Matrix Group International

Month: March 2009

  • What Clients Want: To Be Understood

    What Clients Want: To Be Understood

    childinshoesOne of my Project Managers (we call them PMs at Matrix Group) was struggling with an account. The client was frustrated, the Project Manager was frustrated, so of course, now I’m frustrated. I called the client, had a long de-brief session, worked through some issues, and with a few tweaks, the project was back on track. The PM wanted to know how I did that. My secret? I put myself in the client’s shoes.

    As a business owner, I get to be manager of staff and projects AND client to our many vendors.  As the chief salesperson for the company, I interact the most with customers and users.  As a liberal arts person turned techie, I know enough to be dangerous, but I can’t write a line of CSS to save my life.  All of this means that I can more easily see a situation from a client’s perspective.   Here’s what I’ve learned over the years about clients:

    • Clients are busy, the Web site is usually just a small fraction of their job, they don’t spend all day thinking about the Web site, and there’s a whole lot of  stuff going on that they don’t know and don’t care to know. We can never assume clients know that a new version of Internet Explorer is coming out and it’s going to be more standards-compliant, that title tags should not be more than 64 characters or Google will ignore them, and that a print style sheet is different from a printer-friendly page.
    • Most clients are non-techies who need a technical solution. They seek a solution and a result.  We need to give them context for our solution, and enough detail so that they can make an informed solution, but not so much that they get overwhelmed.  We also need to communicate concepts using terms they understand.  For example, when a Web design has been approved and we have to now slice the design, I liken it to going to blueline.  Clients who have ever had anything printed are familiar with blueline; it’s close to a final proof and changes cost time and money.

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  • The Campaign is Over, but President Obama Still Committed to Social Networking

    The Campaign is Over, but President Obama Still Committed to Social Networking

    the_white_houseCandidate Obama ran a great campaign and made amazing use of social networking services to get the word out about his campaign, mobilize supporters, create viral messages, and raise money.  When the campaign ended, I wondered if President Obama would continue to use social networking tools or if the constraints of the White House or security would put an end all that open communication and engagement.

    I’ve been so happy to see that President Obama is being just as innovative and engaging online.

    • Google Moderator gives participants a way to submit questions and vote for the ones they want answered.  The White House launched Open for Questions and used Google Moderator to field questions for the President during in online town hall meeting tonight.  92,934 people submitted 104,049 questions and cast 3,604,964 votes.
    • The White House maintains a blog.  Imagine that, a White House blog.  The President himself is not blogging, but the blog does a terrific job of making visitors feel like a White House insider.  Here’s tonight’s post on Open for Questions.
    • The White House has a YouTube channel that features press conferences, the President’s weekly address, briefings and other events.  Some of the videos are available in HD; check out this beautiful HD video of President Obama’s March 21, 2009 address.  If you don’t see the video in HD, click the HD link in the bottom right corner of the video.

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  • Why Is Going to the Doctor Such a Miserable Experience?

    Why Is Going to the Doctor Such a Miserable Experience?

    Doctor checking his watchWhy is it that going to the doctor is such a miserable experience? I don’t think it’s just because we’re usually sick when we see the doctor. From the attitude of the admin staff, to the wait, to the rushed visit with the doctor, I’m convinced that going to the doctor is usually a horrible user experience.

    I went to see a new doctor last week about a lingering chest cold.  The receptionist told me to arrive 10 minutes to fill out the required paperwork and I complied.  Okay, I expect to wait when I see a doctor, but I didn’t plan on waiting a whole hour to see the doctor.  And you know what, the admin staff acted like it was the most normal thing in the world that a patient would wait 60 minutes; nobody talked to me, nobody apologized, nothing. When the doctor finally saw me, she didn’t apologize or acknowledge my wait until I asked her point blank if I should expect to wait an hour each time I saw her.  To add insult to injury, she rushed the exam because she was running so late.  She said my lungs were clear but wrote a prescription, just in case.  Yeah, I felt all warm and fuzzy about this visit.  (Not!)

