I found this side note on page 207, it relates to keeping your end Web site
product practical.
The little Site That Could
Once upon a time, way back in 1996, Carl
Smith (now of nGen Works)
of Husk Jennings Advertising received a call from a large media company
inquiring whether Carl and his team could build them a Web site in two
weeks. Carl assured them he could make their deadline. After all, they
had a budget of $8,000.
The site was delivered on time. It was very simple, clean site that
had brief text with a single custom icon on each page. Carl and his
team did what was reasonable with the given time and budget. They kept
it streamlined and within user-download capabilities.
A few days later, the client called and read Carl the riot act. It
turned out that a different department of the client's company has hired
another (now absorbed/defunct) Web agency to build the site as well.
It was beautiful. It blinked! It flashed! It actually had sound! The
other design firm obviously knew how to build a site. Husk Jennings
Advertising obviously did not.
A week went by and Carl got another call from the client. Suddenly
the client loved him. "You're brilliant," the client said. "Your site
rated #1 in usability testing. It is easy to use and straightforward.
Not at all like that complicated other site."
And the lesson here is?
Great story, I would add that the above noted Web site was persuasive and
usable for the end-user because of Carl having focused on the usability,
accessibility, information Architecture, and omitting the bells and whistles.
