This week at Lifeblue University, it was LB Design Savant Ben Tautfest’s turn to teach us all something new. As one of our amazing designers, Ben knows the importance of resolution, color and other factors that keep a site looking consistent and high in quality. So in this week’s LBU, Ben took the time to not only show us how to resize and alter logos and images to maintain quality and proper color, but also to stress the importance of such practices in producing top-notch sites, presentation materials and collateral.

Style guides, like the ones Lifeblue’s designers user for websites they create, keep a site consistent in the color scheme, typography and general appearance. These guides assist designers in maintaining control over the design and can be handed over to the client post-production to ensure that any changes made stay in harmony with the site they have created. Following a style guide will not only make a website look better, but it also reinforces branding messages by making it instantly recognizable and correctly credited to its respective brand.

But style guides can transcend website design and be transposed to other marketing elements. Once a solid guide is in place, it can be applied to advertising and presentation materials, collateral, social media pages and any other messages put out by the company. This practice goes hand-in-hand establishing cohesive, consistent branding—an important point that we have stressed in posts before.

Companies often lease out different marketing needs to several different agencies; providing them with a style guide to refer these other agencies to will ensure that it is all branded properly. When given the specific hues, fonts and styles to be used, these other agencies—despite creative differences—will most likely produce materials that follow suit with the site and the company’s brand image will be further solidified. I can’t guarantee that the client will actually decide to enforce the guide, but at least as a designer you will have armed them with what they would need to create a beneficial branding standard for their marketing materials.

Not everyone is a designer who has a trained eye for developing the elements of a style guide. Making it a point to always use one and making it available and comprehensible allows others to forgo making erroneous design decisions themselves, and they will instead know exactly what to do. Create a simple and clear concept guideline, and you will save your client from potential doom. Be responsible and look out for them. Practice safe design. Use a concept. And always do it with style guides.

In last week’s session of Lifeblue University, LB’s Tech Specialist, Chad Davis, schooled the team on a couple different methods of “cloning yourself” for the sake of testing a website. These practices serve to present a single user as multiple or new users, and while they can be helpful in simplifying the testing process, they can serve non-testing related purposes as well, as Chad explains.

“Cloning your virtual self” allows you as a tester or user to—in a virtual sense—pretend that you are someone else for a second. This is achieved through methods that allow the user to be under different accounts simultaneously on the same website. And why would this be useful? For testers, it creates an environment in which they can test features, like shopping carts, under multiple users. In the example of online shopping carts, cloning yourself lets you to fill up your cart and check out multiple times, each time as a different user, without undertaking the laborious talk of emptying the cart and having to back out to restart the process each time.

While systems operate to present each person on each computer as one user at one time—even in separate windows or new tabs—Chad provides two methods of overcoming this obstacle to simplify the testing process: private browsing and what he calls the “Gmail+ trick.”

Private Browsing
Private browsing is a feature that was developed to give a certain amount of privacy to users regarding their web searches and site history on their computers. The feature’s ability to open new windows with no pre-existing cookies intact allows users to present themselves and new and different to a website, which makes it possible for a single user to be logged into separate accounts simultaneously.

While most browsers have private browsing capabilities, Chad subscribes to the opinion that Google Chrome and Internet Explorer perform this task best. Browsers like Firefox and Safari tend to handle it a bit differently and can prove to be slightly more complex in their private browsing set-up.

The Gmail+ Trick
The second cloning technique, the Gmail+ trick, simply involves logging in with a Google Gmail address that attaches a plus sign followed by any word or words to the end of the email address but proceeding the “@” symbol. So for example, if your email address is you@gmail.com, you could login as you+user1@gmail.com or you+whatever@gmail.com and be recognized as a different user without having to set up a separate email account.

This feature, which is unique to Gmail only, cannot only be used for testing purposes but personal as well. It allows users to have multiple email accounts with which they can assign to different categories of online activity. So through this practice, you could create a you+bank@gmail.com account through which you receive all bank or financially related emails or a you+social@gmail.com account that is used for all social media logins and correspondence.

All accounts created by adding a plus sign and additional words will still be forwarded to the original you@gmail.com root account. This allows users to also have the ability to identify the origin of email spam by referring to Gmail+ address to which it was sent and to whom that address was given. Multiple email addresses also provides the opportunity to have multiple login accounts on most sites without having to set up each email separately.

Books have existed for ages with the ability to teach trades, stimulate thought, influence behavior and provide an escape from our reality. This week, we asked everyone here at Lifeblue about the books that have stuck with them most and have helped to perfect their practice by changing perspective and thought.