    I went to a new doctor because my other doctor, who I had been seeing for four years, never seemed to remember me, always confused me with other patients, and kept trying to push asthma medicine for sinus infections I’m prone to get during the winter.

    Does it have to be this way?  I think not.  When I lived in San Francisco, I had a great dentist. I looked forward to going to the dentist – the dentist!  Why?  Let me count the ways: (more…)

  • NECA Convention Web Site

    NECA Convention Web Site

    Matrix Group International has provided NECA with a portfolio of innovative Web services that has proven successful for their organization. For the 2009 Convention, NECA turned to Matrix Group to update the Web design and enhance their communications strategy to keep members updated with the latest convention news. Leveraging NECA’s investment in Matrix Group’s development of previous convention web sites, the following solutions were implemented to help achieve their goals:

    • Updated Web site look and feel with a user-focused emphasis for attendees and top exhibitors.
    • Created new pages for sponsors and featured products.
    • Designed a teaser flash for the 2010 Convention to drive users to the convention Web site.
    • Enhanced convention sessions display, including modifying the database and the input/edit forms in the content management system (CMS).
    • Launched a new convention blog to keep site visitors updated with the latest news and will stream live blogging from the convention floor.
    • Integrated social networking feeds to the site, including a Flickr scroll.

  • The Power of the Relationship

    I tell my staff (especially Project Managers) to jump at any chance to share a meal with a client, vendor or partner. Why? Because I’m convinced that once you’ve shared a meal with someone, it’s a lot harder for them to demonize you, blow you off, ignore your calls and e-mails, or fire you for a small mistake.

    A meal, however, is simply a metaphor for creating, nurturing and maintaining a relationship. The relationship is what matters. A meal is one really great, fun way to establish or further a relationship. Face to face meetings and social events are others. Can social networking help you nurture your relationships?  Here’s how.

    • A really great blog lets you connect with your staff, customers, members. A blog lets you share your perspectives, talk about what’s important to you or your field, speak more conversationally about a highly technical or complicated topic.
    • An authentic social networking strategy lets you share aspects of your organization’s culture and values. So don’t just tweet about your press releases!  Share tips and tricks through a video, tweet about Web sites that move you, and upload photos of your staff in action.

    How about you?  How are you using social networking to support your relationship goals?

  • iStockphoto Uses Twitter for Customer Service

    iStockphoto Uses Twitter for Customer Service

    Twitter search for iStockphotoClick on the image to see a larger version of a screen shot of the Twitter search I used to get info about the iStockphoto site being down.

    I get nearly all of the photos for my blog from iStockphoto, an online photo service. There’s a good selection and pricing is great. A couple of weeks ago, I was dismayed to find that the iStockphoto Web site was completely down; all I got was a Service Unavailable message.

    So what did I do?  I tweeted about the iStockphoto site being down, of course. Then I had a brainwave.  Surely other people were tweeting about the site being down; what were they experiencing and what did they know?

    So I went to the Twitter search, which is a real-time search of all tweets, not just the people you follow.  I typed “istockphoto” and got a stream of tweets about the site being down.  Okay, so I knew I wasn’t alone and it wasn’t me.  But then I started seeing tweets from @istock.  Aha, perhaps I could get some answers there.  Sure enough, @istock reported that their site was under attack and they were down as a result.  I direct tweeted and got a reply back, apologizing for the downtime.

    A few hours later, the iStockphoto site was back up.  I was still monitoring the tweets on the Twitter search and someone recommended changing your iStockphoto password.  I tweeted @istock and got a personal response back, agreeing that I should change my password. (more…)

  • EBRI Web Site Redesign

    EBRI Web Site Redesign

    Matrix Group International collaborated with Smith Strategic Inc to give the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) a new Web site redesign that was classic and timeless.  Matrix implemented the design created by Smith Strategic and took responsibility for the site build and content management system.  Our work included:
    • Implementing the design with the goal of making the EBRI site more visible to search engines. Matrix Group uses  CSS to ensure all pages have been optimized with unique title tags, H1 tags and appropriate keywords.
    • Adding Web 2.0 features. Site visitors can now see the most popular content,  and list of top ten most viewed articles based on a specific date range.
    • An RSS Feed. Visitors can now subscribe to the EBRI RSS feed and stay current with the news, research and reports published the Institute.
    • Customizing the Google search to better suit EBRI’s needs.
  • Getting Started with Facebook – Part 2 – The New Facebook Pages

