Nicholas Peterson

Recently, I was reconnecting with an old friend, and I learned he now worked in the web industry as a flash designer.  He mentioned to me his desire to learn more about web design, but said that he needed to save up money to purchase Adobe CS3. I told him I would compile a list of resources for immersion.

I asked him if he had read Jeffrey Zeldman’s Designing With Web Standards.  He said he’d heard of it but hadn’t read it.

Designing With Web Standards is the first book on my list.

I came to web standards later in my education about web design and strategy.

I started learning HTML when some sites were tagged with the small icon “Best Viewed in Netscape Navigator”.  Early web design classes were focused on learning HTML and Dreamweaver instead of understanding why we design something in a certain structural way.

I’ll admit it, I was taught to design with tables.  Knowing the speed at which technology evolves, I have always been committed to life-long learning and professional development.  (Is there another choice?) At some point (and I don’t remember when) it was time to read DWWS.

I highly recommend and suggest it.  It is required reading.  Plus, I don’t think I know anybody who wouldn’t like Zeldman’s sense of humor and writing style (maybe this says more about me, though).

Zeldman’s long-running personal site is one I visit on a regular basis.

Before I read DWWS, I already had learned HTML and had also was fairly skilled in using Dreamweaver.  I believe if you’re going to learn Dreamweaver you’re going to need to learn HTML, too.  It’s a quality product but you still have to be able to debug and troubleshoot.  You cannot be afraid to get your hands dirty under the hood of your design.

Design is often strategic problem solving, and it should be expected that there will be troubleshooting and change. Being fluid and competent in foundational, building-blocks is essential.  For this reason, I would suggest Lynda Weinman’s excellent series of books and online tutorials to learn programs.  I would also suggest WestCiv’s incredibly useful tutorials as well as their CSS program, Style Master.  Do your own research and decide which is right for you.

Far and away the best resource for web design is A List Apart.

I have literally spent hours going through the archives of ALA exploring subject after subject and I know I’m not the only one.  If you’re new to ALA, I would suggest reading “The ALA Primer: A Guide for New Readers” and “The ALA Primer Part Two: Resources for Beginners”.  These two articles will lead you to essential reading both on ALA and beyond.

Understanding web design is far more than just knowing how to use a WYSIWYG, a mark-up language, or any specific program, so there is definitely more information to absorb.  One of the first books I read on web usability was Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think.  It is still a must read.  I gave my dog-eared copy to a colleague to give him an overview and, since then, he has said he believes it is required reading for anybody working on the web (I still haven’t gotten it back yet!)  Last year, at An Event Apart, Steve Krug spoke with his “Web Usability Diet”.  If you have the opportunity to see him present, don’t pass it up.

As is the case with any profession, keeping sharp and up on new events and opportunities is essential.  Long ago, while I was earning my BA in theatre a professional actor told me and other students (paraphrasing):

“You keep taking classes while you’re working because it is all about tools for your toolbox.  It gives you more angles to approach a role or situation.  You can never have too many tools.”

I take the same approach with web design, strategy, and utilizing the internet to market and promote.

That being said, one of the places where I find a marvelous community talking about the web is Twitter.  People share their links and ideas in 140 characters or less.  Here are some people to follow:

• Jeffrey Zeldman (mentioned above, of course)
• Rick Sanchez from CNN (he started using Twitter while covering Hurricane Gustav and there is now an interesting interplay with his live show and tweets)
• Steve Garfield (mobile video broadcaster in Boston)
• Gary Vaynerchuk of Winelibrary.com
• Jared M. Spool (usability)
• Sooz (web marketing, event planning, and photography)
• Lee LeFever (offering some of the best instructional videos on technology)
• Charles McEnerney (Podcaster, Social Media Consultant, & Director of Marketing for ArtsBoston)
• Jeffrey Veen (a web innovator)
• Chris Brogan (social media)

For news alerts:

• BreakingNewsOn (The News Wire Alert-find out before most news sites or the television does)
• CNN Breaking News
• NYTimes.com Alerts

Stay connected and informed.  And, go out and get more tools for your toolbox.

AARONOW:  What.  What kind of outfit are we running where…where anyone…
ROMA: (to himself) They stole the phones.
AARONOW: Where criminals can come in here… they take the…
ROMA: They stole the phones.  They stole the leads.

- Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet

Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize winning play was written in a sales age before cell phones.  To cripple a company all you had to do is take away the phones.

Every professional theatre company where I have worked has developed, at one time or another, an obsession with the phone lines.  This obsession isn’t unwarranted.  If patrons are not able to get through, they aren’t able to buy tickets over the phone—a possible disaster. The channel needs to operate seamlessly.

What about ordering online?  When do we become obsessed with the internet?

Over a year ago, Jakob Nielsen wrote an Alertbox called “Do Government Agencies and Non-Profits get ROI from Usability?” After reading this article, I thought about the obsession over phones:

• Are the phone lines open?
• Are calls being dropped?
• Can we free up people to answer more phones?

