Adobe versus web usability and common sense

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Adobe’s website is a good example of bad web usability. I discovered this for myself only last week. If you thought buying software from Adobe would be easy, you might want to think again.

Since buying their main rival Macromedia, Adobe have a huge collection of software for creative businesses like Octane. I represent their target audience, and as a web designer and developer, people like me have very high standards indeed. So we expect very high standards from Adobe.

The most profound genius is that borne of precise observation. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle must have been only too aware of this as the attraction for his most famous yet personally disliked character Sherlock Holmes grew.

Sadly for Adobe, their website offers an exceptionally bad experience for people like me. Clearly demonstrating that the simple act of observing how people do things and then anticipating their next actions is neither art, science or practice for Adobe. Instead, they’ve made the purchasing experience as difficult as possible.

As big as Adobe are, I have to wonder how many sales they lose each week because of their appalling sales funnel. Only recently did a story emerge of a “$300 million button”, highlighting the perils of a bad shopping experience. Adobe’s problems are much more than a simple button fix — the entire purchasing experience is broken from the very beginning to the very end.

So you thought buying software from Adobe would be easy, right?

Because I’m from England, I use their .co.uk website, which then re-directs to their .com/uk/ address. Clearly we can see that the Adobe website is aware of where I’m visiting from, yes?

I’m interested in buying Adobe’s Creative Suite. Adobe’s home page seems neat enough, but this is a superficial appearance. The first thing I notice is that there’s no one Creative Suite, there are in fact four variations. So which Creative Suite is right for me?

the Adobe home page

And how do I decide? I clicked the: “Learn more” button, only to discover that there are actually six different Creative Suite collections; Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, Web Standard, Production Premium and Master Collection. Rather surprisingly, this page doesn’t really offer any more information than the last.

I’m reminded of my first visit to the US back in 1996. During an eight week college exchange program to Northridge in Los Angeles, we paid a visit to a book store in Santa Monica. Downstairs was a cafe where people could sit and read through some of the books they’re considering buying, or the ones they’d just bought.

I decided to buy a coffee. And, not knowing any better I asked for a coffee. As the words tripped off my tongue, I saw behind the assistant a huge collection of coffee bean bags all sat in neat little square shelf boxes. I’m talking about hundreds of varieties of coffee. Needless to say, the assistant and I laughed.

Adobe, Microsoft: don’t make me think!

I now remember how I felt that day and someone must feel when trying to buy Microsoft Windows and discovering there isn’t just one version of Windows, but seven.

I’m being forced to make a decision about a product I clearly know very little about, and the paucity of information isn’t helping me make that decision. Sometimes, thinking isn’t automatically a good thing.

It’s at this point that I realize I have no idea what I need. Sure, I know what I want, but because of the different choices available to be, I don’t know what I need. Since simply asking (or rather looking) for a copy of Adobe’s Creative Suite is pointless, I click on the: “Suite selector” link, to try my luck elsewhere.

The first thing I see is a huge selection of check boxes. I feel my heart sink. Exactly what is: “cross-media design”? And what’s the difference between: “prepare digital images for print” and: “edit digital images”? Or the difference between: “import and organize images” and: “manage a pro photography workflow”?

choose an Adobe Creative Suite by activity

As my heart sinks, my head begins to spin. I don’t even attempt to choose from the check boxes and click on the second tab, to select by product. All I want is Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash. Alas, there is no Creative Suite that includes those three software packages. Instead, I’d have to choose Photoshop Extended, which forces me to choose the Premium and Master versions. I can see a correlation between Premium / Master and extremely expensive.

choose an Adobe Creative Suite by products

My heart sinks further. This isn’t any kind of choice, certainly not the kind of choice I expected to see from Adobe.

OK, let’s say for the sake of argument I was going to buy Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium. I still don’t know what else is in this collection and I still don’t have a clue how much it’s likely to cost me. So I click the illustration of box .. and I click again, only to realize you can’t actually click on the graphic because it’s not a button. I have to click the: “See our recommendations” button below. Is this intuitive? No, it’s not.

