1807 Hendricks Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32207 904-399-4411 info@ngenworks.com
Posted by: Carl Smith on Thursday July 2, 2009
How we let something this big go on this long is beyond us, but there’s no doubt that Jeffrey Veen is a Happy Webbie. As you’ll see in his bio, and as you already know from his ongoing innovation and awesome apps this is way overdue. Welcome to the webbiehood Jeffrey Veen.
0 Comment(s) Filed under: Interweb
Posted by: nGen Works on Tuesday June 30, 2009
DevonInspiration Ltd. is about inspiring creative ideas and intelligent marketing solutions through understanding how traditional direct marketing, new media and web 2.0 can benefit your business.
They recently interviewed nGen’s Carl Smith as part of their Agency/Client relationship series.
What’s your best tip for building a good agency/client relationship?
Collaborate at every opportunity and realize that while the client may not understand things you do, they know things you don’t. Make no assumptions and over communicate. Most importantly communicate in the client’s language.
The relationship between the client and their creative partner is always one of give and take. If you have any enlightening or just plain funny stories you owe it to all of us to share them right now!
0 Comment(s) Filed under: Interweb
Posted by: nGen Works on Friday June 26, 2009
There comes a time in every creative shop where talented people look for new challenges. This is one of those times for nGen Works.
Varick Rosete and Travis Schmeisser have been instrumental in leading nGen Works to national prominence. Now they are ready to shift gears and find new ways to apply their talents to other endeavors.
Travis will be moving to New York and taking a position with 80/20, an interface design studio whose founders are behind such great products as Apple’s Aperture and MobileMe. We’re excited for him and look forward to using the applications he’ll be designing over the next several years. We always knew he’d end up in a major market and we’re proud to say he was an nGeneer for 5 years. His leadership and talent will be missed.
Varick feels so bad for kicking the web’s ass for 6 years he’s decided to pick on motion graphics and video from now on. The good news is he’ll still be providing nGen with illustration support so crowd favorites like Happy Webbies can keep on keepin on. Varick was a founding member of nGen Works and his influence on the company will continue to be felt. Mainly because we’re counting on him to keep singing El Scorcho on nGen Rockband Fridays.
While we can’t replace a couple of rock stars like Travis and Varick, we are currently talking with some very talented people around the country and will have some additional updates in the weeks and months to come.
We ask you to join us in thanking Travis and Varick for the amazing contributions they’ve made to nGen Works and wishing them the best in their new adventures. Give ‘em hell boys!
30 Comment(s) Filed under: Interweb
Posted by: nGen Works on Monday June 15, 2009
Come join FPRA Gainesville on Thursday, June 18th as nGen’s Carl Smith talks about important lessons we can learn from other service industries.
There are great lessons to be learned around us every day. Lessons from interactions we have with people in industries far older than our own. By adopting successful practices regardless of where they come from, we can all start expecting the best from every single interaction. Companies that can start making the experience of working with them as amazing as the product they deliver will lead us into the next evolution of business.
There are more details available on the FPRA Gainesville event page.
RSVPs are required so don’t wait!
We hope to see you there.
0 Comment(s) Filed under: Business, nGen News
Posted by: Carl Smith on Thursday May 28, 2009
At a recent talk at UF we mentioned that there had been no conclusive evidence that creating personas improves the effectiveness of design. Today, courtesy of Jared Spool, we found out that new research has shown that personas do, in fact, make a difference.
The use of personas as a method for communicating user requirements in collaborative design environments is well established. However, very little research has been conducted to quantify the benefits of using this technique. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using personas. An experiment was conducted over a period of five weeks using students from NCAD. The results showed that, through using personas, designs with superior usability characteristics were produced.
Thanks to the team at Frontend for making this research available.
0 Comment(s) Filed under: Interweb
Posted by: nGen Works on Wednesday May 20, 2009
People often talk about usability and learnability when discussing web and application development. Things have to be intuitive and familiar to increase conversions and trial… blah blah blah. All of this is really important. But what does it really boil down to?
It’s all a matter of trust. Trust between the user and the developer. Between the user and the designer. Ultimately trust is allowing yourself to become vulnerable based on a positive expectation. So how do you build trust? And how do you avoid breaking it? It’s about the promises you make in subtle and obvious ways.
nGen’s Carl Smith will be speaking about establishing and maintaining trust with your users at Flash Camp Orlando on Friday, May 29th at the University of Central Florida.
In his session he will break down key steps to understanding, building and keeping trust with your users. More than that you’ll get to hear from real users and find out what they think when you break that trust. Ouch!
Come on out if you can!
