[thelist] targeting effectively (was: navigation through form posting)

[Jon Hall]

In summary...design for the lowest common denominator. People can't help
it if their browser sucks.

Screw the lowest common denominator.

jon

martin.p.burns at uk.pwcglobal.com wrote:
> Memo from Martin P Burns of PricewaterhouseCoopers
>
> -------------------- Start of message text --------------------
>
> Absolutely Jeff - it's a question of what route you use to get to the
> accessible solution and where your default is.
>
> If your methodology is to create the whizzy, rich version first, and then
> dumb down for accessibility, then of course it's going to be more work, and
> you will need to cut out some of the features you've convinced yourself you
> need. It's kind of like going from New York to LA and then having to go
> back to take in Chicago, rather than going NY->Chicago->LA.
>
> But there's few features which are *really* needed to convey the vast
> majority of communication goals.
>
> Saying "I need those features otherwise it won't work" is usually just a
> limitation in thinking. People have managed to carry out effective
> communication for many years using only black ink on dead trees within the
> limitations of print technology, and research nearly always shows that
> changing the creative is one of the least significant changes you can make.
>
> And isn't that the basis of creativity anyway? Fulfilling the
> communications need within practical boundaries?
>
> So here's a better approach - design the basics first, and get them
> absolutely right. Test (in a business sense) the hell out of them. Then add
> the rich stuff on top as an add-on for those who can use it. That way, you
> get the accessible version *without* significant cost. Who knows, when you
> test the rich version against the basic one, you may discover that you
> don't really get a significant ROI from it anyway.
>
> Cheers
> Martin
>
>