites

When I saw this video, the first thing I thought about was how applicable the lesson of adding fun is to the work we do as Web professionals.

By using fun to create an enjoyable user experience, we can offer people a delightful experience that they will not only remember, but one that they may tell others about as well.

Let’s Define “Fun”

Perhaps I should back up a bit and explain what I mean by fun. I am not suggesting you turn your client’s website into a circus production (unless, of course, your client is a circus). I am simply suggesting that changes and additions that add a bit of fun into the interactions or elements of a design can go a long way in helping the websites you develop become more enjoyable to use, and more memorable overall.

“Fun” is not the same as “silly”. You can add a layer of delight and enjoyment to the user experience without making your client seem childish or unprofessional. The trick is knowing how much fun to add, where best to add it, and when to recognize that you’ve gone too far.

Let’s look at some examples of websites that do a great job of using fun to create both enjoyable and memorable experiences for their users.

Improving On The Ordinary

There are many pages common to almost all websites. By taking a typical website page or experience (such as the “about us” page, or contact form), and making it fun and memorable, you can set that website apart by improving on the ordinary.

Take that aforementioned “about us” page, a fixture on pretty much any website. Mutant Labs, a UK based design and development firm, do a great job of adding a sense of fun and personality to what too often becomes nothing more than a boring company bio page.

Mutant Labs adds a fun sense of personality to the typical “about us” page. Scroll over the team members to see even more fun!

The website for Get Satisfaction does a wonderful job of turning the typical “case studies” page into an interactive experience with their “Wheel of Satisfaction.”

The “Wheel of Satisfaction” is a fun twist on the typical case studies page.

How about the “contact us’” page? When was the last time you built a site that didn’t have one of those? English Workshop, “an organisation which provides English language learning opportunities”, styles their simple contact form to look like a machine’s control panel, tying it in nicely to the website’s “workshop” theme.

English Workshop’s “contact us” form works great alongside the rest of the design elements from the website’s workshop theme.

Smashing Magazine’s own contact page is also an example of a fun approach. The page is fun from top to bottom, with a lighthearted, informal tone for the page’s greeting (“Hello. Let’s talk.”) as well as questions, and cartoon representations of Smashing’s management team.

By taking the common pages of a website, and finding ways to add fun to what would otherwise be a typical experience, you can instead create a unique and memorable impression upon your sites’ visitors.

Frustration = Fun?

Another page typical to most websites is the “404 error” page. By adding something new to this page and showing some personality, you can help diffuse an otherwise frustrating situation. You can see some great examples of humorous and effective 404 error pages in a previous Smashing Magazine article.

In addition to a humorous, frustration-diffusing message, a good 404 error page can also include links to key pages of the website that users are most likely looking for. Done correctly, you can make your user smile, and help them find their way back to the content they will find valuable.

Practicing what I preach with a fun 404 error page on my personal website.

Searching For Fun

While Google may be best known for their search results, the fun that they often have in delivering those results is an important part of the Google experience.

First, you have the whimsical Google “doodles” that appear in place of the company logo on specific days. These doodles range from simple graphics to fully interactive experiences, such as a playable Pac Man game, or the tribute to guitar legend Les Paul. There are also a host of hidden gems that can be found on Google by searching for specific phrases or terms. Search for the word “askew” in a browser that supports the feature (Chrome, Safari, Firefox) and the screen will literally skew itself for you. Using Google Maps, you can search for walking directions from “The Shire” to “Mordor” to get a funny little warning that “one simply does not walk into Mordor.” There are dozens of hidden gems like this baked right into Google.

The reason Google is so effective in the fun they add is because they make that fun unobtrusive to the rest of the experience. Google puts the fun out there for you if you want it, but access to the service itself is never compromised. This is a critical key to successfully adding fun to a project — make sure it does not interfere with the normal features or purpose of the site itself.

