The Road to a New Web Site. pt 1

The new site for the TMJ Association launched in early 2010. As a member of the team that worked on the site, Terrie and Deanne asked me to let you know a little bit of the behind-the-scenes thinking that went in to it's creation.

When we were first brought in to redevelop the TMJ Association website we felt pretty confident: We had just finished a similar project for another not-for-profit organization that used the same underlying software and practices. Each organization had similar challenges and goals, despite having different audiences.

After meeting Terrie and Deanne we realized that they are the heart and soul of the TMJ Association. No one knows more about the daily trials of TMJ Disorder sufferers, or what it takes to keep a not-for-profit organization running with a full-time staff of two. That's right, these two extraordinary women are it, the entire full time operation! I wish I had their energy and dedication.

WHY A NEW SITE?
The TMJ Association had been noticing for some time that new membership was not keeping pace with previous years. The amount of traffic on their site was falling off and they were not sure what to do about it. Just adding more content to their current site was not working and with only two people full time it was difficult to understand how they could really do more.

We decided together that the overriding goals for the new site were:

1. To present the most valuable information so it's easy to find
   
2. Tie the site together with a better structure to make prominent information stand out.
3. Provide hooks to social media to broaden the exposure to a wider audience.
   

We knew we needed to focus on four main areas: content, social media, design and tracking our results. Seemed simple enough, but as always, there are unforeseen challenges.

WHAT STAYS AND WHAT GOES
The first challenge: look at current site content and winnow it down to the essential elements. The previous site, www.tmj.org, was stuffed full of information, some of it timely and some that was archival material. Adding to the problem was most of the content was sort of floating around on the site at the same level. There was nothing really calling attention to the more relevant information (diagnosis, treatment, things to say to your dentist).

We knew that this was the information that most new audience members wanted before delving deeper. Terrie and Deanne both know how important it is for TMJ disorder sufferers to get good information quickly. We decided that converting every scrap of information from the old site was not practical, we needed to make decisions about what to keep and what to leave on the previous site.

Initially, we considered shutting down the old site but this presented two major problems:

1. We already had Google recognition on www.tmj.org and many users that were happy with its layout and presentation.
   
2. A lot of the information at www.tmj.org was not useful on the new site, but not ready to be scrapped.
   

No matter how good a new thing is there will always be those that preferred what came before, what they were comfortable with. So, just shutting the previous site down was not really an option. Also, the goal of the new site was to present information in new ways and broaden the audience. So, what did we do?

Well, we left www.tmj.org alone...for the most part. Once we had a design (more on this later), we made the previous site look a bit updated with new graphics and logos and we renamed it as the TMJ Archive, but left it running at www.tmj.org.

Over time we hope that users will see the previous site as the "library" of the TMJ Association, a place to go when you need older documents, etc. Hopefully, the new site will be akin to a "coffee shop" where our audience can get up-to-date, portable information and social media links. Even after we decided what content needed to be moved we needed to look at that content carefully.

MAKE IT STAND OUT
To be certain we were serving our potential new audience we reviewed and edited the content for online presentation. We created more prominent headlines to make content easier to identify. We offered multiple ways to find information, such as a search box, a couple of different menus, blogs, etc. We simplified the content into three main areas:

1. Living with TMJD's - Essential real world information about dealing with disorders
2. The TMJ Community - Links and resources that unify our audience and provide them with updates.
3. The Science of TMJ - Keeping our audience informed about research and good practices.

Most online readers scan rather than read. They do not take the time to read every article (no matter how valuable it might seem to the writer). They zip through the first few words and move on unless they're really interested. So what did we do?

Nothing radical here, just streamlined to be presented for scanning rather than in-depth reading. Shortened some articles, made lists of others, etc. always with an eye to keeping the information succinct, on target and easily accessible.

NEXT TIME : Design Decisions.

Jazz and Cloud Apps

Just working it all out again on a Monday AM. Summoning motivation, organizing into work mode and starting another week. Sunny and beautiful outside judging by the slice of light peeking into my basement office. My Bud Powell Pandora station is keeping me sane.

Tried out a couple of new things last week: Evernote (www.evernote.com) and Pivotal Tracker (www.pivotaltracker.com) to keep life and projects in a more manageable space. More manageable in any event than my head.

Evernote is a cool little cloud app for organizing your life and work that uses the concept of notebooks. Each one contains notes, which can be text, photos, audio, webclippings, etc. The webclipping feature is great for project research: you highlight a page (or portion of a page) and hit the Evernote plugin button (in Firefox) and the content is automagically updated to your Evernote account. The photo and audio options are great with your iPhone, you can just snap shots or record musings and they are synched with your account. And its free with some bandwidth (and other) limitations. Runs on Mac/Win/iPhone/etc. Nice.

