At Click Here we have a saying: “Never use technology for technology’s sake.” This simply means that rather than focusing on using new and emerging tech just to make a splash, we key in on problems our clients face and then find the best way to arrive at solutions. Technology, after all, should always serve us and not the other way around. It is important to stay ahead of the curve, but it’s also vital to keep a cool head and think about the implications of any new web tools. When implementing innovative technology for the first time, it’s important to ask a few questions.
1. Will this technology add value to the project? Rather than just being “cool,” will the technology benefit the user in some way? Will it solve a problem?
2. Has the technology been established; is it stable? There’s no point in using a technology that is so cutting edge that it is still full of bugs. Sometimes a new piece of web tech requires some kind of hardware to use, a webcam or a specific type of smart phone. If your target audience doesn’t have this hardware, then the technology is useless.
3. Is the technology convenient? Even if it addresses a problem, users will move on immediately if it gets in the way or takes too long. An animated intro may provide valuable information, but returning visitors are not going to sit through it every time.
These can be difficult axioms to follow for those of us who thrive on digital trends and bleeding-edge advances in web development. It’s always tempting to jump at the chance to implement something original and cool. Recent years have been littered with web properties damaged because the people behind them were too concerned with what they could do and not what they should do.
Recently, Google announced its plans to pull the plug on Google Wave after the web tool failed to live up to its promise. Google’s engineers saw Wave as an opportunity to implement some advanced document collaboration technology and didn’t give nearly the consideration necessary to what users would actually need it for. After a splashy demonstration at Google I/O and weeks of anticipation, Google began sending out invites to select users. The near unanimous consensus was that Wave was cool, but most people couldn’t figure out what it was for. It implemented some fascinating in-browser technology, but it failed to demonstrate how these technologies actually improved its users’ lives.
A great example of such a failure that members of my generation will remember was Nintendo’s Power Glove. Every kid on the block wanted a Power Glove until the day they brought it home from the store and realized that it was useless for actually playing video games. Almost two decades later, Nintendo redeemed themselves by doing motion control the right way with the Wii console. This time, they built the system using the problem/solution model. The problem was finding a way to get gamers physically active while playing and by doing so engage a broader audience. It should also be noted that while the Wii was a revolutionary implementation, it is also far behind competitors Sony and Microsoft when it comes to other technologies such as high-definition output and graphics acceleration. The Wii doesn’t need those things to be successful because it doesn’t address the problem Nintendo set out to solve. The Power Glove was an important first step in developing this motion control technology and while it was a failure, it paved the way for Nintendo’s future success.
A new technology that looks poised to take the Internet by storm is HTML5. It’s been buzzing for months now. Such web giants as Google and Apple have endorsed the updated markup language. However, over 40% of the web surfing world still uses a browser that does not support HTML5 (Source: W3 Counter). While it promises to be the future of the Web, using HTML5 right now just doesn’t make sense for many of our clients. To do so would be using technology for technology’s sake and likely not create an effective solution. As a web development agency, Click Here has a responsibility to our partners to be informed about such new advances, but part of being informed is being able to say “no” to new tech.
To stay in front of emerging tech, Click Here has an internal, cross-discipline group set up specifically to push these boundaries and come up with interesting ways to apply new advances in digital development. Whenever we come across something that piques our interest, we take it upon ourselves to brainstorm how it could be beneficial to our partners. Then we build prototypes and put them through the paces. That way the failures we learn from are never at the expense of a client. We are always on the lookout for the next solution; however, any new technology must always be measured against its ability to solve a problem. After all, technology without purpose may be cool, but it’s very rarely profitable.
