http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/index/ en jeff@jeffwright.com Copyright 2009 2009-02-26T19:54:59+00:00 http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/interface_design_under_the_hood/ http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/interface_design_under_the_hood/#When:19:20:47Z The philosophy that a web site ought to be designed with human users in mind is (thankfully) well-entrenched into the thinking of modern web design.  But I think that it ought to apply to the whole web site.Any designer worth his or her weight in pixels spends a lot of thought not just designing a pretty display, but also thinking like their eventual users: making the presentation clear and the navigation intuitive. After all, we build web sites for people, not the computers that run them. But there is another user of your web site that usually goes completely unconsidered.  The interface for this user is virtually always left in a state decipherable by only those few who had their hands on it during construction. The forgotten user is anyone who follows you. Including yourself. The forgotten interface? The code. With all of the justifiably righteous attention paid to the public face of the web site, it would seem like a no-brainer that the same user-first philosophy would be a guidepost in the construction of the code base. But that’s rarely the case. I don’t mean that it’s poorly written code, or that it has utilized a sub-standard framework, or sub-standard technologies. It could be the best of all possible worlds, written with sizzling textbook perfection. And yet, how common is it to spend twenty minutes tracking down a line of code, buried in a sea of similar-looking lines, or tucked perfectly away in an include, or stored in some component of the framework.  Even if it’s your own code, written only a few weeks or a few months before? How much time do you spend looking at another developer’s code, making sense of where some set of client-requested changes need to be made? We’ve all seen it. Code soup is not just a product of bad developers. It’s a product of language written with a machine (or a textbook) in mind, written in a hurry, or written in the fuzzy flurry of the dog days of any get-it-done-tomorrow web project. So I submit that code should be written not just for the machine, but also (perhaps primarily) for the developers who follow you – including you. The Obvious, Title-inspiring Example Let me make this case by inviting you to look under the hood of your car, at the physical equivalent of the code we write. The interior, the dashboard, and shiny paint job are the graphic design and user interface of your car. Polished and perfected for people to look at and make easy use of. But under the hood? That’s code. It’s machine parts doing the work of machine parts. And it’s designed functionally, precisely, and (typically) still with human beings in mind. The radiator cap, oil cap, battery, and other high-maintenance parts are accessible and labeled. The battery is placed where it can be jump-started. The oil pan is placed where it can be drained. The gas tank isn’t accessible – it doesn’t need to be – but the gas cap is exactly where a human being will need it. The elements under the hood of your car don’t need to be positioned that way to make the car operate. In fact, it’s easy to imagine that a perfectly designed engine might not have an accessible battery, oil cap, filters, spark plugs, or any labels at all. Elements may be tucked under other elements to limit the amount of tubes and wires and such between them. But they’re not. They’re designed with the full understanding that the needs of the technology must compromise with the need of the few human beings who will need to operate under the hood. And those of us who write code should follow the same example. Suggestions Use comments religiously. They are easy little signposts to leave for yourself and others. Consider using comments to: Mark the beginning and the end tags of a <div> element. Frequently, a page ends in </div> soup. Knowing which ends which can save a lot of time. Explain browser hacks, specific to the browser and the intended effect Identify the color of hex values .for_example { color:#000; /* BLACK */ } Label include statements and add a super-brief overview of their contents Denote the position of related code in other files of a framework Leave notes for future developers where easy maintenance tips may help Peppering your code with simple well-written, well-placed comments can save countless hours of maintenance time, especially when future developers come into the project fresh.  