Insulting home page breakdown: Windermere.com
I read Seth Godin and hear him. He talks about change and picks on the ones who don’t. I read Bob Hoffman. He talks about not changing so fast and picks on the ones who do. I read a post today from a online marketing consultant who tor apart the web design of Windermere Real Estate and I have to say it takes guts to do that.
This industry, what is it; design, marketing, advertising, web development…all of the above?… it’s a tough business – and I have been in music where there are music reviewers. But we expect that.
Never would I expect another band to publish what is wrong (piece by piece) of another artists recording; Another Architect picking apart the choice of windows in a building he did not design (or understand it may have been the owner’s veto on final choice); or another designer in my competitive market to post an image of a site I designed and pick it a part without any regard to owner influence, budget or version.
The critique I read goes directly after the livelihood of another. The other designer wasn’t trying to dupe someone (like we see in SEO and Social Media Marketing companies) and probably wasn’t paid enough to do the work they did.
I did not design the Windermere Real Estate website but I feel for the company or individual that did. Not because it’s a bad site but because it has been displayed and picked apart by the designer’s direct competition. Some good points were made about the site but it’s a consultant’s job to consult when paid and not just when they are mad they didn’t get the job.
UPDATE: It was just pointed out to me privately by a blog reader that the same company who is now slagging the crap out of Winermere Real Estate’s website had written a glowing report of the site just 2 years ealier (minus a month) with “Great job Windermere” at the end. Maybe there needs to be a blog that critiques the critical because this is ridiculous.
Very good points, Paul.
Here is what I would add as well. There needs to be a basic set of ethics and good manners that should not be waived just because you are “talking” online.
The post you refer to makes some comparisons to the physical world situations, i.e. equating “Blog” link to “Food” sign in a restaurant. I would then also make a real-life analogy: if you owned a clothing store and one of the sought-after clients decided to buy her next dress from a competitor; would you go about talking loudly how poor of a choice she made and how the dress lacks taste? (even if that would coerce them into consulting with you on the fashion choices in the future)
Another thing: the website criticism appears to be logical and structured. But is it? If you were to go to 2 other usability experts, would they come back with the same list of issues? I bet not. Most of the remarks can certainly be contested and are highly subjective. If you agree, then it’s simply an “opinion” post, and since it’s coming from a player in the industry, it’s also a marketing post. All of which are fine, as long as you don’t do that at the expense of others.
It still boggles my mind how often people would post mocking reviews of others’ work: “worst real estate video”, “worst real estate ad”, etc. And even worse, those post will get a whole bunch of knee-slapping laughter in comments (high-school analogy?) In many cases, these are results of people trying their hand at new things; and yes often they are bad; but would you go about talking loudly about someone’s first crack at home decorating that didn’t go well. Best though is when afterwards the mocker gets called on their post by someone who can actually defend themselves online and you can see the mocker squirm; all of this smells of bullying and high-school.
Most of us are competing to make a living; but some respect and decency go a long way.
…and at least Seth and Bob refer to stats. Those stats get knocked around. Subjective critique is just subjective critique. The naming of the “blog” for instance is an expectation of website interfaces where clicking on this will break down to more categories. But hell, that’s just my opinion. Less choice on the landing page is more chance of a decision being made. Again, my opinion but I’m betting I can find stats on that one. Thanks for the comment.