Design Principles - Graphic Design and Web Design for Southeastern Massachusetts

Recently a client asked us what we do to test our websites. He had heard from a friend or family member that website testing was important, but didn’t realize that such a thing even existed. What does it entail? How important is it? Do we even DO it?

This is a fair question. In fact, it’s a great question, as it creates an opening for me to talk about something that most people (frankly) wouldn’t be terribly interested in hearing about.

Browser testing a website refers to the process of ensuring that a website’s display and functionality remains intact no matter which web browser or platform (computer “brand”) a visitor is using.

Thanks to some clever television commercials, most folks are aware that there are two major “brands” of computer: those that run Windows and those that run Mac OS X (apologies to Linux fans out there). Fewer people realize that you’re able to choose which web browser you’d prefer to “consume” the Internet with — that you’re not limited only to Internet Explorer on Windows (the blue “e”) or to Safari on the Mac. In fact, according to Wikipedia, there are 25 different browsers available for Internet users to choose from. Twenty-six if you count Internet Explorer 6 as a browser.

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We’ve worked with a number of business owners over the years who have come to us to boost their company’s image.

Our process is tailored such that the business owner will get a corporate identity or marketing piece that they love, but at some point it’s necessary to ensure that the piece is also going to work well for the business.

This is the crux of the issue: the question is not always, “Do you love what we’ve created?” Instead we need to be asking, “Is the piece we’ve created going to achieve our goal?”

There is often a healthy overlap between the answers to these two questions. Most of the time, the business owner is not only attracted to the aesthetics of what we’ve created, but also realizes that we’ve designed the piece to ensure that the customer will be attracted to it as well, and called to act (by purchasing a product or contacting the company for a service, etc.).

At times, though, there’s a disconnect between the business owner’s sense of style and a piece that consumers will respond to. At those times, I think it’s our responsibility to make clear our position in the relationship with our client: we are designers and consultants, not merely surrogate hands on a keyboard and mouse.

It’s our job to make sure that you are presenting the best possible face to the public, which is not necessarily your idea of the best looking one.

While we always want you to love what’s created, it is sometimes more important to rely on us to creatively deliver a quality product that your market will respond to.

Just sayin’.

Recently, Design Principles suffered a minor disaster — we had a burst pipe that flooded the office.

Not a huge flood. It wasn’t biblical or overly dramatic (though I was, initially), but it’s surprising how much trouble two to three inches of water can cause. The entire office was covered; the floor was actually floating atop it in some places, and it clearly had damaged all the walls and trim to a certain degree.

It was instantly clear that we needed a professional service to come in and help. My tiny half-gallon wet/dry vac and meager home-improvement skills were clearly inadequate. We called a disaster cleanup franchise in New Bedford we’d heard of before and they spent the first week getting rid of the water, cutting into the walls, removing insulation, and drying the place out. The workers were courteous and satisfied me that they knew what they were doing.

During the course of the cleanup, the franchise owner came out to check on the job status, which I thought was a nice touch. We chatted for a bit about Design Principles and what we do. We talked about the importance of a company’s appearance, their treatment of the customer, and the importance of a job well-done. As a business owner, this guy clearly knew that delivering a solid service to his customers was of paramount importance.

Eventually I asked if he had a website. “No,” he replied. “I haven’t done that yet. When the time comes, I can probably just do it myself.”

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Believe me, I get it. It’s easy to put off branding your company. Eleven years have passed before we’ve had the chance to put our finishing touches on our own corporate identity and to launch a website representative of our services. And the sad reality is I KNOW how important “image” is to the success of a business…it’s what I do for a living. I am the founder and president of Design Principles, Inc., a creative agency that has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs like you project a dynamic and professional corporate image. (more…)