And remember, saving time means saving money. Strong commenting can enable other members of your team (especially those with a lower level of programming knowledge as the code author) to participate in the project, where otherwise a bottleneck might occur as every new issue has to go back to the code author for a solution - slowing down the project and limiting the inclusion of the rest of the technical team. And commenting can also serve as a self-check on why you’re doing things in the first place. Leaving a note about a browser hack might occasionally shine a light on the fact that you’re using a hack. Maybe there’s a better way. If something is worth a comment, maybe it’s worth a considering a simpler alternative that does not need explanation. Use multiple blanks lines to visually separate different sections of code. Just like a graphical design uses white space to keep elements from running together, you can use white space in your code to make it easy to see where one section ends and another begins. Purists may tell you that blank lines and copious comments increase page length and perhaps file size, and cause the server and/or the browser to do extra work when processing the code. That’s true. But it’s hogwash. Modern sites aren’t run on Commodore 64s, and we’re not talking about writing War and Peace in between every if/then statement. We’re talking about a few extra kilobytes (at best) which will virtually always pass unnoticed in any real-world use. Use includes (or the equivalent) wherever possible, provided the include files are accessible and thoroughly logical. A good use of an include is any section of code that is identical on multiple pages of your site. Using includes makes maintenance easier and shortens the length of your code on the pages where they are used. Indent the lines of those sections of your code where a little horizontal separation can help identify it as a self-contained element.  You may choose to do this for an entire section of code, or for the second and subsequent lines of a section, to show that it belongs to the first, un-indented line.  However, be careful with this technique. Too much indenting can lead to a chaotic looking page of code, especially if excessive text wrap needlessly brings the ends of lines around to the left side of your window. Make decisions and stay consistent about the use of capitals, dashes, underscores, initial caps, etc. in your statements.  Consider the following suggestions: Use all caps for comments (they shout, so use them where you want to communicate above the level of the code itself /* PAY ATTENTION TO THIS */), and limit the use of caps elsewhere. Use underscores instead of dashes in file names, ids, and classes. Dashes are smaller and higher, so they don’t visually separate from the alphanumeric characters around them the way that the wider, lower underscore does. Avoid initial caps in filenames especially, but also throughout your code. In filenames, you can run into case-sensitivity issues that are simple to solve, but you have other bugs to track down, don’t you? Elsewhere in your code, initial caps add a small extra dimension of complexity, and will also tend to visually blend your markup into the content it surrounds.  Separating the markup from the content in any way possible, even on such slight visual grounds, is always a good thing. Don’t use dots in any naming convention. No good things can come of it. It’ll confuse file extensions, class definitions, and a whole host of other fodder for all night debuggery. Besides which, they’re small and hard to see. Leadership It’s important when multiple developers are working on a project, that some leadership is enforced, to keep the team employing the same tactics with the same consistency across the board. If one team member is doing what she think makes sense, and another team member is doing what he thinks makes sense, it’s highly likely that the two will end up with a cacophony of stylistic choices that only leave the same level of confusion they were both working against. The Logical Progression of UI Bringing the principles of user interface to the code base just makes sense. It’s another step in the web’s lifelong battle to fight confusion and complexity, and to promote inclusion and standards. It’s not enough to write great code – no more than it would be enough to build a great engine for a great car. People have to work under the hood. Not just you. Maybe not even just your team. Maybe your clients, or their future employees or vendors. Maybe others. In the language of the web, these people are users. They are humans. Our code should be written and presented with them as the priority, just as the front-end was written and presented.  2009-03-17T19:20:47+00:00 http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/the_right_blogging_tool_for_the_blogging_job/ http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/the_right_blogging_tool_for_the_blogging_job/#When:04:20:43Z Blogs are taking over the web, and with good reason. But these blogging tools are too blogging complicated and too blogging expensive for small sites and individuals to put a professional blog online. Right? Wrong! There are world-class options available to fit any circumstance, even a budget of zero blogging dollars. A blog is a powerful tool that organizations and individuals can use to connect with their web users, attract new ones, and keep them all coming back regularly.  