Bubble Foundry

In the latest issue of Sprout, a Dutch magazine for entrepreneurs, there is a big piece about 25 entrepreneurs under 25. First, congratulations for Robert and Wouter for making number 1 with Wakoopa. However, beyond Wakoopa I find few of the companies that interesting (Symbaloo did catch my eye). While all the businesses look decent and useful, few struck me as very ambitious. I don’t see them expanding beyond the Netherlands, sometimes by choice and sometimes by circumstance. On the other hand, I can see Wakoopa and Symbaloo doing well internationally. Perhaps not surprisingly, both Wakoopa and Symbaloo have English-language versions – in fact, Wakoopa is only in English. Robert told me that the choice to use English was a simple one and taken in order to reach the most people most easily.

The question of how to reach an audience beyond the Netherlands (or any small country) is an important challenge both from a business perspective and a web design one. As well-designed web site supports and implements business goals, the two are ultimately intertwined. Put simply, people won’t use a website they cannot understand. At the same time, people usually prefer to read content in their native languages. Therefore the challenge is to maximise breath, using globally popular languages such as English and Spanish, and intimacy, using users’ natives languages. One good solution is supporting multiple languages on a site, even if one language is prioritised. This can be achieved in several ways, though I usually recommend some sort of content management system to manage versions of the same content in multiple languages.

Of course, the inevitable retourt is, ‘Why bother trying to reach clients beyond my home country?’ I answer, ‘Why not?’  The beauty of the internet is its global reach, which means that any business is available through their website to any potential client anywhere in the world (barring legal restrictions, of course). More and more when people are looking for the best business or product, they aren’t looking for the best in their own country. For instance, I own two tshirts by the British cartoonist John Allison. Why should someone in a small town outside of Manchester sell a tshirt to someone across the globe in Silicon Valley? Why not? I was happy to pay for the extra shipping, so there was no extra cost for him, and he’s gained a loyal customer. My Books Rule tshirt has been getting compliments from San Francisco to London to Amsterdam, also surely good for his business. At the same time, competition is also becoming global. I imagine John’s main competition in t-shirt sales are other web cartoonists, wherever they may be, and t-shirt companies such as Threadless, based in Chicago.

I was talking to a graphic designer the other day and his first response to hearing my prices was, “I could get the same thing ten times cheaper in China!” But could he? I won’t go into the pros and cons of outsourcing – they are different for every company and every situation – but I will say that such a view is short sighted. My answer to the designer was, “They will give you code. I will give you code and ideas.” While basic web code is a commodity, easily evaluated on the basis of ‘Does it work?”, a successful web design is more than its code, for the greatest code in the world is worthless if it doesn’t speak to viewers, if it alienates its audience. How to make the website? is a good question Why? is much more important.

So some of the many ideas that I provide help answer that Why?, after which the How? becomes obvious. There are are many good companies in China, India and elsewhere that can also provide answers, but I promise you they are not much, if any, cheaper than me.

For those interested in better understand web design, I highly recommend the article “Understanding Web Design” in A List Apart. In the piece Jeffrey Zeldman make a convincing case for the uniqueness of web design and draws an interesting analogy to typography.

One mistake that many people make with their first websites is that they try to treat their websites as they would print media. This means that every effort is made to control the visual experience and little use is made of hypertext and the interactivity the web offers. For example, Dutch building company Verwelius has a website that must be an exact translation of a print brochure. In no particular order, here are some thoughts on web design, hopefully particularly useful for those more knowledgeable about print design:

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This is the inaugural post in the Bubble Foundry Blog. In this blog I will regularly comment on web design practices and effective ways to develop businesses online. Therefore it is fitting that this first post ranges widely across Bubble Foundry’s areas of concentration, going aesthetics to usability to advertising.

Many websites have flashy animations or videos automatically playing when you come to them. I find this very ugly and annoying and I am not alone. Most users now have pop-up blockers and some are starting to block Flash. In addition to being annoying, this practice has several other drawbacks. Users are forced to download large media files in order to see the site. This will slow the loading of the site when speed, particularly the first time a user visits a website, is essential to a pleasant experience. It is better to let users explicitly request the videos they wish to view, letting those on slow connections make a conscious choice to download the media. This way users will not erroneously attribute slow speeds to the site. Likewise those in a public environment, such as libraries, often wish minimise sound coming from their computers and will not look kindly on a site that blares music or sound effects without warning. Their initial response is usually to close the offending site, not turn down their speakers. Read more »