Tuesday 18 November 2008

Short change


We're staying in the Swissotel. It's very nice. The Swiss are known for 2 things, chocolate and timepieces. Each evening I find a Toblerone has been left on my pillow, I don't think Rob gets one as he's staying in economy class. And each morning Rob is late (even though he has brought 5 watches with him), so the Swiss effect hasn't rubbed off on him yet.

However I've just got back to my room, and there was NO chocolate. I was not happy. It wouldn't normally bother me, but I had become use to it as a little treat for the long walk back from the conference hotel - it's nearly half an hour you know. So I moped about the room for a bit (not on one of these, but the grumpy type), and then thought I'd get a drink from the fridge (I don't think Rob has one of these either). And there I saw my Toblerone. Probably in the right place, keeping it nice and cold, but not where I thought it would be.

Of course I wouldn't be telling you this dull anecdote unless it had a connection with website design. I am now a repeat visitor to my room, I've been here 3 days. And I expect things to be in a certain place. If they are not then I get frustrated and feel a little down. Had this been my first night in the hotel (an infrequent visitor) I'd have no expectation, and would have been delighted when I found the chilled triangular choc. So what am I struggling to say here? Be careful of change for change sake. If you're going to revamp your site then make sure you have a good reason. Especially if you get a lot of repeat visitors. The rationale 'it looks tired' or 'it needs a refresh' is rarely true. Only because we look at the site every day do we have these thoughts - these are seldom shared by our customers.

1 comment:

Fi and Jim said...

Hi Martin and Rob,

I'm really enjoying your notes from the Amsterdam UX 2008 seminars..

I was at the fundamentals and Agile workshops. Shame we didnt meet, but keep up the good notes and thoughts!

Jim Callender