I have a diagram in my office that delineates the Elements of User Experience. It is a very helpful roadmap on how to conceptualize, design and develop a web site. You start with your objectives and the needs of your users and you work your way through functional specs and content requirements to your interation design and information architecture before working out your information design and then finally you get to work on the part that is usually the first consideration of web site development, the visual design.

It's a solid model to keep in mind when developing a web site, which is why I have it on my wall. It also gives me something to point at when somebody asks why making the site pretty is the last part of the process. Never underestimate the power of having outside expert opinion to point to when creating something new.

Once you have built your site, you might feel that your work is done. Take your team out and celebrate the accomplishment, but remember that your work is only just getting started. There's scaling to worry about, the acquisition and intelligent analysis of statistics and, of course, SEO - otherwise known as Search Engine Optimization or "How to get Google to notice me." Maybe there's an AdSense account in your near-term future. These are all important tasks, but there's more to your organization's presence on the web than just your web site.

The data on your web site is just that, data. Your site is one way for you to share that data with your intended audiences. It is one very effective way of sharing your information, but it is not the only way. Think of your web site as your store and your home page as your storefront. Your Google ranking will tell you if you're in a big shopping mall or a little strip mall. You can sell your wares, you can advertise to let people know where you're located and you can do a nice little business this way. Even in a strip mall.

Or you can find more places to display your wares/data. Starbuck's isn't content with having a store on every corner, including locations across the street from each other. There are 4 Starbuck's within a block and a half of my house, but they don't stop there. They also have mini-coffee shops in my grocery store, book store and convenience store, not to mention the Starbuck's branded ice cream and coffee beans on the shelves too.

Your data is your tall mocha mint frappucinno half-fat no whip blended whatchamacallit. You don't have to limit yourself to your local strip mall. Get it out there and put it to good use.

You could create a NetVibes module that keeps people updated with the latest postings on your site. Dappit.com/Dapper allows you to create "Dapps" that utilise your data by browing your web site and automatically figuring out what the data points are. It even lets you create NetVibes modules as a result. (Caveat - I tried this with two different sites with very different results - one worked fine, the other was, shall we say, confused.) You can create Widgets and Gadgets and put your data on people's desktops. Plenty has been written of late about Second Life. Share your podcasts out on iTunes. There are plenty of tools available now that let you open up your own little mini-site within the context of somebody elses.

It's a wild and wooly web out there. Don't get stuck in a corner, get entangled.

No, this isn't a post about the Beach Boys, not even as a clever segue into taking about the Apple Store's new "Help Me Rhonda" customer alert system. It would give me chance to link to the huge 91-track 40th Anniversary Edition of Pet Sounds on iTunes, and ask incredulously how a 13 song album becomes 91 tracks?!?

I'm not going to launch into a diatribe on cell-phone etiquette either, although I would implore everyone to keep their cell phones on vibrate. Sure, you might really, really love the BackStreet Boys, but unless you happen to be at a fan club meeting, chances are those around you just don't. Set your phasers to stun and your phones to vibrate and let's just move along, shall we?

The Good Vibrations I'm talking about come courtesy of NetVibes. Way back in the day when the internet was a shiny new toy that we hadn't figured out yet, my homepage that I saw everytime I opened up Netscape Navigator was Excite's customizable portal. NetVibes reminds me of this only in a slicker, slightly buggy web 2.0 kind of way.



Signing in and getting started is simple, requiring that you enter your email address and a password. Then you have a default page that is filled with some base modules and some others that you can add. Modules for such web 2.0 stalwarts as Flickr, GMail, Digg, del.icio.us and more are included, and other modules for Google Maps, stock quotes are available to add from the NetVibes Ecosystem. These additional modules are like Microsoft Windows Gadgets, which are just like Apple's Widgets which, in turn, are just like Konfabulator Widgets (now brought to you by Yahoo!).

While Gadgets/Widgets bring internet functionality to your desktop, NetVibes brings the desktop to your browser, in a way. So you can walk up to any internet connected computer, login to NetVibes and see your world in one place. Writely and Box.net modules allow you to have file creation and storage capabilities here too. It's an interesting start towards having a virtual internet based OS with integrated pieces from multiple companies working together. Tres chic.

The UI is very simple and useful. You can drag modules around the page, change the number of columns, add tabs and drag modules from one tab to another. I added a Customize module because I'm a sucker for a nice background image / desktop picture. The most useful module? You can use NetVibes as a virtual RSS reader to keep track of your favorite blogs from wherever you are. I suggest setting up a tab just for your favorite Social Edge blogs, but then I might be a tad bit biased.

Writing a blog can be a terribly loney task. Oh sure, your significant other might read it, and your mother is sure to dutifully slog through it and pretend that she understands what it is that you are talking about. You might even swap comments back and forth with that kid you played Dungeons & Dragons with back in middle school. Okay, fine, high school. But unless your D&D buddy is a Level 15 palladin with a batch of highly effective charm spells, well, you might as well just send each other email for all the traffic your blog will be getting.

