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Do You Really Need a Website?
With so much user-generated content around these days, do businesses really need their own websites to establish an online presence? Erika asks some tough questions.
Read More »De top-10 leugens die klanten vertellen
Oorspronkelijke titel/original title: Top 10 Lies told by Clients
Als je commercieel aan de slag gaat, dan is zorgen dat je je werk goed doet maar een klein deel van je taak. Regelmatig zie ik treurige voorbeelden van mensen die met goede bedoelingen aan een opdracht beginnen, en vervolgens verschrikkelijk voor de gek worden gehouden, omdat wat zij zien als een uitdaging en als iets dat ze met liefde doen, door de tegenpartij wordt gezien als iets heel anders, helemaal niet romantisch of geïdealiseerd, maar rauw en simpel.
Read More »The List Tip Tradition
Tippingis an evolt.org discussion list tradition; the way a list member voluntarily "pays" for an off-topic, chatty, or high noise-to-signal post. Read More »
CMS Trench Warfare: An Introduction
I have been working with large organizations to create or move web and intranet sites from static HTML pages to the company's chosen CMS. My role is that of liaison between the IT department (or whoever manages the project) and end user. By default, my clients tend to be in clerical roles: the folks in the trenches. My job is to evangelize the product, explain the process, present, instruct, coach, and guide clients in web architecture basics and design best-practices, and in use of the chosen software.
Read More »Design for iPhone: a device that thinks different
One Saturday afternoon, I agreed to take my daughter to the AT&T store, just to LOOK at an iPhone... touch one... explore a little. MISTAKE. I should have duct-taped myself to the mast — and my wallet to my ass — because next thing I knew (after daughter demoed it as expertly as if she'd been using it all her life) we were walking out of the store with a brand new iPhone 3G. You'll love our coverage,
the AT&T salesman assured as he packed the phone into a bag, only for us to discover upon arriving home that we had no reception within a quarter mile of our house.
Dang!
I thought, now we have to move.
How to Get Listed in the DMOZ Directory
I'm a little confused. As an internet consultant specializing in search engine optimization, I believe that it is a good idea to submit your site to DMOZ (a.k.a. ODP or the Open Directory Project) --in fact, Google even encourages you to do so! However, being an ODP editor myself, I can tell you from personal experience that perhaps only 10-20% of all the site suggestions we receive actually follow our guidelines...
Read More »Top 10 Lies told by Clients
When you're working commercially, being great at what you do is about 25% of the task. Too many times I see the sad example of someone walking in to a situation with noble intentions and then getting royally screwed, because what they see as an opportunity and a labor of love, the other party sees as something else entirely, not at all romantic or idealized, but raw and simple.
You are going to be dealing with people who are unlike yourself. Their
motivations are their own and their attitudes are probably different
than yours. When you're in education, you may have tough teachers
and think that it can't be worse, but wait until a business person has
a hundred grand riding on your work! Then you will know what demanding
means.
This list wasn't meant to make anyone crazy or paranoid, but is designed to inject some reality into the fantasy.
Read More »Can WCAG 2.0 be simpler?
The new WCAG 2.0 standard draft sparked a hot discussion around web accessibility and the standard direction. The main issue is how to make it simpler and easier to understand for web developer community. The author investigates some WCAG 2.0 success criteria and explains, why they should be solved by improving technology of user agents.
Read More »Agent vs. Agent
RoI: How Hard is Your Web Site Working?
