Pat’s Point of View

Lucky I have a terabyte of storage, I’m going to need it if we keep taking this many photos of our kids! Here’s a sample from weeks 6-12.

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I read with interest, Any Rutlidge’s post on Pre-Bid Discussions. You see, Andy was invited to bid for some work but decided not to do so after an enlightening discussion with his potential client, in which he got a good sense for the project timeline, the nature of the work and whether or not it is work he even wanted to do.

To others, these concerns might seem ridiculous, because for some agencies and freelancers the only relevant pre-bid concerns are 1) is there a slight possibility that I can do the work? and 2) can the client pay? For these folks, nothing else is relevant to pre-bid discussion. The likely result of this foolish approach is a succession of nightmare projects with only periodic success, and a stressed-out and unhappy life and/or staff as the norm.

I know exactly what he means. There have been quite a few times I have wondered why we—the agency I was working for—were even involved in some projects. But in recent years, I’m happy to say that there was more careful consideration given to the work that was taken on, particularly which tenders and RFCs to respond to. In fact, my ex-colleague Cairo Walker developed a set of criteria, or questions to be asked of clients, for this very purpose. (Perhaps this knod her way will entice her to post her thoughts on the subject!)

I like Andy’s approach, but I think many organisations will come face to face with the issue of branding. Not the pretty logo they use but who they are and what they want to achieve—their values. Without a clear sense of this, determining whether a potential client is in-line with your brand will be difficult. The logistics such as budget and schedule can be assessed

All in all, I would recommend we all do more of this vetting, whilst fully admitting that I’m not the best when it comes to this; I have a terribly bad habit of attempting to diligently do whatever anyone asks!

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To my surprise, there is some good TV to be found later at night. Two programs I have discovered recently are:

• Balls of Steel (Tuesday 10:30pm, Channel 9) – I know it’s old but it can be hilarious at times. I particularly like “Neg’s Urban Sports” and “The Pain Men” (I wish they aired their show Dirty Sanchez in Australia).
• Kung Faux (Monday 10:00pm, ABC2) – This is an awesome collection of 70’s kung-fu movies dubbed over with funky voices and put to modern break-beats and house. Think “Bargearse” from The Late Show days. Very cool.

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I have a few nick names for my daughter, but one of the most apt is “Princess Grumbles” because she does get stroppy from time to time—common for Picean women I hear :)

Yet lately, she has taken her grumbliness to a new level. She has a cold, you see, and we believe she has also started teething. This is one more in a string of early bloomer events for young Grace, she was early entering this world, early to get into regular sleep patterns and now early to sprout teeth. It’s not unheard of but teething normally starts at about six months, not three.

So it was a decidedly un-relaxing weekend, hopefully she feels better soon.

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In what is probably my last article for Step Two, entitled Intranet (re)design wrap-up, I summarise the vast amount of information on intranets that has been published by Step Two Designs over the years. The point is to aid intranet managers, or anyone involved in a redesign, in leveraging the useful nuggets contained throughout the many articles and get started in the right direction.

So you’re sitting at your desk and you have to redesign your intranet (or design one from scratch). Where on earth do you start? By any measure, this is no easy task. The multitude of factors that need to be taken into account can be overwhelming.

Over the years, we have published a vast amount of information on intranets, offering the benefits of our experience and giving practical advice on intranet management, information architecture and content management.

In this article, we attempt to wrap up all the activities that form part of an intranet (re)design into one concise checklist.

Along the way, references will be given to our most popular articles, giving you more detail on particular topics. The goal is to give you an excellent starting point for undertaking an intranet (re)design and also to provide support throughout the process.

Read the full intranet (re)design wrap-up article.

This article focuses on the big picture and a user-centred design methodology. I firmly believe that despite these projects becoming huge beasts, they can be successfully tackled by taking the right approach and applying simple techniques. For example, some of the more common information architecture techniques in use today are card sorting and wireframes. These are in themselves simple to master, but can prove very effective if used in the right way on a big project that has been broken down into sensible pieces. (On this note, I hope to release an article dedicated to wireframes very soon).

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I’ve just helped redesign the website for this year’s “Yes for Kids” colour ball.

The site was designed to be easily updateable each year, so the same basic structure exists from last year. The design this time around is in keeping with this year’s electric blue theme for the ball.

The ball itself is run by Redkite, an Australian charity that aims to support children and their families through cancer. Here are the vital facts:

• When: Saturday 12th July 2008, from 7pm until midnight
• Location: Foundation Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art
• Dress: Cocktail attire with an ‘Electric Blue’ touch
• Band: Hit Machine
• After party: Garden Bar at the Establishment
• MC: Brad McEwan, presenter of Sports Tonight on Network Ten
• Tickets: $150 each (group discounts available)

It’s a good cause so buy a ticket if you fancy a good night out. By the way, they’re still looking for sponsors too, so if you know anyone…

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