I’m not talking about a person’s looks, I’m talking about the looks of a product or website.
I’m talking about production values.
Frequent typos on a blog.
A self-published book with clip art or stock art instead of original art.
A typo in the chapter title of a book.
A website with one of the graphics off center.
Grammatical errors on a sales page.
Am I just a total snob?
Whenever I see any of these errors, it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. My opinion of the author goes down. WAY down.
To me, it signifies a complete lack of effort and lack of concern. The creator didn’t care enough to make it look good. The author didn’t care enough to proofread. If they were really serious about their work, they would have made the extra effort to make it look good.
We put a lot of effort into making our products look good. Our manifesto looks nicer than most e-books I’ve seen. The Usual Error doesn’t look like a self-published book.
But speaking of the usual error…
Am I making the usual error?
In my mind, if you care about something, you’ll make the effort to make it look good. Therefore, if it doesn’t look good, you must not care about it.
But there are some pretty darn popular bloggers whose blogs are riddled with typos. There are some pretty darn popular self-published books with low production values.
What gives?
Maybe I’m in the minority? Maybe it’s only me and the other snobs who care about whether it looks good, and everyone else is happy to overlook a few flaws if the content is great?
How about you?
Does it make no difference to you?
Does it bother you?
Or does it block you? Does it stop you from reading it, clicking it, buying it, or recommending it?
What’s your opinion?
Do you wish you could change the world with your writing? Learn how with the World-Changing Writing Workshop! Pace, Kyeli, and 6 awesome guest speakers will teach you what you need to know about world-changing writing.
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree, if it looks sloppy I think the creator didn’t care that much about it. Like they just threw it together without much thought of who would be reading it or using it.
My answer is really “all of the above”.
I share a lot of your biases. Spelling, grammar, the flow of words and the polishing of layout all come relatively easy to me, as well as being important aspects of presentation and necessary tools with which we can better communicate. I often don’t have the patience to wade through distracting errors and clumsy wordings to determine if there are good ideas underneath. A book has to grab me within the first few pages or I won’t bother reading it. Bad presentation definitely limits your audience.
And yet some of the people nearest to me are nowhere near as good with words as I am. To others these things are not only difficult, but distractions from the fundamental content. The endless conflicting rules of English, entertaining to me, are nothing but frustrating to them, and yet their voices are no less vital or worthy of being heard. There are any number of reasons why someone’s production values may not be as good. Maybe they don’t have the kind of brain that wraps easily around these things. Maybe they don’t have the resources or the skills for a high quality of self-publishing, and did the best they could. A poorly laid out book or a typo-ridden essay doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t care about what they’re saying, and to assume that it does is definitely the usual error.
.-= Heather Freeman´s last blog ..What She Wants You to See =-.
OMG. Yes, this bothers me to no end. Nails on a chalkboard is a great way to describe it. But does it stop me from eating at Denningers on “Tuesday’s”? Not a chance. It may bug the hell out of me that they didn’t take two seconds to fix that apostrophe, but that doesn’t mean I won’t consume their product. Ditto books, sites, etc.
.-= Ellie Di´s last blog ..Household Uses for Tea Tree Oil =-.
I am “happy to overlook a few flaws if the content is great”. For example I read the personal blog of a guy that is really on the verge of my tolerance – typos, bad grammar, lack of punctuation marks and on top of everything extremely vulgar (to me at least). But he has things to say and a very nice sense of humour.
Otherwise I completely agree with you. If a person makes stupid mistakes on the front page or even casually mentions in her short story that a hippo weighs 200 kilos that would completely turn me down from their site and their product. For me it is the same like for you – the person does not care enough to proofread or to at least google something that they don’t know. Bad graphics, bad design – very unappealing also.
So to sum it up – Yes, looks matter. A lot.