An Over-The-Top Approach To Using Fun

One of the challenges with adding fun to websites is knowing when to stop. The right amount of fun can create a memorable experience, but too much can have the opposite effect, driving users away due to an over-the-top approach. Still, there are times when “too much” is the right amount, and when an over-the-top approach really works for both the brand and the website.

CaptainDash.com uses fun illustrations and interactions throughout their website, including a comic book-like layout for their “What We Solve” section. The experience is enjoyable and unique, and the website screams personality. But even after exploring their website for a few minutes, I found it hard to explain exactly what the company does with any kind of certainty. This is one of the potential pitfalls of going all out with a fun experience — your website still needs to quickly answer the fundamental user question of “what does this company do?”.

“Captain Dash” features a fun experience, but the purpose of the company is tough to uncover with all that personality.

Meomi.com is another site that goes all out in adding fun to their website experience. The website’s entire design is filled with fun characters that move and respond as you scroll over them. The overall experience is one filled with discovery and delight as you explore. I am especially fond of the website’s footer and what lurks behind those trees (go and see for yourself). I also love the fact that as busy as the site is, I quickly knew what it was about due to the tagline placed towards the top of the page — “A little design studio dedicated to play, delight, and goodliness.” Mission accomplished!

The experience on Meomi.com is filled with delightful surprises for you to uncover as you explore the interface.

Another great example of a website that is from top-to-bottom fun (while still making it easy to discover what the website is all about) is Two Giraffes. On the website’s home page, a sign hangs upon a wall that reads: “We design fresh interfaces backed by serious code”, clearly stating the company’s offerings while staying true to the fun environment they have created for the entire website.

“Two Giraffes” does a great job of clearly stating what the company does while staying true to the fun environment that spans the entire website.

Using an over-the-top approach on a website can have it’s risks, but if done correctly, it can also have its rewards — creating an experience that is enjoyable and memorable from start to finish.

Making Your Message Memorable

The design of a great website will support that website’s overall message or purpose. Therefore, we can strive to use a fun approach to create not only a memorable experience, but a memorable message.

The website for the Converge conference boasts that it will “peel back the layers and examine the intersection between design, development and marketing.” The website’s design is immediately striking with its use of a cyborg Tyrannosaurus Rex, but the fun really begins when you scroll down the page; the dinosaur remains, but building on the website’s “peel back” theme, you begin to get to the meat of the content — literally!

Scroll down the page for the Converge conference’s website to get to the meat of the content — literally!

Seamco’s website states that they build “efficient bottling and packaging lines for liquid products.” The website reinforces this message by integrating a wonderful animation of bottling line efficiency. From the top of the website’s design (where the bottling begins) all the way to the bottom (where a delivery truck makes frequent trips to deliver cases of the product being added to it), the entire website is both fun and memorable in service of the website’s main message.

Seamco’s website reinforces their main message through a fun animation that spans the entire design.

Storytelling And Fun

Another way to get a website’s message across is through storytelling — and a fun approach can help ensure that the story you tell is a memorable one.

The website for the Combine conference uses the location of “America’s heartland” in Indiana to tell a fun story that transpires as you start to scroll from the top of the website… a farm machine works in a field as a giant ear of corn is being pumped full of radioactivity, into the middle of the page — where the radioactive corn begins a rampage of destruction, to the… well, I don’t want to ruin the fun. Visit the website and see the story for yourself!

The website for the Combine conference uses storytelling to tell the tale of a rampaging, radioactive ear of corn.

Another great website that uses storytelling is one that details the Bright Future of Car Sharing. Presented with vertical navigation, you can use your keyboards’ arrow keys to “drive” through the website’s scenery and learn more about car sharing. Along the way, there are dozens of elements that you can scroll over or click on to learn more about, accessing extra content, while the website’s message is told in an engaging and interactive way.

“The Bright Future of Car Sharing” as told through a fun, interactive website experience.

Some Websites Cannot Be Fun… Or Can They?

When I talk to fellow Web designers about the benefits of adding fun to the websites they are creating, the argument I most often get against this practice is that the projects they are working on have no place for fun.