The resulting page offers hardly any more information than the last. To learn more, I have to click again. It appears the Web Premium package looks about right, but I don’t want Fireworks, Acrobat or Dreamweaver. Sadly, I have no choice.

Adobe recommendations for the Creative Suite collection

Now I have three buttons to choose from: “Buy”, “Try” and: “Learn more”. I choose the former, because I still don’t know what this lot is going to cost. I’m taken to the Adobe Store, where I’m now being asked to choose which region I’m from. Why? Adobe already know I’m visiting from England.

the Adobe Store

Frustration creeps in. I click on the: “United Kingdom” option, which is right at the bottom of the page. I’m now taken to the Adobe Store proper. Where’s the Web Premium package? That’s right, the very package I chose to buy is not on the store page. Instead, the Adobe website just dumps me onto their main Adobe Store page.

I’m sure Steve Krug would be just thrilled to see his “Don’t make me think!” mantra being shot to pieces by a company like Adobe who really should know better.

At this point, I’ve totally lost patience with Adobe and decide it would be much easier to call their freephone 0800 number. Well, the idea was excellent, sadly for Adobe, their automated call handling system isn’t. After selecting an option, I’m transferred into the ether and the line goes dead. Thinking this might just be me, I try again. Dead. I call from my mobile phone. Dead.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had problems with Adobe. Back in April 2007, I discovered that Adobe Contribute is broken. Worse still, Adobe don’t care that Contribute is broken.

What was it I said about professionalism again?

What is a web application?

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A web application is an application that runs on the web via a web browser like Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. You access a web application in exactly the same way you would a regular website; by typing a web address into the address bar of your web browser of choice.

Rather than discuss the wider aspects of more commercial high-end web applications from the likes of Microsoft, SAP or Seibel, I’ll instead concentrate on the general aspects and features, giving you a broader overview of what a web application is.

What’s the difference between web applications and desktop applications?

The most fundamental difference is that you won’t have to install a web application onto your computer — nor will you have to double-click an icon to start it!

There are several key differences between a web application and a desktop application:

  • As mentioned, you’re unlikely to install a web application onto your computer.
  • Because a web application exists (is hosted) on the web, you can access them from almost any location where you have access to an internet connection and a suitable web browser.
  • Most web applications allow for teams of people to work together, sharing the same data & information.
  • Software licenses are often more flexible than their desktop equivalents; modest “per seat” licenses or no license fees at all.

What are the advantages / benefits of a web application?

Certainly from a business perspective, having a web application written specifically for your business means you’re unlikely to be paying for features that you don’t want, as is often the case when you buy off-the-shelf application software like Microsoft Office, for example.

Assuming you’re having a web application developed for your business, the advantages / benefits of a web application are:

  • When you have a web application developed for your business, your needs are being addressed specifically.
  • By automating key business processes, you and your team can save valuable time.
  • Far greater work capacity, so you can commit to higher work volumes without increasing working time.
  • A web application should help towards reducing data errors, loss and duplication.
  • The potential for much higher efficiency across any / all business processes that have been automated by your web application.
  • A web application will free up valuable computer resources, allowing key staff to work remotely.
  • An increase in the accuracy of data entry and manipulation.
  • Measurable cost savings over time (greater ROI).

There are also a number of differences that can be considered disadvantages:

  • While web application software is now very sophisticated, certain standards that govern the way a web page is assembled and viewed by the web browser means there can be inconsistencies between the different web browsers, in some cases even leading to a web application simply not working at all.
  • Since web applications exist on the web, they may be vulnerable to attacks and exploits that could compromise sensitive commercial databases and customer details.
  • If your internet connection is faltering, or the host is experiencing issues, you may not have fast or complete access to your web application.

Some of these negative factors can be mitigated to some extent, but it is impossible to remove all of the issues completely.

Testing a website or web application

Any website or web application should undergo rigorous testing stages to ensure maximum compatibility with the web standards and the web browsers you anticipate are most likely to be used by your users.

Reducing security issues

When developing a web application, there are number of standard programming methods and guidelines that can significantly reduce the likelihood of a successful intrusion, possibly compromising sensitive data.

What’s a typical web application?

Almost any kind of desktop application can be turned into a web application (given enough storage space and bandwidth), with the addition of the advantages outlined previously.