No matter how large or small the company, every organization undertakes projects. Companies from Google to the local bakery have project managers, even if they don’t know it. Every project from the Great Pyramid to Amazon.com has had one thing in common: a lowly human with no superpowers was the one responsible for making sure that necessary tasks were accomplished to achieve the desired goal. The job of project manager existed long before it was given a name. Over the years, many companies have recognized the importance of having a designated individual manage the project process. Since then, an entire culture has sprung up around project management, including something of an unofficial governing body in the Project Management Institute. Unfortunately, traditional project management also comes with a set of rules and regulations, guidelines and doctrine…a sort of project management dogma that must be followed. This sometimes-bloated process is often pursued without question and with no consideration for its impact on the quality of the final deliverables. Because of these obstacles, many web development agencies are turning to agile frameworks that allow for a more adaptive nature. One such methodology is Scrum. Scrum development is a lightweight project management solution that offers increased flexibility, efficiency and innovation.
Roles in Scrum include the Scrum Master (Project Manager) who facilitates the process and removes impediments that prevent team members from achieving their goal. The Product Owner represents the client and speaks with their voice. Everyone else simply has the title of team member. The team members are responsible for doing the actual work that makes the project a success (strategy, design, development, quality assurance, etc.). There are also people who will eventually use the product or have some vested interest, but don’t do any of the work and are not part of the Scrum process. These include project stakeholders and managers or executives who must give approval on the work.
Scrum breaks the total project workload into smaller prioritized segments called “sprints.” At the beginning of each sprint, a Sprint Planning Meeting is held to select which features are to be included. The idea is that at the conclusion of a sprint, the team will have a deliverable ready to ship. Once a feature set or “sprint backlog” has been agreed upon, including time commitments from team members, it cannot be changed. Any new features/functionality that are added after the start of a sprint must be folded into the next phase. This is helpful for the team members who don’t have to deal with drastic changes to the project scope midstream. More importantly, it allows for and even encourages changes to the overall feature set or “product backlog.” These changes are no longer viewed as extra work since they can easily be folded into the next sprint. At the end of a sprint, the “Sprint Retrospective Meeting” is held. The purpose of the meeting is to answer two questions and two questions only:
- What went well during the sprint?
- What could be improved in the next sprint?
Scrum development is best known for its daily “scrum” or standup meetings. It is called a scrum in reference to the play in rugby in which a team pushes down the field in tight formation. The scrum meeting is notable for its frequency. It happens every day at the same time and in the same location. It starts precisely on time without exception and has a hard stop at 15 minutes. Participants are required to stand because this encourages them to keep their comments brief and adhere to the time limit. All members of the team are welcome, but only team members that have ongoing work are allowed to talk. At each meeting team members answer only three questions.
- What did you do yesterday?
- What are you planning to do today?
- What obstacles are preventing you from accomplishing your goal?
The daily scrum meeting serves to identify and address problems early in the process. It is the Scrum Master’s responsibility to resolve any impediments to a team member’s progress. This ensures that no team member sits idle while issues go unaddressed. Because of these regular meetings, the team is able to adapt to changes or unexpected obstacles quickly without lost time and costs.
Traditionally, Scrum has been used for software development, but at Click Here we have worked to adapt the core principles to fit our marketing and advertising culture. Our teams have used Scrum on large website redesigns that require multiple resources working in parallel. How specifically does Scrum help? The daily meetings identify potential issues earlier in the process, and Click Here Scrum teams work in a collaborative way to find creative solutions to problems. Tackling and solving these problems early has saved our clients from costly delays as a product launch approaches. Adaptive methodology also gets our key client stakeholders more involved in their project by requiring numerous product deliveries and demonstrations throughout the life cycle of a project. When client and agency work as partners during the development process, it prevents surprises caused by any miscommunication during the planning phase.
