Alex Hardy

How time flies: it’s been a full year since I released simpleContact 1.0. Quite a bit has happened since then, so here are the highlights for me…

Progress

As you can see from my downloads page, work has continued on the application. simpleContact currently stands at version 1.2, which I released in December 2007. The details of each version can be found in the release notes.

I’ve tweaked the design of the downloads page and the site in general, and I’m keeping a visual log of those changes in my Flickr account. When I release the “Pro” version it will be re-branded simpleContact “Lite”.

I added a support forum to this website. It’s very early days, but I hope to build a valuable resource. Publishing an application (even a vigorously tested one) is rather like releasing a domesticated animal into the wild – you have no idea where it will find itself and how well it will fare. It seems to be coping well in the big bad world of unpredictable server configurations and usage scenarios.

I’ve also made a personal discovery. To focus on something that’s your own, improving it bit by bit appeals to the perfectionist in me. I find it very satisfying.

Reception

The response from users has been overwhelmingly positive. I don’t mind revealing that I currently average 180 downloads a month, so you don’t need to be a maths whizz to know that I am getting close to a milestone that I will comment on soon.

In version 1.1 I added a rating form to the log out page to help users express their opinions and to promote the application on The PHP Resource Index, a leading script directory. The reaction was great, and it has a solid front-page position in its category. With the release of ‘Pro the attack on its rivals really begins!

Users have been generous, with comments such as these:

“I’m always looking for ways to make my clients’ projects useful and sophisticated, but still affordable. simpleContact makes it easy to deliver an advanced product easily.” Kim D.

“Being a web developer/designer but not a script author, this is an asset. This application, in my opinion, rivals most of the ones designed by other companies that charge a premium.” Alan J.

There’s still a long way to go. I’ve had lots of requests, some of which I definitely plan to include in future releases. “Subject” and “US state” fields in particular have been in demand. I hope to satisfy the need for bespoke options with ‘Pro.

Promotion

I’ve not engaged in any advertising so far, although that will come. I’ve relied solely on word of mouth, directory listings and links in relevant places. Thanks to Andy Prevost, the PHPMailer website in particular has been a strong source of visitors.

I’ll write my first newsletter in a couple of months. A fringe benefit of this project has been that it constantly yields new opportunities to learn and interact with people. To write better, more compatible code, manage versions, user expectations and support requests, stats analysis, PPC, email marketing – all things that you learn best on the job.

I can’t wait to see what I have to say in May 2009!

This is my first “official” book review! I recently bought a copy of Conversation Marketing by Ian Lurie. Lurie is the founder and president of Seattle-based Portent Interactive and writes a blog, which is also called Conversation Marketing.

He dispenses advice on SEO, internet marketing and analytics and occasionally has some fun exposing the charlatans of his profession (of which there are many).

Here are some of my favourite posts:

• 59 Things You Should Be Doing But Probably Aren’t
• 49 Things You Probably Are Doing But Shouldn’t
• Internet Marketing Is About Discoverability (Not Yelling)
• Google Analytics Tagging Demystified
• 3 Signs The Pitch is Slimey

This book is also available to read in a free HTML version. Why buy something you can read for free you might ask… In my opinion, the best efforts of new technology still haven’t delivered us a way to read that is more convenient and pleasurable than a simple book. I bought the book on the basis that I regularly read the blog.

Lurie was helpful enough to personally send me a copy by international post, in exchange for a review. Before I stand accused of advertorial, I’ll quote his email:

I’ll send it to you for postage […] You can give a bad review if you hate it

My impressions

I should point out that this is not a book on SEO. Lurie takes a more holistic view and covers design, development and communication. An endless cycle of observation and adjustment is the core of his argument that a site must serve its user’s needs, not the ego or presumptions of the website owner.

The book covers six rules, that are analogous to the human interactions you might engage in at a party or business networking event. A fictional custom bicycle shop is the vehicle (no pun intended) for his explanations of these rules:

1) Know the room

This chapter covers user personas, workflows (anticipated paths through a site) and calls to action. You have to know your audience, not just accumulate pageviews.

2) Dress appropriately

An overview of web design considerations. Professionals might roll their eyes at the simplistic advice, but this is not about teaching design. Rather, the goal is to impart a degree of appreciation to the would-be site owner. It wouldn’t do a professional any harm to think about the criteria others use to judge their work…

3) Sound smart

The technical angle. This chapter is more detailed than the previous one (I sense Lurie is more comfortable with code than colour theory). He writes about site maps, the case for standards compliant code and best of all, contingency design.

I was pleased to see browser testing and help messages treated as fundamentals rather than after-thoughts. Some advice on content writing and image preparation rounds off a useful chapter.

