"So it's like a newsletter, but they don't give you their email address?" That was the closest we got in the first ten minutes. A few notes on how we ended up explaining feeds to a client who has never used one.

What finally worked was skipping the technology entirely. We opened the BBC News site, clicked the orange icon, added the feed to the client's own Outlook and showed her the headlines turning up next to her email. Then we did the same with a test feed of her own specials.

A few things we will do differently next time:

• Don't say "XML". Ever.
• Show the orange icon early, because they have seen it before and wondered what it was.
• Point out that subscribers can leave whenever they like, with no unsubscribe link to manage.
• Offer an email newsletter as well. Most of her regulars will still prefer that.