Typically, web applications for SMEs (Small-to-Medium Sized Enterprises) would be:

  • Job ticketing, auditing, billing and invoicing.
  • A CMS (Content Management System), for managing web pages for a website, or a corporate network.
  • Selling products / services on-line (more often referred to as e-commerce).
  • Managing digital assets like video, audio and photography.
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems.
  • Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

How does a web application work?

The application itself exists on a web server, which is essentially a computer used specifically for hosting (or serving) web pages from websites, or in this instance web applications.

Unlike a website, there are no web pages as such (certainly not in same way as a website), although you will move from one web page to another, those web pages are often virtual, in the sense that they are created instantly for the purposes on a particular task.

A typical web application will:

  • Have a sign-in screen, with accounts for each user, each user in turn may (or may not) have different permissions to access different parts of the web application.
  • Because the principle function of most web applications is to manage data, it is common for the user to be entering data into form fields, or otherwise managing previously entered data.
  • Once the data has been processed in some way, then that data (or digital asset) is often exported out in some other fashion.
  • This manipulation of data may be in the form of reporting, data analysis, generating charts & graphs, or simply saving the data for use in Microsoft Excel, for example.
  • If it is a requirement that the data processing be shared amongst a team of people, it may be a requirement for there to be some form of reporting and annotation, so that each user can explain to or receive reports from other users, relating to their activities.
  • There may also be the need to send reports or other notifications via email from within the web application itself, to a client for approval, as an example.
  • In the vast majority of cases, a web application will save the most if not all of its data to database of some description.

Are web applications cost-effective?

In the short-term, a web application will most likely be an expensive commitment, both for the initial planning stage and the subsequent development of the application itself, but offering a superior ROI (Return On Investment) over the long-term.

Additionally, to ensure that the web application itself meets with the specific requirements of those who’re going to be using it most often, a commensurate commitment of time is required by those parties, to outline their needs in detail to the developer.

In conclusion

As the internet deepens its penetration into our personal and professional lives, permeating our living rooms and our offices, we demand ever more agile and flexible tools.

Also, being on the move is no longer the barrier it once was. With the help of mobile devices like the Apple iPhone, RIMs BlackBerry and other smart phones, we can work from almost anywhere, wirelessly in some cases.

However, all of this flexibility counts for very little if our business requirements are held hostage by inflexible software that doesn’t meet our specific needs.

In time, as the cost of mobile communications continues to fall, coupled with ever more inexpensive software development tools and hosting fees, web applications will become more and more common place in businesses of all sizes — businesses just like yours perhaps?

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How a web application can save your business money in a recession

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We’re on the brink of a global recession and here’s me talking about web applications for your business! Well here’s the thing — why not save money while you’re making money?

Octane can help your business maximize profitability by reducing costs through automating tedious and complex tasks.

Right now, business owners all over Britain are looking at 2009 as a year of change. Many businesses are going to struggle, which is sadly inevitable. The question is a simple one: will your business survive the hardening global economy?

Building on your strengths and removing weaknesses

Many businesses have their own routines and their own ways of doing things. Microsoft Office is good to a point, but businesses need more flexibility.

Certain aspects of their business processes are automated, some are paper-based. It’s when one of those processes moves from computer to sheets of paper, and then back again, that things become difficult to measure, even harder to quantify and innumerable errors creep in.

This need not be the case. This is where a custom-built web application picks up where Microsoft Office et al and sheets of paper stop short of fulfilling their business needs.

By automating as many of their processes as possible, we remove most, if not all, of the traps that snag businesses, ruin productivity and invite error.

You, the innovator

I will sit down with your whole team and invite a candid, honest discussion, detailing specific needs, at the end of which, I’ll be equipped with an intimate knowledge of how your business functions. From there, we as a team will develop an outline of the ideal solution to your business needs.

  • Bespoke software specific to your business
  • Access your software from anywhere location
  • Secure and private access
  • Completely automate specific aspects of your business
  • Track, measure and analyze your data

Your business. Your needs. Your solutions.