Yes, it’s true that there are projects where adding “fun” is a tough sell, but sometimes even websites that don’t instantly lend themselves to a fun approach can be made more effective by using the same principals covered in this articles’ previous examples.

SlaveryFootprint.org is a website that “allows consumers to visualize how their consumption habits are linked to modern day slavery”. It definitely doesn’t sound like a place where “fun” would work, but if you visit the website and select the red “what?” arrow, the experience begins. Scroll down the page and illustrations of colorful, cartoonish hands add pieces of content to the page one block at a time as the website’s message is told. That message ends with a prompt to “take the survey”, and the same methods used for that initial message — cartoonish illustrations, a sense of anticipation, and fun interactivity — turn what would’ve been a simple Web form into a memorable and powerful experience.

“Slavery Footprint” uses illustrations and fun interactions to make a point about a very serious topic.

Another good example of a serious topic presented online is the Dangers of Fracking. It uses many of these same techniques and principals, including the “storytelling” approach, that was previously highlighted. The website uses illustrations and storytelling to detail the process and effect of hydraulic fracturing — essentially creating an interactive infographic in the process. The result is an experience that delivers this message in a much more effective way than any simple paragraphs or static graphics could ever do.

By creating an interactive infographic, the “Dangers of Fracking” uses illustration and storytelling to get their message out in a memorable way.

There are certainly websites whose sensitive subject matter will make it difficult to add fun into the mix. But as these next two examples show, you can use many of the same solutions that other “fun” websites use to create a memorable experience without jeopardizing the seriousness or importance of your message.

Designing For Emotion

In his excellent book Designing for Emotion, Aarron Walter illustrates the benefits (and potential pitfalls) of emotional design. The book covers designing for a range of emotions; including trust, hope, surprise, delight — even love. And many of the examples offered use a bit of fun to elicit these emotions.

Many of the examples in Aarron Walter’s “Designing for Emotion” use a bit of fun to elicit the appropriate emotional response.

A selection from early on in the book provides an excellent call to action for using emotional design in the Web experiences we create:

“We’ve been designing usable interfaces, which is like a chef cooking edible food. Certainly we all want to eat edible foods with nutritional value, but we also crave flavor. Why do we settle for usable when we can make interfaces both usable and pleasurable?”

Designing The Memorable

A Web experience that is simply “usable” is no more memorable than a meal that is merely edible. Just like a master chef strives to create a menu that is truly exceptional, so should we, as Web professionals — endeavor to design and develop experiences and interfaces that are unforgettable. Hopefully this article has shown that one of the ways this can be achieved is by adding a bit of fun to the projects we are designing.

Whether you are firing up Photoshop to work on that new design, or building website templates with HTML and CSS, I encourage you to consider the examples and lessons shown in this article. You want to create amazing and memorable experiences? Try following a simple piece of advice:

Have some fun.

(jvb)

© Jeremy Girard for Smashing Magazine, 2012.

We often hear companies, including Web agencies, boast about how they provide exceptional client service. But how do they define exceptional?

Consider this scenario. You are hired to design and develop a new website for a retail client. The client loves the design, and the pages you develop use the latest in HTML5, CSS3 and responsive design, resulting in a website that works wonderfully across browsers and devices. The e-commerce features of the new website help the client significantly increase their online sales, and the entire project is delivered on time and on budget. Now, is this “exceptional� client service? I don’t think it is.

When the client hired you, they expected that you would design and develop a great website. They also expected it would be done according to the timeline and budget set during the planning stages of the project. As successful as this project may have been for both you and the client, in the end, you did exactly what you were hired to do. You did your job.

Just Doing Your Job Vs. Delivering Exceptional Service

Nothing is wrong with “just doing your job.â€� In many cases, that alone is a tall order. So, while doing what you were hired to do is nothing to be ashamed of, it is also not exceptional — nor will it set you apart. There will always be other agencies or designers that will be able to do the work as well as you can — and there will certainly be someone willing to do it cheaper! The service you provide is how you can truly differentiate yourself.

