The Hot Iron

Friday, May 16, 2008

Reporting Web Site Bugs to Web Site Owners

Have you ever had a problem with a Web site?  Notice how I did not ask for a show of hands, otherwise there would be a lot of arms in the air right now.  When you encountered this error, what did you do?  Did you call the company, or try to contact them via email or the contact form on their Web site?

As someone who spends most all of my days on the Web, I encounter many.  If I do find an error or something out of the ordinary, sometimes I report it.  I say sometimes as when I do, I am often confronted with the sounds of crickets on the other end of the phone, get an automated, generic response or something that contains words but is not necessarily a sentence.

Why is this?  There are many contributing factors to this, including the typical siloing of functions within a company, the fact that who answer the phone or check the email from the Web site has no knowledge or way to process such a contact, and the Web site being accessed may be managed by a third-party or other entity outside the company and there are no lines of communication in place.  Where these are all realistic scenarios, they do absolutely nothing to serve those actually use the Web site, otherwise known as paying customers.

As an Internet consultant and Web developer, I work closely with my clients and sometimes directly to their customers to resolve any issues with a Web site solution I have provided them.  When I do get such a report, I check to ensure the following 4 questions are addressed:

• Who are they – their computer, operating system, browser, Internet connection speed and any programs that may be running while they are accessing the Web site
• What are they doing – the Web site they were accessing, including any and all links and where they linked from, and how they got to this point
• What happened – as much detail as possible, including a written or verbal description and screenshots
• What did they expect to happen – this is always helpful as it could be a case of mistaken expectations, or it could be they knew what was supposed to happen and it didn’t work that way

Generally people are willing to provide this information, especially if they are treated with courtesy and respect.  Armed with this knowledge, a troubleshooting path can be put together rather quickly and hopefully a resolution is close at hand.  That is, if you take the time to do your best to support the Web site user.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Free Coffee and Books at likemind Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning at 8 am local time in many cities around the world will be likemind, where people gather for coffee and conversation.  In Chicago, Bruno and I coordinate it, and it will be at the Gallery 37 Café in the Loop at 66 E. Randolph St.

This time, the coffee (or tea or whatever) is free, and so is some reading material, courtesy of Random House.  They have sent a limited supply of advance copies of the book Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are by Rob Walker.  They’ll be available for free on a first come, first served basis.

No RSVP is required but is always welcome, and you can by commenting to this post or at the likemind Chicago Facebook group.  See you in the AM!

Friday, May 09, 2008

Stock Up On Forever Stamps - Postal Rates Increase on May 12 In US

This coming Monday, May 12, 2008, postal rates increase in the US.  For the most common postage value, the rate for a 1 ounce first class letter increases from 41 cents to 42 cents.  I never understood why they don’t raise it by a nickel every several years rather than a penny every year, but I digress.

To avoid the catastrophe of post offices running out of 1 cent stamps to cover the increase, the US Postal Service last year introduced “forever” stamps.  The premise is once you buy the stamp, it will always be valid for the 1 ounce first class letter rate.  So if you bought a forever stamp at 41 cents today, you would not have to add additional postage when using it on Monday when the rate increases.

I laud the post office for introducing forever stamps, as there is surely a significant cost for printing and distributing the additional postage stamps.  Not to mention you and I enduring huge lines at the post office to buy another penny stamp.  Plus you get some small satisfaction of beating the system.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Wordless Wednesday - Combo Recycling and Trash Can at Millennium Park, Chicago

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Joffrey’s Coffee Tasting

Not too long ago I heard Joffrey’s Coffee was offering samples for bloggers to try.  As someone who is powered by coffee, I couldn’t resist to take them up on their offer.

Shortly after signing up on their Web site I received a sample pouch of Jamaican Me Crazy, a flavored coffee.  For the sake of full disclosure, the darker and more robust the coffee is the better it is for me.  A couple of my favorite coffees are Trader Joe’s Bay Blend and whatever is roasting when I am at Costco – seriously!  I brewed the pouch of pre-ground coffee in my Cuisinart Grind and Brew with the thermal carafe.

My verdict – I liked it.  Though a flavored coffee, it did not taste like there was syrup poured into regular coffee, as some flavored coffees taste to me.  It was a mild blend, but had a good flavor.  Plus there was no noticeable difference in my performance that day!

On Joffrey’s Web site they offer a huge variety of coffees, and I will eventually get through the extensive list.  I like to keep milder coffees on hand for visitors, and I will look into their bolder and darker coffees as well.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

My Take-Away From The Book the Girl From Farris’s

To keep well-rounded, I try to read both business books and anything else.  One book on my list was The Girl From Farris’s by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Set in Chicago in the early part of the last century, it is the story of a young woman who tries to go on the straight and narrow after a career as a prostitute, and the people who try to help and hinder her.  My original intent on reading it was due to the references to Chicago’s Loop.  And like anything about life, I found takeaways from the book.

