....Navigate articles.... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 1 IA and the Underground .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 2 A few thoughts .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 3 Type01's definition .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 4 Sapient's definition .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 5 Copywriting online .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 6 A global medium? .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 7 Building trust .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 8 Introducing Sam Ruben ++ Setting the Scene ++ Fonts ++ Colour ++ Images ++ Linking ++ Tables ++ Frames ++ Going Live ++ Search Engines ++ HTML Editors .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 9 dHTML navigation .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 10 Between Clicks; Expanding IA .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 11 Right click, view source. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 12 Refresh .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 13 Creative expression on the web .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 14 Learning to surf .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 15 The illusion of consistency .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 16 The hard sell .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 17 The promised land .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 18 An intro to user journeys .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 19 IA Summit 06 [5 meg ppt] .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 20 Designing for developing contexts .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 21 Communal computing & shared spaces of use .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Home home     contact     So while we wait for broadband to arrive, en masse, with magically willing customers I would like to propose 7 practical ideas that I believe will increase spend, usage and development on the Web by and in South Africa. 1. Design around customer's needs If customers believe that the things on their minds are being addressed on our websites then there will be a greater uptake of online servicing. It is not enough that these needs are addressed 'somewhere' on the site. The design and structure needs to shout out to those needs. Critical information and functionality needs to be raised to the surface of sites and needs to be named and positioned so as to be instantly recognisable to customers. 2. Build trust A site which focuses more on acquisition than retention and servicing means that the online relationship falls down at some point in the lifecycle. This creates a lack of trust that the Web, as a medium for that relationship, is an effective channel. If, as an industry, we start to service customers more effectively across the full duration of the relationship then their trust in the medium and their willingness to go there will increase. 3. Design for our context We don't need to be designing websites like they do in higher bandwidth countries. We have an obligation to our local users to design in a way that is appropriate within the limitations that exist here. Again, if as an industry at large, we start to create a more usable Web within the restrictions we have then people will start to think of the Web as a good first point of contact for interacting with businesses, products and services. 4. Work small user bases For a website or a Web endeavour to be deemed a success we do not need to sell online or receive more page impressions than the guy next door. The point, again, is the timely and relevant fulfilment of needs that we answer for our customer base. That's where you start. The provision of content and functionality relevant to user's needs is where the real meaning lies in our work and goes far beyond generalised statistics or a purely Rand-exchange view of where value lies in interactions online. 5. Educate, guide and create awareness Holding a users hand through an experience is paramount. We have the freedom to design our experiences uniquely online. This is a good thing and creates freedom in design and allows for Brand differentiation. But we also need to guide customers through interactions, create awareness of the basic services and offer how-to information to use them. Most of the time we are asking our users to learn new ways of doing things. That's fine, but lets give them a hand. 6. Drive to Web We need to spend more time and money on driving people to the Web. There needs to be a catalyst to get people there in the first place and this effort begins with our local businesses. We need to incentivise the use of Web services, communicate compelling and meaningful reasons to go online and then deliver on that promise. Interestingly, British Telecom's entire campaign to sell broadband to Britain used Web only offers on TV and other media to get people online and from there they tried to build trust in the medium as a first point of contact. They call it 'Netcentricity' and have measurements and targets for evaluating their efforts in making their customers use the online channel more. 7. Use integrated communications An integrated communications effort offers creative control across various media channels, across varying stages of the customer lifecycle. This places you in a unique position to consistently and compellingly drive customers to the Web at the right time, when it's appropriate, while using other channels when your customers need them. My firm belief is that the combined efforts of truly strategising and designing around customer's needs and the push to get them online to try it will increase use of and trust in the online channel. If we begin with the user in mind, building for low bandwidth, then perhaps when the promised land of broadband arrives we'll be perfectly positioned to maximise the use of it…for our customers. | 1 | 2 |   | end |     home     contact