Report from my backyard - at work

This is a report from my business backyard literally. But at the same time I am at the front yard realizing communication plan, giving talks & demonstrations and educate service staff. I am having F.U.N

The new customer website is launched 6 May so I am just finishing the last of communication plan and launching preparations. Last week I had three days of editors classes. This week I have three days full of meetings with people giving service to customers (helpdesks etc). Next week I will have four introductory classes for helpdesk & service people who must be able to help customers with help of the new website. At least this is what people think I will tell them.

These meetings have however another more important agenda for me. That is to make everyone understand that "shit in - shit out". All persons delivering service must give feedback and report problems both customers and they self have while looking for informations & services at new website. We have developed a brand new search interface based on tagged information. But we need service staff´s help to set the right tags. We need the switchboard operators help to find what people look for. What people cannot find at the website they must give me information about.

Our new customer website will be the first "helpdesk" our customer get in touch with before they lift the phone. That is why operators and helpdesk staff is so vital for refining the new website. Of course I had tons of usability tests helping us taking decisions. But to trim the search interface will be a never ending project. And luckily I have got the perfect assistant to help me.

I love this phase of the project - the public part. I love talking at big and small meetings. I love to teach and develop my teaching. I love meeting all these beautiful people with experiences I do not have. They give me energy even if I must confess it also takes some energy too (this weekend was really hard since I was in coma half the time). But today I feel great again.

After a meeting far away I managed to slip into my home office for the first time of fourteen days. I got lucky when I saw the cherry three was in full blossom. I can see it from my new office at bottom floor but I have to almost lean out of the window. I picked my camera at afternoon coffee break and shot a few pictures. Sadly there were soft semitransparent clouds over the sun. But at next visit there will be no flowers left over so the photographing had to be today.

This cherry three has given me many great metaphors at work regarding presentations and web productions. This what it looked like today.

While looking below I think you understand why I have had great use of it for visualizations.

This picture is from last year when a truck hit it while trying to deliver some goods to the adjacent restaurant. I think it was a good thing to tear down that brick wall since it has given me,  my students and my listeners at talks so many laughters. It has been a great metaphor for crashed projects, crashed teams and relations, "see the light in the tunnel", contrasts between good and bad, ugly and beautiful etc. But I think the new fence is horrible (the truck drivers insurance company could probably not afford anything better). I preferred the brick wall after all. It had its charm while it still was functioning.