Gearmark (my site) was great in 2007. Yeah, you read that right. I haven't redesigned it since 2007. But I got around that with clients because I was THAT cobbler who didn't make herself shoes. I was just too busy making other people shoes to be bothered with covering my own bare feet.
But if I were to have shoes – they were going to be DAMN AMAZING SHOES!
I originally was going to create a fantabulous UX for this new site – hire one of my designer friends to expand my brand visually, a content strategist to make me sound cutting edge and get the site optimized for SEO, and a developer build it in HTML 5 – optimized for a tablet. It would have all sorts of gadgets and be super cool and awesome. And showcase my touch as an IA/UX strategist.
But then I realized – Gearmark has changed.
I have specialized in UX, but have been doing more Customer Experience work for the past 20 years. I didn't realize this until I interviewed for a Customer Experience position a while ago. They were looking for someone who understood customer support, sales, phones, Web, etc. They were also looking for someone who was more of an illustrator rather than a strategist, so that was a deal breaker. But the experience got me to consider where I was really headed and where my true interests lie.
About 10 years ago, I wrote this methodology paper that supports why I chose the name Gearmark for my company. Basically, the paper is about creating Customer Experiences. I didn't know that then, but a company's personality connects it to its brand and it's actions – or experience – is the same as the CX. I need to finish writing it.
But I digress…
I realized I needed to make some changes – the old site wasn't just dated and dusty and desperately needing to be updated. GEARMARK was dated and dusty and needed updating.
So this site is a first step for me to make my own shoes – in more ways than one.
Something is better than nothing.
I think I say this all day in an effort to move projects along. Rather than waiting for "perfect," you only make progress by getting something out there for customers to use, give feedback on, and adjust. (Sounds a little like Agile, doesn't it!?)
This time, I listened to what I tell everyone out there and made a new site through Wix. Yes, I used a DIY tool to create a site. Am I embarrassed by that? Honestly, a little. I should be able to build my own site. But at the same time, why should I spend a lot of time and money to build something that I haven't fully thought through myself?
I could miss some opportunities thinking rather than doing.
I think I have rewritten my content 14-16 times so far (and I will probably rewrite the content 14-16 times more). I'm trying to figure out how Agile fits with CX and how to position that. And I'm still puzzled at how my Women at Work blog fits into the whole thing. And I agree with one of my friends who told me that it has too many words and needs more pictures and gizmo's.
But the bottom line is that I have "something" out there to iterate on. That's more than what I had 2 days ago.
So without further adieu – TA DA! Here is the new baby: http://www.gearmark.com
Let me know what you think. I'm open to all feedback and looking to improve this venture.
