Every year, the holiday season ushers in a time of reflection and adoration. We reflect with friends and family at Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s celebrations, connecting with those whom we cherish most in our lives. The holiday season also means an outpouring of best-of lists. Best-of lists are a holiday staple; they will be found in magazines, online journals, and periodicals of all kinds during the next few weeks. From Time’s “Person of the Year” to Rolling Stone’s “Best Albums of the Year,” it is during December that we come together as a nation to celebrate our love of all things ranked. When taken as a whole, the myriad of lists can be a valuable resource for professionals looking to gain insight into the preferences of their customers.
The common factor among many best-of lists is a clear social, cultural, or lifestyle impact on consumers. People want to feel connected to the world around them, and those products, people, and concepts that have a tangible effect on their audience will usually be found on top. In other words, it’s vital to care about your product and its effects. At WEBii, if we don’t care about the impact that our clients’ websites make, their visitors won’t either. Common to all best-ofs is this air of intentionality. The effect felt by an audience is carefully constructed and focused on the greater goal of the product. Knowing the importance and the effect of your products is the first major step toward topping the best-of lists.
The best can only come to fruition if the product or skill is communicated clearly. For example, CNet.com’s best-of-tech lists this year show that the Samsung Galaxy smartphone has outranked the iPhone 5 due to the fact that the Galaxy met and surpassed the needs of smartphone users. Samsung’s Galaxy has become a front-runner in the smartphone market because they listened to the customer, and delivered the user experience that the public craved. Listening to consumers (a major part of communication that is often overlooked) in order to create a product that surpasses their expectations and needs is the best way to ensure that the public reaction will be a positive one.
In regard to web design, we often consider the best when the site is as efficient as it is accessible for the user. The best web design is compatible with users young and old, leaving little to no unanswered questions involving the context, organization, and purpose of the site. The online experience is predominantly visual so it takes, at the very least, a consistent design and accessible page layout to keep a user’s attention. To make sure our sites are the best, we have to listen to our clients and their customers. After all, it is the customer we’re ultimately trying to impress.
The most important aspect of achieving an end result of the highest quality is to constantly progress. Whether it’s a new product or service that your business provides or a new discovery or utility that you want to share, the best can only come from a steady progression for the benefit of your intended audience. This holiday season, in a brief break from all the hustle and bustle, take time to reflect on ways to progress in and out of the office. By spending time with those that bring the best out of us, it becomes easier to bring the best out of our work.