One of my favorite moments is when my kids take over the kitchen. Last night, my 18 year old daughter and her boyfriend decided to make chocolate covered strawberries after we’d made a big dinner for everyone. They’d never done it before.

They went out to the store and bought chocolate chips and big, fat strawberries.

Back at the house, they dumped the chips into a pan and melted them. However, it didn’t have right consistency. It was too thick. So they put in some milk and kept stirring. It still wasn’t right. I didn’t do or say anything. It was fun to watch them figure things out. Finally, after a bit of despair, my daughter decided to throw out the melted chocolate and start over.

That’s when I leapt up in defense and took the pan from her as she was putting water into it. Boyfriend and I were determined to eat that chocolate and couldn’t believe she’d dream of throwing it out.

I poured out the water and her boyfriend and I managed to save the chocolate, which now, with the little bit of water in it, finally melted into a nice, smooth consistency.

They dipped in the strawberries. They dipped in bananas. They rolled trail mix around in it. When they were done, they marveled that some stores charge $3.00 for one chocolate covered strawberry and here they had made an entire pile of chocolate covered fruit and nuts for $4.00.

What’s more important, however, is that they created their own experience and learned from it.

MySpace for My Space

I’ve tried Facebook and Twitter because my friends were there and convinced me to try them out. For the past two weeks I’ve been playing around with a MySpace account I made for myself. I wanted to see what it was like.

I had also needed a place where I didn’t have to be “Kim the Usability Consultant” or “Kim from Cre8pc” or any other versions of me. I wanted a place where I could let down my shields and barriers. Where I’m purely, 100%, no holes barred me. I have one friend in MySpace.

He’s been teaching me about it. His group of friends thrive there. The 20’s and 30’s crowd are so inventive, clever, raw and bold. Nearly every female is showing her breasts. The males aren’t nearly so obsessed with their own bodies. They seem to go for mood or shock value. Some of the women are high maintenance and can’t decide who they are or what they want to show on any given day. Their picture changes every day and if you go to their profile, there are 300 more pictures of them, just in case you want to see her from every possible, conceivable angle.

It’s taken me the entire two weeks to figure out how to navigate MySpace. It took me two days to figure out I had a new message. Changing my profile was horrendous because I never remembered where things were. The user interface explodes with ads and videos. And most of the images belong to a generation I don’t belong to. They’re finding themselves.

I’m not lost. I belong in a different place.

The one element I do like is the ability to put up a song. This is something Facebook doesn’t have. While typically, usability folks think adding sound is akin to eating gravel, I think with MySpace it helps to tell the story of the person whose page you’re on. I happen to love “Alice”, one of Moby’s new songs and added it to my page. There are controls to turn it off if you want to. I like listening to the music selections put up by people however. It helps me understand a little something more about them.

As much as I might like the energy and vitality at MySpace, I also feel like I’m on the outside looking in. It’s definitely a great place for single people. I can see how it can be useful to groups of friends who like to be in constant touch with each other. But the user interface is like my daughter’s bedroom.

Complete and total chaos.

Sometimes it’s fun to try on a web site first to see if you like it. It helps you figure out what you like. It opens you up to what other people like you might gravitate towards. I find that when I explore like this, I’m more open minded about usability because I see different user interfaces and who responds to what.

And if I want to be a bare breasted free spirited woman in one of those sites, all the better.

My job could never be called “boring”.

I got a message from Facebook today. Someone indicated I am “hot” in one of those “Compare” applications. I accepted this word graciously offered to me and clung to it like a cat pouncing a mouse.

Facebook has been interesting to explore. MySpace has a cluttered, chaotic user interface that confuses the hell out of me. Facebook is organized and loaded with more ways to connect with and keep track of friends. Not a day goes by where someone is stuck in a bus or elevator, having a terrible day, promoting a blog post, breaking up, or matching me in my taste for food, sex, life, movies, books, and what I’d do if I could start all over again in life.

If you’re sensitive, not being voted as “hot”, “most desirable”, “pretty”, “handsome”, “most want to date” or “best hair” can ruin your week. Facebook can boost your ego and kick it down. Since I’ve never been voted “hot” before, I’ve had some days where this really ticked me off. Am I too old? Am I not pretty enough? Am I fat?

And then there’s Twitter. I gave it a shot. I don’t think I’m cut out for it. You see, when I “talk” to somebody by name, and they don’t respond to me, I wonder what I did to deserve being ignored. Not everyone is on Twitter when you are. Chances are, I didn’t do anything to be snubbed, but communication online may not be what human beings were designed to do.

Not me, anyway.

I’m one of those energy and vibration persons. For me, I get more information by what’s not spoken. I do the soul-to-soul, look into a person’s eyes kind of contact. For me, the Internet has always been a constant communication lesson. It’s also an experiment in how or if I will adapt.

Maybe it’s younger people raised on the Internet who need less human touch to understand another person?

