Last night PixelMEDIA hosted the monthly meeting of the NH Usability Professional Association (NH UPA). The meetings are an opportunity for user experience professionals to connect with each other. Talks included our own Luke Michel (watch his crowd-pleasing discussion about punctuation) as well as John Herman, a local media maker in his own right. As a newcomer to the NH UPA gatherings, John said two things that made me think about the way we communicate. The first:

I have no idea what you’ve been saying for the last 45 minutes but you sound like smart people and I think we do about the same thing.

As people engrained in what we do every day, we can all get hung up on industry vernacular, catch phrases, and tech-speak that the audience we’re trying to reach may not understand. And while one may say that it was a gathering of peers—so we can use our language—even within our own networks we can improve understanding by avoiding terms that mean different things to different people.

So the next time you write copy for that print brochure, stick a label on that web page, or talk at a public event, think about what your audience cares about. Remember they don’t know your internal language and won’t take the time to translate your features into their benefits. Connecting with people requires taking the time to understand their needs. And if your web or media partner is using language you don’t understand, remind them of your business goals and make sure they will be addressing them with their solutions. (They should be asking for that information and learning your language in the first place, then applying their process to produce results, not the other way around.)

The second nugget John shared was to:

Lead with your passion, not time or money.

While we all know time and money are important, especially in the current economy, if you put them first people will see through your message and suspect your motives. With all the user-generated content and alternatives to your offering out there, people can spot who’s in it for themselves and will seek other options. Find what your company is truly passionate about and lead with that first. Let the problem you are trying to solve determine what medium you use to connect with your audience. Are you working to find a cure for diseases with your research? Helping save lives with your heart devices? Educating kids with your Rubik’s cubes? Stay true to your passion and fans will follow.

Luke Michel presents at the Feb 25, 2009 New Hampshire Usability Professionals Association monthly meeting in Portsmouth.
(Oops, we forgot the mic, so the sound quality isn’t great.)

NHUPA: Punctuation and Usability from PixelMEDIA on Vimeo.

While some may act because they care about the environment and its future, others not motivated by the inconvenient truth alone tend to adopt environmentally-friendly options when they are easy and cost-effective. So beyond having our carbon footprint audited and virtualizing with VMWare, what are we exploring to encourage participation at PixelMEDIA?

• First we joined carbon rally where we can all take part in challenges like “Decup Your Decaf” to nix paper cups in the office, “Beverage Independence” to stop purchasing bottled drinks, and “Kick the Catalogs” to proactively remove ourselves from mailing lists. The site is easy and fun to use, providing new ideas and a running tally of our progress—over 750 lbs of CO2 reductions to date.

• Some days are so busy we’re lucky if we find time to eat, so its no wonder people sometimes chose their individual garbage can over a centrally-located recycling bin. By simply removing a few steps to the recycling bins and replacing individual waste cans with central ones, recycling became the easier option. It’s not quite asking people to live with their trash, but our cleaning crew reports a 40% reduction in waste as well as time and cost savings from not having to replace liners and empty waste baskets for 55 individuals.

• Closing the loop and purchasing recycled paper goods in the office also reduces our monthly purchasing costs. But from toilet paper and paper towels to furniture and automobiles, as individual consumers we seem to pay a higher short-term price for the greener option. Inspired by a slightly different Carrotmob concept, we’re just starting to discuss the idea of organizing employee purchases to take advantage of bulk discounts. We’re hoping a PixelMEDIA Co-op can make it more affordable to purchase sustainable products and services for use outside the office.

Where have you had success getting wider participation in your green efforts? If you have any ideas you’d like to share or know of resources that may help we’d like to hear about them. In the meantime, we’ll continue to focus on the small things we can do now while we explore the larger steps that will have the most impact.