callyway's score

It's the experience ...

Thought I would change the color of the blog; decided not to go with fall colors, though.

Those are all around now.  Reminds me that soon the trees will be bare; and I will be cold.

All winter long.

So, instead, I decided to switch to blue -- to remind me of the ocean.

Warm sunshine, sand and sea.

And that, of course, makes me think of body-boarding in the Pacific.  

Which takes me right back to the reason I even do the things that I do: the real point: to be happy.

When visitors come to your site: what do you think they feel?

Does the experience bring a smile?  Should it?

Do you want your visitor to enjoy your site?

Or are you merely thinking of conversion - the sale?

For some sites, that will be okay.  If you give me a deal, I don't need to feel happy when I visit.

But you better not make me feel any of the following during that deal process: 

frustrated

confused

cluttered

(that's a stretch for some I am sure, but it's currently a big one for me -- 

I am looking for the clean, clear view due to all the complexity in the world these days)

and most importantly, I better not feel that I wasted my time so I end up leaving annoyed.

Now what does your website have to do with my preference for the beach?

It is the experience -- that's the point.  For most beaches and for most websites.

If you haven't reviewed the experience in a while: think beach next time you visit your own site.

Ask yourself: How's the body-boarding?  Do I want to come back?

Process - there's more to it than a document

Just writing about it is not enough ...
Just creating the document that defines it is not enough ...
You have to take it further:
    Don't just define it, create it.
    Don't just write it, build it.
    Don't just think it, do it.

I have been working on documents - wondering if something will come after the words.
That's why I decided to write these words.
All the words and plans and thoughts won't matter if you send those words out into the organization - and then nothing happens.

Action. Take it.

How do you get the buy-in needed to make it happen?

There's the exec sponsor route, of course - the old standard: do as I say because I'm the boss.
There's also the involvement route: make it a team effort and maybe it will work.

And then there's this weird other way --- I think of it as the middle way --- it involves everything and nothing.  It is the east meets west (and north and south) way.  And that is a rather mystical way ...

Yes, indeed.  Seriously, truly, actually.

I am talking about working within your system - whatever that system is - understanding it enough to know if you need an exec sponsor or maybe all you need is a nod.  Certainly you will need to work with a variety of individuals: so that means understanding their needs, their objectives and how this process will help/hinder those.  Does the process cross departmental lines?  If yes, then the middle way probably includes the involvement route.  And so, the weird other way (the middle way) is formless in that it is flexible enough to meet the needs of the environment: nothing more, nothing less: just what is needed to make it work.

The middle way for building a process that is used reflects the organizational constraints imposed and molds those constraints into the required framework to meet the objectives.  

Wow.  Did I really just use all of those words in one sentence???

Yep. I like it.  Seriously, truly, actually.  Why?  Because, though the sentence is filled with biz-lingo, the point is to build a process that is used ...... and that sentence describes the how-to for doing so. 

Now, to the Web Analytics of this post ..... when trying to define an analytics process .... there are a quite a few presentations about it and probably at least one or 32 blog posts about it .... so why say anything more?

Because it seems that tracking is still forgotten; that folks are still working quickly to tag after the fact due to, you guessed it, lack of process.  Now those folks may not even realize that is what caused their "hurry, gotta, we missed it" run to tag effort ... but that's it exactly.  If you find yourself chasing rather than leading: you've definitely lost or never found your process.

Recommendation: get yourself an analytics process.  Write, build it and figure out how to implement it within your organization (using the middle way, of course).  Quick.  Do it soon.  The only way to leverage the velocity of the Internet is to leverage the velocity that a well-used process delivers. 

Seriously, truly, actually.