Although my blog posts seem to always revolve around DIYs and whether or not it’s ok to wear black and brown together (and it totally is!) I wanted to change my tune for this particular post and focus on the subject that takes up the large majority of my life: Marketing. I don’t talk about my professional life and expertise a lot on californ-ia but wanted to share some thoughts on a topic I’m quite passionate about and have spent the past 12 years devoted to. Website User Experience. So without further ado, I give you UX – The Universal Language…

When poised with the question, “What is the Universal Language?” the hopeless romantic in me would say Love. Period. Drop mike. Regardless of background, native tongue or location in the world, love is the one language that every person on Earth can understand without translation. Love, my marketing friends, is the one true Universal Language.

Or is it?

When tasked the other day to analyze a specific service on a client’s competitor site (which just happened to be in Russian, to which I don’t speak a lick of) I will tell you that although I understood practically nothing on their website, I could easily navigate and find almost all of the information I was searching for.

Mind you, I couldn’t read their introduction or mission statement—but it was clear what kind of company it was. I couldn’t pronounce the services they offered, but their iconography led me to the details I needed. Their imagery was impactful. Navigation clear. So was I able to pick up fluent Russian in a moment’s notice or was it that I had been trained on a different type of language? Perhaps something a little more Universal?

UX, or User Experience, has become the life-blood of website architecture and design. It is the way in which a website user interacts with its products, services and systems and encompasses the ease of use and the site’s overall efficiency. In short, UX is the language we use to understand a website.

Users today expect a specific User Experience and, like learning any language, have spent years developing this proficiency. This self-taught proficiency is what UX professionals spend so much time harnessing, all to create the most efficient and effective pathway to the end goal: conversion. Whether it be the title or placement of a navigation item or the on-state rollover effect on a call-to-action, each and every site element must be strategically determined and placed to provide users with the language they have taught themselves to expect. It is our job as marketers to be fluent in our user’s anticipated actions.

When analyzing a site’s UX, there are a few rules one should try and follow.

Remove the guess work and utilize your metrics

You may think you know what your clients are after, and there is a good chance that you do, but the proof is in the analytical pudding. Use your analytics to understand your audience and their habits and then use that data to everyone’s advantage.

Understand your customer’s journey

Identifying the flow in which a user travels your site, from the first point of entry to either contact or purchase, is essential in establishing an effective UX. Chances are you have multiple audiences accessing your site. Walk through how each of them would ideally navigate your site. Does it make sense for each group? Understanding your user flows will help you determine and remove any obstacles between your viewers and conversion.

Test your site experience and test it some more

Many clients will launch a site, pat their agency partner on the back and then disappear into the mist until the next sexy web design fad comes along. Launching a website and leaving it to chance is a stake in the heart when it comes to UX. Use your analytics, talk to and survey your clients/customers, and always be trying to understand what site elements can be improved upon.

It is clear that UX plays a major part in our everyday lives. It impacts how your customers interact and engage with your brand. It is a predominant factor in lead generation and conversion. So whatever language you find to be universal, I urge you to become fluent in your site’s UX. Much like love, it’s how we communicate with one another.

OK. I realize I haven’t posted anything in awhile. Ad agency life will do that to you. But in order to jumpstart my routine, I wanted to post something worthwhile… We’re engaged!

Every year for our anniversary, Kevin and I run off for a weekend together, typically in the mountains somewhere–our anniversary is in February after all. We try to hit up a ski resort we’ve never been to, with the goal of someday snowboarding all of them. For our five year, we booked a trip to Vancouver and Whistler.

If you haven’t been to Vancouver, I highly recommend it. It’s clean, beautiful, full of breweries and offers so much to do. I attended my first NHL game (Go Canucks!) and the scenic views were breathtaking. Whistler and Nita Lake Lodge were equally magical. We snowboarded, bobsledded, hiked, drank ourselves silly and did all the other things you do on your five year anniversary. ; )

On the last morning of our Whistler adventure, following our morning coffee routine, Kevin and I took to a lake hike behind our lodge with the hopes of capturing some picturesque footage with his drone–he takes the damn thing with him everywhere. Once situated on the opposite end of the lake from the lodge, with his drone strategically following us, Kevin popped his question. Will you adventure with me forever? Between a mass amount of tears and hopping up and down like a caffeinated bunny, I said yes!

On cloud nine, he told me the details of his plotting which, to my surprise, included a six hour drive to see my parents to ask their permission. I think this meant just as much to me as the physical proposal. With my dad’s favorite bottle of whiskey in hand, Kevin proposed to my family. My father, also a caffeinated bouncing bunny, cried yes as well. Kevin had Bob’s blessing.

Fast forward to today, I still haven’t made a single wedding plan. I plan for a living so perhaps this is just one thing I want to bask in for while. I’m honestly just in love with being engaged. One thing Kevin and I do align on is a date. The day we met, our proposal and our someday wedding will all fall on our special date in February. I think it’s romantic and he won’t have to remember another date–a magical combination!

