(May 17, 2005) - Some of the realities we face are hard to keep in focus. After all of the fuss about "usability", for example, boilerplate gets copied. The essential feature of usability, testing to stay in touch with your audience, is routinely lost in favor of competitive, look-alike web design.

When you wade through the vast majority of corporate employment sites, you see a wasteland of sameness. It's like the endless drive through flat Kansas fields. The monotony is staggering.

Take a look at LiveJournal. Every page is dynamic. The site has millions of users (Alexa rank 166 and growing). It is very addictive for users to go and check their live journal page. Hundreds of thousands of users check their journal 10-12 times a day. LiveJournal is used routinely because the content is powerful and the tools are simple, not because it's good looking.

The answer to the question "who are your users and what do they want" is a changing target based on what we're learning.

"People who play (video) games are into technology, can handle more information, can synthesize more complex data, solve operational design problems, lead change and bring organizations through change," says Charles Schwab Human Resources Vice President Chip Luman.

The hypothetical question we're raising is, "What if the most effective employment website for your organization targets gamers with ugly but addicting content?" How would you know? How would you sell the concept?