  Phillip and Savannah recommend The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

Phillip claims that this book “is one of the single reasons I entered the agency world and eventually started this company. It intrigued me in the understanding of how people and things influence change in the world.  It made me want to see how I could help influence or change consumers’ behavior.”

Savannah likes this book because “it takes the phenomenon of the epidemic and analyzes the key components that facilitate in the spread of thought and behavior in a way I had never before considered. Gladwell’s conversational writing style and gripping content make for a quick read, and Gladwell is one of those authors who succeeds in altering the perspective of any reader.”

  Russel recommends Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh.

“It’s probably more because I just read it, but it is a light-hearted, easy read. Its practical application of focusing on building and providing for everyone around you from your customers, vendors, and team members that you can create an amazing culture. In a nutshell, everyone wants to be a good person and provide for others, so facilitate that in every way possible.” 

   Shyam recommends Getting Real by 37Signals. 

“Seth Godin said it best: ‘Every once in a while, a book comes out of left field that changes just about everything. This is one of those books. Ignore it at your peril.’” 

  Cindy recommends The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. 

“I haven’t read the entire book recently, but I refer to it frequently and it has stayed as a foundation in my mind for many years. I remember taking a leadership class while at SBC in the early nineties based on this philosophy and book. I got my golden egg and it was a pivotal moment in my career and has stayed with me as fundamentals for the past 20 years.  While the book is now 20 years old, the paradigms and principals are extremely relevant. I often have to remind myself of the habits and revive the lessons it teaches in balancing personal, professional and the best ways to navigate your life. The foundation is an important lesson in paradigms and how we can choose to view our world.”

  Cristal recommends Visual Meetings: How Graphics, Sticky Notes & Idea Mapping Can Transform Group Productivity by David Sibbet. 

“I was attracted to this book for its many illustrations of flow charts, mind maps and thought sketching. This is not a book I chose to read cover-to-cover, but rather I keep it handy for quick reference when in need of quick inspiration when preparing a presentation, collaborating a meeting or mapping ideas for a project.” 

  Justin recommends Designing with Type, 5th Edition: The Essential Guide to Typography by James Craig.

“This book really changed my perspective on typography. It’s a great book for any designer, whether they are a beginner looking to understand typography or a pro seeking self-improvement.”

  Jonathan recommends Hardboiled Web Design by Andy Clarke.

“Andy Clarke’s book doesn’t go over a terrible amount of HTML5 and CSS3 material that you can’t find elsewhere, but that’s not the point.  He seeks to empower developers and designers, encouraging them to ditch the old, passive way of approaching web design in favor of a bold and uncompromising style of thinking.  We have some wonderful tools now at our disposal, so let’s allow ourselves to use them.” 

  Chad recommends Pro PHP: Patterns, Frameworks, Testing and More by Kevin McArthur. 

“A well-written book on (mostly) advanced PHP concepts that doesn’t waste much time on the basics. For me it was a nice overview for things like the Zend Framework, PHPUnit and Phing that I hadn’t really dug into yet. The author Kevin McArthur presents the subject matter very clearly and the ‘just the facts’ section at the end of every chapter is great.” 

Have any books you recommend for us? Let us know!

“The customer comes first.”

Business 101, right? So why is it that some web designers and marketers often forget that clients’ needs and desires are just as important to consider as those of the audience the content is serving?

Matt Donovan explored this topic in his presentation “Defending Creative Design” at this year’s Big (D)esign Conference and cited one reason for this disconnect to be the tendency to just say “no” to any request from a client that we might not agree with or believe is worth doing.

This slighting approach must stop or client relations will surely continue to suffer. Designers can be notorious for their defensiveness when it comes to client critique and therefore are often branded as difficult to work with. And while some designers will say that they’d rather die than change a single thing about their work, their business will most definitely die as well when clients grow tired of having their best interest always put on the backburner.

It’s time for a relationship revolution.

So how do agencies avoid the prima donna persona and present themselves as “people” people?

The power of listening is constantly underrated— listening not only to what a client says, but what their brand says about itself and what the client wants to be said through your work.

Get to know the client brand as if it were your own and treat it as such.

Breathe it in and live its personality and purpose as an organization.

Understand their audience and how it serves them and create your content and design strategy accordingly.

Clients hire agencies because they are good at what they do. Offer your expert opinion and ideas that will assist in accomplishing the brand’s goals. But always keep in mind that it is critical to make sure that you first understand what the client is attempting to achieve through your work and then make those goals your own.

Be one with the brand.

Many agencies make the mistake of showcasing too much of their work all at once.  “Avoid the big reveal,” Donovan cautions. Share your work with the client often and get feedback to ensure that you are going in the desired direction. Making little changes along the way is far easier than creating a complete design that requires multiple mass alterations in order to meet clients’ needs. It is an iterative process that should always allow for feedback and input throughout the lifecycle of the project.