In many cases, blogs replace the classic news/announcement/update/event pages of yesterday’s sites, and become their author’s primary means of communication with their users. To be effective, a blog must be kept current (since a stale web site creates the impression of a stale organization), and it must be relevant. You have to post things your users want to read. If you can do that, then a blog would likely serve you very well. It’s just a matter of choosing which tool is the right one for your particular job. There are two basic flavors of blogs. We’ll call them hosted and installed. Installed Blogs / Content Management Systems An installed blog consists of a set of scripts installed on your web server, which are usually connected to a database, also on your server. In most cases, their included tool set is powerful and broad enough that they’re considered full content management systems.  Packages such as Expression Engine, Joomla, WordPress, Moveable Type, and others allow your site to be built with your own design and front-end code, and they let you fully customize their powers, look, and behavior. They usually come with an assortment of features and plug-in modules, and their configuration is limited only by your imagination. However, the downside is that they require significant expertise and time to set up properly, place specific technology requirements on your web server, and they may not as easy to use as you imagine. All of this can become a significant obstacle to those working with minimal resources, and make this solution the wrong one for many small web sites. Hosted Blogs Hosted blogs are complete blogging systems that are offered as a service on a third party web site.  Blogger, TypePad, and WordPress.com (a hosted version of WordPress itself) are good examples of these types of services. Your blog and your administration tools are hosted and presented by your provider on their site, running on their server. As a result, these blogs are very easy to create. You go to the site, sign up, write your blog, and bingo, you’re online. But, frequently the drawback is that you’re online at their web address (though it usually contains some customization based on the name of your blog). The other commonly considered drawback of hosted blogs is that you end up dealing with a limited set of blogging / content management tools, which cannot be easily customized (if at all). But this varies from service to service, and it’s a pretty subjective point. If your blogging needs are minimal, then you’re not likely to notice many of the limitations. You may never feel limited at all. When looking at your options, it becomes a question of cost vs. benefit. If you have the resources, and could benefit from the power of a content management system, then the installed option may indeed be for you. But I work with a number of organizations and individuals who have small sites and limited resources and they simply don’t need the power of an installed system. Partly for that reason, they can’t justify the resources such systems require. For them, a hosted blog can be a perfect solution. What’s Available? Let’s take a very quick look at three major hosted blogs, from the perspective of establishing a blog for a small, professional site. Blogger http://www.blogger.com Blogger is probably the best known of the hosted blog services, largely due to its being one of the early players in this field and the fact that it is now owned by Google. Everything is free at Blogger. There are no premium fees or add-ons for you to buy. You can fully customize the look of your blog, and even publish it to your own web site using their FTP controls - which is a potentially big plus, and unique among the blogs I’m comparing here. The only area, in my opinion, where Blogger falls short is in information management - it’s somewhat limited if your blog is going to have a number of authors and you want it sortable by categories and other criteria, or if you want to show a partial entry and “click for more” in your presentation. TypePad http://www.typepad.com TypePad is a very solid service, with a depth of features, from a very well respected design team. TypePad’s cheapest service level is $4.95 per month, but for the purposes of this comparison, we need to look at their Pro plan, which is $14.95 per month. For that you get the ability to fully customize the look of your blog. You also get the ability to have multiple authors, categories, tags, and other information management tools. TypePad deserves to be in the conversation because it does remain somewhat popular and it is very well regarded, but TypePad just doesn’t offer anything unique to justify the cost. WordPress.com http://www.wordpress.com WordPress offers strong solutions for a hosted blog and an installed blogs / content management system. But here, I’m looking only at their hosted service, WordPress.com. The basic version of WordPress.com is free, but if you want premium features (and you probably do), then you’ll pay some small fees. Custom CSS is $15 per year, and you need that in order to fully customize your look and feel.  WordPress.com will also occasionally show advertisements on your blog, unless you pay them $30. per year not to - an annoying little pill to swallow. And there are other minimal additional fees for other upgrades. WordPress.com is an extremely professional, well regarded, and well supported system. It excels in information management, and battles only TypePad in its content management features. If you’re posting content from multiple authors, or in multiple categories, or you’re concerned about post length or searching/taging/etc., then WordPress.com is hard to beat, even for a few dollars a year. One size does not fit all, so what works for one organization or individual may not work for you. But in almost every blogging case, there are options available to blogging match your blogging needs and resources. 