I’m old school, from the days of hippies and wild, vibrant colors. I hug. I touch. I ask tons of questions of someone who fascinates me. When I really like someone, it’s because I admire something about them and want to learn whatever they’re willing to teach me. This may be why I’ve kept Cre8asiteforums going for so long (it debuted in 1998 in an earlier form). I can’t physically sit with all the people I want to know but I appreciate whatever they’re willing to type and share.

In a forum, people develop a sense of community. They bond. In Facebook and Twitter, I don’t sense this same feeling. In Facebook, for example, there is a Top Friends application. If someone claims you are a “top friend” and you don’t even know them, what do you do? With Twitter, there are “followers” and those you “follow”. You don’t have to follow those who follow you, but if you don’t, doesn’t that feel rude?

And then there’s times when you had a Facebook or Twitter friend, and they suddenly dump you. How do people today define “Friend”?

For me, a friend is someone who talks to me and doesn’t make me guess what the hell is going on. In real life, friends can sit with you. You can look at them. See their face. Study their vibe. You can tell when something’s up. Not online. It just was never intended to work that way.

Sometimes I think I’m not cut out for the Internet. It’s far too easy to be misunderstood when the thing that separates you from another person is a keyboard. Even a user interface can put roadblocks in your way. Twitter doesn’t allow emoticons to help express the meaning behind words, for example.

I can tell that I surprise some people when they meet me for the first time. I can be professional. I can be corny. I’ve noticed that some people will talk to me in person but won’t respond to me online. Mike Grehan recently wrote,

I remember arriving and bumping into the wonderfully warm and huggy Kim Krause (yes, the very same Kim Krause spotted on stage singing in a New York nightclub last week!).

It’s easy to be “warm and huggy” when I’m in a situaiton where I know that Kim won’t freak out anyone. I still make the mistake of touching a knee and scaring the crap out of the person because they’re not used to being touched. It’s not like I just jumped into their lap or anything. It’s a knee and I was likely laughing my head off at the same time, not drooling or begging for a wild night in bed.

Which brings me full circle back to Facebook and not being “hot” enough. How would anyone know if I am or not?

With social networking web sites, we can put up anything we want to. We can present any persona we want to. I like to mix my professional identity with the rest of me because in my work, much of me leaks in anyway. I really do care about the web sites I work on. I really do care about my clients and helping them. I really do appreciate their trust and faith in me. I’m loyal to my return clients and give them discounts. I really do refer my partners to companies seeking good help.

Clients don’t want me to be “hot” and I understand that being hot won’t bring me in new business. User generated content and feedback like games, comments, testimonials, and remarks about you are validating, however. Some days you just want to know you’re more than words on a page.

I often wonder about the “social” web and what we’re trying to create with it. I may never be satisfied with the Internet user experience.

It has yet to be able to give me a real live hug.

There’s a small trick I do with my online order form that helps to identify one of the first problems a web site may have. I purposely don’t ask for a business address or phone number right away. I don’t want to know what these are. As a web site usability consultant, when I visit a client’s web site for the first time, learning how to contact them is my first official task. If I can’t locate this information, or it’s a pain in the neck to find, I’ve discovered their first customer service issue.

I wouldn’t recommend that you do this with your online business, especially if you are selling products. Your responsibility is to gather accurate information for your transactions immediately so that you can conduct business in an efficient, courteous manner. I, too, have reasons to be more formal, depending on the project. Both you and I have a strong desire to conduct business or provide information in a positive, productive way.

If we do not, how do we know when we’ve failed? How do we know when we’ve succeeded? If we don’t make the effort to include customers ‘ needs and desires in our interaction with them, and our competitors do, what message does this send? Are you inviting user feedback?

Dear Google, Your Application is Groovy

Search marketers know that local searches are a new arena for promoting online businesses. One way to do this is by informing Google Maps that a business exists. When Google has this information, with data provided by a site owner or their Internet Marketing Consultant, it is more likely a search for your product or service, in your town, will display your business.

I decided to enter my business into the Google Maps application (http://maps.google.com/). There are several steps to the application, with helpful user instructions to guide you. When I reached the end, I had several options for how Google could verify that it was I submitting the data, rather than someone not associated with my business. This extra effort towards accuracy signals a desire to be customer service oriented.

Since I believe in positive reinforcement, I would have liked to have sent a “high five” to Google because I had a good experience using their application. However, on the last screen, there was no place to offer feedback of any kind. I couldn’t rate it. I couldn’t recommend it to someone. I couldn’t send an email. I couldn’t answer a one-question quick survey such as “Did you enjoy adding your business to Google Maps?” or “Did you have any problems entering your business and if so, please send us your experience.”

I know Google is user centric. This is a missed opportunity for user feedback. It’s a missed opportunity to get a pat on the back for a job well done. We all like to hear about when we’ve done something
a site visitor appreciates.

Please continue reading this article here.

For those who get a kick out of a forums that has never taken itself seriously, stop on by before we get boring again.

Missed our antics? View the visual history in April Fools 2008 at Cre8asiteforums.