★ Founder’s Choice: Picking the Right Problems
All of the hype lately about “designer-founders” makes me really itchy, even more than all the other hype. Just because a few people in khaki pants suddenly noticed someone in a black turtleneck...
View Article★ Excuses, Excuses
Today on Twitter I asked for examples of all-too-common or uncommonly pathetic reasons for skipping research on a design/development project. We’ve all heard some variation of these before, but I am...
View Article★ XOXO: Making Good
XOXO 2013 wasn’t so much a conference as a pep rally. It brought together 500 people for two days in Portland to talk, learn, and share about the process of making and to have a good time together. The...
View Article★ Sass for Web Designers
A few months ago, we started using the Sass preprocessor to help make our projects easier to manage. I wish we’d had Dan Cederholm’s excellent, just released Sass for Web Designers before we did....
View Article★ RFPs: Help Us Help You
The Healthcare.gov rollout was a big setback for client services in both execution and perception. The site tanked, and the end result, for hundreds of thousands of site visitors, has been error...
View Article★ We’re All Researchers
Forget what you know about the lonely researcher toiling away in isolation. In design and medicine, good research takes teamwork. I recently came across a story on NPR about the increased role of...
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★ Not Just A Conference—The Conference
Yes, it definitely was a blast and now we’re a bit sad that it’s over. It’s the same feeling every year, every conference kind of becomes a dear friend, who explodes.—The Conference If someone invites...
View Article★ 13 Ways Designers Screw Up Client Presentations
…and one weird trick you won’t believe works every time. The hardest part of design is presenting work. You can’t even argue about this. I’ve seen people who did amazing work get up in front of a...
View Article★ These 8 Tricks to Selecting a Design Partner Will Amaze You
Most people have never hired a designer in their lives. They will live good, fulfilling, happy lives. They will throw birthday parties for their children, they will mow their lawn, they will upgrade...
View Article★ Things You Need to Do Before Hiring a Designer
The following is an excerpt from You’re My Favorite Client, a manual for hiring and working with designers. Written by our Design Director. Available now from A Book Apart. Before you hire a designer,...
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