2009-03-05T04:20:43+00:00 http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/attention_span/ http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/attention_span/#When:05:40:46Z Every user comes to a site with a set attention span. Short or long, it is what it is. You have the extent of that span to hook your user. With each hook, they’ll grant you another span of attention. So making use of the spans you have is critical. Bring flowers.In the first span of attention, you’re a blank slate stacked up against your user’s unknown set of expectations. Your first and only mission is to tell the user three things. Who you are What you do What makes you different You must do this on your home page, the first page they come to, and you have to make it your priority message. You can do it with any combination of words and images and razzle-dazzle. Maybe you do it overtly. Maybe it’s a subtle combination of elements. Missing any of those three targets will very likely result in the user leaving your web site. They have come for a reason, they want to know if you have what they need. If their attention span runs out before they know, they become bored or frustrated, and that’s goodbye. Call it the first date. Hello. How are you. You look nice. Hands to yourself. If you can hook them in their first span of attention, you’ll have earned a click, and another, longer span of attention. A second date. On that second date, you have just one job to do: get them from where they are (your home page) to a page on your site that has the more specific content they seek. You’ve met or exceeded their initial expectation. They are prepared to like you. Now it’s time to answer some questions and make some offers. So if I sell sparkly paint, and a user comes to my site looking to buy some, they need to know right away that I’m Sparkly Paint Company, I sell sparkly paint, and that my paint is sparklier than all other sparkly paints. My users will smile, gratified that they have come to the right place, and hooked by my clear and compelling information. The web user will then feel motivated to delve into the section of my site where I detail my selection of sparkly paints, or whatever sparkly paint offer I may have at the time. The second date. The click. It’s here that your UI design is critical. If they can’t find a compelling link, or if the desired page doesn’t exist, or if it’s badly presented, the user will become bored or frustrated, unable to answer their questions, and unsure if answers exist. There are other fish in the sea, other sites to look at, so if my beloved user cannot find their answers easily, it’s very likely that I won’t get a third date. Ah, the third date. Once someone gives you a third span of attention, when they’ve held you up to expectations twice and you’ve met or exceeded them, they’re a little bit hooked. They’ll give you more attention, and more leeway, and you’ll be able to present them with more, deeper, content. These are users who will sign up for email newsletters, buy products, and contact your sales team. These are the people who will read technical specs, fill out forms, and bookmark you for a return visit. Not always, not automatically, and not immediately, but they are now in reach. They’re in reach because you’ve earned their attention over a wisely spent period of just a couple of minutes. No doubt it’s temping to go for the sale right away, but resist that temptation. Be wise, and be patient with your UX, and be content to get them hooked one span of attention at a time. You don’t open the door on a first date and behave like it’s your third unless you want that first date to end quickly and badly. Your users are not open to your offers right away.  When they make the decision that your site is a worthwhile place for their attention, then they’ll be much more receptive to whatever you’re asking them to do. Maybe they’ll fill out your form. But the truth is that even that isn’t your overall goal. What you really want from a web user is a long term relationship. You want them to keep coming back, to tell their friends, and identify with your brand. So treat your users like people. Take it slow. Build your new relationship one span of attention at a time. 2009-02-25T05:40:46+00:00 http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/simple/ http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/simple/#When:04:57:59Z Simple simply means that the idea is expressed in its purest form. Strip away the bells and whistles. Strip away the egos involved. Strip away the distractions, the options that don’t help to lead to successful outcomes. On the web, I think simple is a good thing. Simple is the goal.When it comes to web work, simple is my mantra. You can probably see it in my work, for good or for ill. You’ll certainly see it in my writing, or if you hear me talking about anything web related. Sometimes I wrestle with