February 2012
19 posts
New Hobby, Craftsmanship, Design: Awesome Article... →
“Good design should look effortless. It’s all about efficiency. I enjoy the philosophy of Sumi-e painting: visualize your work in the least amount of brush strokes.”
Journals Can Be Eerie
Do you ever look back at the private notes you wrote in the past? Maybe they’re in the form of a journal or diary, or maybe you found a napkin in a jacket pocket with something scribbled on it; how did you feel when you read it?
I just stumbled upon a note I left for no one in particular. It was in an old account in a notes app I haven’t used in almost a year. The emotions I was...
Stop Writing Project Proposals →
This is something Tony and I have moved to with Kick Action Studios. I’ll echo everything mentioned in the article linked above, and add that paid evaluations for a potential project create value from the very beginning for a client instead of having to wait until the project begins. That’s another win for our clients.
Huge Platforms with Lots of Income Streams →
Is huge innovation better than smaller product innovation?
Graphics and Web Copy: The Shocking Truth →
This blog post from KissMetrics cites David Ogilvy, ad-man extraordinaire, and his research on the role images play in successful copywriting.
Small things, like keeping your left margin unbroken by wrapped images or placing images above headlines instead of below or taking advantage of captions on images, make a big difference in how successful your web copy will be.
10 Things to Plan for When Developing a Mobile App →
Good article on planning for mobile app development, especially if you’re very new to the scene. However, the article mentions putting together a focus group, which I disagree with. Focus groups are for building products you don’t know much about. I would suggest foregoing the focus group and building a product for which you are already the target audience. It makes it easier to know...
PageLever →
Deep analytics for Facebook pages.
Me Talk Pretty One Day
I’ve been enjoying different types of books lately. I reread a few classics last Fall, then I finished the Steve Jobs biography a couple weeks ago. I felt like it was time to read something a little more recent, so I picked up Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris based on a recommendation from Sandy, a bartender at a local dive. (Literally, it’s called Dive Bar.)
First, Me Talk...
“I don’t think people are afraid of change, as a concept. They’re afraid of...”
– Jason Fried of 37Signals
Who is your customer? →
Excellent exercise in focusing on your “statue”.
Attention to [Fun] Details →
In deciding the default avatars for new users, Basecamp creators went through several fun iterations.
Removing Features Before Release →
Jason Fried on removing completed features before releasing updates simply because they aren’t amazing.
“Every web service is dependable, until the point at which it isn’t.”
– Is “the cloud” really reliable? My non-techie friends all have reservations about storing everything they cherish in the ether. Their photos, their music, and even their relationships are too precious to them to be trusted to a faceless geek and a shifting TOS.
HT @bb
"Me Too" Companies
“Me too” companies justify their business choices with the successes of other companies. “So-and-so shipped over a million units last quarter. Why aren’t we in that business? Why aren’t we serving that market?” If that’s how your product discussions start, you’re dead.
You’re going to spend boatloads of money building an app that someone else...
In Honor of Dickens
Today is Charles Dickens’ birthday. In remembrance, I present to you this humorousletter from Dickens to the man who cleaned his clock, literally.
My dear Sir,
Since my hall clock was sent to your establishment to be cleaned it has gone (as indeed it always has) perfectly well, but has struck the hours with great reluctance, and after enduring internal agonies of a most distressing...
“I don’t think [Apple competitors] understand how loyal it makes people...”
– Kyle Wiens of iFixit
Winning at Automated Email Deliverability →
Such incredibly good information from 37Signals about how they achieve better than 99% deliverability rates on the automated emails that are sent from their products to users.
Where is the web going? →