ConnectFive/////

I’ve neglected to update the site for quite awhile, but since my last post I’ve been working on a number of projects including the redesign of chamilia.com.

The new Chamilia site offers an updated brand presence and easy filters to help users browse the 500+ beads available (which is not a small task.) We also implemented Google Analytics to track user behavior and offer insights into the popularity of bead styles, colors, etc. This “browsing” data combined with other sales data will help Chamilia evolve their bead collection toward their customers’ interests…which is the ultimate goal, isn’t it?

Since the initial redesign we’ve continued to expand the site including country specific sites for the UK and Germany that have localized content and languages (more are on the way).

My Roles: Site Structure, Interaction & Visual Design, Web Metrics, Project Management & Image Production

Project partners: Lisa Pope (Strategy), Analog Interactive (Programming)

Recently I worked with Starkey to launch their first e-commerce site for ListenHear, a Starkey brand that sells custom headphone/headset products. The solution was designed using a phased approach to content and functionality with the current implementation representing phase 1.

Using Shopify.com we were able to develop a full functioning e-commerce site within weeks, minimizing Starkey’s initial investment and on going monthly costs. The platform has some limitations, but overall it’s a powerful way to create an online store quickly with full order processing/tracking, configurable tax calculations, and  SEO/SEM features built in.

My contributions to the project included the visual design, info architecture, and implementation. And like always, your feedback and comments are welcome.

One of the clients I’ve been doing a lot of work with over the past year is Starkey Laboratories, and last Monday we launched a new consumer site. Here is their official announcement:

We’re very excited to officially unveil the all new Starkey.com website for the U.S. It has been completely redesigned to make it easy for site visitors to learn about the effects of hearing loss and the benefits of hearing aids.

The Starkey.com site was created with current as well as prospective hearing aid users in mind. In addition to clear, intuitive navigation, the site features a rich media video experience where a number of people share personal stories about hearing loss. Many of the faces are celebrities you may recognize such as Marlee Matlin, Arnold Palmer, Norm Crosby, Leslie Nielsen and Peter Marshall. The site also provides a very fast and easy dealer locator to drive inquires to the hearing health professionals who are authorized to fit Starkey products.

I worked as part of a collaborative team of independent consultants and internal resources. I was involved in defining the ux strategy and lead the information architecture, design, and metrics for the site (as well as implementing a flash based video player with closed captioning). Earlier this year we also launched Starkeypro.com which is a site for hearing professionals which includes very detailed technical product data and account management.

So have a look and tell me what you think! (Feel free to ask me any hearing aid questions as well)

Today was the long anticipated launch of the new redesigned “Products” page for Sun.com. This page was originally just an index page that was limited in content and depth, with some prime real estate being given to a “Big Top” banner ad.

So we reallocated that banner space for a visual icon based interface with layered hover menus that offer users quick and easy direct access to the sub-categories below. The new design also gives Sun the entire body area to keep users up to date on new products as well as increasing awareness of Sun’s full offering including Solutions. I’m excited to see how it performs.

So check it out and tell me what you think.

I just returned home from my first business trip to Minneapolis now that I live in Iowa City. The drive is 5 hrs long each way, so before I left I loaded up my iPod with some podcasts hoping I could use that “downtime” as inspiration time. And it worked thanks to Gerry Gaffney and UXpod.com

I listened to 20 of his podcast interviews and enjoyed just about everyone of them. Gerry does an excellent job interviewing a range of UX practioners from around the world, which helps me think beyond the US bubble I live in.

I really enjoyed the following:

Web Teams - an Interview with Jesse James Garrett

Customer Support - an Interview with Joel Spolsky

Intel Outside - an Interview with Genevieve Bell

Personas and Outrageous Software - an Interview with Alan Cooper

Market Research - an Interview with John Berenyi

Card Sorting with Donna Maurer

Voice User Interfaces - an Interview with Erin Smith

Web Accessibility Guidelines - an Interview with Gian Sampson-Wild

Like I said, I enjoyed a lot of them.

The only complaint I have is that the audio quality (compression) and volume vary greatly between files making the listening experience a bit challenging. I would encourage Gerry to standardize his format and error on the side of good audio quality, since if it’s not enjoyable then people won’t listen.

I will be posting some comments on his site as well for each podcast and would encourage anyone and everyone to do the same. Keep up the good work Gerry, I will be traveling again in a month so if you could get another 20 or so done by then — that would be greeeaaat.

So MediaCom is not building my confidence…can someone tell me which “Iowa City” should I choose? If this is because of multiple ZIP Codes, then show me the ZIP codes…come on people.

Checkout the cycling gear Twin Six is kicking out. They are local but like The Jeffersons they are “movin’ on up” and getting a buzz in the bike mags. I put in an order yesterday that included this sweet bag. I’m also a big fan of their Brew Pub 07 jersey and The Deluxe jersey. Once they replenish their stock, I’ll be getting one of each.

Now go ride your bike.

///// Update 05.08.07
I just received the bag and other goods today and this bag is super sweet. It’s top quality material and design. It makes me want to carry stuff on my bike.

Planning for success is important, foreseeing it’s effects is critical. Making improvements to a site design should result in, well results. But if we are not thoughtful and consider the effects of success we could end up like the beaver above.

So you must ask yourself, “if this change is successful, what will it impact directly and indirectly?” Will fulfillment be able to keep up? Does the sales force know about the change and it’s potential effects their customers inquiries? Does the Customer Service staff know about the change so they can answer questions and offer a good customer experience? Does IT know about the change and the traffic it may direct to particular services?

Obviously, not all changes will have dramatic results but how do you know? When demand is pent up because of a bad label or layout and an effective change is made, you can see results immediately and many times dramatically…because it’s been pent up. This is especially true when you add a new feature that you think customers desire. I know of new features that have been added and needed to be quickly “shut off” because they created demand that was unforeseen and were resulting in bad customer experiences. So the feature’s strategy and design was “successful”, but not successful for the customer or the business.

So how can you predict? By measuring successes and failures over time…creating quantifiable history to learn from. The more history you have to learn from the better you are looking forward and predicting orders of magnitude, which may impact how you release a new feature or test a change on a smaller subset of users.

Either way having a web metrics tool implemented is critical to predicting cause and effect accurately over time. The web is unique in how measurable and wide reaching it is…but you have to be proactive to harness it’s power. You need well implemented tools with metric plans to measure activity and most importantly qualified people to analyze the results and communicate them in a way that’s meaningful to the business.

So the next time your planning a change, ask yourself “how can I measure success and what will it impact if it’s successful?”

Last fall I worked closely with Sun Microsystem’s UX team to redesign their home page (www.sun.com). I helped with the research, conceptual thinking, IA work, interaction design and the measurement plan. The new homepage launched in Dec and we are now tracking the usage. Which is the thing I am most excited about! Every link on the homepage can now be tracked.

So by combining this new usage data with the usability studies (that sun does a lot of), we can learn and evolve the design in a whole new way. We will begin to see which ideas work and which ones struggle (or flat out fail). But that’s the point, we will build on our successes and learn from our failures. I think this is a new way of thinking that designers and clients alike need to embrace. We can’t expect perfection, but we can learn from our mistakes — but we need to be able to see them first.

I will be presenting a case study on the project with Jennifer Bohmbach (Sun Microsystems) at MiMA’s February salon. I will post my presentation after that talk.