Inspired by yesterday’s session where Steve Molis riffed about dates and date formats 😊
Anyone who’s had to deal with systems and data will have had to work with data formats
Dates can be a pig to work with, and while we’re here, can we talk about how Excel craps on phone formats too? Grrr. 😖
I had my domain accidentally cancelled by GoDaddy this one time because their warning emails had a date that I didn’t feel was very urgent.
It looked something like “Your domain will be doomed to the Hellfire of Oblivion if you do not renew by 3.9.2019!“
It being March I thought heck I have a whole 6 months to go.
Nope.
To cut a long story short, yes my domain name did take a trip to Hellfire but after many calls with Godaddy’s wonderful customer service (if you aren’t with them, you totally should be! Best. Customer. Service!) we sorted all out.
And now their emails to me actually spell out dates, to avoid confusion.
When designing system alerts, popups, emails, and other forms of notification… Pay attention to your audience and how they might interpret your message.
Being a #GoodCommunicator isn’t just about delivering the message.
It’s the thoughtful process about how to make it accessible, digestible and fun for your audience to consume so that they can grasp what you’re trying to tell them.
Especially when you’re talking about something as important as dates.
Favourite date formats are as controversial as favourite fonts, and much like sex, politics and religion… I stay away from discussing any of the above.
Life is more peaceful this way. 😁
#OnTheLighterSideOfPeiroll
#Communication
