Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow

Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow.

If you have seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you'll know why I'm linking to this. I have nothing more to add.

A good news story - with a lesson

Got a good news story that I'd like to share:

A few weeks ago I received a call from a competitor asking for usernames and passwords for a website that we were working on. (Been working on it for over 12 months, mind you!) So anyway, I contacted the client to confirm the request and find out where we went wrong.

"It's nothing you guys have done," she told me. "My daughter is friends with [competitor] and she convinced me to go with them instead. I know I haven't given you everything you need to finish the site, that's my fault, not yours." So I told her I understood completely, I don't have a problem with people changing because of those sorts of reasons.

That was all okay - losing a client due to a family/friend connection isn't the end of the world. As long as it wasn't something we did.

So today just after lunchtime, the client (or maybe ex-client) pops into the office. She looks at me rather sheepishly and asks, "Will you take me back?"

Surprised, I asked why.

Apparently they hadn't done anything that was asked of them. They did a redesign and didn't follow the client's brief. Information had been put in the wrong place and badly formatted. The staff member ("kid") that was actually doing the work made the client feel inferior for not being fluent with computers instead of explaining things in English.

Of course, we took her back!

So this afternoon I feel somewhat proud of the level of service we offer. Generally speaking, if someone knows your competitor on a family/friend level you have no chance of winning their business, it's not even worth worrying about.

But obviously that's not necessarily the case.

So:

1. Don't burn your bridges


2. LISTEN to what your clients want


3. Remember that while you probably know more about your industry, they know a lot more about their industry than you do. it's not their job to be experts in your chosen field, that's why they come to you in the first place!

I've Never Heard of Myself...

This is another one of those little questionaires that tell you what personalty type (or in this case, what kind of web guru) you are.

Only trouble is, I've never heard of 'myself'. (Is that saying something?) Can anyone fill me in on who Dunstan is?



At least Ron was a Zeldman... :(

Daily NetOffice Activity

This little report for NetOffice will email you a list of completed tasks for the day, as well as a list of any tasks that had any time logged against them (completed ot not). I'm lazy, and if I can get out of looking that info up I will!

Download the ZIP File, 3.7 kilobytes

Simply unzip this file into your /reports/ directory, and then you'll need to set up a cron job or a scheduled task (depending your Linux-ness or Windows-ness) to trigger this file every evening.

You will need to edit the to and from email details - check around line 20, right near the top of the file.

It doesn't require a login to activate, but it doesn't actually display the details of the report, nor will it allow you to follow any links from the page, so it's not really too much of a security issue.

Tested on my 2.6.0b2 install. Enjoy!

My Latest Addiction: Google Earth

You just gotta try this... Google Earth.

A free program you can download and view a blend of satellite and aerial photography of anywhere on the globe. It's absolutely amazing and very addictive.

Start with this:


And zoom in as far as you like...

NetOffice 2.6.0b2 - Project Site improvements

I've called this post "Project Site Improvements"... But I suppose that depends on your point of view!

What I have done here is make the team task arrangement in the project site a little clearer. In the main application, tasks are neatly divided into Open, Closed and Milestones. But in the Project Site (that clients log in to) they are all bundled together.

With this mod, that same logical grouping is applied to Team Tasks for your clients to see as well.

I've also shifted the Gantt chart to the bottom of the page, and wrapped it in a div so that (at 1024x768 anyway) your clients won't have to scroll horizontally because of a wide Gantt Chart.

Unzip the contents of the zip file into your projects_site folder. As usual, back that folder up first in case you don't like what I've done!

Download ZIP file, 3005 bytes.

Works with NetOffice 2.0.6b2, untested on other versions. Enjoy!

Overly Styled Scrollbars

Designers sometimes have a habit of styling something just because they can. And sometimes this comes at the expece of usability.

Jacob Neilsen has written another reminder about scrollbars. He recommends:

• Use an actual bar in the shape of a rectangular trough, preferably in a color that contrasts with the background.


• Show arrows at the top and bottom.


• Include a slider (sometimes called a "thumb" or an "elevator"), preferably in a color that contrasts with the trough. The slider's position should show the visible area's position relative to the total area, so people can see how much more content they have to scroll through.


• Allow users to scroll by
  • clicking in the trough,
  
  
  • clicking on the arrows,
  
  
  • dragging the slider, and by
  
  
  • using a scrollwheel on their mouse.

Sensible advice to keep in mind, whilst at the same time considering who your audience is and how far you can safely push these limits.