Getting things done

The title of today’s blog is inspired by a book of the same name by David Allen. The book gives practical tips on how to organise your working life so that you can get your ‘stuff’ into a workflow and get it completed. Sounds good thinks serial to-do-list-maker me.

So why does your ‘stuff’ get so complicated? Damn – you forgot to call someone. You didn’t read that email properly and you can’t remember if Sunday comes before or after 4 o’clock.

I’d like to apply this confusion that we face in our day-to-day work and home dealings with all the information available on the web. Not everybody organises the ‘stuff’ (content) on their websites. Of those that do, not all do so in a logical way. If websites aren’t organised how will your user know how to find their way around? You wouldn’t go on holiday without leaving your work affairs in some sort of reasonably-easy-to-follow state.

The same idea applies to the content on your website. You’re out of the office so your website is picking up the initial enquiry. Bear this in mind when you’re designing and adding to your site. Your user should be able to follow links and instructions without getting confused or annoyed.

Remember the golden rules of writing for web:

• Use short words in short sentences (one point per sentence)
• Use plenty of bullet point lists to allow user to scan the page
• Try not to present too much text – break it up with pictures, sub headings and paragraphs
• Users don’t like scrolling so try to keep your content within one screen length
• You don’t have to be too formal, use “it’s”, “won’t” and “can’t” – it makes for more natural reading.

Your user doesn’t know your company or website inside out like you do so don’t assume anything!

This post was originally published by Christine on Mon, 10/27/2008