Four must-have conditions for a successful branding project
More than research, more than project management, more than Adobe software, we’ve narrowed down four things that have to be […]
planning
Is it a trend, or is it a movement?
I’m a designerand I’m always exploring the world around me. I collect beautiful and interesting things and try to use them later. Most of the time the pretty things become the popular things – like the chevron craze thats happening right now. But sometimes, really ugly things become popular, so I try to find the good in them and learn how to use them in the best way. This combination of exploring and open-mindedness is great for learning, but it also makes it pretty easy to get caught up in trends.
Three neat things we learned about first-time website visitors
Weve done a lot of user interviews for the various sites weve made. Yes, every user is different and every site is different, but were seeing common themes in user behavior, especially when someone first visits a site. Usually they are looking for something specific, or they are making comparisons with other sites so you’ve got to act fast and communicate your message fast!
Stop telling me where to click
Sometime near the beginning of links on the internet, people decided that click here was a good way to get people to click there. If I had to guess, the reason for this is probably that at the beginning of the internet people didnt know what links were, so you had to explicitly tell them to click here. The good news is that now its 20 years later, and people know what to do when they see links. Here are some reasons you should change your click here ways…
Discovery Process: 23 Questions to ask when starting a web redesign project
Most people want to jump in and start designing a website when they think: Hey, we need a new website. That is really the fastest way to make sure you are going to burn up all of your time, bust your budget and burn out. (I honestly didnt plan for all of those to start with B.)
Looking to Redesign Your Website? Dive Into This
We recently had a client that asked us to help figure out why their users were not clicking through a call to action button at the bottom of a landing page and leaving, even though users spent a good amount of time on that page. We had some ideas. But first, we had to test these ideas so we asked users, why?
Donate ButtonsRoundup
We work with a lot of nonprofit and education clients, and one of the biggest questions we always face is, “What should we do with the donate button?” It’s a tricky business asking the public for money. The organization generally wants and needs people to donate, but how can we appeal to the public without seeming entirely desperate? Well, let’s see how the big guys do it, and decide if what they’re doing is effective.
3 Rules we will never break. And a few times when we broke them.
I think about rules a lot. I own a business, Im soon to be a new mom, I have people to manage and clients to keep happy. Some rules just work: Say thank you, be on time, use really cold butter when making pie crust.
In my own life, Ive never been one to follow arbitrary rules or listen to authority just because someone said I had to. Ive quit jobs, had many run-ins with authority figures the list goes on. So over the years Ive created for myself a company and a career where I can do just about anything I want to do.
CMS overview What we use and why
There are a number of Content Management Systems (CMS) out there. We tend to use three of the larger CMSs, ExpressionEngine, WordPress, and Drupal. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and each works best for certain types of sites. Occasionally there is need for a custom CMS, which always come with their own benefits and drawbacks. In the end, its all about what your sites goals are, who will be maintaining the site, and what kind of functions the site needs.
Three things to look at in your web analytics before redesigning your website
Our clients ask us all the time: What should we pay attention to in our analytics? My answer is always the same: It depends on what your goals are, so figure those out first! But what I want to take a look at here are three really important chunks of information that you should pay attention to all the time and especially when considering a redesign or major site update.