There’s a piece of conventional wisdom: if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will jump out… however if you put it in a pot of cold water and warm it up slowly … you get frog legs for dinner.  Now I’ve never tried to cook a frog – and there have got to be better ways of cooking – but I can relate to the poor frog.

I’ve just returned from a two week vacation, and it took the vacation to make me realize just how tired I was.  Not so much physically tired, but mentally and emotionally tired.  Burnt out.

It is a danger, especially when you enjoy and are deeply connected to the work you do.  I was reminded of this by an article I read recently.  But of course no one chooses obsessive passion.  It starts in a very positive space, but slowly shifts to a negative energy… it’s a slow burn.

It is astonishing  how much more energetic and engaged I feel after some time away – time where I wasn’t doing meeting prep while commuting or brainstorming strategic direction while in the shower.  I hadn’t been working particularly long hours, but in retrospect I had definitely been thinking (and worrying) about work too much.

Now, I’ve restored the energy to take on high-level issues with a new perspective.  I’m finding time to do some more reading and professional development (which is already paying off!).  I’m hoping to rejuvenate this blog.

It’s tempting to over-commit to your work, especially in an environment like this.  And there will certainly be periods where we need to go all-out.  But it is equally important to give yourself permission to take a break and recharge… not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too.

While grocery shopping the other day, on a complete whim, I bought some of those processed cheese slices that I used to have as a kid.  You know, the individually packaged, super-salty kind that’s oh so good in a grilled cheese sandwich.  I’m not sure how it can be called cheese, since it’s so processed it has the consistency of rubber … and yet there’s something addictively (if not disgustingly) delicious about it.

Funny how that’s the case with so much processed food … bacon and sausages definitely come to mind too.  They may last much longer before going bad, but all the nutrition, all the character of the food is stripped out during processing.

Somewhere along the line, “processed” picked up a bad rap.  Boring.  Unhealthy and unnatural.  Mass-produced.

Then again, there’s “process” in an office or work context.  Instead of something you do to your food, process can also be the magical saviour to improve efficiency in your work… improved processes can help prevent things from falling through the cracks, and ensure that everything is working as it should be.

So.  Is process a good thing or a bad thing?

It depends on context.  Or, rather, how much context the process has.

The idea of a “process”, at its core, is about taking a task, and reliably & effortlessly repeating its execution.  Having a good process can help you leap-frog the learning curve, and reduce the unpredictable “human” factor in a task.  It removes the need for direct experience, replacing it with a prescriptive “checklist”.

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of process.  I recognize the importance of it, but have never been excited by it.  I think I’ve always found it too prescriptive and inflexible; I don’t like following a procedure without knowing where it came from, and how it fits into the big picture.  That’s a risk with process.  When you use chemicals to maximize shelf-life, but lose track of the big picture of providing good food options, for example.  Or when bureaucracy and paperwork take over in an organization, preventing any real work from being done.

But there’s another kind of process – one that is less prescriptive, and goes back to the idea of process as simply the way in which you accomplish a task.  Instead of being told what to do, you can allow for discovery and experience while also supporting and encouraging best-practices.  Instead of an explicit checklist or procedure, the “process” can be embedded in the environment itself.

I’ve started to see a lot of my work in this way.  When building a user interface (or user experience) online, aren’t you building the “process” by which someone will interact with your site?  If I’m looking to improve the way we work together, isn’t that the “process” of online collaboration?  Effective web design doesn’t explicitly tell the user what to do, but implicitly encourages certain actions in the design itself.

This gets into the realm of crafting an online experience.  It’s not just graphic design, or programming, or usability studies – it’s combining all these areas, and and creating an implicit process for people to follow… one which helps them accomplish their tasks in a more effective and efficient way.

It doesn’t get prescriptive enough that context is lost, but it also builds on past knowledge and experience.  Certain actions are encouraged, but it doesn’t feel like following a checklist.