Exceptional client service is about going beyond what is realistically expected of you. It is about surprising, and often delighting, customers, turning them into enthusiastic referral sources and lifelong clients who stick with you not only because you do great work at a fair price, but because the value you bring to them goes far beyond just your products.

In this article, I’ll detail a few of the ways that I have tried to take my own client service to the next level and deliver a better experience, starting with the most important aspect: the relationships that you establish with the clients who hire you.

There is a difference between doing what you were hired to do and delivering a superheroic level of service. (Image: JD Hancock)

Creating Real Relationships

Here’s a quick exercise. Write down your five most important clients (how you define “important� is up to you). Then, write down as many things you know about those clients that have nothing to do with their business or the work you have done for them. What are their hobbies or passions? How many kids do they have? How old are those kids, and what are their names? Where do they like to vacation? Things like that.

So, how long is your list? If you’re like most people I speak with, probably not very long at all. We learn everything we can about a client’s business, but we often fail to discover anything substantial about our clients as people. If we do not engage with our clients in a real, personal way, then we are just another vendor — and vendors are easily replaceable with better cheaper options. However, clients are much less likely to consider replacing people with whom they have real relationships.

So, how do you start learning more about your clients? Simple: ask them questions about themselves and their lives, not just about their business.

Asking Real Questions

When I give this advice to others, it is often met with some apprehension. Asking someone about their business goals is easy. Asking them about their life outside of the office is harder. We often avoid getting personal for fear of offending the person or saying the wrong thing; but by being overly cautious, we miss the chance to create a real relationship.

Whenever I get nervous about getting too personal with a client, I remind myself of a story. A few years ago, I had the privilege to work on the website for the Tori Lynn Andreozzi Foundation. This non-profit foundation was named after a young girl who, walking home from school one afternoon, was struck by a drunk driver. Tori survived but was forever changed. Today, she is in a minimally conscious state, unable to walk, speak or eat.

In one of my first meetings with this client, I sat down with the head of the foundation, Tori’s mother, Cathy. I began the conversation simply by asking her, “How is Tori doing today?�

Cathy smiled and answered that Tori was doing well. We had our meeting and discussed the website and the project. As we were wrapping up, Cathy thanked me for asking her about Tori. She explained that so many people avoid asking about her daughter, fearing the news would be bad or that Cathy would be upset by the question. The truth is that, even though Tori has bad days, Cathy always enjoys talking about her daughter and was very happy to be asked about her. By asking Cathy how her daughter was doing, I showed her that I cared about more than just the project.

The website for the Tori Lynn Andreozzi Foundation

Today, Cathy is one of my favorite people to speak with, and we begin every conversation by asking how each other’s children are doing. We have much more than a great client-vendor relationship, all because I asked a real question, honestly cared about the answer, and created a real, human connection in the process. Had I been too afraid to ask that question, I might never have been able to build the relationship that I have now.

Don’t be afraid to ask your clients real questions. If they don’t want to answer you, they won’t. But for those who do (and you will find that most, if not all, of your clients will be happy to have a real conversation that has nothing to do with business), you will be well on your way to building real relationships.

Participate In More Than Just Projects

Another way to build a relationship with a client that goes beyond the project is to participate in their events. If the client runs a non-profit organization, they might have fundraisers or similar events that offer you an opportunity to support their cause and nurture the relationship. Go to these events and participate. As a bonus, you will also be helping a worthwhile cause.

Not all of your clients will have fundraising events, but they might invite you to holiday parties and other gatherings. Take advantage of these opportunities to interact with your clients outside of a normal business setting. It will go a long way to reinforcing those real relationships that you are trying to create and show that you are more than just another vendor.

Similarly, consider inviting clients to some of your events to show that you view them as more than just a source of business. When they arrive, greet them warmly and enjoy their company, leaving business talk for another day.