Mind the Golden Rule: Treat the client with respect and openness and you will be treated likewise. Your amicable work style will surely earn you a highly regarded reputation and lead to referrals.  

Business is built on relationships, not projects.

In a world full of seemingly stubborn designers, it is important to step out of the box and ensure positive client interactions.

At LB, we don’t just create experiences for the client’s consumers, we also believe in creating unique experiences for our own consumers: the clients.

We are leading the charge on this relationship revolution.

Let’s all put the customer back where they belong.

By Savannah Harper

The fear of scope creep, project slippage and 11^th hour requirement changes has kept many a soul up at night.  These announcements usually bring on an array of issues, chief among them monetary implications for both the project manager and the client.  All resulting in a crazy frenzy for that last-minute, must-have feature.  But what are we really fighting?  Who are we blaming? Ourselves? The client? The angry one-eyed project monster?!?!  It is far easier to point the finger at someone else, but like Granddad once said, “When you point your finger at someone, there are 3 fingers pointing right back at you.”  Advice well worth taking and advice that I aspire to always remember.  

The real problem is most scope battles are fought in reaction mode rather than in anticipation mode.   So let it be written, let it be done, that if a project is worth doing, it is going to have scope creep.   Why not plan for it?  Why should we view scope creep as a negative? Let’s instead try and focus our efforts on what we can do about it., Is there a way to plan for scope creep rather than make ourselves crazy trying to avoid it? No there couldn’t be…that would be …impossible?  Call me crazy, but here are a few guidelines that can help manage the fragile edges of a scope. Not every project will allow for these guidelines to be implemented so utilize your ‘thinker’ and use these guidelines as a framework for potential ways to avoid the pitfalls.

1. Don’t avoid– anticipate! Address scope creep up front in the project budgeting and sales cycle. Something WILL come up that was left out of the initial requirements gathering process. Allowing space in the budget for this gives you and your client room for additional efforts that will inevitably come up.

2. The Golden Schedule: Schedules vary, plans change, vacations arise and sickness can be unavoidable. Be sure to incorporate these things into the planning process for both your project team and the client. And always allow for plenty of time for feedback turn-around and the often under-appreciated QA (quality assurance) process.

3. Know Thy Scope: The only way to manage scope creep is to keep track. It is critical to provide ongoing project documentation (business and technical requirements, wireframes, user-flows, designs, etc.) and the critical reference material that validates scope is being met and adhered to. Equally important is the expectations of your client and their understanding of the scope and subsequent approval.   It is far easier to demonstrate to a client where scope is being crept when expectations are understood from the beginning.

4. Educate, Share, and Empower: The customer is always right. But is there a path to lead them in the “right” direction? It is important to ensure the client knows what to expect from the process and why the process exists. Managing expectations in the beginning is critical to managing overall scope.  Clients can then feel empowered to share the same expectations and plans in the beginning and can assist in understanding overall change implications.

5. Chase Down the Butterfly: When things do arise that fall outside of the agreed to requirements, meet with your entire team to understand the full ramifications. What seems to be small can sometimes have broad reaching implications, resulting in the butterfly effect. The risk of the butterfly effect increases as a project is further along so the later in the project the more critical this becomes. Managing this quickly is critical.

6. Stamp of Approval: Once a new requirement is identified and understood by your client and internal team, document in a mutually agreed to manner. This can take the shape of a very formal change control process or be as simple as an email correspondence that contains the specifics agreed to.  The key is to document so everyone understands the details and process for proceeding.  Memory is fallible.

As I noted previously there is not one cut and dry solution to any scope creep.  I often use an example/analogy in many different forms that basically sums up scope creep.  How many times have you gone into McDonald’s (and/or insert other fast food restaurant) here and asked for extra ketchup?  Do they give it to you?  Do they speak rudely to you and throw the ketchup at you?   Or do they simply say, “I’m sorry but if you look on your receipt you will notice your meal only came with two packets.  If you would like to discuss additional ketchup options, I would be happy to arrange the conversation.” Well they probably wouldn’t say that and in most cases I hope they would just give you the ketchup w/o any of the above drama. 

However, as is the case with most projects, we are not dealing w/ a simple packet of ketchup, however similar rules apply.   The point is that in 99% of cases the client might just not understand the rules of the game.  The bottom line is that project process is about anticipation, communication and conversation.  If a PM ever finds themselves mad at a client, then in those 99.9% of the cases, they didn’t do any of these 6 steps up front.