This is something I heard numerous times in a previous job, and also from online friends. I don't think enough technical people appreciate it.

Does everyone understand the jargon you use?

Your blogging software may claim to be really easy to use even for non-technical users, but one of the biggest problems you'll face is all the jargon you're exposed to, such as pings, permalinks and tags.

I've read a lot of blogs where the author uses jargon and they assume you know what they're talking about. I know what most of the terms mean, and I know where to look if I find a new one. But not everyone will understand you if you use jargon.

I try to limit the use of jargon where it's not necessary to use it, and I also try to explain jargon where it's appropriate to do so.

Do you know what you're talking about?

If you don't define jargon because you don't want to be defining it over and over again, there's an easy solution: define it once, and link future uses of the word or phrase to your definition. This approach assumes you're publishing your articles on a blog or website of some sort.

If you can help another person to understand some technical that they didn't know previously, you know what you're talking about, and you're able to educate others. This is a great skill to have.

Are the explanations any good?

Some bloggers are good at explaining what things do, but some things are still not explained very well. For instance, when tags were introduced, they suddenly started appearing on a lot of websites with no real explanation as to what they were. Sure, you could go looking, but why should you have to?

Technical people seem to know what tags are and how to use them well, but some non-technical people don't even realise they exist. People need to be educated so they understand what these things are for. The first step is to explain what tags are - keywords that are used to identify content. I think "keywords" is generally a better name than "tags".

The technology doesn't matter

It's all very well embracing technology and looking to the future, but a site cannot become anything without people to use it. I've seen far too many "cool" sites that look great but do very little, or are not much more than a showcase for the developer's skills.

Showcasing your skills is fine if the site is only provided as part of your portfolio. But if you want other people to use the site, focus on the benefit to people other than yourself and don't put the technology first. Does it really matter that you've used AJAX and there are loads of "cool" effects if the site is a complete nightmare to use? Will a non-technical user have a clue what AJAX is or will they even care about it if the site provides no real benefits to them?

On the flip-side, in the past I've been asked to "make Injader more AJAX-y". This is silly - using a specific technology does not automatically improve the software. Actually, I'm working on a few things for the next version using AJAX, but it's not a gratuitous use of technology for technology's sake. Sorting a table by clicking on the table header is one example. Don't sell it as "new AJAX stuff - cool!" Market it as a feature that will benefit the user.

Bridging the gap

If you're a technical person and you never really manage to bridge the gap between your technical expertise and a customer's requirements, chances are you'll never really give the customer what they want.

We can always do better, and it's up to all of us to try and make improvements where necessary.

What do you think?

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