Help Them With Services That You Do Not Provide

Clients may hire you to design and develop a Web presence for them, but in the course of the project you will often discover that they need other services that you do not provide. By listening to their needs, you might learn that they have issues with their payroll company or their accountants or some other aspect of their business.

Look to your own business and the vendors you use. There may be a service or company that you have had success with that you could recommend. Also look to your other clients to see whether they offer services that fit. If appropriate, set up a lunch meeting between you, the client with the need and the client that might be able to fill that need. Not only will you be taking two clients out for lunch, you will hopefully be helping them both by making a valuable connection between the two companies.

When a client can say, “I hired this company to design our website and they ended up helping us revamp our entire payroll system!â€� you position yourself as much more than just their “Web teamâ€� — you show that you are a valued business resource and a trusted advisor.

Pick Up The Phone

Good communication is key to any relationship. Still, judging from the number of clients I speak with who are unhappy with their current Web team — not because they do a poor job, but because they are unresponsive — quality communication is not always a given.

Regularly updating your clients by email is important, but also pick up the phone every now and then, so that you become more than just that distant person behind those electronic updates. By hearing your voice, clients will feel more connected to you and the project. It also shows them that you value them enough to take the time to make a personal call, and it gives you a chance to talk about something other than business.

Regular phone calls allow you to have real conversations with clients, communicating at a personal level that email and other electronic updates do not allow for. (Image: opensourceway)

Face The Bad Times Head On

Have you ever had to share bad news with a client, but rather than pick up the phone to discuss the issue, you waited and sent an email at 5:15 pm on a Friday? By doing this, you may have bought yourself a few more days before having to face the client’s worried questions, but you also damage the relationship by hiding behind an email. It also means that the client will read the bad news first thing on Monday morning; definitely not a good start to their week, and definitely not the way to treat a valued relationship.

Here’s a secret: clients do not expect you to be perfect. They do, however, expect you to be honest. When something goes wrong, let them know quickly so that they are not blindsided by the issue later on. And never deliver bad news by email. Picking up the phone to discuss the news lets you reassure the client and answer any questions they may have. An after-hours email certainly won’t do that for them.

If the matter is handled correctly, the client will not remember that something went wrong. They will remember that you were honest and kept them apprised of the state of the project, even when it did not go according to plan.

Be Thankful And Show Appreciation

When was the last time you thanked a client for working with you? How did you do it? Did you send a basket of cookies or chocolate with a generic “thank you� message, or did you do something more personal?

Too often, we fail to even thank our clients for their business. We are so keen to finish a project and move on to the next one that we forget to properly show our appreciation.

While a basket of sweets and a generic message is better than nothing, consider sending a personal, handwritten thank-you note.

Handwritten letters have become all but extinct these days. With the rise of electronic communication such as email, social networks and text messaging, so few people take the time and effort to actually write a letter. The gesture of a personal letter will delight and surprise your client, not only because you have thanked them, but because the way you did so was personal, memorable and the perfect cap to a successful project.

A thankful, personal handwritten card is a great way to cap off a successful project. (Image: irrezolut)

How About You? Do You Deliver Exceptional Client Service?

I hope this article starts a conversation. How do you deliver exceptional client service? What tips can you share so that others can delight their own clients and offer them value beyond just products?

In this industry, we are always eager to share the latest tips and tricks on CSS, HTML, JavaScript, PHP or some other Web technology. Let’s also start to share tips on how to deliver exceptional client service, because success in this industry is about much more than developing great websites — it’s about developing great relationships.

(al)

© Jeremy Girard for Smashing Magazine, 2012.

There comes a point in the career of many Web designers where the logical progression in that career is to take on a leadership position. A logical step or not, when a designer “assumes” this type of a position, there is often another “assumption” happening at the same  —  that wizard-like proficiency with HTML and CSS, coupled with a number of years in the industry, equips someone to take on a leadership role. This is, of course, not always the case.