This past year will undoubtedly go down as one of the best years in my life. I lived. I loved. I am experiencing the life I have always hoped I would. But with self joy comes the inevitable need to also defend the accomplishments that I, as a woman, have yet to summit. In particular: I am over 30, I am unmarried and I have no children. With that said, to some, all of my other accomplishments can be damned to hell.

Any single woman over 30 will tell you that at least once in their life someone has directly or discreetly questioned their decision to be in their current situation. They will phrase these comments in such a way that leaves you wondering if you caught some type of disease. You came down with the being single or have a case of the not being pregnant yet. With each passing year into my thirties I am convinced that by the time I reach 35 they will no longer ask questions but simply have me quarantined into a far off ghetto for women with my condition.

These interrogation tactics are not limited to friends and family either. Clients, colleagues and complete strangers will ask you to explain yourself to them. At least once a month I will have someone ask why my boyfriend of five years had not yet proposed to me. By being asked questions like this, you are put into the awkward position of making excuses or inevitably considering the worst ridiculous thoughts. Maybe he doesn’t love me?

For the longest time, I was one of the women that made excuses for herself. We’re saving money. We’re waiting until after the next promotion. We have to wash our hair this weekend. You name the excuse, I’ve probably used it at some point in the last five years as to why I’m not married with a babe on my hip. But what I’ve learned is that excuses don’t help your situation and only bring you down—making you second guess some of the biggest decisions you have made for yourself. Don’t ever second guess yourself. If you’re in your thirties and have built the life you have imagined or are on your way to doing so, remind yourself that you didn’t get there by second guessing yourself and by listening to those with different ambitions.

Now, when anyone questions my rockless left-hand or when we’re planning to start a family I oh so proudly state that I’m simply having my cake and eating it too—a polite middle finger that means, unlike you miss or mister interrogator, I can both adventure now and have a family when I’m ready… and unlike you have the established means to do so…

To quote another strong woman and the reason behind my use of Aveeno and consumption of Smart Water:

“We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child. We get to decide for ourselves what is beautiful when it comes to our bodies. That decision is ours and ours alone. We don’t need to be married or mothers to be complete. We get to determine our own “happily ever after” for ourselves.”

Jennifer Aniston is not perfect. She knows it and isn’t afraid to say it. But I admire her ability to stay her path and encourage other women to do so as well. Like Aniston, I have been let down time and time again but keep my chin held high and continue to kill it on the journey there. We’re in this together, Jen. We’ll get there.

Perhaps naïve, but my positive self has me convinced that the eggs I do have left (the dwindling 10% left according to most medical resources) are still there because they have endured and have the strength to fight off my apparent dying uterus. Standing tall and waving their Darwinism banners proudly, my 10% shout “We will not go quietly into the night!” as they wait determined on the front line, being picked off one-by-one as the dooms day of 40 approaches.

Will it be harder for me to conceive children? Maybe. But would it have also been hard for me to bear children at a younger age and have potentially given up all of the experiences and personal growth I have accomplished in the last 10 years? Absolutely. My point being, that there is no right answer and either path chosen could have been the wrong path. The path is yours and yours alone to make.

I will continue to grow whether or not I have something growing inside of me. I want to have children someday, but the keyword there is someday and someday is different for everyone. Someday does not mean 34 and a half on the third day in October. Someday for me means the day I decide that another life and their experience and growth is more important than my own. When the taste of champagne falls second to an apple juice-box and the Inca trail holds less luster than Disneyland, then and only then will someday have occurred. And until that day I ask all of the self-appointed doctors trying to diagnose me with dwindling egg-count to refrain from their prescriptions.

After all, we have the ability to determine our own happily ever afters. Maybe mine just ends a little differently and a little further down the road.

Finally having my first breather in 2016, I wanted to take a moment and reflect on an amazing year in my life. 2015 brought so many opportunities and changes and I feel nothing but blessed to have shared these experiences with the people I love with my entire heart. Here’s a look back at an amazing year.

We moved! And not just any move, we made THEE move. Kevin and I decided that if we’re going to be working our tails off, we might as well be working our tails off right on the water. Why not have our morning cup of coffee with a view. When in San Diego! We love our home and that is exactly what it is, Our FIRST home together!

I turned 30. This number might scare some women, but I am honored and blessed to be 30. I’ve had more than my share of obstacles and heart-break to get here, but you know what, I’m here. I might not be exactly where I thought I’d be but I’m exactly where I need to be and, above all, I’m happy. Cheers to being 30 and fabulous!

Kevin’s company, Block Risers, launched. Not only did his company get started, but he, alongside Sven Anders Alwerud at Jelly Skateboards, completed a successful crowdfunding campaign that generated over $102,000! I am so ridiculously proud of Kevin and his team. 2015 was only the start of this amazing venture!

