SiteCrafting Blah Blah Blog
Mar. 28, 2008 at 5:40pm
Change is Good
Normally government websites tend to be pretty dry and information-oriented, so I was expecting more of the same when I checked the Snoqualmie Pass traffic cameras from the WSDOT this morning. All the standard stuff that I've come to expect from years of checking the site before driving across the pass was there. However, there was one part of the site that gave me a good laugh this morning. Camera 2 was wiped out in an avalanche over the winter, but rather than a simple "Camera Unavailable" message that I've seen in the past, I saw this:
I fought an avalanche and the avalanche won.This camera was so badly damaged we can't repair it until this summer.
Pretty basic message, but a nice change of pace. Not only does it get the information about the camera out, but it has a little humor to go along with it. This image got me thinking about ways that businesses can make little changes to get
We're pretty tongue-in-cheek on our site, but we're certainly not the first to take this approach. It's becoming more common now for companies to have a human voice, so customers feel like a person and not just a sales figure. While it's still important to stay on point with your company message, a little variation to spice things up always is nice.
So how can you mix it up? Try making a connection with your customers on a different level, maybe one that they aren't expecting. If you want to try something that may seem a little "out there," go for it. Making a change on your site is a pretty quick thing. A creative ad for a featured item, some humorous text, or a page written in plain English may make more of an impact than you may think. If it doesn't work, no big deal. Play with your site, have some fun. The web is meant to be a flexible medium, you don't have to get everything perfect the first time.
I'm not saying that you should kick off your shoes and go nuts completely overhauling your site, but mix it up every once in awhile. A little change in your website's voice can catch someone off guard and make your site stick in their mind.
Posted in Deep Thoughts, Odds 'n Ends by Mike Ash
Comments (3)
Great post, Mike.
1 | Left by Bernie Zimmermann | Mar. 29, 2008 at 10:20am
Nick says:
Great find Mike! This reminds me of an article I read a while back about the value of useful error messages (or at least "friendly" ones). So many times we see sites that have 404 pages and the like that really don't offer much other than the web's equivalent to a DEAD END sign.
It's amazing how much a site's look and feel can improve just by making these pages more friendly to the people that will actually see them (namely the end-user).
2 | Mar. 29, 2008 at 10:40pm
Ken says:
Creative messages that like are memorable. I remember one incident, before the prevalence of computers, where my brothers, sister, and I were watching one of those late night horror shows on Channel 13, if I remember correctly. At one point, the TV screen went black and we waited for several minutes for the picture to return, at the time there were only about 3 channels on that late.
As we were speculating on what the problem was, the announcer's voice came over the TV and said something like this, "We're sorry for the inconvenience, but the tape has fallen to the floor and we are attempting to put it back on." Of course, we all started imagining the technicians chasing the tape down the hall and into the street and then trying to roll the whole thing back onto the reel.
3 | Mar. 31, 2008 at 11:32am