4) Make a connection

Once you have a user’s interest, what can you do to keep a relationship alive? Email marketing best practice, and a mention of RSS and podcasting for the uninitiated in this brief chapter.

5) Brag modestly

This chapter may be the most immediately interesting to readers. An introduction to natural rankings and PPC advertisements in search engines. It also contains some words of advice for how to spot the SEO cowboys.

It has always seemed to me that there’s no magic shortcut to search engine visibility. Remember that search engines exist for the user’s benefit, not yours. Provide relevant, up-to-date content and users will seek you out. Leave the tricks to people who can’t create an offering of value.

6) Observe and adjust

This chapter was of particular interest to me: The basics of web traffic analysis. Definitions of common terms are backed up by some insightful words on tracking conversion rates. This book was published in 2006 and two years is a long time on the Internet. The references to specific tools are somewhat out of date, but the principles remain sound.

Conclusion

You may have noticed that this review has been peppered with words like “basics” and “overview”. Quite so. This is a short book at 93 pages, but it achieves its goal.

With a friendly, informal tone it equips you to start work. You’ll go on to seek out weightier and more specific resources, but you’ll incorporate that knowledge into the right frame of mind that you’ll gain from this book.

The matter of availability

A minor criticism: I originally asked about overseas postage because I believed Conversation Marketing was unavailable outside the USA. I have since discovered that it is available on Amazon, but this remains a flaw in the book’s homepage.

I would also like to see a PDF version of the book, so that all bases are covered in a similar manner to Getting Real by 37signals. An HTML version is of little use when the reader is not online. Nor does it send any money in Portent’s direction. I would buy a downloadable eBook and hope to see this option added soon.

Other books of interest

• Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin
• Designing with Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman
• SEO Book (eBook, blog and tools) by Aaron Wall
• Building Findable Websites by Aarron Walter
• “Essential” series of free eBooks by Nixon Mcinnes

This post won’t age well, because its subject expires from iPlayer in six days (from the time of writing). If you do live in Englandshire and have an interest in the history of design and typography I have a fascinating programme for your attention:

‘Stephen Fry and the Gutenberg Press’.

Johannes Gutenberg was the 15th century inventor of the first movable type printing press, in a time when books were written by scribes. In so doing, you could say he invented the font as we understand it, was a pioneer of mass production and venture capital funded business. As Fry puts it, his machine helped define the modern age.

If like me, you find Stephen Fry endlessly watchable/readable, you should also check out his blog.

I started work on simpleContact 2.0 Pro tonight. That is, I started to sketch my ideas on paper. To decide what will make the cut for the first release. To start working on answers for the what ifs and formalise the database structure that’s 80% designed in my head. The key features will be:

• Custom form fields. My most requested feature, which was always planned.
• Double opt-in mailing list. Services like Campaign Monitor insist on this.
• CSV export. This acts as a bridge to other software and services.
• Client-side validation. Powered by jQuery, a nice-to-have that I want to add.
• Easy upgrade. simpleContact 1.2 users can migrate settings and data easily.

I’ve gone back to good old fashioned paper because design comes first. I want to use my experience as a web designer to build an elegant solution to real needs. There will be no comparison tick list. I won’t add useless features for their own sake. I’ll be adding some over time however, that I’ve seen nowhere else…

I want to make something that’s remarkable because it makes a difficult thing easy. One user was kind enough to share that he’d tried seven other products without success before simpleContact 1.2. It is very rewarding to get feedback like that.

I’m not going to commit to a release date because of my schedule, but I’m going to aim for May/June. Version 2.0 Pro will cost $25, and the existing free version will remain, re-branded simpleContact Lite. Version 1.3 Lite will follow thereafter.

This makes me happy I’d be first to admit that my talents do not include wrapping presents. I’m rubbish at it! My attempts to cut usually end up looking like a proverbial dog’s hind leg. Maybe no more though, because I bought some wrapping paper yesterday which turned out to be the best I’ve ever found.

What was so great about it?

The reverse side of the paper had a grid of lines drawn on the back. It was easy to follow the lines with my scissors and end up with a perfectly cut sheet of paper. Brilliant. The only thing left to do was not screw up the folding…

As Robert Hoekman Jr, author of the superb “Designing the Obvious” would be quick to point out, these lines are an example of a poka-yoke (“mistake proofing”) device. Why point out someone’s mistake when you can prevent it from occurring?

Great design makes your user feel smart and empowered.

There’s a chill in the air. Slade and Wizard are once again helping to sell sofas and toys. Yessir, “summer 2007” has come and gone with no sign of the Refresh project.