Perhaps the best process is one which doesn’t look like a process at all.

It’s time for a myEWB update!

During the month of August, we piloted a few new front-page concepts – thank you to everyone who checked them out and sent in your feedback! We’ve taken all these thoughts, and compiled them into a final version – available at http://preview.ewb.ca

What were the survey results, and what led to this final concept?

A clean dashboard
It’s a tough balance: some of the feedback was the new dashboard-style layout was still too cluttered… but when asked what type of content belongs on the front page, the response was overwhelmingly “dashboard” – some of everything.

So that’s what we’re trying: keeping a summary of your chapter’s activities front and centre, and leaving discussions prominently on the front page, while also keeping other information readily accessible (“Essential EWB” links, blogs, etc).

What I’m learning about dashboards, is that it is a launching point – you want just enough under each heading to give you a taste of it (and a “more »” link)… you don’t provide a full summary of every section. That’s how I’m hoping to retain the dashboard model, without having the front page become a busy mess.

The Wine Down and the Activity Feed
Wine down? Yes. You liked it. I do too. It’s an EWB spin on the “thumbs up” or “like”… and it’s a great way to easily share & promote content, without writing a post or reply.

The activity feed, on the other hand, was not so hot. My theory going in was that people would be interested in what other people are doing: EWB is as much a social experience as anything else… everywhere I look, I see that the personal connections and sense of community are an incredibly important part of the EWB experience. But perhaps that doesn’t translate into a Facebook-style activity feed – at least, not centrally on the front page.

Learning Passport
There was a lot of positive feedback around this idea, but the general consensus was also that it’s not a front-page feature. I’m excited to build this into myEWB eventually, probably as an overhaul of the “Profile” tab, but it’s not something we will build a front-page around.

So, what’s next?

Design
I’ve sent the front-page concept out to a couple of graphic designers, who will polish it and make it look slick (skills that I sorely lack =) ); we’re not far from launching the new front page!

Navigation
We’re also taking a closer look at the way myEWB is structured: the more observant will notice that each of our concepts in August also tested a different navigation: from a Home/Chapters/Groups/Events/Volunteering breakdown, similar to the current site; to a completely different Home/Interests/Roles/Activities navigation.

We’re currently refining some of these ideas, and trying to find the most intuitive way to structure things – probably not a hugely radical change (we want it familiar enough that you’re not lost!), but some updates to make things more intuitive and integrated.

We’re just getting started!
This front-page and navigation overhaul is just a kick-start to more concentrated, serious myEWB development! Once this is done, we’ll be going through the different sections of the site, overhauling them one-by-one, and identifying key new features to build.

For the past month, I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to figure out what EWB’s online community will look like in the future. How will EWBers connect and collaborate online? How can we best use the internet to build the EWB movement? And what role will myEWB play in all this?

I’ve been actively soliciting feedback and sharing my thoughts on various mailing lists, reaching out to people who have been involved in online-community-building in the past … but I haven’t posted anything on this blog. Transparency fail!

So, without further ado, check out http://blogs.ewb.ca/itninja/myewb-re-design/ for both a summary of our current progress & thinking, and our next steps! I am also recognizing that one of my biggest weaknesses has been in structuring and framing the feedback I want – rather than just presenting an overwhelming amount of information. But please please don’t let that stop you as I try to improve!

The window for feedback in the current round is fast closing, unfortunately, but there’s still plenty more to come. The current plan is to build a few options directly into myEWB (with some placeholder content as needed) by Aug 15, and then let all myEWB users preview the potential new sites for a couple of weeks – gathering feedback along the way (and, coincidentally, while I take off for a much-needed vacation).  Then when I’m back, we’ll integrate all the feedback and build out the final version … ideally in time to roll out before the school year picks up.

It’s an extremely exciting time, as we get to re-define the way EWBers interact with each other and with the organization online – and I hope you’ll be part of it!