customer relations

Last week I attended the MESH conference for the second consecutive year and once again the issue arose around evaluating the use of social media technology by a commercial enterprise.

I recently jumped ship on a project that seemed destined to hit the rocky shores of missed deadlines and then sink in the swirling eddies of communication breakdown. I wasn't on board for long - about a week and a half really - but during that time I spent far too many days trying to obtain critical information about the project's code structure and database from the engineers who had developed it.

What is a software application?

When we think of a software application, most of us will conjure up the image of some sort of user interface splashed across a computer screen. As far as most of us are concerned, whatever is on the screen is the software. Period.

Engineers will tend to look at it a little differently. They are of course very aware of what goes on 'behind the screen' that makes all this stuff appear as it does and do all the things it does.

The motto and the objective of The User Advocate Group is to:

"Bridge the Gap Between End Users and Engineers"

Last weekend we set the clocks back for the winter. It's always nice to have an 'extra hour' and to perhaps do something a little special: lay in bed, go for a leisurely breakfast, take a long walk in the park. It's one of the perks of living on a tilted globe.

For me, this time of year also means that I get to be an Occasional User for certain technology interfaces such as the button riddled panel on my car stereo and the monstrous web tool for managing expiring domain names.

My friend Bill Sweetman has just concluded a gig at a large advertising agency and one of his last undertakings there was a recently launched web project entitled 'Aesthetic Intent: Where There's Passion, There's Beauty'. Bill is a very creative guy who knows a lot about aesthetics and how to work with the web as both an artistic 'medium' and as a business t

Getting back to this story...

A few weeks ago I spent two and a half hours standing (literally) at the counter of the US Airway check-in counter trying to secure a ticket to San Francisco using a free travel voucher. (No the online experience just didn't work for this one. Another story.)

A curious bit of personal history came to mind after I read Rachel Clarke's blog post about an online game (SaveMyHusband.com) which is based on a fake kidnapping. Rachel picked up on my 'We Were Framed' post in which I explain how we use 'frames' to distinguish the real from the fake.