It should be obvious by now that Refresh is on indefinite hiatus. I don’t give space to unfulfilled ideas, so I intend to remove it from my portfolio. I’ll add a featured project panel in its place. I’ll try to relate my reasons for this change of direction.

I did quite a lot of research and development work on Refresh but as I did, certain things became more apparent. What else became apparent is that those realisations would apply to anything at all that I might choose to do:

Development

I would need to develop solutions for a great number of interface elements and internal processes in order to build Refresh. Handling payment transactions was going to be a project by itself.

Time is Money

The free time I have for independent work is limited, because it naturally competes with my personal life and other interests. When I sit down at my computer, I assign a real and specific value to my time – my freelance rate of £30 per hour. Time that I can justify spending on a project that doesn’t pay is in short supply.

I believe I have the staying power to work my way through a dip before a project rewards itself, but the time and energy it would have taken to make Refresh a reality was simply too much at this stage in my life.

Marketing

Shipping a product to no existing audience or buzz isn’t wise. A key reason for releasing the free version of simpleContact first was to patiently build a user base before the commercial release.

Anyone can buy attention through advertising, and I certainly will do so. What’s far more important is the kind that you can’t buy. Users have been generous and helpful in their comments. I will be able to make some announcements on this front soon.

What next?

My attention is now focused on other specific projects. Working this way allows me to break these challenges down into tasks that I can tackle within my available time.

Refresh has become an endgame, a byword for the Big Project that I’ll undertake at some point. Maybe the future of my career. The project I’ll be ready for when I have some smaller successes under my belt. It may bear no resemblance to the original idea (which I kept a bit of a secret) in form or function, but the fun is in the journey!

The Foundry’s recent run of Flash sites continues with Daisy and Friends. Daisy is a cow who would you believe, loves nothing more than making toasted sandwiches. She and her friends live on a farm where you can download recipes, wallpapers and play the “Crazy Daisy Challenge” game. The range of products starts with a rather cute toastie maker with cow print on it.

At the risk of seeming horribly behind the times (because it isn’t new), I thought I’d link to an animation that I was sent today. Hey, it’s Friday afternoon!

Animator vs. Animation by Alan Becker.

Somewhat reminiscent of the Xiao Xiao cartoons, here’s the artist’s description:

An animator faces his own animation in deadly combat. The battlefield? The Flash interface itself. A stick figure is created by an animator with the intent to torture. The stick figure drawn by the animator will be using everything he can find - the brush tool, the eraser tool - to get back at his tormentor … Who will win? You can find out yourself. This took three long months.. i think it’s worth it.

It really was.

I thought I’d take a moment to observe the first birthday of my website. A year ago today I went live with a basic WordPress install. So far the site has undergone:

• One WordPress upgrade
• A theme of my design
• The addition of a portfolio
• The release of simpleContact (now at version 1.1)
• A new, permanent domain (the move is in progress)

On blogging…

It’s still very early days for me on this score. I’ve been slowly narrowing my focus and finding my style. I think the quality of my writing has come a long way this last year, but still leaves a great deal to be desired. I want this blog to have worth (rather than just an account of my activities), so I am thinking about fleshing out some previous posts into articles and tutorials. I am open to suggestions in this matter.

On design…

I don’t feel an urgent need to change the basic design of the website, since this look-and-feel is only eight months old anyway. It has held up under additions without any signs of creaking, so I think it will be good for another year.

When I come to redesign the site I’ll be paying close attention to my statistics. I’ve gained some interesting insights into how this site is used (ie: what is popular and what is not) and these factors will be taken into account. One result is likely to be a blog that is more visual, with less categorisation.

On projects…

I have lots of ideas going forward. I plan to release simpleContact 1.2 in November, and version 1.3 is pencilled in for February. I’ve made no secret of my intention to release a commercial product next year, which will exist alongside the free version and offer more sophisticated functionality (custom fields, for starters).

I’ll start work on simpleContact 2.0 “Pro” in the new year. Watch this space…

This period of focusing solely on a free version is proving immensely valuable, because it allows me to gauge people’s opinions. I can get a feel for what people need, how much active support I will have to perform and respond to bug reports or compatibility issues (which I’m pleased to say have been very few).

As always, I am open for feedback and support. I have a roadmap in place for the application, but will give requests due consideration. Contact me with yours…

Back to work!

Pixelmator is available now to buy (there is a 30-day trial). This is slightly later than originally projected, but that’s life in the world of software

I remarked in a previous post that this application looked like a possible alternative to Photoshop for the casual user or designer on a tight budget. I guess it’s time to find out if that’s true.

For $59 you can’t go far wrong.