Welcome to Chez Cliff!

Some things I just wish I could share with the class.  But you’ll understand if we wait just another week or two before I can get detailed.

Today, I’m going to talk about the ether.

It never ceases to amaze me how when you’re ready to learn something or do something that the right people materialize that can help you.  I’m not referring to someone who ‘wishes’ they could do something.  But rather someone who “is” doing something.  Fate (or the ether) seems to know the difference.  When someone ‘wants’ something, the ether knows they aren’t ready.  When someone “is” buying, the ether knows they’re ready and presents opportunities.

When first designing my application, two overriding thoughts were in my head:  Budget and ease of use.  Those two ideas produced two applications which, for better or for worse, people seemed to like.

When developing 2.0, my heart spoke out and said that we really needed to do something special.  This time around, our software had to be special.  It had to sing.  My goal was to create an application that users would become passionate about.  But how?

Poking around online, this great website offered this video.

Then it hit me: hire a designer to work with me on designing version 2.0.  Wow.  How stupendously simple.  Guru.com, $100 and one Ukrainian later, we had a wonderful interface.

Now that I was on this “all about the user” kick, fate stepped in again.  My mentor insisted I read “Tribes” by Seth Godin.  I did.  When we discussed it, my mentor dismissed my thoughts.  “You obviously didn’t get it.  Read it again.”

One Page two, Seth listed a few names of “tribal leaders”.  No explanation as to who they were.  So I asked Lord Google.

Let me introduce Kathy Sierra.

Wow.  Simply wow.  All she talks about is the user experience from the programmer point of view.  I spent hours, pouring over her blog and sucking in all the goodies.  Each article I asked myself “Is there a nugget here I can use to enhance my users experience?”

Yep.  Just glance at the first image in this article and tell me she doesn’t have a point.  Actually if you’re bored, check out her office.

Here’s my point:  All of this information has been sitting out there in the ether for a few years.  Had I asked myself these same questions a few years ago, would I have found these same answers?  I argue probably not.

Last year’s thought:  I want to make the application easy to use.

Last week’s thought:  I am enhancing the user’s experience.

And fate responded accordingly.