Jeffrey Zeldman kicked off An Event Apart with his talk From Research to Redesign: An Unexpected Journey. This post gathers all the interesting posts and pictures…. since storify sucks so bad on my ipad. (Seriously can’t they fix that?)
An Event Apart 2017 From Research to Redesign An Unexpected Journey by Jeffrey Zeldman (pdf)
New year. New ideas. New presentation. Very excited about this one. About to kick off #aeasea. @aneventapart pic.twitter.com/pxaGbB47E3
— zeldman (@zeldman) April 3, 2017
Redesigns with @zeldman – most of us work on redesigns. We have a lot of data from those. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Jeffery Zeldman at #aeasea – make your own design! You can make something better than Bootstrap that's tailored to your own product. pic.twitter.com/Ddo77EVbbS
— Paul Grant (@cssinate) April 3, 2017
There’s no such thing as a universal layout, universal navigation, universal body copy. (Our jobs would be boring if there was.) #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Every product is different and brand design is our place for innovation. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Redesign=opportunity. Use data to inform design. #aeasea
— Rebecca Watson (@RVivusArtDesign) April 3, 2017
Interviewing colleagues is a very important part of design. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Important to show empathy compassion & creativity to the stakeholder, the colleague, the co-worker. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Category is not the same as genre. Not every insurance site has to look like every other insurance site #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Points of difference we identify in competitive research for design is our space for innovation. #aeasea
— Stephanie 🔮 Web Witch (@seaotta) April 3, 2017
Every hospital website shouldn't look like every other hospital site. Every insurance site shouldn't look like every insurance site. #aeasea
— Stephanie 🔮 Web Witch (@seaotta) April 3, 2017
Competitive research is the key to identifying what works and doesn't work and building something innovative. #aeasea
— Stephanie 🔮 Web Witch (@seaotta) April 3, 2017
Somewhere between an outside consultant and an inside employee is a sweet spot for long-term redesign #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
The three week research project: opportunity to understand business, competitors, site opportunities, what’s wrong #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
A 3 week project is the least risk – give a little money, try something, see what they do. Great way to pitch projects at a studio. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Ask for a little money and a lot of time. Talk to everyone! #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
You don’t need to be a researcher to do research #AEASEA https://t.co/OnHN9IjO7X Build consensus, get people on your side
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
"Never ask permission to do your job." – @monteiro via @zeldman #aeasea
— Conor 👨🏻💻 (@conrmahr) April 3, 2017
https://twitter.com/lingokid/status/848931760524087296
Couldn’t agree with @zeldman more at #aeasea We’ve seen research pay off every time. pic.twitter.com/v2fBMiUK6D
— A Brave New (@abravenew) April 3, 2017
“It looks tired and old” matters but it’s not the primary reason to do a redesign #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
People are more likely to like what you create when you ask thoughtful, meaningful questions. #aeasea
— Stephanie 🔮 Web Witch (@seaotta) April 3, 2017
It's more expensive to building something without doing research and find out in the end that people don't like. #aeasea
— Stephanie 🔮 Web Witch (@seaotta) April 3, 2017
Every organization (and every human) has blind spots in their organization. We all have unconscious biases #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Understand the needs of customers, prioritize highest value customers, reveal worthwhile goals #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Study the market: most jewelers either make the stuff or the sell the stuff. @zeldman’s client was both and didn’t tell the story #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
That observation drove looking at both makers and sellers of jewelry #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Even Tiffany, with the most successful ecommerce jewelry in the world sells 95% of their jewelry in the store #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
A website that looks and works professionally is part of the brand – people will go to the store if the site works #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Brilliant Earth focuses relentlessly on making all users feel like they’re jewelry designers #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Brilliant Earth applied the model of finding a flight to finding jewelry, which had never been done #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
The product detail page is the most important page of ecommerce – more than the homepage or anything else #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
#aeasea #jeffzelman https://t.co/XjNkeRA2LG
— G Bernard (@g_dibo) April 3, 2017
Professional photographers with exact positioning to swap bits of jewelry, not photoshop #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
A lot of sites have “buy it now or go to hell”. Amazon does it right: wish list, save for later. It’s smart. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
“Long-tail conversion” – they came, they decided to think about it, they set it aside, they came back and bought it #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
“Drop a hint” by Brilliant Earth lets you let someone you love that you’d like a ring. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Offering multiple levels of engagement allows for as much engagement as possible, good for a business about buying in store #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Lux Bond & Green doesn’t make its own jewelry. Big photos, tonal balance, creating a brand devoting space to non-product #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
They use web fonts to create a brand without spending a lot of money on type, while still having custom type #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
The customer responds to the feel of a brand #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Don’t bother your users. #aeasea
— jared bishop (@bishopart) April 3, 2017
"Ask as little as possible and tell them why you need it." #aeasea
— Erin Walker (Joyce) (@E3Writing) April 3, 2017
"The fewer fields the more likely they will interact." – @zeldman #aeasea
— Conor 👨🏻💻 (@conrmahr) April 3, 2017
.@zeldman bashes the dark pattern of nasty mailing list non-signups “I don’t want to feel pretty by signing up for your newsletter” #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Most sites with strong brands are very generic when you get down to their product list. Not much innovation. Filters, photos. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Most folks do filters down the left size. 1/2 the filters are below the fold. The grid gets messed up. Sidebar blindness. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Filters across the top look more like navigation, “here’s your flow!” #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Make sure to get high def originals of products so if you size up in the future you can still use the original photos #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Have ads caused users to ignore the sides? It’s worth testing on your site. #aeasea