These things *always* bother me, but they don’t always make me devalue something. It really depends on what the problem is and how good the content is. Like, messing up your and you’re makes me twitchy, but if it happens a few times then I’ll just twitch and let it go. Same with poor-but-not-horrible grammar. I know proofreading your own work for things like that is hard and tedious and that I’m really picky about things like that anyways. (I went to *grad school for library science!* Professors there warn the class that the next slide has a typo so that everyone doesn’t freak out.)
If I’m reading the from-the-heart work of a passionate person who doesn’t really understand web design and doesn’t have the writing skills or training I try and shove down my first reaction and connect with the ideas behind it all.
But if you can’t even bother to run spell check, I am out of there. There is only so much I can deal with! If I can’t focus on what I’m reading without wanting to get out my red pen, then even if the content is fantastic I’m just not going to get any benefit from it. It’s a bit sad… but that’s how it is for me.
It really depends for me.
If the purpose is selling something, especially “expertise” in some area then i find my tolerance for things such as grammar, spelling, and production values comes into play — I then assume that if they want to earn my money from something they need to be working towards perfection. This is ESPECIALLY important for me if they are trying to sell me on self-help or other non-physical products that require me buying into the fact that they have achieved some higher perfection.
BUT… when I’m reading a blog or something where the purpose is connection with others, even when it is a blog of someone who does try to sell based on their expert status, I find that I am way more tolerant. When the face is one of a human being rather than an expert or a product, I am willing to forgive and seek the message or to just connect to a person. A person doesn’t need to be perfect for me to want to “hear” them through their expression. I know that I wouldn’t want to be judged to be unworthy based on the fact that I am in a rush to get something out of my heart or off my mind (usually I’m seeking feedback for my posts so I want to get it out there and see if there is anything that anyone can offer that i’m missing) or for people to turn away from my blog because I am not the best at web design or wordpress… so I don’t want to treat others like their words are not good enough either. I don’t judge others, because i don’t know their struggles… maybe they have a learning issue, English isn’t their first language, they are hurting and just want to get it off their chests, perhaps they are posting quickly because they have reason to be afraid of others finding out what they are writing (as a formerly abused wife I know that fear) or are writing at work (I do this) or on a computer in a library… whatever the reason I remember how much it means to me to be HEARD and how powerful it is to feel accepted even though I am not perfect….
So I amon both sides, I guess.
.-= MoonsLark´s last blog ..Lost =-.
Yes, yes, and yes! It stops the whole flow of reading when I come across typos and incorrect usages (example: there instead of their) and the only time I can easily let it go is if I know that English is not the primary language of whomever I’m reading. Otherwise, I click the “close tab” button and chock it up to a bad day on the part of the writer. HOWEVER, if this is a common mistake, and very prevalent, I’ll delete them from my RSS reader. I don’t think it’s snobbery to expect people to take the time to get it right. ESPECIALLY if they use said blog to make their living – if they’re that bad at using the spell-checker, how bad would a PHYSICAL product be? And what irks me is when bad mistakes are pointed out (I’ve proofread many an English paper in my 30 years), and people say, “I’m just really bad at it.” REALLY? You’re really bad at THE ONLY LANGUAGE YOU KNOW?!? It’s like saying, “I’m really bad at cleaning myself” – there comes a time when, for your own sake (if not for your competence level) you really need to start getting it right.
Of course, on the other hand, I’ve been told that I can be snotty about “things that don’t really matter” *ahem*, so you might not want to go by me… *grin*
That stuff all bothers me too, but I’m aware of the fact that I am super-critical, so I try and consciously NOT worry about it when I’m trying to consume an otherwise awesome book, blog, or movie.
There are always things that push me too far over the edge, though, like misspellings that seem willfully overlooked, or graphics that were obviously slapdash.
.-= Rachael´s last blog ..Video Day Two of the videochallenge! =-.
Twitter: tzaddi
September 3, 2010 at 3:01 pm
@jleene18 – :) “I’m really bad at cleaning myself” …hah!
