Sometimes in Web Design You Need to Put Personal Tastes Aside

Yesterday at the Solid Cactus World Headquarters an employee in my department, as part of an internal contest, earned the opportunity to choose the satellite radio station of the day.  What did he choose?  #42, Liquid Metal.  It was loud, and he was proud.

During the day, as the sounds of Metallica, Pantera, Lamb of God, Into Eternity, Iced Earth and Megadeth poured over the sound system, it was revealed that not everyone at the SC is a Liquid Metal fan.  Some put their ipod earbuds in and played their own playlist, while others immersed themselves in work to drown out the screams.  And of course, you could tell who the metal heads were as they were extra energized and jammed all day.

How does this pertain to e-commerce?  Sometimes you have to let your personal tastes aside for the greater good of your business. In our case, it was a fun contest that boosted morale.  Of course when the prize was awarded, not everyone was thrilled– but you can be darned that the next time we have something like this, others will try just as hard to win control of the music and perhaps put on Elvis Radio, Cosmo Love Talk Radio, Old Skool R&B or Maragaritaville Radio.

When it comes to web design, many clients I speak with have a certain vision for their site.  But, sometimes these visions include things that do not meet best practices in e-commerce- and I have to break it to them. Some examples would be someone wanting too much flash, which is not good for SEO– someone wanting a very dark site, which may not be appealing to the e-commerce shopper’s eye– or someone wanting something crazy done with their navigation or the item page laid out a certain way.  Others, and I wrote about this in a blog post in October about scary e-commerce practices, may like the old school look of animated .gifs and other older design practices. That’s why it’s crucial to have someone in your corner who may tell you something you don’t want to hear, but something you need to hear to create a successful online store.

When you work with a seasoned web designer, like the award-winning SC team, you get expert advice about how an e-commerce site should be designed, real helpful information from people are not only creative and artistic, but also study industry trends.  Working personally with a designer will allow them to capture your mission, vision and brand while at the same time not letting you make design mistakes that could lose you customers.  Sometimes you have to step outside that bubble and be objective and open-minded.

Rock on.  -DT