CategoryTeams

January 23, 2015 — Producing creative, fresh projects is the key to standing out. Unique side projects are the best place to innovate, but balancing commercially and creatively lucrative work is tricky. In this article, Danny Bluestone will look at how to make side projects work and why they’re worthwhile, drawing on lessons learned from our development of the UX Companion app. Many of the tips covered in this article share some common ground — if you manage your side projects with as much professionalism as you manage client projects, then you’re likely to succeed. Achieving the perfect balance with client work isn’t easy, but we’re confident that following these lessons will be great for your next project, and hopefully they’ll help you on your way. Read more…

November 21, 2014 — Developer’s involvement in the design process seems to be addressed very little. This is a shame, because developers have a huge amount to add to discussions about design. The truth is that many designers have a somewhat elitist attitude towards design. They believe that only they can come up with good design ideas. Everybody has the ability to make good design suggestions. Admittedly, a trained designer will probably be more effective at finding design solutions. But that does not mean others should not contribute. As designers, we need to swallow our pride and accept contributions from everybody! Read more…

September 19, 2014 — Dammed up inside our heads are creative waterfalls of fresh interactions, transitions, and animations. But how are we supposed to communicate them to our teams, our developers? How do we get them out of our heads? Through a game of charades? Not being able to “show” the interactions and animations that bring our designs to life is one of the common struggles plaguing our industry. Exacerbating the urgency of this challenge is the simple fact that we now design for screens that can be tapped, pinched, swiped, zoomed, and more. Read more…

September 17, 2014 — In the context of software development, a product is the website, application or online service that users interact with. Depending on the size of the company and its products, a product manager could be responsible for an entire system or part of a system. This is confusing because, in most contexts, a product is a thing you sell to people. Product managers often get confused with category managers, which are the team that sources and merchandises the products sold on an e-commerce website. So, yes, “product” isn’t the best word for it, but it’s what we’ve got, But do companies really need product managers? And, if we can agree on that, what are the characteristics of a good one? Also, where does this role fit in an organization’s structure? Let’s explore these questions. Read more…

September 12, 2014 — Shocking user interfaces costs companies in productivity, training and even the customer experience. People are fed up with inadequate internal systems. Many of those interviewed had given up on the official software. Instead, they use tools like Dropbox, Google Docs and Evernote. Frustration will only increase as millennials enter the workforce. These people are digital natives, and they expect a certain standard of software. They expect software to adapt to them, not the other way around. In this article, Paul Boag will show you how to fix this. Read more…

September 5, 2014 — To fully realize that creativity, successful developers need to continually improve their skills. The web industry has grown from this desire to learn. You only need to look at the unwavering demand for conferences, workshops and training days for evidence of this, but the cost of continually sending your team to workshops and training days can quickly become unsustainable. Within your team lies a wealth of skills, knowledge and experience that can be shared and developed further. With a little effort and using resources freely available on the web, you can increase the technical competence of the team organically, with much lighter demands on time and cost. Read more…

August 8, 2014 — Over the last century, many incidents have provided examples that innovation and creativity can play an essential role for an organization in the midst of crisis. They can be applied to redesign a company’s structure and devise a more innovative process that leads to products that meet both creativity and business needs. In this article, Rafiq Elmansy will talk about one interesting example of this: LEGO, the world-famous toy manufacturer. By studying its crisis, lasting from 1993 to 2004, we’ll answer two main questions: Can creativity and innovation help an organization in its time of crisis? And can studying cases such as LEGO’s reveal a model for the broader role of creativity in an organization for other enterprises to follow? Read more…

June 27, 2014 — Communicating effectively can be quite difficult, especially when a project involves many people with different responsibilities and levels of authority. The problem compounds when the people involved belong to different organizations with different working guidelines. Effective communication happens when a message is delivered whose content has the same meaning for the recipient as it does for the sender. In this article, Krzysztof Rakowski will show us the rules he follows for a better communication. He hopes you find these insights useful to your work. Read more…

June 20, 2014 — As digital professionals, we like to complain that the organizations with which we work are a hindrance. But are they? Exactly how digitally-friendly are the companies we work for? Before Paul Boag helps a client go through the process of digital transformation, he needs to understand where the problems lie. He does this using a digital health check. Below is an outline of the areas that he investigates, the questions he asks and what those questions reveal. Paul’s hope is that this health check will help you better understand the organizations with which you work. Read more…

January 20, 2014 — A “workaholic” is someone who is addicted to work. Soon, they neglect their family, friends, health, sometimes damaging them all irrevocably. Some people who work on the Web seem not only to disregard the dangers of workaholism, but to actively promote it. They see it as a badge of honor—but it’s a serious issue that can damage Web teams. In contrast, people who simply “work hard” do not expose themselves to such dangers. Read more…