1 Comment(s) Filed under: nGen News, Process, Usability
Posted by: Carl Smith on Monday April 27, 2009
One night as I was trying to crack the code on taking nGen Works to the next level, I started searching for other service industries that shared our characteristics and challenges but had been around for centuries, not decades. I needed an industry that was project focused but welcomed repeat business. It had to maintain a consistent level of quality with a concern for the customer’s experience. Most importantly it would need to have the answers to balancing growth with finite resources.
The next day I ran into a deli for a quick bite. As I was waiting on my food, I watched the staff work together to keep everything in motion. Customers placing their orders, cooks preparing food, servers taking plates to the customers, bus boys taking dirty dishes back to the dish washers and the owner asking how everything was.
Everyday restaurants open and close, and it’s been that way since the 10th century. The question is, why do they succeed or fail? And what can those of us in other service industries learn from the experiences that keep us coming back?
Every restaurant has two things in common. They can only serve so many customers at once and they have to make a certain amount of money to keep the doors open. So are you going to be a cafeteria with low profit margins pushing as many people through as possible or are you going to be a private caterer preparing the finest meals exclusively for those able to afford them? Or maybe one of the infinite options in-between?
No matter the path you choose, you have to figure out the number of clients you can successfully serve at one time while still providing an experience that keeps them coming back. Once you accomplish this, word of mouth does the rest to fill your reservation book.
When thinking about what you serve you need to focus on what you are known for, what you can consistently be great at and where your profit comes from. Then your menu can get focused on the signature items that fit the criteria.
Try serving everything and you won’t get in a groove with your process or your team. Quality will be sketchy and everyone will lose a little faith, even you. Focus and you get into a routine of fine tuning what works. Things get better and your value goes up.
From the host to the dishwasher, everyone has to kick ass to create the ultimate experience. If one person on the team doesn’t care to be the best they can, then a dirty fork can undo the finest filet mignon. If the server gets one thing wrong on the order, then everyone’s best efforts get thrown away and the meal starts back at zero.
Ultimately it comes down to caring and communication. With the right team and the right tools everyone keeps the process rolling smoothly.
It’s not fun, it takes a long time and it’s the foundation of success. In a kitchen prepping means getting all the ingredients ready for the next rush. In other service companies it means the same thing. Instead of slicing tomatoes and dicing carrots, you have to make sure your brain is prepped with the right skills, techniques and knowledge and your tools are state of the art.
If someone on your team is not doing something as efficiently as possible, or heaven help us, doing something that is bad, it can backlog your entire process and nothing gets out to the customer. Once the kitchen gets backed up tables turn slower, customers get cranky and profits go down. Excuses are made and trust gets shaky, but if everyone is prepared, even emergencies can become opportunities.
When you first walk into a restaurant you get a sense of who they are and what to expect. Are you greeted at the door by a welcoming host or an old sign saying “Seat Yourself?” Do you see starched white tablecloths or place mats on old wooden tables? Is there the low whisper of intimate conversation or is the joint jumping with boisterous talk and heartfelt laughter?
Everything a customer feels at the beginning of their relationship with you frames their entire experience. That’s why being in command of that experience is critical. As your company’s maître d’ you should take great care to make sure new clients know what to expect as well as finding out their preferences.
Making sure you get everything right when the order is given is obviously important. But how you take the order is also an opportunity. Describe the way the meal will be prepared. Explain why it’s better. Share the specials with passion. If you don’t tell the customer why your company’s product is so much better many of them won’t understand. Once they do, though, they will tell everyone about the great experience they had and why it was so amazing. They’ll want to share their discovery and keep your pipeline full.
In most good restaurants, before a meal goes to the table it gets checked by a chef to make sure it meets their quality standards. In some restaurants there is no pass. If something gets served that is subpar or wrong, it’s up to the customer to send it back and probably decide not to eat there again.
Ultimately quality assurance should only catch a few things because the team is so finely-tuned few mistakes are made, but those few things could derail your entire team if not caught. Taking care of a problem before it gets to the customer is much less distracting than having something sent back. Great quality assurance leads to improved efficiency and positive word of mouth which in turn fills more tables.
Most great dining experiences involve everyone in the dining party being served the right food at the right time. Appetizers, main course, dessert. Nothing is rushed and nothing takes too long. The customer has time to enjoy each phase. In your business it should be the same. When people feel rushed or ignored, it’s a recipe for bad word of mouth. If something takes a long time to prepare, explain that at the beginning of the process. “All of our desserts are made from scratch, we recommend you order them at the same time as the main course so they will be ready when you are.”
We’ve all been asked “How was everything?” We’ve all lied and said, “It was fine.” And we’ve all appreciated that server who asked us again with a smile and a knowing look, “If something wasn’t right, please let me know. I want to make sure you come back again.”
