Five Principles to Design By
I recently wrote these into my about page: five principles that I design by.
Technology Serves Humans.
Too often people blame themselves for the shortcomings of technology. When their computer crashes, they say “I must have done something dumb”. If a web site is poorly designed, they say “I must be stupid. I can’t find it”. They might even turn to a book for Dummies to get it right.
This is horrible! People should never feel like a failure when using technology. Like the customer, the user is always right. If software crashes, it is the software designer’s fault. If someone can’t find something on a web site, it is the web designer’s fault. This doesn’t mean that the designer has to hang their head in shame…they should see this as a learning opportunity! The big difference between good and bad designers is how they handle people struggling with their design.
Technology serves humans. Humans do not serve technology.
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Domain as Identity Getting Closer to Real
Brian Oberkirch has a nice post about how we need OpenID to corral the proliferation of identity information out there on the Web.
Tips on working with remote teams
Working with people you don’t see everyday isn’t an easy task. You may be a great manager but still be left wondering about whether work is being done or deadlines are going to be met. Around here we are on the other end of the spectrum more often than not, so based on our experience […]
Omnidrive Finalist at APC Awards
While Omnidrive is still a beta product, we manage to get a decent amount of recognition from both traditional and web media from around the world. Recently we were nominated for APC magazine’s (the largest PC mag in Australia) Internet Technology Awards and we made it through to the finals. This means a lot to […]