YES, these things definitely matter to me. Down to the pixel! I don’t necessarily interpret it as meaning the person doesn’t care though. Depends on the author, tone and context.
I find grammar/typos distracting and often they influence my opinion of the message, except in a fast-paced medium like twitter or IM, or when I can tell the person is ESL.
And yes, they will block me from 2 perspectives. They temper my interest in the message/product/opportunity. And these things also block me from contributing sometimes: that if I can’t take time to craft a careful response I should not comment, if my art is not “good enough” (whatever that means) I should not share it.
.-= Tzaddi´s last blog ..Making Space =-.
I pay a lot of attention to production values… though I do take context into consideration. A typo in the main post is an issue – but I’ll let the comments slide.
I’ll take stock art over lousy art (or no art) any day. Some people aren’t artists. I’m not, and I don’t expect others to be.
I think it matters most when attracting customers. Attractive things attract. If I’m looking at something new and it’s got low production value or is riddled with typos I move on. If I already know the content is something I’ll like I tolerate it. It can even become part of its charm.
For instance, Amanda Palmer’s blog. She never uses correct punctuation or capitals, her entries aren’t formatted, and the look of her site is kind of boring. However, I started reading it because I knew I liked her and eventually all of that became part of its charm. If someone didn’t know who she was, though, they’d probably have a hard time getting through even one post. Hell, sometimes I have trouble getting through one of her posts.
You guys as well. I love the look of everything you put out, but honestly I’d read it no matter what because it’s you. Eventually whatever quirks of presentation would become part of the package and I’d enjoy it.
On the point of attractive things attract, though, that’s where the usual error comes in. I love the look of your site. I love the colors, and the minimalist cleanliness, and the brightness. It feels clean and welcoming–almost the way a kids room or a glossy magazine does. Some people might be turned off by that, and might prefer something more cluttered and artsy or organic looking. The same goes for grammar. People with more casual communication are likely drawn to the occasional typo or sentence ending in a preposition. People who are strict about grammar will enjoy products that rise to their standard.
I think, really, you’ll be successful if you put thought into your presentation, but that thought could conceivably be a sort of controlled sloppiness. If it’s part of the intent rather than laziness you’ll attract people who are attracted to it. After you’ve drawn an audience, you can sort of nudge their boundaries or your own to attract others. If you’re just lazy then you’ll obviously attract lazy people who won’t bother checking your blog regularly anyway. ;)
I agree with Heather – I usually try to stick around a bit and not judge too much. I mean, if it’s something that’s selling something, that’s one thing, but a personal blog is another. If the person is a professional writer, they should probably not have misspellings or grammar mistakes. But offhand, I don’t know if that person knows English as a second language or something. I don’t mean to be snarky but “You’re really bad at THE ONLY LANGUAGE YOU KNOW?!?” – ever heard of dyslexia?
I’m also kind of odd about books, I have a few books where the artwork (which isn’t the focus) is terrible – pixelated, oddly sized, etc. I might sigh or roll my eyes, but I’m reading the book fort he information, not for the pictures. Bad artwork in a non-fiction book won’t make me put it down. If the artwork is the focus of the book that’s a totally different matter.
And there’s some of it that just comes down to style, there are websites that I think look absolutely eye-gratingly bad but that other people seem to love. Go figure!
.-= Michelle´s last blog ..Goal Post =-.
Simple answer – Yes! This post made me come out of lurk mode because I’m just about to launch a product and think about this very issue every day. Going through the product over and over and asking others to do the same so that it is the greatest it can be. I think that the small details are the difference between someone not liking a product, being okay with a product and LOVING a product.
To me, Apple is a great example of building products with attention to detail, which is why so many people love the products they produce.
A few quotes from Steve Jobs that I think say it all:
“We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.”
“Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.”
“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it.”
