May 21, 2004
Lost in Translation - Talking Web
When I'm talking about the internet, I might as well be speaking Japanese to my co-workers. A couple of them have worked to varying degrees in the field, so they can rough out a translation here and there. But for everyone else, I'm the web designer from a different country.
Every week I come up against this, and as hard as I try, the people I work with have a really hard time understanding how the web works. I'm not sure, but I think the mental model that applies to the web is just not intuitive at all, and leads to real communication problems. Mostly this is just annoying and insufferably isolating, but sometimes it can be dangerous.
If a client or a co-worker doesn't "get" what you are telling them, or worse, they come away with a completely different translation of the encounter, your job could be on the line. Doubling the problem, is the fact they won't tell you they are not understanding you. Instead, you get a smile and nod that looks a lot like comprehension but is really just fear. Its infuriating, but for some reason our culture makes it scary to say the phrase "I don't get it".
Hell, I do it too. Sometimes if I'm caught in an awkward spot, I will spout off a diatribe centered on a tiny nugget of knowledge about the subject rather than say "I don't know". Its silly, and I strive to avoid it, but it still happens.
I can't expect to change behaviors learned from childhood, so I need to adapt my approach. In doing so the question becomes, how do I make sure someone "gets" the point I'm making without coming off as condescending or patronizing? Its not like I can throw a pop-quiz and grade their performance. I need to find a simple way to communicate the complexity of the web. Sure, no problem.
I've tried graphs, diagrams, charts to no avail. I continually tone down the verbosity and terminology in the interest of finding common ground, but still get nowhere. I'm certain the problem is creating a shared understanding of how the web works, but I'm having a hell of a time figuring out their conceptual model.
Frankly, I'm running out of ideas on how to bridge the barrier. Does anyone have the Cliff Notes?
- Posted in:
- Web Design, Web Education, Working on the Inside
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