Lawyers Just Want A Watch.

DJ Medieval wrote a rant so good, I'm reprinting the entire piece below.

Imagine getting a degree, majoring in art and minoring in engineering, from a fairly well-known college. Imagine then creating a fairly simple wristwatch, shiny yet simple, which can optionally speak the time to you if tapped just right, and which can recharge its batteries via a small solar panel in the face. The perfect, useful wristwatch.

Then, you decide that you can improve upon this design.

You add a meat thermometer, closed-circuit TV, an FM tuner, a 65 year battery, 802.11 wireless, a theft alarm, a sonic mosquito repellent, a storage compartment for moist towelettes, a golf ball cleaner, a high-definition flat panel screen, portable AIM client, toothbrush, 101-key qwerty keyboard, MP3 player, laser pointer, universal remote, a DVD changer, a fishfinder, a small cache of nuclear armaments and just for the hell of it a live armadillo.

The art major in you decides that what it needs to really shine is some spinners and post-cubist influence.

You give each of your friends a prototype, and become distraught when they ask tough questions like "Why does the battery come in its own suitcase and weigh 65 lbs?," "Why is my watch taking forever to do anything?," and hard-hitting questions like "Does this thing actually tell time?"

Now, imagine that instead of wristwatches, you design websites.

You are this person.

The web is filled with people just like you, and I hate you all.

This is an excellent lesson in web design, especially web design for legal services selling to lawyers. Keep it simple!  Keep it easy to read! Keep every part of your web site focused on the next step and make it easy to use.

It may not be as cool as a website that can do a zillion different things.

But you website needs to do just ONE thing.

SELL.

Comments

[Conrad]

Do you normally wear a suit like that? When are you going to post again? Can I create a livejournal RSS feed for your journal?

[Shawn Struck]

Do you normally wear a suit like that?

At trade shows and formal functions, yes. Though usually I'm smiling wider. That picture sort of makes me look Agent Smith-ish, I know.

When are you going to post again?

You can expect at least one more post from me before I leave this week for this Thursday.

Can I create a livejournal RSS feed for your journal?

Go right ahead.