Yeah, Michelle, I guess I should clarify – it WOULD be snarky if I were to be mean to people with a true problem, you’re right, and I hadn’t thought of that. I guess what I was talking about was people who I KNOW don’t have a problem, but are, rather, too lazy to learn the difference between, say, their and there, or your and you’re, or that prefer to try to write papers as if they’re writing a Facebook/Twitter entry.
So maybe that’s what I was really getting at – some people DO have good excuses, but I have more of a problem with people who are just LAZY. I spent some time in the military, as Admin, and the sheer number of people who don’t know how to alphabetize is…..it’s sad, really, especially when most of them DON’T have an honest excuse aside from laziness.
Though I have to say, I drive the hubs kinda batty when we come upon businesses who are trying to be “edgy” or “cute” by spelling their business names funny. I might still go there (like, in the case of Krispy Kreme), but I can’t help but comment on it usually (why couldn’t it be Crispy Creme?). Oh, and I simply can NOT listen to that Fergie song where she spells tasty with an e, but that’s another matter entirely…
Until very recently I have been super tight about correct spelling and grammar and specially liked things with a lovely ‘look’. I fret when I accidentally leave in those kinds of errors myself, or have things looking sub-standard to my design-trained eye.
I am starting to realise that content is really important too, everyone has a story; when I am engaged by that I try to go with the flow with those other kinds of irritations!
.-= Tangerine Meg´s last blog ..Live Bold List 18- Sunshine- women- white flowers and courage =-.
Comments seem to indicate that folks would prefer a polished, professional piece, but can generally remain open-minded about why production values might not always hit the mark, depending on circumstances or context.
Add accessibility, and you’ve got the potential for a passel of mutual learning. Some Web masters/developers appreciate a heads-up about production errors on their site–I sure did. I’d rather get the message from a helpful colleague than a grouchy dean! You help them keep their boss happy, and you might be able to talk someone into installing more RAM in your rig. Win-win. Woo hoo.
Supporting good production values across the Internet establishes a good model, regardless. A thoughtful reviewer will consider production, context, content, accessibility, and a lot more. We need standards to improve the arts but not destroy creativity and innovation. You are not a snob if you shudder at poor production values. On the other hand, it’s good karma to help others learn how to meet industry standards to improve communications.
Just my two cents.
It bothers me, but depending on how I found out about it, I might make an effort to get past all that. There’s a reward/annoyance ratio that, if it’s not too low, I’ll keep plugging along for the material. If it’s too low, though, I’m going to give up on it.
It’s mostly the grammatical errors and misspellings that bother me. Typos, I can usually figure out it’s a typo and I’m somewhat more forgiving of those. Clip art doesn’t bother me that much – what I’m after is the text, not the illustration. Illustration is gravy. If I know someone put effort into the illustration, I’ll appreciate that, but clip art as opposed to original artwork isn’t going to bother me as much as it seems to bother you. Graphics being off-center aren’t that big a deal to me either, as long as the site is consistent about it. (I get used to a particular pattern, and as long as pattern is maintained, I don’t care if it’s unusual in an unprofessional-looking way. Switching up the pattern is more bothersome.)
What bothers *me* the most is if there’s a non-ad thing that’s flashing or animated too quickly. That sort of thing makes me dizzy sometimes. Animated .gifs for no reason except to have animated whatever are more of a problem to me than badly-spaced or cheap visual things.
I like professional-looking stuff. It’s easier for me to process the content. But if the content is worth digging through unprofessional-looking stuff, I’ll dig. It’s just easier for me if I don’t have to make the extra effort of getting past the unprofessionalism.
Oo, interesting topic!
Me, I view the polish of good grammar, spelling, art, production, etc as a sign that the person thinks what they have to offer is important. It’s like dressing well. If someone shows up to a first date with me in dirty flipflops, a tshirt so old it has holes in it, and stained cargo shorts (this has actually happened) I know they don’t respect someone — either me or themselves. That’s not attractive.