how simple is too simple, especially in my design work. But I keep coming back to the idea that a web design is intended to relay a message and generate action. And that all too often the pursuit of something engaging and new and different and special ends up only in delivering pretty distractions and gee whiz confusion. When I was your age, we had to design user interfaces in ten feet of snow… I started my career at AOL in 1994. Everything we designed we designed with novices in mind. And I don’t mean today’s novice. I mean “what does click mean” novices. The people AOL was trying to attract knew nothing about navigating online spaces. We had to practically move them through online “areas” (as we called them) with velvet ropes and ushers showing the way. Design was limited to 16 colors on Windows and a glorious 256 color palette on Mac. But pushing those graphics down a 56k modem line to our users was not only cumbersome, it was their number one complaint for many years. So how do you design when most of your designers’ skills are either cut off or they are part of the problem? Today’s web doesn’t have the same problems as the AOL of 1994, but it can learn from the same lessons. Users love beauty, and technology can solve problems, neither is in doubt. But both must be tailored to the user experience, and dedicated to communicating the messages that the site intends to communicate, with the goal of generating the right action from the user. So, what? Design dull sites and use old technology? The challenge of connecting with a user doesn’t limit what you can do with design and technology. It only raises the bar. It means you can’t just design what looks good, and you can’t just rely on the technology as documented. It means you have to take both facets of your web work and view them through the eyes of a human being — without expertise in either area — for whom it is critically important that they receive your message and proceed toward the successful completion of some goal. Simple web sites can have strong design and elegant uses of technology that would make Skynet weep. Simple sites aren’t simple because they do less or look worse. They’re simple because they’re understood, inside and out, by the people that view them, own them, work on them, and use them on a regular basis. They’re not bloated or distracted. They’re built in commented, structured, standardized code. They’re aware of the limitations of monitors and eyes and attention spans. Simple sites know that they can be expanded tomorrow, if need be, and they’re built to accommodate that. They’re not as simple as they were in 1994 because they don’t need to be. Users change and technology changes and the definition of simplicity (as it relates to user experience) changes with it. Simplicity may be a slippery and unglamorous goal for web professionals, but our job is to deliver web sites that work, and well-realized simplicity never fails. (Oh, and not that it’s terribly important, but frequently the simple solution will also be cheaper, faster to implement, and easier to maintain over time. So it’s got that going for it. Which is nice.) 2009-02-23T04:57:59+00:00 http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/the_benefits_of_a_web_site_3302412/ http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/the_benefits_of_a_web_site_3302412/#When:03:20:54Z Getting it right is a big deal. But keeping it right is even bigger.Things change. And even if things don’t change, you may change the way you want to talk about them. You can put a lot of information in your ads, postcards, flyers, annual reports, handouts, tradeshow materials, you name it. But once it’s in ink, it’s there for good. Your web site never goes to press. It’s never locked. You can grow it, mold it, shape it, refine it, and keep it up to date at will. The only part of it that really ought to stay the same is your URL. And THAT’S what you can print on your ads, postcards, flyers, annual reports, and so on. Hand out materials that drive traffic to your web site - and use your web site to convey the latest messaging, updated the moment you have something better to say. 2009-02-11T03:20:54+00:00 http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/dopplervue/ http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/dopplervue/#When:06:42:52Z dopplerVUE is an extremely powerful, extremely easy-to-use network management tool from Kratos Defense and Security Solutions. The web site needed to convey its power and ease-of-use, while serving many other diverse and complicated needs. Following in the footsteps of its sister site NeuralStar, which I also designed and built, the dopplerVUE web site was a major step forward. With more complicated messaging to convey, and a much broader array of product offerings, the challenge was (and remains) keeping the site simple, clean, and intuitive.  