I was recently approached by a long time friend who would like me to get involved with some projects he’s working as both a technology consultant and web design/hosting provider. I am very interested in the work that they are doing and think it’s very important. However, he made a comment to me that has had me thinking ever since. He wants me to build “the best website in the world.”

I’m not sure what this means exactly, because good web design is very much in the eye of the beholder. I have been given links to people who consider themselves “Web Designers” and they are little more than code monkeys. Some of them were so awful I was almost offended to be considered in the same class. I try not to be a snob about my code, but I work hard at making it work properly and compliant. I’m rarely accused of taking the shortcuts on designing a website. (Though, I do think using a CMS system is a bit of a short cut I’ll admit)

The issue as I see it is that websites are very much like just about everything in life, very subjective. I think that what this person said isn’t really what they mean. They want a top notch, website that is compatible and easy to access information. But the statement still sticks. There is no “best website in the world.” Mainly because there just isn’t anything to measure against and there are so many FANTASTIC designers out there that are continually pushing the edge with design and usability. So even if there were a “best website in the world” tomorrow, it would be replaced by the next best. That’s just how the web works.

In the end I think I know what this particular client is looking for, even if they can’t say exactly what it is. I just know that I’m not sure who the person is to design “the best website in the world”, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t me.

Back in 2002 I switched to the Mac as my primary platform. As part of that switch I purchased Office v.X for Mac and immediately fell in love with Entourage. This love affair continued for some time with much happiness. Then, like a typical man, I decided that my old lover was no longer adequate, because it wasn’t compatible with Tiger’s spotlight. That functionality came later of course, but I was already using Mail.app pretty regularly by then.

So I didn’t go back. Then, some time late last year, I bought Getting Things Done by David Allen. (Great, Amazing, Life changing book by the way, pick it up and apply it) Since that time, I have spent a lot of time with different programs, Kinkless GTD was my first attempt at applying my the GTD methodology, this went ok, but it wasn’t overly impressive. Don’t get me wrong, it helped me a ton to understand and apply the concepts of GTD. Next I switch to iGTD. It was a bit cleaner and has some nice improvements over Kinkless. Then, Leopard arrived.

Leopard is great, wonderful, awesome! I don’t want anyone to think I’m not a fan of Leopard. The transparent menu bar doesn’t bother me (I really don’t know what all the fuss is about) and I really like the look of the new dock. But I digress, this isn’t about Leopard, though the big cat does play a bit of a part in this story. The reason is, because, Leopard broke some things. Specifically, it broke iGTD. I tried to go back to Kinkless, no go either. The reason? Because the nice kitty cat has a new iCal and with it, some of the the things that sync up with iCal use Applescript and the Applescript dictionary has changed, and with it, everything breaks.

So, what I did, was go back to my old love, Entourage. There are issues, namely related to running Office 2004 for Mac on an Intel Mac when it was built for a PowerPC Mac (AKA: Rosetta) and the fact that it’s almost 4 year old software. But the fact is that it’s working. I have discovered it’s really easy to apply GTD in Entourage. I’m finding I like it better. It’s almost like Entourage was built with GTD in mind. I have it setup so that I use my Categories as my Contexts and Projects as… well, Projects. Entourage has internal scripts to turn email messages into Tasks, Appointments, or Notes. Then you have the fact that you can make a view based on all kinds of Rules. My “Inbox” for items is just basically a “Smart View” that I have setup that only lists items with no Project and/or no Category assigned. It works beautifully. All the things that Kinkless, iGTD and OmniFocus try to get you to Entourage basically already can do built in. I feel like everything is organized. Especially with the Projects. projects in Entourage are simply AMAZING. You can link to Finder folders, notes, and tasks. Projects essentially get their own calendars, contacts etc. It’s awesome. When I want to work on a project I have everything, EVERYTHING right at my fingertips in Entourage. Files, Contacts, Calendars, Tasks, Mail Message, and Notes are all right in one place for easy access. Not to mention that you can share Projects with other Entourage users. I don’t know anyone who uses Entourage so I don’t know how well this works, but I’m hoping that will change in the near future.

This just makes me think that I shouldn’t have changed in the first place. It also has me very excited about the new Office 2008 for Mac. I can’t wait to get my hands on it and have something that runs faster, and is more compatible with Leopard and my new MacBook Pro. I’m not a big Microsoft fan as a general rule, but I am a fan of GOOD software. I think Entourage fits in this category and I can’t wait for the Guys and Gals over at MacBU to “get’r done” as the saying goes. I’m really looking forward to putting it through it’s paces and seeing how it will improve things even more.

I deal with end users quite a lot these days and I have come to a sad realization. As the Internet and computers were becoming more popular in the mid to late 90s and I was working at Gateway (was Gateway 2000 back then, they should never have changed their name, but I digress) I was under the false assumption that as society grew to use computers more often, they would be more proficient with them. I was sadly mistaken.

I used to think that once everyone had them in their home for a few years and used them on a regular basis they wouldn’t need the same level of support because they would learn to do some of these things themselves. That hasn’t happened. I think the reasons are many, but one of the major reasons I think for this is because people haven’t really been trained, and this is the fault of the “IT Community” as a whole.

For a long time, when someone asked about a computer problem, they would of course ask a “Nerd.” The crux of the issue here is that computer nerds don’t relate well to people. So when a “user” asked a question they were treated like they were stupid and it turned them off from asking more questions. Because computer nerds knew how files were stored on the computer, they incorrectly assumed that everyone else should understand it, so they responded as if they were being asked a stupid question. To put this in the perspective of the normal “user”, imagine being asked, “what are those folders on your desk for?” a hundred times. It wouldn’t long before you would start responding tersely to the question. This is essentially situation. Most people still don’t understand how files are stored on a computer or how applications are “installed.” Even recently I have come across younger users, those that grew up with Windows on a regular basis, who don’t understand some of these simple things. Honestly, I have played jokes on people by just moving things around on them. I didn’t delete anything, but when someone is used to something being where it was, they can’t find it when you move it. This is part of the problem with Windows Vista and Office.

When something on a computer, website, or application isn’t where the user expects it to be, they don’t go looking for it, they give up. I see this often with website redesigns, the repeat visitors don’t know where to find things because they have been relocated or have been renamed. In a sense when a site is redesigned, it’s important to keep as many of the original “words” as possible, in generally the same locations or order that they were on the previous site. Many times, the new design is better, however, because the user doesn’t understand it and they are too afraid to ask, it’s important to give them some sort of way to understand where things have been moved to. This can be done with either a link to the old site, or better, a new page on the site that explains the new interface and how it’s different than the old site and where to find the old information or content on the new site. For sites that link in from other places, you should build redirects to the same content on the new site so that the old links still work. This might sound like common sense, but it’s rarely done.

Important information for both clients and designers to boot. Memorize it!

10 Absolute “Nos!” for Freelancers: ”

1) Can you show me a mock-up to help us choose a designer/developer? No.

I fell for this once when I was young and naive. I made no money and wasted lots of time. Don’t do unpaid work for the chance to be paid — this wouldn’t fly in any other industry, so why web design? The best case scenario (though rare) is that you get a job with a client who knows that you’ll work for free when necessary. The worst case scenario is that they don’t pay you, and still use your stuff, knowing you don’t have the legal resources to do anything about it. Most likely though, you’ll just waste time.

”

(Via creativebits - Apple oriented design community.)

After just about 5 years of having the same site up, I decided it was time to make a change. I settled on Wordpress as it seems to give me the most balance for what I wanted and needed for my site. I hope you find some interesting information and like the new look and layout.