If I’m visiting a website or a store and thinking about buying something, it’s like a first date. If someone wants to sell me something, they should show me that the sale is important enough to “dress nicely” — have that extra polish on top of quality content.
Now, if the person isn’t trying to sell me something, I’m a lot more tolerant. But if you want to sell me something, show me it’s worth my money by showing me it’s worth your money — to hire an editor, to hire a graphic designer, to hire whoever you have to hire to make up for your own deficiencies. We all are not-so-great at some stuff. The trick is to work around that rather than let it be your stained cargo shorts.
Now, bad content can’t be saved by all the polish in the world. But great content can be hidden by a lack of polish.
It bugs me a lot, and I wish it didn’t!
I’m fine with the occasional typo in a blog post or ebook or what have you, but more than a few start making me feel that it’s been done in a bit of a slap-dash way.
And while I’m fully aware that content and information can be hugely valuable even if the presentation is shoddy, it’s genuinely difficult to read an ebook that’s badly formatted (dense text or weird fonts) or a print book that has tiny print on nasty paper.
I didn’t realise that The Usual Error was self-published when I first bought it and read it, because it looks so good; you guys did an awesome job on that!
Like other commenters have said, context matters a lot. Obviously, I’m not expecting everyone to proof-read their tweets … but if production standards on a book/ebook/course are shoddy, it makes me worry where else the author might have cut corners…
.-= Ali Hale´s last blog ..Clutter and Creativity =-.
Yup, totally bugs me. I’m cool with bad grammar if that was the point. For example, I will often write as I speak. So if I would say ’bout, or ain’t, that’s what I type. However, I’m still about putting in punctuation. I hate spelling errors, I even correct my text messages! ;)
.-= Karen´s last blog ..My Wish For You =-.
while it bugs me, it doesn’t stop me.
My sister and several other people I care about are dyslexic, dysgraphic, or otherwise challenged when it comes to expressing themselves through text and punctuation. These people can spend 10 more minutes looking up every rule and style guide to clean up their text for you… or they could spend 10 minutes conveying more information. I’d usually prefer the latter.
Studying grammar for the last few decades has taught me that the “rules” are actually guidelines. If someone expresses themselves and you understand them, they have succeeded. Everything else is gravy.
Of course, sometimes, it’s not just gravy. Sometimes it’s a marker of attention or care. Sometimes it’s a marker of social class, and then the arguments about who’s “right” become just placeholders for other issues.
In other words… it depends. :)
YES! It absolutely bugs me and it stops me from buying anything or even continuing to read. If your copy isn’t free of bugs, how can I be sure that your product isn’t either? If you don’t care enough about your copy or your product, why should I?
So yes, Pace! I am clearly in the snob camp with you. But it works for me.
Best,
Nanci
Typos and spelling mistakes really matter to me. (I have an excuse – English is not my first language :P). When I see published material (books, video games…) with mistakes in them, I can’t help ranting on how the majority of people is becoming more and more stupid. “The majority”, yeah – it may be exaggerated, but seeing how often one can find mistakes in published material, it’s getting creepy.
I tend to be less picky on the Internet. A message written in bad English (or bad French, or whatever) can sometimes be a proof that the message reflects the immediate thoughts of the person who wrote it. Of course, this is not an excuse as in “I have the right to write badly because I’m being spontaneous”.
Then again… “there is no right way”, is there ? Yet many people here, including me, have a bias against bad spelling in general. That’s a funny paradox, isn’t it ? =)
Twitter: EMohrhoff
September 11, 2010 at 12:25 am
Yeah, typos drive me nuts, but I read my brother’s blog anyway. He’s a good writer and I know that his stuff on that blog has typos because he’s squeezing it in between caring for his two sons, freelancing for extra cash and working a full time position as a National Guard recruiter. So I can forgive him.
I do see how he could lose standing in the eyes of other readers though, the ones who DON’T know what he’s trying to juggle. That part makes me sad because I don’t want them to ignore what he has to say just because of a few typos.