Just last week I was telling my team leader about my design process for difficult problems: I examine the task from all the angles I can, think about possible solutions and then I go do something else for a while. Luckily he didn’t think me a lazy bastard and even knew what I meant by “shower epiphanies” – being struck with inspiration during moments of mental idleness (while driving, doing yardwork or in the shower).

It was a nice coincidence that I saw Jonah Lehrer’s You Know More Than You Know this morning.

P.S.

I’m not dead – I’ve just been really busy and/or distracted.

Years ago I played World of Warcraft quite a bit –  back when I had considerably more free time. I’ve long stopped playing, but I still look back on it fondly. It was rarely the game itself that held my attention — it was the people and social aspects that kept me coming back so often (as most MMO players would agree).

I was part of a guild called “Bad Mojo” and we got together 3 or 4 times a week for several hours to tackle in-game content. (Far too often for my then-fiancée’s liking and, in retrospect, far too often for me to have any other hobbies.) They were a great group, many of whom I’d consider good friends, and committed enough to the game to have a web site. I wouldn’t openly say so at the time, but it … Read More »

One of the very first things I learned about working in web design is that you have to find your own gratification. The boss can only pat you on the head so often and you’d better not hold your breath waiting for every client to recognize how awesome you are. I won’t say that I crank out award-winning web sites left and right. (It just wouldn’t be honest and awards are rarely lauded on small-budget sites.) However, I will say that I do my best to take pride in what I do. Surprisingly, this can require some effort.

Tight budgets, short production times and insistent clients all have their influence on a project. I wish I could spend a ton of time on a design or in production, but inexpensive web sites are inexpensive for a reason. Because of this, I … Read More »

(Repost. Originally Published 08/15/09)

I read a brief post a few days ago, Consider Giving Customers Fewer Choices, which took me back to a conversation (read: conflict) I had with a client. While redesigning the web site for a small investment firm, I proposed a conservative design with very focused calls to action and a handful of site features.

(Full concepts not shown. Wireframes quickly produced from memory.)

After some of the usual back-and-forth, we were able to agree on a good deal of the design I came up with, but the client just couldn’t understand why we shouldn’t put a link to every bit of content on the home page. “We want them to see the whole site,” they’d say. In the most diplomatic way possible, and with only a smattering of profanity, I returned with something along the lines of, … Read More »

(Repost. Originally Published 08/10/09)

What’s happening to us? Did I do something wrong? You’ve always been interested in others, but I used to feel so welcomed when I showed up.

I don’t know when or why it happened, but now it seems like you’ve only got eyes for new people. Was it something I tweeted?

Now it seems like I have to work extra hard to come back — did you forget about me, the existing user? I see that there’s a little box with a jQuery function attached, which is neat, but I still feel a bit slighted. I know you guys don’t see eye-to-eye, but maybe you could learn a thing or two from Facebook. They manage to bring new people to the party without ignoring the rest of us.

Look, let’s be honest here… I’d much rather get it on with … Read More »