Sickdesigner

KISS is a general circulated term, whether in the blogosphere or in the journalistic circles from whens it first emerged. But I believe & trust the reader. And I especially trust the reader to NOT be stupid. This is my argument that users do come first, but not all of them. The purpose of any serious publication, whatever the medium, is, ultimately, some sort of profit. But I’d like to argue that profit should not come first. Heck, not even second, for that matter. For those of you that still don’t know, KISS = Keep It Simple, Stupid and is the idea that any message you put out there should be phrased in such a way that even a third grade student would understand. I don’t have a problem with the KISS philosophy itself, I think it serves it’s purposes well, but it’s those very purposes that literally grind my gears.

KISE = Keep It Simple, Everyone

While I understand and support the use of KISS for mainstream news media, where the target is pretty much everyone alive because of the general subjects they approach, when it comes to specific circles, to specialized fields, like design blogs and blogzines, KISS fails in ways I find hard to describe without getting pumped veins on my temples. How can we, as readers, take anything serious when we’re, essentially, being talked down upon? You would not take this kind of language if you were to talk face to face with someone, so why put up with it when it comes to the written word? Fine, feed my information as to a baby when I read the news, it’s for everyone, but don’t take that same language, the same pathetically recycled phrasings and use them when I’m reading about the latest developments on HTML5, for example.

Shoot the target

Let’s get back into our little design universe. First off, I’m an avid supporter for targeting your audience. With this very blog, I’ve tried to single out a certain type of individual to which I wish to address. I use a certain type of language, I stress certain words, I understand the intellectual level to which I want to address. And the key word for me here is WANT. It’s what I want to target, to whom I’m trying to talk to. Far too often it becomes apparent that a blog is created without having this idea in mind and the rational and voluntary targeting of audience becomes more of a “If you build it, they will come”. And yes, they come, and by the thousands, no less, but their value as readers is close to 0.

Finding Niche

It’s not about finding a niche, but more about finding your readers. The reason I dismiss the KISS attitude it simple: I WANT a certain type of reader and I don’t care about the people that don’t fall within the bell curve that my targeting describes. Sure, users that come for the sake of the ride pump up my page views, but they in no way help my blog grow.  For those that are now wondering if you fall within my target audience, here’s my creed and my directive:

My reader reads, he doesn’t skim. My reader writes, he doesn’t copy. My reader says I’m wrong, he doesn’t clap. My reader laughs and thinks. My reader doesn’t say First!

Alright, Mr. Smarty Pants

Sure, by now you’re positive I’m an idealistic numb nuts that doesn’t understand the real world. I do, actually, though that’s not really an argument for my cause. What is an argument is the fact that I don’t care about the profit.  I don’t care about the thousands and thousands of users that come strolling onto one of my articles, hang around for less than 30 seconds and then leave just as brain dead as they were when they first arrived. I care about the few readers that stay and digest my thoughts and ideas, that challenge me to do a better job, that contact me through whatever source they find convenient, that engage in conversation.

To me, conversation with my users is my profit. The fact that I know I’ve reached someone and I’ve made that person think twice about something, that is my win. And I don’t care about disagreeing with me, because that’s not my point, my point is to trigger thought and analysis. So what that you think one of my ideas is crap! Congratulations, half my mission is accomplished, the other half being to have you argument your position. And I do this through language first.

I don’t use easy words sometimes, I don’t explain everything about everything not because I’m a pompous, lazy bastard, but because I want an audience that knows this stuff already. I like novices, don’t get me wrong, we all were novices at one point, but it’s just not my target audience. I’m sarcastic because people with a sense of humor are more prone to open discussion. I don’t use toolbar screenshots in my tutorials because I believe in design without the restrain of a specific software.

So what’s your point

This is my corner of the web and I’ll build it as I see fit, for whom I see fit.

My point is to target your audience based on what you want. Don’t copy someone else, don’t talk to everyone, no one will listen. You’ll soon find out you don’t have the time, energy and patience to deal with users that do not interest your blog/magazine/newspaper’s needs. While we do write for the masses, that doesn’t mean the masses are right.

KIPS

I’d like to postulate that Sickdesigner.com is built not on KISS but on KIPS. KIPS = Keep It Personal & Smart. Some of you may disagree, and that’s nothing but good news to me, because that means there might be discussions about this, and even a heated debate maybe.

I’m not here to convince you to adopt the KIPS attitude, but to consider changing your attitude and your writing philosophy into something that fits your model. If you don’t have a model of your own, build one. Aimlessly writing a design blog is a waste both for your own time and the time of the community. And I’m not offering the key to success, either. Sickdesigner.com isn’t exactly the most successful blog out there. But you know what? I don’t care. Really, I don’t. Because to me, to Sickdesigner.com, the hierarchy stands:

1. The User
2. The Content
3. The Profit

Well, there you go, this is my view on my readers, the people I’ve come to hold dear and count on passing ideas back and forth, the people that drive me to write crazier, sicker articles every time. A huge thank you to all those that get involved, that take the time to say “Radu, you’re wrong” or “Radu, you’re right” and that make doing this a real and unadulterated pleasure.

by Radu Chelariu