Over the past few years, I have gone through this transition myself, moving from a Web designer to a Creative Director to my current role as the Director of Web Development. During this transition, I turned to the blogs and other resources that I had found helpful in my career to that point, looking for tips and lessons that would help me in my new role. I quickly realized was that while there are countless articles to help you become that aforementioned HTML and CSS wizard, there are precious few that deal with the move from designer to director.

In this article, I will share some of the lessons I have learned over these past few years. These are not earth shattering truths and many of these lessons are common sense, but these are the lessons that helped me along the way, and that I found myself needing to be reminded of most often, as I moved from team member to team leader.

Leading by Leading

Typically, someone who has risen from a Web designer to a director has done so because they excel in the technical aspects of the job (design, HTML, CSS, etc.) and also at solving problems. Because they are skilled problem solvers, it is easy for a director to want to solve the problems for those they are supervising, rather than leading them to solve the issues for themselves. The concept of “leading by doing” isn’t always the best solution, however. I think John Maeda, the President of the Rhode Island School of Design, says it best in his book, Redesigning Leadership:

“Leading by doing ceases to be leading when there is more doing than leading.”

For someone who is used to rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty to solve a problem (or as dirty as HTML and CSS can really get your hands), this lesson of leading others to solve problems for themselves is one you will likely need to be reminded of often (I know I was).

To learn more about leadership, I highly recommend reading John Maeda’s book and visiting his blog.

How do you start letting go and allowing others to solve problems for themselves? Simple  —  you trust them and give them a shot. The solution they find with may not be the one you would have come up with, and you may need to direct them through a few extra rounds to get to the solution you would like, but the result is that you will help them get to that solution eventually!

This learning will pay off the next time they have to solve a similar issue, because by leading others to find solutions for themselves whenever possible, and really trusting them along the way, you will make your whole team stronger and free yourself up to do the other important work that is part of your new role as a director.

No Room for Negativity

If you have risen to a leadership position in an organization, it’s very likely you have commiserated and complained with the rest of the team on a number of occasions about everything from client feedback to project deadlines or budgets to general workplace frustrations. That has to stop.

Your team will take their cues from you. If you are frustrated and complaining, they will be frustrated and complaining. If, however, you take a bad situation and make the best of it and keep a positive attitude, that will go a long way to keeping the overall morale of your team positive as well. When the complaints do come, don’t ignore them, address them head on and diffuse the situation.

Now, this isn’t to say that you won’t get frustrated at times. Uncle Ben may have told Peter that “with great power comes great responsibility”, but he failed to add that with great responsibility also comes great headaches. You will get frustrated and need to blow off some steam from time to time, but you will find that by being the voice of reason and keeping calm, your own frustrations will often be diffused in the process. If you do need to vent, remember to never do it in front of your team. Their mood will mirror your own, so stay positive.

Buy Someone a Sandwich

Positive reinforcement is important to any team. This reinforcement can come in many forms, from financial rewards to additional benefits or time off, etc. One of the most effective ways that I have found to show someone their hard work is appreciated is also one of the simplest, however. Buy them some lunch.

Besides being affordable in even the most challenging economy, taking team members to lunch gets them out of the office for a bit and it allows you to interact with them on a real level. It’s easy to get caught up in the amazing advances in CSS3 or Responsive Web Design and forget that your team members are more than Web professionals  —  they are people with lives outside of the office and interests that have nothing to do with HTML.

Take someone out to lunch and leave the office behind. Don’t schedule the lunch like you would any other meeting, make it a surprise and delight someone who wasn’t expecting to go out that day. While you are out, be sure to say “thank youâ€� for your team’s hard work. You’ll be amazed at what some good food, a real conversation outside of the office, and a genuine “thank youâ€� will do for your team’s morale. Give it a shot for yourself  —  take your team out for lunch today and see what happens.

Sometimes even a creative side project is enough to spark the interest of your team. Try inviting everybody to a chalk board to engage creative thinking and make it clear that everybody’s opinion matters. Image credit.