Adaptive project management using Scrum is a proven methodology, but it’s important to remember it is not a silver bullet. Despite its benefits, Scrum is not for every project. Organizations committed to a traditional project management process will find it a dramatic shift in the way teams work. Also, for it to succeed, each team member must understand and be committed to the process. However, when organizations are able to implement Scrum, they are often rewarded with higher-quality work within a shorter delivery window. Scrum teams are flexible and can easily adapt to evolving project needs. In the world of online marketing, the only constant is change. Brands hoping to compete in the online space must be able to react quickly to changing trends and technology. Agile management solutions such as Scrum allow for projects to grow and evolve without redoing work. Such frameworks are ideal for the sometimes-shifting sands of digital advertising.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. Scrum has become something of a phenomenon in web and software development. More and more production shops are seeing the value in the flexible project framework and its principles. Scrum grew out of Agile Software Development and was created by one of the founding signatories of the Agile Manifesto, Ken Schwaber. You can see him explain many of the details in a Scrum presentation he gave at Google’s corporate campus. Also, check out some of these great online resources for Scrum development:
Videos
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85 million. That’s the number of iPhones and iPod Touch devices that have been sold to date.
300 thousand. That’s the number of iPad devices sold on the first day of its release.
7 million. That’s the number of iPads some analysts are predicting in its first year of production.
For brands depending on Flash-based websites as their primary messaging tool, these trends will result in close to 100 million touch-screen devices in market that cannot access your information. Gartner reported PC sales in 2009 totaled 306 million devices, so obviously Apple’s influence in the market is not insignificant. Adobe claims that Flash reaches 99% of Internet viewers, but these statistics only measure Internet-enabled desktops. In other words, Flash is installed on 99% of all devices that support Flash. Mac operating systems show 14% of users don’t have Flash installed, and that number grows with every iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad sold.
More importantly, the iPad opens the floodgates to an entirely new kind of device. With tablets, just as with the smart phone, Apple was not the first to the fight, but they did bring the biggest stick. Thanks to the success of iPad, consumers will now be inundated with tablet PCs ranging from the Android and Windows platforms to various flavors of Linux. Who is to say how each of these many tablets will handle Flash? Adobe has been promising Flash on Android and Palm’s Web OS smart phones for what seems like an eternity, and yet so far the public has seen only demos. If you depend heavily on a Flash website to communicate important messaging about your products or services, these facts should be concerning.
That being said, it is a mistake to write off Flash entirely. There are still some things it does better than any other web technology. Web designers and developers need to be smarter about how Flash is utilized. Intelligent web production shops will be more judicious with Flash, using it where it makes sense, but always being conscious of how and when Flash content will be viewed. As web browsers begin to adopt support for HTML 5 and CSS 3, which allow for richer native experiences, these technologies should be harnessed where appropriate. Many big sites like YouTube have already begun the transition to HTML 5 for video. While the HTML 5 video embed still does not allow for near the functionality of Flash, YouTube recognizes that it needs to provide the option for those using devices that don’t support the plug-in.
On today’s Web, rich alternate content should always accompany any use of Flash. The days of quickly putting together a “Get Flash” page at the last minute are over. Those who browse on the iPhone and iPad cannot be treated as second-class citizens. The last thing a user wants is to see the infamous Lego brick that indicates a missing Flash plug-in when viewing a site. Also, while there may still be a call for Flash-based sites, the majority of web properties utilizing Flash need to be constructed as a hybrid of front-end web technologies.
There is enough room in the digital space for both Apple and Flash. However, Internet content producers that cannot adjust to a shifting landscape will be left behind. So what steps should web-savvy brands take to ensure users continue to have access to their content? First of all, ask questions such as:
- What technologies are we currently using in our web design?
- Why were those technologies selected in the first place?
- How do these specific web platforms render on Apple touch-screen and other mobile devices?
Knowing what technologies are utilized in your online properties is essential. Secondly, don’t panic. After all, Flash isn’t dead and in many cases it may still be the right platform for your users. If you determine that you have a sizeable audience segment using devices that do not support Flash, begin the process of creating alternate content. In some instances, it may make sense to replace Flash altogether, but usually you will not be able to completely duplicate the valuable, rich user interaction that Flash provides. When this is the case, make sure that the experience is also optimized for those browsing without the Flash plug-in.
As Adobe and Apple battle over the relevance of the Flash platform, the rules will continue to change. More than ever, careful thought and consideration is needed when deciding what technologies to use in the construction of your websites.
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