Never Overestimate Your Visitors

It’s easy for us to get very focused on what we do and to assume that everyone thinks like we do. But they don’t. We’re all “web 2.0” and “folksonomies” and “viral marketing” and they’re all “click what?” and “but the guy said he was related to Nigerian royalty”. Let me very simply illustrate the incredible chasm that we have to deal with.

Back in September, I wrote a post called Kraft.ca — The 20 Character Home Page that just this weekend generated this email from a One Degree reader:

In the last year your 600 gram packages of cheese has gone from 600 grams to 560 and now to 540 grams. Do you think that no one has picked up on this. What’s going on. I purchase your brand exclusively, but maybe not any-more.

Bob

Clearly Bob is confused. He thinks our post about kraft.ca means that he is ON kraft.ca and he’s decided to complain about the vast cheese conspiracy he’s uncovered. Please remember this next time you hear someone say “don’t worry, our users are pretty with it — they’ll figure it out”. BTW Bob, I think this is the page you were looking for. Oh and “BTW” means “by the way” — sorry about that.


Originally published at www.onedegree.ca on December 3, 2006.