— jared bishop (@bishopart) April 3, 2017
Low-res jpgs sized up get fuzzy #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Filters > sidebar upsets the grid and is below the fold. Sidebar isn't always obvious as a filter. #aeasea
— Stephanie 🔮 Web Witch (@seaotta) April 3, 2017
“Schedule an appointment” – tells the sales person what you were looking at when you signed up #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Appointment form is good at communicating why they need info – this is a best practice to build trust with consumers #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Craig’s Fine Jewelry shows a pic of what you were looking at when you ask for an appointment – with model # and name #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Don’t drop context between product page and the contact page #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Captchas do not feel like a luxury experience. May be necessary but harmful to the brand #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
“experience the exquisite genius of Michael’s vision” and “50% OFF!” Don’t connect well on a single jewelry homepage. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Captcha is not a luxury experience – @zeldman talking about jewelry ecommerce experiences #aeasea pic.twitter.com/kQyrsLDXYs
— Krystal Higgins (@kryshiggins) April 3, 2017
Tag Heuer uses photography from multiple timeframes, to appeal to multiple audiences, beautiful magazine shots, not much copy #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
“You’d think if you’re spending $10,000 for a watch they’d have something to say about it. Artesian cheese gives 17 paragraphs” #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
“Should we be a look book or an upscale fashion blog?” “YES”. It’s never the designers and the developers ;) #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Govberg jewelers – immediate onscreen takeover before you can see the product. “When you go back you’re going to fix that right?” #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
"Everything goes on the home page" – The Managers – #aeasea
— Rebecca Watson (@RVivusArtDesign) April 3, 2017
“It’s always the managers. It’s never the designers and developers, it’s never us. Am I right?” – @zeldman #aeasea
— Josh “Yoshi” Vickerson (@joshvickerson) April 3, 2017
“It’s like someone walks in and you block the door with ‘Cash or credit? MasterCard or visa?‘” Forcing it doesn’t work #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Responsive website looks like it was designed to fit exactly on the CEO’s laptop #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Watch says “request price” – click button, chat window opens, no context on chat window. It’s not thought out #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Everything needs to be thought out from the customer's POV, always. #aeasea
— Stephanie 🔮 Web Witch (@seaotta) April 3, 2017
Bvlgari is selling a lifestyle fantasy, not rings. Product very different from homepage. No integration of the brand. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
They’re going for cold and distant and aspirational – are you good enough to buy this? Lots of white space, emotional distance #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
.@zeldman #aeasea: Your onscreen takeovers when people enter your site be like: pic.twitter.com/qX7pGIyYCA
— Krystal Higgins (@kryshiggins) April 3, 2017
Cookie warning on BVLGARI is clipped in the footer on every browser. Looks totally broken. #AEASEA “Everybody screws up, baby.”
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
“Gosh, Sally, you forgot to close that <div>!”
“Me and BVLGARI!”#AEASEA— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Per @zeldman If you like disturbing art films that think they’re horror movies but are really perverted, Neon Demon is for you #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Pro tip: if you're a million $ luxury brand, maybe check your website if you make changes to a live server. #aeasea
— Stephanie 🔮 Web Witch (@seaotta) April 3, 2017
James Allen is targeting young people “trending”, strong color palette, a little hipsterish, doesn’t look like every other site #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Good on James Allen for taking a chance even though the people who run the company are probably older than the target audience #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
"Know your people." – @zeldman #aeasea
— Conor 👨🏻💻 (@conrmahr) April 3, 2017
Closed door conversation – after 40 mins, they’ll close the door and tell you what’s really going on #AEASEA Harder internally
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
You’ve been having conversations all your life. Listen! #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
People give you insights and strategy, their concerns. Talk to people before you start re-designing a site. #aeasea
— Stephanie 🔮 Web Witch (@seaotta) April 3, 2017
"Listen and ask questions." – @zeldman #aeasea
— Conor 👨🏻💻 (@conrmahr) April 3, 2017
Be a good listener and don't have an agenda. Be patient and open and you'll get the info you need. #aeasea
— Stephanie 🔮 Web Witch (@seaotta) April 3, 2017
Being inside can be just as much an advantage as being outside, you know the culture and the way they think #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Look for stuff that was from branding years ago – there’s stuff sitting in boxes somewhere #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Talking to people is super-inspiring for both design method and the design itself #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Both data and instincts are necessary for design. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
If the existing site is doing the wrong things, AB testing the site doesn’t help you do the right things #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Data doesn’t provide answers, it helps us ask better questions. Only as good as the people who analyze it #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
#aeasea pic.twitter.com/0g137ufrFZ
— jared bishop (@bishopart) April 3, 2017
"If the site is doing the wrong things, doing a/b testing on it will not give you the data you need." – @zeldman #aeasea
— Erin Walker (Joyce) (@E3Writing) April 3, 2017
Metrics of engagement for now, and six months from now. You should always have so much work to do that you can’t do it all #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Every website needs a lot of work because our business is always evolving #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
Human connection with the people you sell your work to is the real value of research #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 3, 2017
“If you can get a stronger human connection, that is the real value of research.” – @zeldman #aeasea
— Josh “Yoshi” Vickerson (@joshvickerson) April 3, 2017
.@zeldman: "Data is only as good as the people looking at it. It doesn't give us answers, it helps us ask better questions." #aeasea #aea17
— Ben Roach (@benr0ach) April 3, 2017
research in the design process: https://t.co/AkGT9tgHIk
my notes from @zeldman talk at #aeasea
— Luke Wroblewski (@LukeW) April 3, 2017
research in the design process: https://t.co/RAxdpqYS5U
my notes from @zeldman talk at #aeasea by #zeldman via @c0nvey
— WebActiv (@webactiv) April 3, 2017