Pivotal Tracker is project management with a story based concept at its core. Each story is part of the overall project and as you complete stories it builds a map of how you work and how you categorize your work to provide a better understanding of how and when you can meet deadlines. Autopromotion and tracking determine the "velocity" of the current project and the program itself make recommendations about what to do next and why. Interesting. "HAL? HAL? What should we work on today?" Light screenfeel due to Ajax-like interface that allows swift drag and drops of tasks between lists. Initial test drive left me feeling like this could work for my own little company. Simple and easy to use. More to come as I learn more...

I know there are not many of you listening, but I hope this helps out.

Writing Blahs

I really need to practice writing more. The first time I write anything it just sits there on the page. dead. Yuck. I am not feeling the flow. Also, maybe just not all that happy since the dreaded stomach flu last week. Disgusting.

Been dealing with lots of funky vibes lately, but I'm determined to keep my chin up. I am ignoring every thing that is telling me to lie down and feel bad. I am conquering tomorrow.

Watching the Olympics is great for fighting depression. Tales of inspiration, real world inspiration. I am not a sports fan generally, but the Olympics are an exception. I even liked watching curling the other day. Though for sheer heart attack power the bobsled is where it's at.

I read in WIRED today that world records in athletics are increasingly safe without the aid of technology (such as friction reducing sharksuits in competitive swimming). The article made the case for the end of the natural human curve of athletic record breaking. How much faster, really, can anyone go than Usain Bolt, currently clocked at 28mph! Can we go 30, 35, 40 mph! It's a good question.

Thats all for now... not much of use.

Grandfather

This is the elegy I wrote for my paternal grandfather on his passing....just thinking about him today.

I knew you only in the fullness

Of your days, the father of my father

With a stride to match your will

Unhindered by doubt or regret.

Your hands seemed eternal

Torn on fence posts

Crowned in cruel thorns

Always bigger than mine, those hands

No matter how big mine grew

Hands readied for rain, upturned in faith

Awaiting the promise of heaven

Fingers as roots, strong and gnarled

Grayed with time and the breaking of stone

Hands as strong as time.

Your voice mighty as mountains breaking

A billowing fiery tempest; alight in dry brush

Consuming all the holy rooms of your life

Seeking every opening, wanting a way in

To call the faithless to glory

I loved best your laughter

Low in the hollow of your throat;

A warm wind at dusk

Scented by tilled earth.

Grand father, you are an obstinate root

Deep in the land of our families;

Drawing strength from hidden pools,

Putting forth a flowering legacy.

21 Jump Street

This show has not aged well. However, it is worth watching until the 80's soundtrack becomes more than you can bear. Horrendous acting, poor writing...upside: Johnny Depp's first appearance.

Its the pick of the day at www.hulu.com

Kitschus Extremus!

Woodworking Footsteps...

Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours in the woodshop with Grayham, my nearly eight-year-old son.

He has been asking, for over a year, for a shelf unit to attach to his bunk bed. He needs the space to display his growing collection of Lego masterpieces, most of them Star Wars: Clone Wars related. He has been very patient, but recently his polite requests have increased in frequency. I had to take action.

So yesterday we took the measurements and discussed his requirements. Mostly it needs to accomodate his smaller models and have a back piece that he can customize with his sci-fi artwork. We spent two hours selecting and measuring wood, cutting it on the chop saw. I allowed him to make one cut, but did most of that cutting myself, while he laid out and marked the measurements.

With our pieces pre-cut we then decided it might be nice to have movable shelves, rather than fixed. To do this, we would have to drill a series of indexed holes in the side pieces to accomodate shelf pins. I have an acrylic index already, for use with a #6 drill. We carefully laid it all out with a square and ruler, mounted it on the drill press and got it all fired up.

Working with Grayham as he methodically pulled the drill lever 24 times was a real treat. He kept his eyes on the work, his mind on the depth gauge and his hands clear of danger areas. The end result was a finished piece that would have made a seasoned woodworker proud.

He then wanted to take a break and go for a walk in the crisp Autumn sunshine. Not wanting to push my luck on a job progressing well, I agreed. We will keep you posted as this project continues.

Creative Excitement

To all those that love good translations of fantasy to the large or small screen, two links:

The first is to an interview with Guillermo del Toro about the Hobbit:

http://www.totalfilm.com/features/guillermo-del-toro-on-making-the-hobbit/

As a director, del Toro is excellent and has made some really outstanding films (Hellboy 1&2, Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone....) and teamed up with Peter Jackson producing. It's going to be great.

The second is to the current casting for George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire adaptation from HBO, due in 2010.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/

This a majestic story of love, power, betrayal and lust. If HBO can make it with the same love and detail they put into Sopranos or Rome, it will be one to remember.