I started a new job! I joined Jacob Tyler creative group as Senior Brand Manager in July and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I cannot believe how fast the last seven months have gone and the projects I’ve been able to be a part of. This is the career I’ve been working towards and I couldn’t think of a better agency to grow with. We’re going to see big things in 2016!

My family experienced Lambeau Field. We’ve always been Green Bay fans, and my sweet heart almost sister-in-law planned the perfect birthday present for my brother–a surprise Packers VS Seahawks game with friends and family in tow! We drank, we cheered, we won and I got to see my brother with the biggest smile ever when we walked through that door to surprise him!

Amanda Mac Studio celebrated its one year anniversary! Whoa! If you would have asked me a few years ago if I would have my own business I would have giggled you out the door. This is a major accomplishment for me and I love seeing how my little etsy shop has grown. I love my customers (well, most of them) and the inspiration and creativity the community brings. Look for my new item “Mac Stacks” summer of 2016!

The Iowa Hawkeyes made it to the Rose Bowl! For Christmas, Kevin bought me six tickets to Pasadena, a bowl game the Hawks haven’t seen in over 25 years. It was an experience of a lifetime and that’s how I’ll always remember it! If you want the score, you’ll have to ask someone else, I’ve already misplaced it! 🙂

As I watched the sun set on the last day of my twenties (yes, I seriously went out, wine glass in nostalgic hand, and watched the sun set) I took a moment to really wrap my head around what turning thirty really meant to me. Some may see it as a turning point, an extra wrinkle or gray hair and for some simply a number. At one time or another, I saw thirty as all of those things. Now, as I sit here hanging on to the last rung of ladder 29, I see thirty a little bit differently. Thirty was my mountain.

Climbing my “summit” has not been an easy one. Sherpa-less and ill-prepared, I’ve struggled to cover ground. I’ve been frost-bitten and snowed in more than I care to admit, but my mother would tell me it’s all to make me a stronger climber—and she’s right.

There are so many paths that I probably should have chosen more wisely. So many “local villagers” that I should have stoned instead of giving my heart to. So as I look back at my climb, there are a few traveling tips I would give myself. So, miss fifteen-year-old Amanda Jane, here are some guidebook bullets for you:

1. Wear your Jnco Jeans, corduroy jacket and that vintage tuxedo blouse you found in mom’s closet. You WILL be made fun of time and time again but your fashion pioneering will pay off. You will “Bloom” soon enough. I can’t say the same for the girls who made fun of you…
2. Your Grandpa will not live as long as you think he will. He will not dance with you at your wedding. He will not hold your first baby. Spend every chance you get to be with him and make sure he knows you love him as much as you do.
3. I know you don’t want to hear this, but you will not be an architect. Stop taking so many CADD and drafting classes.
4. Don’t try to beat up every unworthy floozy your younger brother tries to date. Let him have his fun. Let him get hurt. These lessons will help him discover what type of woman he truly needs in life. And rest assured he does finally find her.
5. Your hot wing and beer diet is only good for another ten years. If you want to keep that size two waist (and I promise you that you do!) start cutting out the carbs and dairy sooner than later.
6. On second thought, eat and drink whatever the hell you want. We’re a size two!
7. Continue to keep your nose clean and skin un-inked. These are things you’ll never regret having not did.
8. If a boy cheats on you, hits you or makes you feel constantly insignificant and alone, he does not love you. Don’t spend so many years of your life being convinced otherwise.
9. Take technical English classes. Become a grammar and spelling queen. I know you don’t think so now, but just trust me on this one—it’s a career thing.
10. Don’t take out so many student loans. Please.
11. Although adorable, try not to wear so many pointed heels in your twenties. Oddly enough, they are not good for you and can “re-shape” who you are. Or at least who your feet are…
12. All the girls that bully you to tears (both in high school and the few in college) do in fact become exactly what you hope for them to become. Take the hurt in stride and keep pushing to make something more of yourself.
13. Don’t try that one cigarette when you’re 17 to prove to a bunch of kids you won’t cough. You will cough and then you’ll have to say you tried a disgusting cigarette. To this day I am SO mad at you for trying that one pride ruining cancer stick. SO mad!
14. Wear your retainer. Do it.
15. Your mom and dad are really good people. They’re ridiculously hard on you, but it’s because they love you more than anything in the world. They’d give up everything to see you have more than they ever had—and they do give up a lot for you. Give them some slack and tell them every single day how much you love them—because you really do.

I wish the fifteen-year-old me could take all of my advice above, but at the same time, it might have changed the horizon that I’m looking at right now. The view at thirty is a beautiful one, but I know it’s because I’ve stumbled countless times, gotten back up and worked so hard to get where I am today. Thirty isn’t exactly what I expected (OK, it’s nothing what I expected) but it ended up being everything I could ever hope for. I’m not scared, I’m taking wrinkle cream and I’m looking forward to the next climb in my life.