You don't want that. You want people to read what it is you have to say. You want people to care about the work that you're doing and help you spread the word. So you stop writing about orcs and ogres (to the dismay of your palladin friend) and you tell your mom that she doesn't need to ask you if you're eating well in your comments. She's a little dispirited, but you make the fruitcake that she emailed you the recipe for and all is forgiven.

Okay, now we're getting somewhere. You've heard about tagging so you switch from Blogger to WordPress or Moveable type and you tag everything. Everything! Tag it all!

And now your other friend from high school, the one who took the game a little too seriously and started to think that a beholder was out to get him? He's using his "library time" to catch up on all your old posts. Congratulations! You've got a reader!

Now you go and ping Weblogs.com et. al and see about raising your hit count. Numbers numbers numbers! Change your content to be more like the posts that are generating the most hits!! Thar's gold in them thar hits!!! Exclamation points extremely optional!!!!

Yes, but who's reading your blog? Why are you blogging in the first place? In most cases, it's not a popularity contest, even if it seems that way sometimes. You're a social entrepreneur. Know your audience and write for them. Tell them what it is that you have to share. If what you have to say is well thought out, coherently expressed and relevant to your expected audience they'll find you. Yes, a modicum of technical honing is going to help, but don't be beholden to the numbers.

Be mindful of falling into the trap where you write your blog and tell the world what is on your mind, but never read anyone else's blogs. Like poetry, there are plenty of people who write blogs but never read them. Find people who are blogging about the same fields of interest as you do and read what they have to say. Create the conversation. Very Cluetrain, I know, but it's true. A blog is inherently a monologue, but get off your soapbox from time to time and see if there are other points of view that can open your mind.

One very useful tool in this endeavor comes from Technorati. Once you have signed up and claimed your blog, you can see who links to you blog. Take a look and see who thinks what you have to say is relevant. (Or who is mocking you, as the case may be.) It may take some time for people to notice you, but when they do, pay attention. Read what they have to say about you, but don't take it personally. If you're blogging for a purpose, this isn't personal, it's business.

Again, remember, it's a two way street. Link to blogs and postings that are relevant to your area of concern, comment on other people's blogs, mark your favorites in Technorati or other like-mineded sites. Join the conversation, listen and respond.

Once you do that, the numbers will take care of themselves. If not, there's always your friend's beholder problem that needs to be dispatched.

As a child growing up in the shadow of Disneyland, I spent many a day at the "happiest place on earth." The Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion - good times all. And yes, I still lament the passing of Adventure Through Inner Space to make room in Tomorrowland for StarTours.

And then there was the Enchanted Tiki Room, brought to you perpetually by those fine folks at Dole. (Large, slow loading YouTube video follows:)



Apparently, I wasn't the only one who didn't quite get it. In my mind this attraction was nothing more than a fiendish plot to keep me from getting another ride on Space Mountain. That and those parades. Everybody's sitting down and watching the parades - c'mon! That means they're not in line for Big Thunder! Let's go!

For a long time I felt the same way about wikis. Not that a wiki has ever kept me from enjoying a roller coaster, but I just didn't quite get them. What's a wiki anyway? An encyclopedia? A workspace? A collaborative brou-haha?

According to Wikipedia, "A wiki (IPA: [ˈwɪ.kiː] or [ˈwiː.kiː] [1]) is a type of Web site that allows the visitors themselves to easily add, remove, and otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes without the need for registration."

That's it. Nothing terribly fancy about that. But not all wikis are the same. Some are simple, others complex. It all depends on what the wiki is for, who uses it and what functionality is included.

So don't worry about getting a wiki up for your organization. You don't need a wiki. Unless you do. If you need to work collaboratively with co-workers or with folks from other organizations, a wiki might help you out. Or if you have a community of users who want to share their knowledge and expertise with each other - an with you - a wiki might be the way to go. Define your need first, then find the tool that best addresses your need.

There are plenty of options to choose from. Sure, JotSpot is down for new users now that they've been absorbed by the Google-plex, but if you want a hosted collaborative workspace-type wiki, SocialText, WetPaint and Yahoo Groups are all viable options. If you are looking for a more robust, project oriented solution Basecamp is a robust solution.

If you're looking to have a mini-Wikipedia on your site, chances are that you'll want to integrate it into your current development environment. Content management systems such as Drupal and Plone have optional wiki modules, or products. You can also build collaborative workspaces utilizing a content managements user profile security and collaborative functionality from calendars to document sharing to create a custom tailored collaborative experience. It might not be a wiki, exactly, but if it works you can call it whatever you like.

If that means filling it with animatronic birds and dubbing it the Enchanted Wiki Room, that's fine, just as long as I get one more ride on Adventure Through Inner Space.