Too often in today’s world many of us forget to ask how we did. Exit surveys and comment cards are great, but actually making eye contact with the person who hired you and asking if they are happy with the outcome is personal and shows you care. It’s also the last opportunity you may have to find a flaw in your offering. Even if they are disappointed and you can’t help them, you will be better off having asked.
Very rarely are we surprised when a server brings us the bill. They almost always wait until it seems things are slowing down and then ask one more time if there will be anything else. As always, they aren’t rushing us and will take payment whenever we’re ready. Looking over the bill, things normally cost what we expected. Occasionally we’ll be shocked to find that gratuity was already included. When that happens we go into detective mode and get cranky. “What else are they trying to slip by me? I was going to tip 20% but if they feel 15% is enough then fine.”
There is a right time and a wrong time to bill in every industry. Obviously the right time is when the customer is happy. It’s also critical to avoid surprises with billing. Restaurants show us prices at the beginning of the experience and bill us those prices. While everything you do may not be as cut and dry, you owe it to those who hire you to keep them informed of cost along the way.
As the customer is getting up and heading for the door there’s one last chance to say thanks and come again. Take it. It can make all the difference.
So here we are. The last customer is gone and we need to get ready to do it again tomorrow. What have we learned? What can we do better? How can we be the best?
The biggest revelation is there are great lessons to be learned around us every day. Lessons from interactions we have with people in industries far older than our own.
The next time you have a truly great experience, dissect it and see what made it wonderful for you. Then infuse that in your business however you can.
If we all begin adopting successful practices regardless of where they come from, then we’ll all start expecting the best from every single interaction. The companies who can make the experience of working with them as amazing as the product they deliver will lead us to the next evolution of business.
5 Comment(s) Filed under: Interweb
Posted by: nGen Works on Tuesday April 21, 2009
He went by many names – Joey Fresh, Joemar and The Mayor of Springfield. Now he’s going to be known as Jacksonville’s man with a plan.
Recently Joey decided to leave nGen Works to pursue a job with more community involvement. Running Urban Jacksonville changed his outlook on the city and he wants to devote time and energy to his vision of what our community needs.
We wish him all the best and feel fortunate to live in the city where Joey is going to make a difference.
Give ‘em hell Joey.
9 Comment(s) Filed under: Interweb
Posted by: nGen Works on Tuesday April 14, 2009
The UX Booth is a group that writes about User Experience, and offers free Website Usability Reviews that all designers and developers can benefit from.
They recently interviewed nGen’s Travis Schmeisser about our process. From discovery to information architecture to usability testing they asked about it all.
We do as much research as we can and rely on the client to help define the users who will eventually be using the site. They often know their customer the best, but we can lend another side they haven’t considered most of the time through our experience. The research changes with every site as the audience is always different. The first meeting really sets the tone and goals for what we’ll be looking into and who we’re dealing with.
Let us know what you think about the interview and please share your insights on process and techniques!
0 Comment(s) Filed under: Interweb
Posted by: nGen Works on Wednesday April 8, 2009
Carl’s talk from Spring of Web 2009 is now available online.
nGen Works is excited that Carl Smith is speaking at UF’s Spring of Web 2009. He will be talking about usability mistakes you can’t afford, and a few you can get away with.
Below is an overview on Spring of Web 2009 provided by UF.
Spring of Web 2009 is a half-day conference created to bring the UF Web community together and back to Web basics. Refreshments will be provided, and there will be several prize drawings.
Spring of Web’s full intent is to bring speakers, both internal and external, to discuss the daily issues seen across the Web community. Topics will include advanced HTML & CSS, site analytics, search engine optimization and usability.
Speakers will come from a variety of Web backgrounds including consultants, developers, instructors and communications specialists. Among the speakers are Web Admin’s own Joe Spooner, College of Education webmaster Prentiss Ladkani, researcher and instructor at the College of Journalism Dave Stanton, and Web professional and Gator alumnus Carl Smith from nGen Works.
When & Where?
The event will be on April 10th, from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Emerson Alumni Hall Teaching Classroom.
We will also provide live video streaming and video archives for those who are unable to attend in person.
Who is attending?
This event is for University of Florida Web professionals of all types. If you are someone who writes content, moves pixels, develops Web applications or falls anywhere in between, you’re welcome to attend — just make sure you RSVP as spaces are limited. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate students for this event.
0 Comment(s) Filed under: Interweb
Where we talk about design, the Interweb, technology, business and other random office hilarity that keeps us from doing our real day job – taking over the world.
The Danger Room is the design blog/playground of nGen Works