A few essential questions an organization needs to answer:

1. What percentage of calls to the box office are transaction related?
2. Can non-transaction related traffic be easily directed to a company’s website?
3. Are there benefits of ordering on the phone versus online?

If the answer to questions 2 and 3 are “yes” then there needs to be a greater emphasis on load balancing and channel management.

It’s time to become obsessed with the web.

And, it is time to improve the usability of the website.

Typically, the phone-related obsession happens after the phones start ringing.  When the phones are quiet, the focus is on getting them ringing.  There is an assumption that everything that is in place is sufficient.  And, it may be.  However, do we exhibit stronger strategic planning behavior when we are reacting to success rather than preparing for it?

The most common reaction is pulling staff members from their regular duties to answer the phones so tickets may be sold.  What sacrifices are being made?  For the marketing staff,  it may be the execution of a strategy for the next show.  What about the fundraising implications, if it’s a member of the development staff?

There are costs to every solution.  However, there are web solutions that may provide long term sustainability and growth. Investing in a usable website promotes a pleasant customer experience and repeat buyers.  The website may be able to manage more transactions than the phone system.

Think of the following scenario:

1. A prospective ticket buyer calls a theatre company.
2. They are put in a queue or get a busy signal.

Three Key questions to answer about this scenario:

1. How long does someone wait before they abandon their call?
2. How many times do they call back before they give up?
3. Why aren’t they going online?

In this scenario here’s how you can categorize patron behavior:

1. Patron sticks it out and eventually buys tickets over the phone. You may have taken up a lot of their time, though.  The theatrical experience better be worth it.
2. Patron gives up. A lost purchase making them dissatisfied and disappointed. What if these patrons go online?  If they do that, there is another chance they are converted into ticket buyer or a patron of the organization.

However, the experience is subpar if the organization’s website is not easy to use or there isn’t the same service or choice for the patron who opts to buy online versus over the phone

Then, there is real value to purchasing over the phone.  Is it worth the wait?

The patron needs to be comfortable and confident they will receive the same quality of service online as they will over the phone.  Their experience needs to be the same or better.  They need to be convinced it is okay and maybe even more convenient for them to purchase online.

Overall, organizations need to keep tabs on the quality of their customer experience and on potential web usability problems.

Arts organizations need to start benchmarking the following data:

Single Ticket Transactions

• Percentage sold over the phone
• Percentage sold in person
• Percentage sold online

Subscription/Single Ticket Transactions

• Percentage sold via the mail
• Percentage sold over the phone
• Percentage sold in person
• Percentage sold online

Research needs to be done to determine whether there are trends in behavior based on geographic location or type of organization.

Four years ago when I first met Tom Holm at Enertex Marketing, he mentioned how many arts organizations in the San Franscisco Bay Area were no longer including snail mail order forms on their brochures.

Sounds like blasphemy doesn’t it?

He said that the mail-in order forms were no longer being used.

Shouldn’t that be a goal, though?

Just think of the money that could be saved and reinvested in other areas!

Now is the time to start thinking about the customer experience of your website.  It is time to make it easier to use and more effective.  It is time to change patron behavior, encouraging them to consistently make online transactions.

If not, what will you do if someone steals your phones?

Over the past year, I have worked with the Boston-area, web marketer, event planner, and photographer, Sooz on bringing bloggers to see productions at the American Repertory Theatre.  We’ve conspired at length about what it would take and what opportunities exist.

This is part of a mission I have in creating conversations about theatre online through introducing novice, or even occasional theatergoers to new experiences.  At the Blog session at the Boston Theatre Conference, I mentioned that my goal with these conversations is to create a judgment-free place where people can write about their experience.  These theatergoers are able to experience the organization with fresh eyes.  They get to tell their story.  It changes online narrative about what the customer experience is of the play.  The dominant narrative may no longer be the expert view from a critic.

When I was growing up, on the way to the theatre (whether I was about to see Shakespeare or Shaw) my parents would give me an outline of the play I was about to see.  It was enough that I would understand what was going on, even if I didn’t completely understand the language.  I was supposed to be able to identify theatrical devices and structural elements.  On the drive home, we would have a half-hour discussion where I would be asked what I thought of the piece.  I was nine years old or so.  To this day, after my parents come see a performance at any theatre I have worked at, there is always a debriefing .  Experiencing a work of art doesn’t only happen in the theatre or a museum but in the conversations it creates.

Of course, I know I’m not the only one who has had these discussions. It is one of the wonderful parts of theatre.

I know adults with no theatre-viewing experience.  They may be uncomfortable and maybe even a little embarrassed.  They have them, too.  And, we should encourage these conversations to happen.

What Sooz and I are trying to do by inviting bloggers to the A.R.T. is create an environment in which those conversations are able to happen.  I have read eloquent stories on blogs.  People beautifully document their lives and passions.  They tell us of their experiences.

We’re almost getting back to basics of what it means to be an audience member and creating an online framework for how patrons may experience art.  We’re trying to expand the experience after the curtain goes down.

If you’re a blogger and might be interested in seeing Anna Deavere Smith performing Let Me Down Easy on September 16, learn more and RSVP here.