13/11: A pretty site is not necessarily a better site.
I just finished up at the wonderful Web 2.0 summit in San Fran. This is my third year at this event, and I have to say that this year was the best. It felt like 1999 all over again with all the companies hyping their ideas for the web.
My favorite part of the show is entitled ‘Launch Pad’ where 13 companies showcase their ideas to a packed house of interested parties. If you have ever suffered a case of ‘the demo demons’ you know the panic some of these folks had as they tried to get their presentations fired up.
The presentation that was generating all the buzz was Photosynth by Microsoft’s Live Labs. This nifty idea takes photos of a place and maps it to a 3-D environment. You can walk through it and zoom in on everything. It was impressive and worth a demo look.
During one of the breaks while someone was having trouble with their laptop, we all stepped out ot stretch our legs. I met a nice fellow from a company which I wont mention. We exchanged cards and promised to reconnect.
When I got back to my room, I checked out his website to learn more. It was a very clean and impressive site, complete with the Web 2.0 mirrored logo that we have come to expect.
There was one problem: the site told me nothing about the company and why I should work with them. A site certainly should look good and be usable, but I went to it for a reason, to learn more about him and his company. The big question that didn’t get answered for me was, why should I want to work with him?
People visit a web site for a reason. When you consider a redesign of your site, be sure to take a look at the words on the page and who your customers are. Does your site speak to your customers? Or does it simply look good to you?
After about 5 minutes, I went back to Photosynth and enjoyed my wine while viewing photos of Piazza San Marco in Venice.
My favorite part of the show is entitled ‘Launch Pad’ where 13 companies showcase their ideas to a packed house of interested parties. If you have ever suffered a case of ‘the demo demons’ you know the panic some of these folks had as they tried to get their presentations fired up.
During one of the breaks while someone was having trouble with their laptop, we all stepped out ot stretch our legs. I met a nice fellow from a company which I wont mention. We exchanged cards and promised to reconnect.
When I got back to my room, I checked out his website to learn more. It was a very clean and impressive site, complete with the Web 2.0 mirrored logo that we have come to expect.
There was one problem: the site told me nothing about the company and why I should work with them. A site certainly should look good and be usable, but I went to it for a reason, to learn more about him and his company. The big question that didn’t get answered for me was, why should I want to work with him?
People visit a web site for a reason. When you consider a redesign of your site, be sure to take a look at the words on the page and who your customers are. Does your site speak to your customers? Or does it simply look good to you?
After about 5 minutes, I went back to Photosynth and enjoyed my wine while viewing photos of Piazza San Marco in Venice.
