The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 3 (of 5)

Was I right?

As some of you will know I'm a resident website developer for a Real Estate company.

Today one of the office managers came to me and tried to correct something on the website that they thought was a mistake.

On the front page there is a little blurb about careers at the company, with links to the careers section through the image, title, and a "learn more" link. There is also a link to the GM's online profile under the GM's name. Something like, "if want to know more contact <link: GM's name>".

The manager felt that the link under the GM's name should point to the careers section, not the profile.

I stated that this would confuse users as it breaks consistancy. i.e. click on the careers link to see the careers section. click on the GM's name to see the GM's profile.

Surely if you click on "Bill the User" you don't expect to end up at blue widgits? Or was I just being anal?

Jack of all
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

As a side note, the Managers response to my explanation was "bullshit, but hey, it's your baby"

Jack of all
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

Nice to see you have a respectful manager that values your knowledge :-)

Patrik
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

He wrote it was one of the office managers, presumably not his manager. So in that case f*ck him, he's just another clueless management type to be ignored.

Dude, next time, just smile and say, "You know, that's an interesting idea". And then get back to work.

Tired Mo'Fo'
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

I think you're correct.

Yoav
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

If you want to know more, give me a call at http://www.domain.com Or drop by my offices at mail@email.com .

www.MarkTAW.com
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

Eh?

Jack of all
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

Sure, I COULD expand it out... but where would the fun be in that?

Point taken.

Jack of all
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

I'm saying that "Contact Me" has the implication that by clicking the link you will directly be able to contact the person, or at the very least be given information on how to contact them.

Just as Call Me or Drop By implies that the phone number or address follow.

So when I see "Contact John Doe" I expect to be able to click on it and contact John Doe, not see a list of jobs.

Though I don't think that belongs on that page, it belongs on the career page itself, not the front page under the careers blurb.

www.MarkTAW.com
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

Is the 'To learn more' sentance in with the careers blurb, so that it looks like the link is to be taken in order to learn more about careers?

Perhaps a learn more link does not belong on the front page, since you want to be sure that somebody has at least looked at the careers page before contacting an individual.

Would it be a good idea to take the Learn More link from the front page blurb and put it on the careers page.

Ged Byrne
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

[[ Dude, next time, just smile and say, "You know, that's an interesting idea". And then get back to work. ]]

Excellent, I definitely need this one !

Evgeny Goldin
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

[He wrote it was one of the office managers, presumably not his manager. So in that case f*ck him, he's just another clueless management type to be ignored.

Dude, next time, just smile and say, "You know, that's an interesting idea". And then get back to work. ]

You know, the sign of a good developer is that he/she can taken input, even if it is in the form of an obscenity laced rant from a user, and try to find useful feedback.

We often produce flawed apps. The paradox is that people often get more frustrated by apps that ALMOST do what they want than with ones that don't even come close. Frustration means emotion. You have to learn how to deal with emotion laden feedback.

The original poster appears to have discussed the issue reasonably with the manager. Not surprisingly in the case of user interface issues, there was disagreement. I happen to agree with the original poster, but that doesn't really mean anything. It's not that he was right or wrong, but that he at least considered the input.

anon
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

On the homepage/nav bar, I'm used to:

Contact Us-> page with street addresses, phone numbers, email

Careers -> Jobs page or silly "Working here can be rewarding" page with link to jobs page

"If you want to know more, contact [link]" -> link to either email address or email form

YMMV,
Philo

Philo
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

>You know, the sign of a good developer is that he/she can taken input, even if it is in the form of an obscenity laced rant from a user, and try to find useful feedback. <

Tired Mo
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

>You know, the sign of a good developer is that he/she can taken input, even if it is in the form of an obscenity laced rant from a user, and try to find useful feedback. <

Sorry for the pseudo repeat post. Anyhoo:

I gotta disagree with anon. Anybody who uses any f*ckin' foul language with me, I'm not obligated to listen to. :-P

Tired Mo' Fo'
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

[I gotta disagree with anon. Anybody who uses any f*ckin' foul language with me, I'm not obligated to listen to. :-P ]

And that's fine too. It's just that, occasionally, the foul mouthed complainer might actually have a point. But listening or not is totally up to you.

anon
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

After reading the OP a couple of times I'd agree that consistency in the structure of the web page is a good idea, but without seeing the page itself I can't say whether it is designed right or not.

In particular, is it clear from the context that the "if you want to know more" link with the link to the GM refers to the company itself rather than to careers?

At least you have a link to a careers page on the company home page. A lot of companies hide it somewhere else.

mackinac
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

If it's not clear what a very simple item like this should do then it's poorly designed.

Clutch Cargo
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

The best thing to do in these types of situations is to find some small way to agree with the manager, and then make some vague promise to look into it later.

"Yeah, the user interface can always stand to be improved. I'll be working on an upgrade in the next few months, and I'll keep your suggestion in mind."

Something to that effect. In a day or two, the manager will forget all about it, and you won't have to change a thing.

J. D. Trollinger
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

Most real estate agents and their personnel are really pretty stupid. It's a personality and money and golfing and socialibility driven business.

The manager probably had no clue why anything on the web site was the way it was. The OP's explanation was almost without doubt completely lost on the stupid bastard. (Did I mention that we're not talking particularly high verbal skills either?)

Bored Bystander
Wednesday, November 5, 2003