Photo source: Andrew Eick via Flickr.

Have you ever had a project that had to be just right?  Or a special occasion you were planning, which was incredibly important to you?  Perhaps you have started a business, or wanted to build your own website.

Remember how every part had to be just right, and you weren’t really sure you could let anyone else do anything? I mean, you were just going to have to redo their work, right?

You’ve got the Baby Syndrome.  You not only have to micromanage your project, you pretty much do or redo everything to do with it, trying to get it perfect.  And yet, many times, parts of your ‘baby’ needed to be completed that you had no experience with. Perhaps you tried over and over and just couldn’t satisfy yourself.

Did you end up trashing it all?  Or did you settle for an inferior product?

Why is it so hard to let go and let someone who has actually been trained in and practiced over and over take part in making your baby a thing of beauty?

For me, personally, it’s usually ego.  Hey, if anyone can do it, I can.  After all, I know exactly what I want, right?  Well, I usually have an idea of what I like. Or I could pick it out in a line-up.  “Yeah, the one on the right, that looks about right.  No, not the one with the mustache. The other one.”

But I’ve finally faced the music.  I can’t design anywhere near as well as someone who is trained as a graphic designer.  And I don’t know user experience the way someone who has made it a life’s obsession does.

I shouldn’t be too proud, too involved, or too afraid to ask for help.  Or my ‘baby’ (usually a website or something else that needs artwork and color coordination) will disappoint me, and be ineffective in what I want it to do.  I focus on my strengths – transmitting information via the written word.

Do what you do.  And if you need something else done, if it’s important enough to you, you’ll find someone to do it right.

Aa is for Apple, Bb is for Bear …

I’ve been mulling recently about how communication changes over time.  I daresay it’s something that comes up every now and again, but I’m wondering exactly how cyclical it really is.  Writing as a mode of communication dates back pretty far, I’m told.  A quick Google search brings up some symbols people think date back to 3000BC, as well as a couple of new findings being dated to 6000 BC.  Disputed dating systems aside, I don’t think I’ll get much argument if I state that writing isn’t anything new.

While writing has been around for a while, it hasn’t always been terribly accessible.  There are various periods in history where, because of oppression or the fact that there were more pressing needs, many people never learned to read and / or write.  There are still various countries in the world where reading is not the norm, and it only takes a couple of minutes to read pages on the National Institute for Literacy and find that there are quite a few people who think that we in the US aren’t doing so well, either.

Before this turns into a dissertation on literacy, let’s think about other modes of communication.  Obviously we have speaking, person to person and face to face.  My personal experience tends to quantify this as the most common mode of communication.  Aside from that, though, we have gestures, pictures, and voice over some type of transporter.  Notice that I am speaking of direct, conscious, intentional communication.  I’m not trying to get into body language or anything quite so deep.

Over the years since writing became more widespread, people have also developed the telephone, by which means we can hear each other speaking, and there’s no need to write it down, and the video, where we can both see and hear.  I think it’s interesting, though, that there seems to be a trend back towards writing, at least among the technologically-minded around the globe.  Email, chatting, and blogging seem to be assisting this — how should I put it — redistribution.  Writing may never have completely gone out of style, and we’re not going to cease telephone and video anytime soon, but I have been thinking about how the Internet itself seems to promote the mode of communication which demands both literacy and legibility.

If I can’t write, you can’t read it.  And if you can’t read, my writing is pointless.  Unless I plan to read it later, of course.  Depending on how clearly I write, the number of people who can understand me will grow or diminish.  The lower the vocabulary level of the people reading, the less they’ll be able to decipher.  It seems a pretty precarious balance, at times.

Well, so much for my recent thoughts.  I’m interested in hearing from people who actually know about this subject, or even just have new points of view.  Give me a holler!  Or write something.  Then I can read it.

I recently went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant here in Boise, and admired some of the advertising on their menu.  ”Wait a minute,” you say, “that’s not advertising!”  Well, yes, it is.  Sure, they’ve already got you in the door — but you haven’t bought anything yet.  You’ve committed to something, but not anything in particular.  You could have a glass of water and an appetizer.  And they have their own ideas about what they’d like you to eat.  This particular menu, at P.F. Chang’s on 8th Street, exhibited an interesting mix of very descriptive, colorful copy and rather bland item descriptions.

The title of the menu is “Try the Fire,” which leads into a short paragraph declaring that they are using methods strenuously researched to bring us ‘deliciously unique’ dishes.  On the other side of the pleasingly-antique-looking-but-plastic-laminated insert, is the name of each dish with a short description (and the price, of course).  At first glance, it is difficult to discern that that is indeed the price, and not a number in a list, but we’ll get into clarity in another post.  For now, I’d like to concentrate on the descriptions of the dishes.

Chicken Chopped Salad
Tossed with our signature ginger dressing 9

Chang’s Wedge
A twist on an old classic 6
Chicken 9 / Steak  11

Bikini Shrimp Salad
A delicious way to get beach-ready 10

Sichuan Flatbread
Just don’t call it a quesadilla
Chicken 7 / Steak 10

Beef Short Ribs with Pineapple Rice
A luau in a bowl – grass skirt optional 15

Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna
Kissed by our grill, we serve this delicious ahi
with green tea soba noodles 16

Lemongrass Prawns with Garlic Noodles
Jumbo prawns infused with lemongrass 16

Asian Marinated New York Strip
Grilled 12 oz New York strip steak, thinly
sliced and served medium rare 22

Citrus Soy Wild Salmon
Our salmon comes straight from the
cold waters of our 49th state 18

I was struck by a couple of things in this composition.  First of all, there are several descriptions which I especially like.  ”Just don’t call it a quesadilla” manages to say nothing about the actual item while giving you a clear expectation of what you should get.  ”A luau in a bowl – grass skirt optional” is fun and draws a picture of a beach somewhere else …  ”Our salmon comes straight from the cold waters of our 49th state” is reminiscent of a cross-word puzzle.  While the riddle might distract some people from the actual offering, I felt a triumphant surge of competence at recognizing that it was Alaska.  Perhaps not a terribly hard question, but never underestimate the power of making your customers feel smart.  And the most descriptive one that I like:  ”Kissed by our grill, we serve this delicious ahi with green tea soba noodles”  Perhaps I’m just a sucker for the word ‘kissed,’ but I like that phrase a lot.

Now, the other descriptions occasionally use interesting words.  ”Infused,” being the best one.  But for the most part, they are rather dry.  In comparison, which sounds better to eat?  The “Grilled 12 oz New york strip steak, thinly sliced and served medium rare” or the ahi I’ve already mentioned?  Two different authors, perhaps?

Imagery and bright, juicy words convey emotion and desire, right across paper.    Kudos to P.F. Chang’s for the picturesque language on this menu — but why go only halfway?  Maybe the steak is actually better than the ahi.