  • Automation saves time
  • Greater work capacity
  • Reduced data errors
  • Increased work efficiency
  • Increased data accuracy
  • Cost savings over time (ROI)

I can really help your business possibly save thousands of pounds over time, freeing your team up to be more productive elsewhere in your business — where it matters most…

Why winners are all losers!

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Average people do not do amazing things. Amazing people do amazing things.

Now, I’m guessing some of you are itching to give me an example of some totally average person doing something extraordinary, and quite aside from the fact that the person in question really wouldn’t thank you for describing them as being average, the fact remains that to do something amazing, no matter how average that person might be, for a moment — no matter how long or how fleeting — they did something amazing, which required of them to be amazing.

And so it follows that the people who constantly achieve masterfully in life and in business are the ones who do amazing things with almost clockwork regularity. But there’s a caveat; these people are also losers.

Losers? Yes. Losers.

I read a quote recently that stuck in my head and connected with me in a very profound way, which went along the lines of: winners lose more than losers. So here’s my expansion on that near truism: do not fear failure.

As humans, we are adept at learning from our mistakes. I’m not saying this is a quality unique to humans, but it’s a quality that we have shown an unerring capacity to capitalize on. In a very real sense, failure is the engine of success.

Either secreted deep within the dark recesses of their subconscious, or writ large on a sheet of paper in their offices, winners know that to fear failure is to fail once and fail forever.

Those who succeed most probably know and understand the true value of professionalism, and arguably as important, knowing what professionalism isn’t:

“A huge salary is not a sign of professionalism. Nor is a insulting the competition, getting blind drunk in public, beating up your girlfriend, illicit affairs, gambling addictions, abusive behaviour or questionable TV appearances.”

Of course, one could make an argument resting on the old adage: a death of a thousand cuts. And that would be a sound argument.

But that’s where this thought piece could easily turn into a thesis, and where we begin to fear the unknown.

2009 is the year I begin to fail graciously and then learn from those mistakes with a passion…

8 free must-have internet tools and applications for your business

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So you run a business but the web is still a scary place, right? Well, here’s 8 free internet business tools you should be using right now.

On offer are web applications and internet tools specifically chosen for business people who’re on the move and need to make the most of their time, with the least expenditure of effort.

Google Local Business Center

Think of all those times you’ve gone onto Google and searched for: “car repairs Sheffield”, or: “plumbers Oxford”, and then you see the map to the left with a list of results to the right.

Here’s a chance for your business to get itself some free exposure, so the next time someone does a search for what you do in your area, you stand a great chance of being found. Pay a visit to the Google Local Business Center. If you don’t already have a Google Account, get one, sign up and add your company’s details for your free listing:

“Use the Local Business Center to create your free listing. When potential customers search Maps for local information, they’ll find your business: your address, hours of operation, even photos of your storefront or products. It’s easy, free, and you don’t need a website of your own.”

If you want your business to be found, a little search engine marketing can go a long way.

Facebook

Facebook might not seem like the obvious choice for a business tool, but there’s so much to Facebook, it’s difficult to ignore the potential.

Facebook even has its own advertising tools, which I’ve heard good things about. But it’s a must for you to know your target audience before spending a single penny, or every penny you spend might just be wasted.

Then there’s the Groups and Pages, which you can use to create a simple presence for your business, if you don’t have a website, or even if you have! The benefit here is that people can join and follow you, leaving messages and befriending you. Also, you can send group messages to all your followers, much like you would if you were making an announcement.

Facebook is also (as you might expect) a really good way to gather all of your family, friends, colleagues and clients into one place, keeping everyone up to date with what you’re doing, where you’ve been et cetera.

There’s no doubting the enormity to Facebook, but I really would recommend you persist and reap the rewards.

For those who’re new, TechRader offer an short introductory guide to Facebook. Also, if you’re totally new to social networking and social media, then I recommend you read my free ebook: The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media.

Google Docs

Yes, yet another Google tool. Trust me, this collection of office productivity tools are an excellent adjunct, or depending on your circumstances / needs, a replacement to Microsoft Office.

Google Docs consists of 3 applications; Documents, Presentations and Spreadsheets. As you can see, there’s an obvious correlation between Google Docs and Microsoft Office, which will no doubt ease the transition.

