An invite-only book club for one.
Title and Responsibilities
Demographic Info:
Age, Sex, Location
Single/Married
Familial/Special Relationships
Educational
Goals and Tasks:
1.
2.
3.
Environment: How does user interact with site/what technology devices are used/what is comfort level with such.
Quote (select words capturing overall essence, mood, vibe of Persona. What matters most?).
Persona Name
Chasem ipsum is like lorem ipsum except less lazy. It’s a stream of consciousness used as a fill-in for content on websites. Unlike the Latin version that doesn’t make any sense, however, Chasem ipsum is nonsense from the brain. It’s mostly in English unless it is translated. I would translate it if I spoke different languages, but I don’t, and I actually wouldn’t translate it because that would be a lot of work.
For those here, just know I’m tracking you to the fullest extent possible. Which isn’t much, because I don’t know how to do that yet. I’m sure there are tools for it though. They’re probably baked right into the design. Speaking of design, let’s talk about quotes. And by that I mean remain undistracted and keep reading this prose that is chasem ipsum. It’ll get better before it gets worse. But I make no promises about that. I make no guarantees here. I make posts without content.
Okay, time for quotes.
Keep quotes to yourself, unless they are good quotes. If it’s a good quote, put it on the website. But only if it is good because people do not like bad quotes . . . . If it’s a really good quote, display it in a quote block. Like this quote here.
Chase the Answer
Let’s imagine you’re writing something. Imagine it’s for a blog post like this one. (But not a post on this actual blog, which is an exclusive, invite-only book club for one. Do the math). Okay, so you’re writing a post and you’re starting to think about quotes. Don’t do it. Just don’t. Do not think about quotes. If you want to say something, use your own words. It’s just a blog after all, not the New York Times.
There’s an important exception to this rule: good quotes. Those might be worth having on a blog post, but they should good quote-worthy quotes. To recap the wisdom in full: Keep quotes to yourself, unless they are good quotes. If it’s a good quote, put it on the website. But only if it is good because people do not like bad quotes, and I don’t want bad quotes on my website. If it’s a really good quote, display it in a quote block. Like this quote here.
See the above quote block again and now you know how to do it the right way. In some cases, it’s less about the quote and more about the block. But it should be about both.
Websites should have images. This is what people think and expect. Minimal design patterns are acceptable, but images will be necessary to maintain credibility. Without images, your website will have the look and feel of a phonebook, which nobody wants. Phonebooks actually do have some images, so this analogy isn’t flawless, especially for those keen to quibble, but the images in phonebooks are mostly advertisements. On your website, the images will not be advertisements, and therefore they should not look like advertisements. Leave that tackiness alone or drown in it.
If you’re not feeling confident about your image, ask yourself, “Is the image really that bad or do I lack self-confidence?” If you’re not self-confident, that complicates the issue, and this blog post cannot help you with that.