Getting squashed

Walking in this morning something occurred to me. Whilst taking our early morning jaunt across Amsterdam to the venue we've had loads of close encounters with cyclists, cars and worse still trams. You don't hear those buggers coming. There seems to be no logic to their road system. All the locals seem to understand it but we are constantly checking both ways as not sure where things are coming from. To complicate matters there are roads, cycle paths and then tram lines. So you think your standing at a safe spot in the middle of the road, almost like a pavement only to realise you have tram lines running under you feet and stay there and you will get mowed down by the SBD trams, (something else I've learnt, not to use acronyms but hey).

So whats my point? We are having all these statements rammed down our throat and one of which I have heard from most of the speakers is understand your audience and don't make things too personal. If you have a global audience don't use things that localise your site. Much like the roads in Amsterdam the locals know how to use them and if I was to stay hear long enough I might understand them but I am only here for a few days. We need to think about our users in the same manner. They are more often than not on a flying visit. Don't confuse them with stuff that is personal and localised or like me that will end up getting frightened and never attempt to cross that road again or in web terms never come back to the site.