From software downloads, to tutorials, to whitepapers, to sophisticated user tracking. The dopplerVUE web site does it all. dopplerVUE is simply the most powerful, flexible, easy-to-use Network Management tool available. Visit dopplerVUE at: dopplervue.com 2009-02-10T06:42:52+00:00 http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/bektek_llc/ http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/bektek_llc/#When:06:41:04Z BekTek is a highly recognized specialist in the field of audio and video forensics. Their site communicates to a very specific audience of professionals, and needed to meet very specific goals. The potential pitfall of a small web site is that it can mistakenly convey the idea that the business itself is small, or, more precisely, small time. But BekTek is a nationally known audio and video forensics firm, working on some of the highest profile cases. They didn’t need hundreds or even dozens of pages. But they did need a design that communicated their stature, professionalism, and, of course, the very specific details of their field. "Jeff Wright provided us with a highly-polished, professional upgrade of our existing website, which far exceeded our expectations!  He continues to patiently and quickly attend to our requests for tweaking the smallest details and to provide suggestions for improving our site’s content and ‘curb appeal.’  Jeff is extremely easy to work with, and his expertise is second to none.  I would recommend Jeff Wright to anyone wanting a high-quality web site, maintained by a consummate professional." Doug Lacey, Associate, BEK TEK LLC, Clifton, Virginia BekTek, LLC is a specialist in the field of audio and video forensics. Visit BekTek’s web site at: bektekllc.com 2009-02-10T06:41:04+00:00 http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/harry_potter_-_electronic_press_kit/ http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/harry_potter_-_electronic_press_kit/#When:06:40:27Z When the seventh and final book of the Harry Potter series was due to be published, Scholastic books was being bombarded by media requests. So they assembled all of the press releases, cover art, photos, and other material they had and they made it available to the press in the form of a fully multimedia electronic press kit. In this project, speed and simplicity were keys. It had to be out the door quickly, but it had to represent the legendary brand of Harry Potter well - not just to fans, but to members of the press, who were using our presentation for background material in their articles on the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - the seventh and final book of the series.  Using music and graphics provided by Scholastic, as well as a very brief video clip they’d prepared for another project, we created the Harry Potter Electronic Press Kit as a stand-alone Flash player. It was met by rave reviews, and updated with new material as time passed. It’s a great example of turning a problem into an opportunity. 2009-02-10T06:40:27+00:00 http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/ryan_jacque/ http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/ryan_jacque/#When:06:40:17Z Ryan Jacque is the best pencil artist of his time, rendering wildlife and portraiture that is literally astonishing. The unique goal of his web site design was simple: highlight his work, and get out of the way. It’s easy to over-design a web site. But in the case of Ryan’s site, any web site element that attracted attention away from the work on display was a negative. The site design needed simply to fade away, like a frame around the artwork in any museum. There, but unnoticed. Since Ryan’s work is in pencil, even color itself became an especially visible design element. It’s a very simple, very small site, but it does the job it was built to do exceptionally well. "Jeff Wright has an ability to relate to others unlike anyone else I’ve known. He knows when to listen and when to offer up his advice. I’ve received countless complements [on my web site] from artist and collector friends of mine. Jeff’s eye for composition created a site that showcases my artwork as elegant as any gallery wall." Ryan D. Jacque, Wildlife and Portrait Artist, Brimfield, MA Often mistaken for exquisite photography, Ryan Jacque’s art is second-to-none. His wildlife art and portraits must be seen to be believed. Visit Ryan Jacque’s web site at: ryanjacque.com 2009-02-10T06:40:17+00:00 http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/unicat_americas/ http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/unicat_americas/#When:06:38:51Z Unicat builds amazing go-anywhere trucks and RV’s for survival, exploration, and even luxury. People coming to their web site had to see their vehicles to believe them, so that’s just what the site was designed to do. It is a rare product that draws attention simply by being there. One look at the Unicat Americas line of “roads optional” vehicles, and you’ll want to see more, too. The web site is loaded with photos, videos, specifications, history, and even specific used vehicles for sale. "Jeff Wright came highly recommended and proved himself worthy. His work on revamping our website not only met, but surpassed my expectations. He was professional, creative, responsive, timely and above all, he was a pleasure to work with. I would certainly use Jeff again and would highly recommend Jeff Wright Interactive to any of my colleagues." Avi Meyers, CEO, UnicatAmericas, Inc., Palo Alto, CA Unicat Americas is the best in the business if you have a need for off-road vehicles