In this edition of Web Enlightenment we'll be talking about going in circles and the impact that can have on web development.

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Going in Circles

Summer is in the air here in Maine - and that lovely weather tends to inspire web site owners to have fascinating flights of fancy. Web developers have a term for this and it is not especially flattering - going in circles.

This issue is sometimes pretty complicated but the basic method for going in circles starts with a draft of a new web page, often referred to as version one.

The site owner is not happy but they provide a bit of feedback, try as best they can to not say things like "it needs to sizzle" and the developer labors to produce version two.

After seeing version two the site owner gets discouraged and quite unhappy - this version is still not what they wanted, not at all. They often have a difficult meeting with their geek and try to "really clarify" with examples and lots of other materials. The developer goes back to the drawing board and produces version three.

Version three is "much closer" to what the site owner wanted but not quite right - the owner usually stays positive here as they don't want to "waste" all the work they did to get the developer to understand what they wanted on the last round. So they provide solid feedback and the developer produces version four. The site owner loves it, version four is perfect.

Then some wiseacre like me comes along and looks at all four versions - noticing that the final version is in fact remarkably similar to the first draft. As a result we say that the site owner has gone in a circle - taken a big round about path to get back to where they were in the first place.

The major cause of this problem is not properly defining what is desired, I like to call this the Potter Stewart problem.

Potter Stewart was a Supreme Court justice you've probably never heard of (apologies to the law students in the room, I know you admire his many dissenting postures as part of the Warren court) but there is one quote of his you probably have seen before:

"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [hard-core pornography]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that." - Potter Stewart, Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (1964)

Many site owners use this same basic concept when they try to talk about web design - they don't know what they want but they'll know it when they see it. I really wish web developers would not accept this answer but the sad fact is that almost all of them do.

"I'll know it when I see it" is a big error and never results in a good usable product. We're all guilty of going in circles sometimes - heck, I did it last weekend when I was trying to decide what to have for dessert (yes, it was worth the drive to Dairy Queen for that sundae) but we all know it costs time, money, and significant frustration on web projects.

Major signs you are going in circles:

• Your web project is overdue, usually way overdue
• You use words like "pop" or "sizzle" or "jump" when trying to communicate with your geek
• You feel really discouraged about a web project and you see no light at the end of the tunnel

When you realize that you are going in circles it makes lots of sense to try and provide some new information or perhaps even communicate in a different way. To generate great design web developers need six simple things, and endeavoring to provide them is the best way to get out of this rut.

1. Look and Feel
2. Design Standards
3. Audience Information
4. MDR
5. Usability
6. Model Sites

When to comes to look and feel you never want to talk about specific colors or preference - you want to clarify the visual messages you wish to convey. Things like : We want people to know they can trust us, we want visitors to understand we are family run, we want people to get that we are high tech. Whatever it may be, talk about the message you wish to send, not the way you wish to convey it.

Then you can clarify design standards - for big companies this is a list of acceptable colors and fonts, what uses of the logo are allowed, and all sorts of other graphic rules. Simply make a list of rules as requirements and your web developer can easily follow them. This is where you can get specific about colors you like and things like that. Some people also call this a brand standard.

It is really critical that a web developer understand who the site is for, so you need to provide Audience Information. If visitors were web savvy folks it may be just fine to assume they know what some little icons mean, but for many visitors that is not a good idea. This is often called Demographic information and it usually includes: age range, sex, job title, income, where they live, and all sorts of other basic data.

It seems so very simple but so many website owners fail to define their MDR, or Most Desired Response. It is really important for your web developer to know what you want people to do when they get to your website - buy a product, call you, sign up for your newsletter - it doesn't matter but it needs to be very clear.

Usability is an area that causes all kinds of headaches - people tend to have pet peeves about specific types of web navigation or other page elements. You want to be clear about what it is that you need - it is reasonable to say that "very pretty" is often the enemy of "very clear" (usable) and you want to be sure your web developer understands your needs.

Last but certainly not least is Model Sites - that is just a list of sites that seem to represent where you want to end up. For a bookseller it may be Amazon, for a Realtor it may be a big old national listing site - but the basic point is that before you decided to work on your own site you must have seen something you liked better than what you have now, what it is? Another common question that is great to answer for your web developer - name three sites you don't like.

Here is the bottom line - if you feel your web development project going in circles there is something you can do about it. Focus on the six things you need to provide your web developer and don't let development troubles get you down.

Sunshine Acres Farm Garden Report

Me and my dirty fingernails, aching back, and sunburned neck are very happy to provide an update on the food production here at Sunshine Acres.

I started with new garden beds in what used to be a hayfield.

This is three beds, each 25 ft long and about 10 feet wide. The soil is wet clay and a soon as it was tilled I knew it would be quite an amendment task to get this patch to produce much this season. I need a huge pile of horse manure but I don't have one here yet - so the decision was made to hill up these beds and grow potatoes and squash over there. Each pile is made of composted manure and has been carefully covered over - it'll be interesting to watch the squash ramble this summer. I hope it gets all wild and wooly. As of now I have planted Yukon Gold Potatoes, Pumpkins, Yellow Squash, Green Squash, and Patty Pan Squash. A good buddy of mine gave me some giant pumpkin seeds as a housewarming present, so I planted a few of those too.

After accepting - so much of Gardening is about acceptance - that my beds were not going to be good for lots of things this year I setup some raised beds near the house.

Each bed is 24 ft long by 4 feet wide and there are a half dozen of them - there are two more to the right that are not pictured. For those with sharp eyes I am especially proud of my fancy pea trellis - I know that looks like fencing and that might even be how it was sold to me but I am here to tell you it is a pea trellis.

In the raised beds I have tomatoes (lots), basil of many colors, eggplant, peppers of many nations, peas, bush beans, beets, onions, spinach, carrots, and some yummy greens.