My greatest takeaway is that you must follow your dreams, no matter how hard they are.  The heroin of the book, Maggie (who’s real name is June), makes the decision to go on the straight and narrow, get a job and make a life for herself.  She is lured back to her old ways and as well encounters people who try to help her but are more furthering their own causes.  But Maggie persists, moving forward but not forgetting where she came from.

Another takeaway was that it’s a small world.  Maggie repeatedly encounters people from her past throughout the story, under varying circumstances.  And this was in the day of the manual typewriter!  Keeping this is mind will help you in dealing with people you may never want to encounter again the next time you see them.

The Girl From Farris’s is short and enjoyable story, packed with plot twist throughout.  If you’re looking for a book for a cross-country flight, allow me to recommend this one.

Friday, May 02, 2008

Looptopia Is Tonight In Chicago

Looptopia is in a matter of hours!  Chicago’s overnight cultural festival is tonight, despite the rain.

This is the second year where indoor and outdoor cultural events will be going on, from comedy and improv to performance art.  The details are available on the official Looptopia Web site and this Looptopia guide on the Chicago Tribune’s Web site.

This year the event organizers will be distributing wristbands for those who plan to be out all night.  I am assuming this is for crowd control, namely as last year there was nearly double the anticipated crowd.  Hopefully the rain won’t keep people away or dampen the spirits of those performing outdoors.

Look for photos and videos soon from the event on my personal fan site, Looptopia Memories.

I attended a similar event in Amsterdam a few years back called Museumnacht or Museum Night.  There was also a mix of indoor and outdoor events scattered throughout the city, and free canal boat rides tied it all together.  Well, when the boats actually arrived, but I digress.  And if my memory is correct, that night was a little cool and damp as well.  I am looking forward to it being a successful event, and I hope it continues and grows.

Radio Button And Checkbox Survey Hell

Not a day goes by where my inbox is not loaded with at least one email message asking me to take a survey.  I typically don’t mind sharing my opinions, however it has to be a win-win situation.  This is where I am able to respond to survey questions using a Web-based form that is not loaded with a million radio buttons or checkboxes, and after completing the survey I feel good about completing the survey.

By the use of the word Hell in the subject, you can guess I am not winning with many of these surveys.  Most times I click on a link, answer a few demographic questions, then I am onto the bulk of the survey.  And bulk is the right word, as I am presented with a page jammed packed with radio buttons – typically to answer questions on a scale of 1 to something – and checkboxes.

The problem is there is usually too many, tightly spaced, and I always miss some if not many.  There are usually no visual elements, like different colored backgrounds or lines, to differentiate each question.  When I am confronted with such a page, I usually click the “X” in the browser tab and close the survey, never giving my answers.

If I do make it through the survey, many times I have an empty feeling that I didn’t really provide any information, rather satisfied someone who was looking for some response unknown to me.  I once was told you can write a survey to get you pretty much any result you are seeking, and I believe it.  Surveys that either do not offer a general text box or offer too many seem to fit the bill.

When someone asks you for an opinion it generally gives you a good feeling.  Perhaps the real reason I find these surveys painful is that I never see any changes or results from them.

What do you think?  No radio buttons necessary for the response.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Should Entrepreneurs Reach Out To Their Customers For Help?

There’s that store over on the corner.  It is one of your favorite stores or you just go there once in a while.  But the next time you go by, it’s closed.  Not just closed for the day, but closed for good.  You feel bad as you liked going in there, but you may not have gone in there that often.  You think to yourself if you only knew that they were near that point you could have done something – blogged on them, told your friends or simply went in there more.

For me there were 2 such places, an awesome Vietnamese/fusion restaurant and a coffee shop.  Now a jeweler and a check-cashing store stand in each respectively.  But what if each owner reached out to its customer base for help, would I have responded?  I asked myself as I read about Toscanini’s, an ice cream shop I have visited in Cambridge, MA in a recent issue of Inc. magazine.  In this case, getting behind on paying their taxes resulted in the store closing, and after an Internet appeal they were able to raise enough money to reopen.

As I said before, you can’t mess with the numbers.  However, they did and paid the price for it, literally.  Had they reached out earlier to their customers, how would they have reacted?  How would I have reacted?

It’s times and events like this I appreciate the business networking connections I have made.  As astute of a businessperson you are, it is easy to get caught up in the minutiae of your business and sometimes not see things with clear vision.  This is when it helps for others to step in and offer advice, sometimes merely describing the situation as they see it.  For Toscanini’s, they could have had an ice cream festival or some other event to bring in people and have a spike in sales, which could have helped their bottom line.  With their stores being literally feet from the MIT and Harvard campuses, who knows what ideas could have been presented had they asked?

Your business may be yours, but it is also part of your community.  Keep this in mind in good times and in bad.  Where it takes a village to raise a child, those same villagers are integral to your business.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Wordless Wednesday - Airplane at 727 Group Office in Skanderborg, Denmark