Lost in translation

Getting to know your customers and how they talk is important if you want to increase your sales. I began learning this lesson in my first year of university when I went to a pirate party dressed as a software pirate. No-one got it.

Web designers are bad for web design

‘Web designer’ is not a job title and we need to stop using it. Because really, what does a web designer actually do?

Does UX matter more than creativity?

Does UX matter more than creativity in web design? Should we be spending our time on data driven testing or looking for big creative ideas?

Quick guide: Writing website content

One of the first things which should be produced as part of a web design project is the website content, or at the very least a draft overview of content. But content is hard! Which is exactly why it usually gets left until far too late in the process. Well don’t worry, this quick guide will help you get started now.

Recommended podcasts

This is an overview of some of my favourite podcasts. This list covers web design, business and other things that interest me and I’ll probably update it from time to time to reflect what I’m currently listening to.

Using service design to create a business in two days

This weekend Helen and I attended a service design event in which we had to research, design, prototype and present a new business idea over a two day period. It was an intensive weekend full of brainstorming, post-it notes, skype calls and quickfire decision making.

Quick guide: Planning a website

There is a fair amount of planning a website needs before you or your web designer starts putting things together. Of course you could just jump right in, but you might head off in the wrong direction and end up with something that looks nice but doesn’t work. Answer the following questions to help plan your website effectively.

Is responsive design important?

Currently around a third of all web traffic is coming from mobile devices which is an increase of 67% since last year. Some estimates have even set mobile traffic to eclipse desktop web use by the end of 2014 meaning that having a responsive website is increasingly important.