Want evidence of end user control?

April 3, 2009 By 8 Comments

If you really want to underline the way control is now being shared with an ever greater number of people historically know as your ‘audience’, then show people the increasing rise of Firefox browser usage – then show them Greasemonkey.

Now Firefox isn’t the most used browser globally – Internet Explorer still rules, and Google’s Chrome certainly has some advantages and enthusiastic adopters. But whether or not Firefox ever dominates the browser market, the influence of the open source approach, add-ons and plug-ins is undeniable. It’s the reason that many people, including myself, might use Chrome for certain tasks for speed, but can’t give up the utility of plugins which offer everything from easy ways to see the way a page is coded, to Swedish spellchecking, mouse gestures and more.

But why is Greasemonkey so incredibly important?

Greasemonkey is a Mozilla Firefox add-on that allows users to install scriptson-the-fly changes to most HTML-based web pages. As Greasemonkey scripts are persistent, the changes made to the web pages are executed every time the page is opened, making them effectively permanent for the user running the script. Greasemonkey can be used for adding new functions to web pages (for example, embedding price comparison in Amazon.com web pages), fixing rendering bugs, combining data from multiple webpages, and numerous other purposes. From Wikipedia.

So that means:

You can spend as much time and money as you like on designing your webpage, but if I want to disable elements, change the layout, or do whatever I like, I can.

For instance, Facebook’s redesign angered many people – so if you want to hide the Highlights sidebar, just install one of three Greasemonkey options.

Or you can just emulate the old Facebook design.

And what’s really interesing?

As a website owner/publisher, I’m not aware of any way you’d know this was happening via analytics (And I’ve asked a few metrics/analytics types before posting), and you wouldn’t know what users are adding to your site to improve their experience, and possibly conversion rates.

(If you do know ways to track any of that information automatically, I’d love you to share it in the comments.)

Your users would though.

Resources:

You can keep up with the Greasemonkey blog at Greasespot, and find Userscripts for it at Userscripts.org. Please do keep in mind that you’re installing code which may in a very small amount of cases have been created by people who aren’t 100% lovely, so do some research before adding new scripts. Or just don’t blame this post if you kill the internet by accident.

Filed Under: Digital Culture Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

‘The Supermarket effect’, and how to minimise it…

November 18, 2008 By 6 Comments

I’ve coined the term ‘the supermarket effect’ in conversation and in passing, and never really publicly defined it. So for future reference:

The Supermarket Effect: The initial response to a new layout to a website, which echoes your first reaction to a supermarket changing it’s layout; ‘Oh, for crying out loud, where have they put the sodding milk’. Despite the fact that the change may actually be an improvement.

Chinese supermarket by gab on Flickr (CC Licence)

Chinese supermarket by gab on Flickr (CC Licence)

Even after a decade of making, changing, relaunching and tweaking websites, I’m as guilty of letting myself have the same reaction occasionally, before taking a deep breathe and evaluating what the changes actually mean.

And that effect can be devastating when you’re just launched a design you (or your team) worked on for days or weeks, and the first responses from users is to complain about every change. But if you understand that a percentage of shock is inevitable, you can start to seperate the valid and constructive comments from those of surprise – just remember that if they’re regular users of the site, it’s akin to walking into your local pub, or you living room, and finding someone has moved everything.

But there are ways you can minimise ‘the supermarket effect’.

  • Warn users that change is coming. Give them time to prepare themselves.
  • Explain in detail to key users what the changes will be, why they are being made, and give them an advanced preview. Get them onside, and they will evangelise the changes on a personal level which you wouldn’t reach as quickly.
  • Use A/B testing to reveal the changes to a small group and evaluate which changes are making the important differences.
  • Consider changing in phases, or offering a choice of old and new. Eventually you’ll have to force the late adopters across but it gives some of your audience a chance to get used to the new layout and help the latecomers.
  • Don’t dismiss the responses – even those which are purely critical of any change – politely explain the reasoning behind the changes, and the evaluation of them.

One famous example of reaction to change was Facebook’s unveiling of a new design. It led to vehement opposition, but over time, people do accept the changes, as long as there is value in making them for users. And if not – why are you making the change?

So are there other ways you can make a substantial change to your website, and minimise ‘the supermarket effect’?

Filed Under: community Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Simple, but hugely effective

April 16, 2007 By Leave a Comment

It’s amazing sometimes how easy it is to break out of the habit of building a ‘traditional’ website, and how few people actually do it.

How about a website written on the top of a fridge and cooker? It could have just been a series of plain photos, but the addition of a few working links in some of the pages make it work wonderfully, wonderfully well.

So before you start designing a header at the top, a menu down the left or right, and content in the middle, STOP! Think about what you really want to get across, and what is really the best way to do it…because really, nothing else matters.

Now experience it for yourself: http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/

Filed Under: website design Tagged With: , , , , ,

Nobody likes change – or do they?

March 16, 2007 By Leave a Comment

I’ve written before about how you can gain a lot by treating your online communities in the same manner as you would a group in real-life.

And that also applies to change.

I’ve seen a lot of people put a lot of hard work into completely rebuilding a site, only to be surprised by the vitriolic reaction of a lot of the heaviest users.

If you’ve ever been into your usual supermarket to find they’ve moved everything around, you might not be so surprised. Especially if the new signage hasn’t been put up. Or think about what would happen if you went into your local town or city to find it had been totally rebuilt overnight.

Ways to avoid such a strong reaction?

1. Give as much warning of the change as possible. It gives people time to adjust to the idea something new will appear.

2. Show them screen shots of the new design and get their comments. Explain how you think the new site will work and let them feed back. They might raise points you wouldn’t have noticed, or suggest better improvements. And they’ll also be better prepared for when the new site goes live.

3. Best of all, let them play with the new site before it becomes a necessity. Launch it on a different URL, say www.website.com/newsite, and then link to it on your front page. That way the early adopters and advocates can go and experiment, giving you a chance to test with a smaller group, before you switch over and let everyone loose.

4. Make sure that you have enough staff to adequately deal with any queries via email, and forums if you have them. The first few days and weeks are crucial for retaining your audience, and the longer people wait for an answer, the more likely it is they’ll find an alternative.

You may still get some resistance, but it will be more moderate, and easier to deal with if your users are so surprised. And don’t forget the basics of a site when you being.

Filed Under: community, website design Tagged With: , , ,