Today we're running lab-based user testing with our eye-tracking equipment. We have four participants booked to come in this afternoon and to run through a series of tasks comparing different homepage designs. Here's how a day of user testing breaks down.

Last week I attended a one-day training course in “Writing For The Web”, as part of Nielsen Norman Group’s Usability Week, a six-day event covering all aspects of web usability issues.

As a copywriter with lots of experience writing offline material, I found it extremely worthwhile to find out more about the difference between online and offline copy and what makes words more accessible for an online audience.

Most of us use the web so regularly these days we’re probably aware of the conventions that are now commonplace on the web without consciously learning them. Most people would know where to find the navigation bar or the search field, or a rough word count for a homepage just by using the web every day. We’ve learned what to expect through osmosis.

As the web has developed and grown, these conventions have appeared for a reason. And, although it can be easy to ignore them because many boil down to common sense, you should still acknowledge these conventions to ensure you’re making your user experience as comfortable as possible for your audience.

So if you’re thinking about writing for a website any time soon, you may appreciate this guide, Words For The Web, that I compiled detailing some of the techniques covered on the Writing For The Web course.

Although the day gave a complete overview of usability, including writing for search, accessibility and how to organise content, (as a copywriter!) I’ve focused more on the writing style you should employ to ensure your readers find visiting your site informative - and enjoyable.

Download your free Words For The Web guide.

Now, I admit that I am a little behind in the world of mobile technology…being in the non-iPhone-owner minority - for which I am regularly sneered at, I might add. But I am up there in the world of Social media - I have a Facebook page, I’m on LinkedIn, I have a page on Twitter (which I’ll admit I don’t use) and I am a regular email and web user. However, I am wondering when and why the use of all of these combined became acceptable within meetings or formal situations?

It’s something that has been increasingly bugging me over the past few months. I realise, in this day and age where every second of business time is precious, that the use of mobile technology has enabled us to keep in touch with colleagues/clients whenever required - but how is it ok to continue this mobile communication within meetings? It used to be bad form to take your mobile phone into a meeting unless there was a specific, urgent requirement to have it there. It was certainly bad form not to have it on silent. But the iPhone seems to have made it ok for old fashioned etiquette to be thrown out of the window. It has become acceptable to respond to the beep of an email or text message in the middle of a meeting - it has become ok to pick up calls. At a recent conference (granted, the subject was the use of online communities within B2B marketing), delegates were ‘twittering’ throughout. Which was fine - they were interacting with people unable to attend. But I couldn’t understand how they could genuinely give the speakers their full attention - I also wondered how off-putting it was for speakers to be presenting to people glued to their phones. At this point, I might add that the delegate in front of me spent a large amount of time checking his emails throughout the conference.

Perhaps I need to move with the times - I realise that having everything - emails, phone, calendar in one handy device is convenient - I even think that the apps you can buy are cool, but I still don’t like the fact that the iPhone seems to be taking away manners. Unless it’s a matter of life or death, is it really a problem to leave it for an hour? After all, surely productivity levels and efficiency are being compromised because we’re trying to do too much, too often? Is there too much expectation to multi-multi task thanks to the technology available? I’d be really interested in your comments - do I just need to get with the times and accept that all forms of communication are acceptable at all times?

We all have changes we'd like to make to our favourite websites to improve our experience. And when sites do make a change 9 times out of 10 it is a good thing.

In my experience, Amazon is a great example of a site that makes improvements in increments. It's only when you think "ooh that was easy!" that you stop for a moment and realise they've made a change. This is a good way to update your site: visitors get the comfort and reassurance from a consistent user experience whilst you tweak problem areas. An additional benefit is that small, isolated changes can be more easily tracked to check that they really did make things better. You won't find a site owner that doesn't smile at proof of improved conversion rates or decreased exits.

 

I'm a blog virgin. So if you're taking the time to read this post, be gentle. 

Communication is a big part of my job - I'm an account manager here at Base One - but I'm feeling ever so slightly nervous about having my very own words published for the world and his wife to see. The question 'To blog or not to blog?' is sitting a bit heavily on my shoulders, but I suspect the only way to get rid of it is to have a go.  (And once I type the last full stop on this page, I might have to invest in a deep tissue massage, pronto.)

As a professional writer, I spend a lot of time with thesauri. (Yes, that's a legitimate plural.) But even if your job doesn't depend on word choice, wordhunting can be very worthwhile. Do you use Twitter, for instance? Then you can only afford so many words per tweet, and you'll want to make sure they say exactly what you mean.

To make wordhunting a pleasure, you need the kind of convenient go-to references that give you eureka moments. And you might want different ones for different tasks.

For instance, I use different (or more) resources for naming projects than I do for my long-copy jobs. Some of these resources wouldn't actually be called a thesaurus, but they can lead you to what you want to say. All of my favourite wordfinders are online and most of them are free. Read on...

Everyone in marketing should see this video. In fact, just everyone should see it.

If you, like me, are concerned about the gradual decline in the quality of spoken English, you'll love it. And it will remind you why you make the effort to not only speak properly, but to insist on clear, correct communications when writing content that is designed for customers. The voice behind the video is teacher and poet Taylor Mali (assisted by great typography by Ronnie Bruce by the way) who makes the point more articulately and humorously than I ever could. Oh, and big thanks to my colleague and fellow writer Noel Ponthieux for bringing it to my attention.

It's just like totally awesome, ya know.

I came across this "painfully honest" TV commercial.

It got me thinking about the approach most adverts take.

Being advertised to is a part of life, deconstructing all these messages is second nature to everyone and because we know we're being sold to, we digest adverts with a pinch of salt - obviously we're only going to be presented with only the good points and benefits, obviously the message with be slightly to extremely skewed.

That's why building trust is so important and difficult with a brand and why I found this Cullman Liquidation Mobile Home commercial so refreshing and exciting.

While the ad itself has neither high or low production values, the way it's presented and written is so honest I can't help but respect it, sit up and listen.

The question is, would I buy a mobile home if I was in the market for one and obviously had a modest budget?

Take a look at this TV commercial:



An advert using all the classic cinematic storytelling techniques - setting the scene, the build up, the tension, the twist, the reveal, with a bit of comedy and branding peppered in for good measure.

How important is it for an advert to entertain? And are these television commercials with immensely high production values wasting money and getting ahead of themselves?

Rory Sutherland (Ogilvy) said a while back that 'creativity isn't a science and even scientists don't do things scientifically' - instead sometimes coming up with a theory and then looking for ways to prove it.

So, in support of the previous post from our James, and the absence of a cast iron guarantee-able creative process, how much trust should you put in your theory (to all creatives: how much retro justification do you find yourself doing?)

Looking from our window late at night in comfortable 'anyone can afford a mobile' Teddington, I see people - always men - using the BT phone box.

My theory is that only men having affairs use phone boxes.

Is this a stupid theory or is there something worth pursuing?

How much faith do I have in it in order to try substantiating it with a bit of proof?

For every creative, every day, there's a 100 reasons why an idea may not be right, and only 1 for why it could be; and that's you and the faith you have in it.

Currently I don't have enough faith in my idea to ask any of the phone box users.