that are built to go way off the road. Visit the Unicat Americas web site at: unicatamericas.com 2009-02-10T06:38:51+00:00 http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/peak_incentives/ http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/peak_incentives/#When:06:38:39Z Details are important to the people at Peak Incentives. This design was a strong collaborative effort that was expected to meet a very high standard of visual quality, while also satisfying the technical requirements of their e-commerce vendor. The challenge for the Peak Incentives site was to create a showcase for their fantastic assortment of high-quality promotional items in a design that elevated their brand but did not graphically overwhelm the page. On a site like this, you want the logo and corporate branding to be prominent, but you also want the products and specials to have the spotlight. Add an extensive navigation and some very precise requirements on the back-end, and very quickly an apparently simple site poses some very complicated problems. This site stands as an example of the value of working with an experienced team, and getting the details right. "It has been a pleasure to work with Jeff Wright. I was extremely impressed with his focus on OUR most important goal – a creative and functional website that outperforms the sites of our competition. I have always believed that you “leave the professional work in the hands of the professionals” and I would recommend Jeff Wright Interactive to any of my colleagues." Trae Taylor, President, Peak Incentives, Herndon, VA Peak Incentives offers an amazing array of promotional products, at the lowest possible prices, with service and attention to detail that you can’t find anywhere else. Visit the Peak Incentives web site at: peakincentives.com 2009-02-10T06:38:39+00:00 http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/woha/ http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/woha/#When:06:36:06Z WOHA had an existing site with strong content, and some great ideas. Their content needed to be re-organized under a new navigation scheme, and their design needed to be elevated to reflect their leadership position. Sometimes it’s harder to rebuild a good site than it is to rebuild a bad site. WOHA had a good site, but they also had the insight to know that there was another level they could reach in their online communications. With strong attention to connecting with the user, and highlighting key content for both users and search engine spiders, the new WOHA site launched in the spring of 2008 to rave reviews. It’s leaner, more direct, and more visually appealing. "As a unique small firm with a large, nationwide client-base, we needed a concise, user-friendly site that is easily found on search engines.  We discussed our needs in-depth with Jeff, and he offered simple yet effective solutions to overhaul our site design while keeping consistent with those elements important to us.  He kept us updated on his progress throughout, and he quickly responded with thoughtful answers to our questions.  Jeff made sure the process was flexible and collaborative. " Dr. Ken Chase, Founder and President, Washington Occupational Health Associates, Washington DC WOHA is the leader in the field of occupational health services, and now they have a web site that represents them at that level. Visit WOHA’s web site at: woha.com 2009-02-10T06:36:06+00:00 http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/menc/ http://www.jeffwright.com/index.php/site/menc/#When:02:16:20Z The well-loved MENC web site had grown to be hundreds and hundreds of pages in size, without any content management or dynamic tools. In 2008, it was time to re-organize, re-design, and re-develop a back end that could handle the massive amount of complex content management that MENC required. The MENC project was monumental, and required us to call in our frequent partners to make sure we did this right. Graves Fowler Creative supplied the elegant and intuitive design work, and the amazing team at Blue Atlas Interactive provided the back-end development and content management system. The “My Music Class” component of the MENC web site was recognized by the Web Marketing Association for Outstanding Achievement in Web Development in 2008. "Our old Web site was out of control—massive, disorganized, and filled with twelve years of outdated information and cumbersome programs. Jeff had the vision to take this monster and turn it into an organized, attractive, easily navigable resource for our 130,000 members and many more visitors. In addition, he took our ideas for new Web services for our members (such as a searchable, interactive database of music lessons) and made them into reality. His team worked professionally and efficiently with our Web and IT staff members, and the support we were given through the transition to the new site and following the launch was outstanding." Elizabeth Lasko, Director of Public Relations and Marketing, MENC, Reston, Virginia MENC is the worldwide leader in Music Education, providing guidance, lesson plans, and advocacy for musicians, students, educators, and those who support them. Visit MENC’s web site at: menc.org 2009-02-10T02:16:20+00:00