You can even open existing Word, Powerpoint and Excel files using Google Docs, as well as saving out / exporting as those formats, too.

The major benefit here is that you can access your documents from anywhere there’s a web connection. In addition, you can share your documents with colleagues, all editing the same documents at the same time.

Want to know more? Then have a look at the Google Docs guided tour.

Skype

If you’re serious about reducing your phone bill, then I highly recommend using Skype for voice calls and video conferences. If you know of anyone else using Skype, you can call them direct, either by voice or video for free. However, you do need a broadband connection to make the most of Skype.

You’ll need to install Skype onto your computer and register with them for a username. You can also get yourself a number, as well as buy credits to make calls to fixed land lines and mobile phones.

It’s worth mentioning that international calls are appreciably cheaper than with most mainstream providers, so it’s ideal for cross-continent conference calls, or for calling friends & family abroad.

Skype is also a great tool for text chats, as you might do on your mobile phone. In addition, you can send files to your recipients, which could be individuals or groups of people.

I use Skype myself all the time!

Google Gmail

OK, one more Google application. I think it’s fair to say that Google are producing some of the best productivity software right now, which is why you’re seeing 3 of their packages listed here right now.

Gmail is Google’s very own email client. To get you going, you get 7 gigabytes of storage, which is a handsome amount of space, easily enough for large email attachments. Imagine never having to delete an email again!

To help you sort all incoming mail based on a wide range of criteria, there’s Labels & Filters, so you can find all your emails quick and easy.

Related emails are grouped into “conversations”, so you can see an email conversation in its entirity, from the first to the last, even over weeks / months worth of emailing back and forth between friends, colleagues, family, clients et cetera.

You can collect email from any other email accounts (POP3 type accounts), so you can use Gmail as a central depositry for your emails, or even as a backup option for other email accounts.

You get a junk (or spam) filter, which grabs all of the crap you get sent, which are placed in a safe folder for later review. Additionally, the junk email filter is a good learner; able to figure our new kinds of junk, and sort them from genuine emails.

For power email users, Gmail can be set up as forwarder onto another account, or you can just set rules to forward specific emails to another email address, which is great for website / support contacts, checking for keywords / rules and sending copies to other people to ensure you never lose that customer because someone was out of the office or was away from their email.

Remember the Milk and Wipee List

Why the double listing? Based on the people I know, these two to-do list applications are highly prized as serious productivity tools.

Put simply, Remember the Milk and Wipee List are to-do list web applications to help you keep your life and business in check. Both boast a slew of features, but Remember the Milk may just edge things by having a version for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch, plus a few more extra features for you to play around with.

And because these are web applications, you can access them from wherever you an internet connection — ideal for people who’re always on the move.

Mozilla Firefox

Firefox is a web browser that is growing in popularity. It’s an alternative to Microsoft Internet Explorer and sports some very interesting features.

To ease the transition, the first time you install Firefox, you’ll be walked through a import option, which grabs all of your stuff in Internet Explorer and imports them into Firefox.

If you’re using Internet Explorer 7, you should be very familiar with the feel, such as the tabs, for example. Tabs are different windows within each window, so you can have multiple websites open in the same window. Ideal for people who’re busy working on different websites, or who’re into social media & social networking, like I am.

Firefox is also generally much more secure than Internet Explorer, which is essential in these strange times of scams, hoax websites and “phishing” exploits.

Firefox is also faster at leading web pages and supports a wider range of web standards; shared rules that dictate the layout and functionality of web pages. So you’re less likely to see a web page look strange, or not load properly.

And finally, and arguably Firefox’s biggest feature, the Add-ons. You install Add-ons which then enable Firefox to do things not natively supported. There are literally thousands of Add-ons for Firefox that do all kinds of things, many of which are productivity tools in their own right. However, the quality can be variable, so be careful. Some can Firefox unstable.

To get you started, here are 10 Add-ons for Firefox, which should point you in the right direction.

Conclusion

A lot of business people still suffer from web allergies, so this article is my attempt at an internet analgesic, to help you surf more easily, without the sniffs, gasps and groans!