When you're designing something, it's easy to fall into the trap of designing it for yourself. If you tend to be an emotional decision-maker, you might focus on feelings and sensations rather than raw data. Conversely, if you're a detail-oriented decision-maker, you might skip all that emotional "fl…
Usability guru Jakob Nielsen [has criticized web firms](https://web.archive.org/web/20070707163011/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6653119.stm) for being so quick to jump on the “Web 2.0” bandwagon that they neglect basic elements of good design. He’s absolutely right, and it’s great to see so…
Brands live in minds, not infrastructure. Sell your true vibe, not generic “quality.” Lean into what you are—authentic culture beats wishful rebrands and earns loyalty faster than polished spin.
It is estimated that there are around 85 million websites in existence at the time of this writing. By the time you launch your website, it will probably be closer to 100 million. The days of “If you build it, they will come” are long gone. Don’t lose hope, though. Your website can receive the atten…
Stop copying competitors and build a site people want to visit. Focus on useful content, stickiness, professional craft, and ongoing care. Challenge assumptions, measure wisely, and keep refining with love.
The world’s biggest branding crisis isn’t accounting scandals, poor customer service, or ugly logos—it’s executives’ paralyzing fear that they’re going to do something wrong. Imagine that you’ve just been chosen as the new CEO for a Fortune 500 company. The numbers you see each morning are comparabl…
There are passengers, and there are drivers—and there are also a few people who ride a bike instead. In his post [Let’s Steer This Ship Together](https://web.archive.org/web/20050508111709/http://www.willpate.org/archives/2005/05/04/lets-steer-this-ship-together.php), Will Pate talks about a concept…
The LA Times is feeling the effects of the population’s media consumption moving away from print, but their $10 million solution leaves much to be desired. Large companies tend to get so wrapped up in their own momentum that they fail to notice that the rest of the world has changed direction. The m…
If you run a website, you may have noticed that your Google rankings dancing around over the past few weeks. Is this the end of the world as we know it? Google wields enormous power over the economy. When a Google developer tweaks a formula, thousands of businesses can be affected. In their most rec…