If There’s Going to be a Meeting, Everyone Participates

Regularly scheduled meetings can help keep a team in sync, but meetings for the sake of meeting can be wearisome. When I first took over the responsibility of running meetings for our department, I tried a number of configurations. I tried different days of the week and different times of the day. I tried to do a number of short meetings throughout the week versus only one longer one at week’s end. I mixed it up as I tried to find the right formula, but my meetings still seemed to be lacking something. Then I figured out what was wrong. It was me.

By “leading” the meeting, I realized I can come to dominate the conversation, turning it into more of a lecture than an actual exchange of ideas. That was what needed to change.

It doesn’t matter if you do short meetings each day or a single longer meeting at the end of the week, what matters is that everyone gets engaged in the conversation. If your meetings are suffering the same way mine were, try mixing it up and ask someone to present a project they are currently working on, or a site they recently saw that blew them away, or ask them to summarize a great article they recent read. Get everyone to participate and you will clearly see the energy level of your meetings instantly start to rise.

Be Selective With Projects

As a team leader, you will often be one of the first ones in front of a new client and a new project. You will be part of all that initial excitement and exchange of ideas. This is a very exciting time in a project and it is not unusual to get out of a kickoff meeting and want to do all the work yourself. Unfortunately, that is no longer your role.

One of the biggest challenges in the transition from designer to director is the reality that your job is to often assign work to others that you really wish you could assign to yourself. As a director, will have less time to design and develop websites, because more of your time is required to help others more effectively design and develop websites.

That being said, you need to strike a balance. From time to time, you should assign a project to yourself, but be selective. Knowing you can’t personally design every new project or develop every new site gives you the chance to pick and choose which projects go to which team member, yourself included. Just remember not to keep ALL the great jobs for yourself  —  the team will definitely notice that!

Grow Your Bookshelf

Web professional are lifelong learners. The always changing nature of our industry forces us to constantly be learning if we want to keep our skills current. The change to a leadership role does not eliminate this need, it simply adds to the type of learning you must do.

In addition to books on HTML, CSS or design principals, your bookshelf should grow to contain titles on managing others or running a business. Recently, I’ve added the excellent titles from A Book Apart to my bookshelf. These titles are written by the likes of Ethan Marcotte, Dan Cederholm and Jeremy Keith  —  authors whom I’ve read for years via their blogs as well as books. I have also recently added some titles that are not related to Web design to my shelf, including Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hasson, Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh, and Redesigning Leadership by John Maeda, from which a quote appears earlier in his article.

Your role as a director is a duel role. You need to manage and lead, but you also need to be current and relevant in your Web design skillset. This should be reflected in the learning you are doing. Next time you look for Web design books, also add a few titles to your cart that have little or nothing to do with manipulating pixels and more to do with managing people.

Perhaps going to a local library and taking a closer look at the leader management section there will also help you stumble on that book  —  the one your colleagues recommended to you in the good old days. Image credit.

Listen and Decide

A big part of being a team leader is making decisions. A big part of making decisions is realizing that, no matter how hard you may try, you will never please everyone.

As the team leader, you will need to listen to different points of view, but you will also have to be the one to decide which ones point in the right direction and which ones do not. In the end, you need to be the one that makes the right choice for the project, the team, or the company as a whole.

You should encourage others to share their opinions with you, from the CEO to the intern that started last week. Listen to what they have to say with an open mind and be willing to have your own opinions changed, but once you have considered everyone’s opinion, including your own, you need to decide the path to take. In the end, others may not agree with your opinion, but they will be more likely to support you in the decision you made if you truly took the time to consider all options before you made your choice.

The I in Team

Throughout this article, I have referenced the move from team member to team leader, but the reality is that even though you may be leading the team, you are still a part of it, not apart from it. Remember to use the word “us� often and show those under your supervision that you are with them.

I think a quote from E.M. Kelly says it well and gives me an appropriate way to end this article:

The difference between a boss and a leader: a boss says “Go!”  —  a leader says “Let’s go!”

Are you ready to assume leadership? Excellent  —  let’s go!

(il) (vf)

© Jeremy Girard for Smashing Magazine, 2011.