    Getting Started with Facebook – Part 2 – The New Facebook Pages

    FacebookStarting today, March 11, fans of organizations with Facebook pages will interact with their favorite orgs, companies and brands the way they interact with their buddies.  On March 11, all Facebook pages will have status updates, walls, and links, just like personal pages.

    What does this mean? Well…

    • Fans will interact with organizations the same way they interact with their friends. Updates from the org/company pages will be added to fans’ home pages.  Fans can view and comment on status updates, they will get notified when other people join a conversations, and they can view photo, videos and links.
    • Organizations will be challenged to do more with their Facebook pages. The change to the new format is good and bad.  Good because companies can do more and have more engagement with their fans.  Bad because their Facebook pages will need more oversight and content.

    The Matrix Group Facebook page was previously fairly static.  We posted events and pulled in news, blog posts and photos via RSS.  We didn’t want to overuse the “Send an Update to Fans” button too much, so we used the page to have a presence.  But now, our Facebook page just got a whole lot more dynamic.  We uploaded photos with captions, we’re posting status updates, and soon we’re going to post videos.  Just think, when we updated the Matrix Group status to say “congratulates International Assoc of Chiefs of Police for winning Best In Class for Discover Policing from the IMA. http://www.discoverpolicing.org/,” all of our fans’ home pages or status update pages got that post.  Pretty cool and I hope someone will comment on the site or the award.  So now we’ll use Facebook to create more of a dialogue, promote projects, share information about technology we’re playing with, give candidates a sense of what it’s like to work for us. (more…)

  • Open Budget Initiative

    Open Budget Initiative

    The International Budget Partnership (IBP) collaborated with Matrix Group International to launch a redesigned web site for a special initiative to promote public access to budget information and the adoption of accountable budget systems across the globe. IBP helps to make budget systems more responsive to the needs of poor and low-income people in society and, through the Open Budget Initiative (OBI); they hope to raise awareness to make these systems more transparent and accountable to the public.

    Matrix Group worked closely with IBP to develop a dedicated web site that was the central location for information about the new Survey and was able to index the progress of the initiative globally. The new web site included:

    • Dynamic flash map of the world – provides users with their countries budget transparency score and report.
    • Web site redesign – incorporates the same branding elements of IBP, but clearly sets a separate distinctive tone for OBI.
    • Updated CMS – information on the site, including the new interactive flash map pulls data from an XML file that gets the data from their content management system(CMS).
    • New Google analytics tools and site search were added to help track traffic

    Visit the International Budget Partnership Web site

  • What is a Tag Cloud? And How Do Tags Connect People?

    What is a Tag Cloud? And How Do Tags Connect People?

    Word CloudHave you visited a Web site recently that had a list of topics and some topics were in a larger font or in a different color? That’s called a tag cloud and I love them. But what exactly are they?

    Wikipedia says that a tag cloud is a visual depiction of the tags (topics) on a Web site. The tags are usually listed alphabetically and font size or color is used to show the relative importance of a tag.

    But first, let’s talk about tags.  The choice is tags is incredibly important on a Web site or blog.  Your tags should represent what’s important to you and your target audiences.  Personally, I think you should limit your tag universe to a couple of dozen topics so that you can focus your content and visitors can easily grasp what your site is about.

    So once you’ve got your tags, you’ve got to tag every piece of content.  Yes, it’s extra work but it will pay off.  With tagging, you can display related content and of course, you can have a tag cloud!

    Take this blog.  You’ll see from the tag cloud on the right that the tags with the most number of posts are: marketing, social networking, blog, leadership, Google and Twitter.  It’s great for me to see the topics I post about most frequently and I can easily see if I need to post on other topics so as not to bore my readers. (more…)