Podcast
The Web Project Guide: A Podcast About the Web Process
The Web Project Guide helps provide context and understanding to the different phases of a web project — from planning and hiring a team to strategy, design, and development. Join Corey Vilhauer and Deane Barker, authors of The Web Project Guide, for a phase-by-phase trip through the web process.
Episode 9: Develop a Strategy for Your Content (w/ Kristina Halvorson)
Corey and Deane talk a little about that time Kristina Halvorson (founder of Brain Traffic, co-author of Content Strategy for the Web, and executive producer of Confab and Button) visited Sioux Falls. Then, Kristina chats with us about content strategy — defining content strategy vs. content design, what tasks are often overlooked, and some basics on spinning up an internal web content team — including a bit of conference talk about the upcoming Button Conference.
Episode 8: Gather Insight From Your Metrics (w/ Jon Crowley)
Corey and Deane talk about the first time they tracked analytics on their blogs in the early 2000s. Then, Jon Crowley, Senior Vice President of Strategy at Diamond Marketing Group, talks to us about the balance between data and insights — how to focus on questions rather than raw numbers, how to look for answers rather than “trying to be correct,” and a when we can take data at face value. (He also gives us a tour of his shoe collection.)
Episode 7: Know Your Content (w/ Paula Ladenburg Land)
Corey and Deane talk about Blend CEO Karla Santi’s recent selection as Small Business Person of the Year for South Dakota. Then, Paula Ladenburg Land, author of The Content Inventory and Audit Handbook and principal at Strategic Content LLC, joins the podcast to talk about content inventories and content audits, including what separates the two, when and how to worry about auditing, and her first ever content inventory, which arrived as a spreadsheet on one-and-a-half inches of printed paper.
Episode 6: Identify Outcomes and Expectations (w/ C. David Gammel)
Corey and Deane talk about understanding the audiences of the The Web Project Guide book, and the concept of predicate knowledge. Then, C. David Gammel, author of Online and On Mission, joins the podcast to talk about how to prioritize outcomes when stakeholders all have their own interests, understanding the expectations of those who use your website, and how to best introduce domain knowledge.
Episode 5: Identify Your Audiences (w/ Erika Hall)
Corey and Deane talk about Bleachers, music producers, and how understanding your audience increases effectiveness. Then, Erika Hall, author of Just Enough Research, joins the podcast to talk about interviewing the people who will visit your site — how to frame interviews, effective incentives, and the difference between researching assumptions versus learning about your users.
Episode 4: Create a Project Plan (w/ Brett Harned)
Corey and Deane talk about how project plans rarely stay intact upon first contact with real life. Then, we chat with Brett Harned, author of Project Management for Humans, about his definition of a project plan, creating better retrospectives, and how to help clients and project teams keep on track. (Also, Brett tells us the best album in his record collection.)
Episode 3: Form Your Project Team (w/ Patrice Embry)
Corey and Deane talk about the roles missing from most new project teams — namely, the idea of a user and product advocate. Then, Patrice Embry joins the podcast to talk about forming a project team. And, of course, we talk about sports metaphors.
Episode 2: Set Your Expectations (w/ Karen McGrane)
Corey and Deane talk about the concept of having it "fast, cheap, and good: pick two." Then, we chat with Karen McGrane of Autogram about our role as corporate counselors, dealing with overpromises, and the best mockumentary.
Episode 1: Know the Scope of the Project (w/ Bill DeRouchey)
Corey and Deane discuss the opening beats of a project. Then, we chat with Bill DeRouchey, former lead product designer for Zendesk, to discuss his history with vetting and researching a new project during the opening salvo, territorialism, and Mike Watt.
