Always Ask, "What Happens If...?"

This is the title of Chapter 1 in the new book by Dan Cederholm, Handcrafted CSS. I've been dealing with this a lot lately myself and have been doing much thinking regarding the idea of "designing in a vacuum". I love this book! Handcrafted CSS is full of Web design gold. Dan goes on to say:

"Often the decisions we make as designers and design implementers directly reflect the integrity of the interface. What happens if there is more (or less) content on the page than planned? What happens if the text size of the page increases or decreases? What happens if there are two paragraphs instead of one? And what if one of those paragaphs is translated into, say, German?

Flexibility in Web design is the mark of a true craftsman. Designing something statically in an image editor is one achievement, but allowing for give and take within the boundaries of a page layout is what sets good Web design apart from great Web design. It's taking the Web as a medium into account as part of the design process, and letting go of pixel precision."

One of my old bosses and design mentors earlier in my career used to say this exact same thing all the time. "What if this changes" was a question he was always asking me, challenging me to ensure that what I was designing was flexible. I'm thankful for that early mentoring. If you're a designer or front-end developer, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of this book.

I Remember

The morning of September 11, 2001 was a pretty busy morning for me. I woke up super early and went to work to get a good start on a top priority project I was working on. I arrived at the office a couple of hours before sunrise. At that time, I was working in downtown Dallas at a mortgage company. As the Communications Manager, one of my jobs was to create corporate presentations, usually delivered by the CEO or other executive.

PowerPoint was my trusted tool of choice at that time, but since this particular presentation was so important, I decided to use a new way of creating and delivering presentations - Macromedia Flash!

So I was knee-deep in Flash - fiddling with keyframes and motion tweens - listening to Third Day blare through my headphones throughout the morning. I barely noticed the lights switching on and the slow trickle of coworkers filtering into the other cubicles around me.

I don't remember the exact time, but my friend Bob, who sat in the cubicle behind me tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention. I took off the headphones and he said, "A plane just hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center." I asked him what kind of plane and he said he didn't know. I put my headphones back on and got back to work. While I was working, I thought to myself, "What kind of idiot would fly a plane into a tower that large, thinking it was a small private plane of some sort." I also remember wondering how many people could have been injured and hoped everyone was ok.

About 10 or 15 minutes later, Bob tapped me on the shoulder again and said, "Another plane just hit the other tower."

At this point, I put the headphones down completely and called my wife, who was 8 months pregnant with our second child. She was at a doctor's visit and was watching it all on the TV in the waiting room. She was pretty distraught about it all and I remember hoping that this would not induce an early labor.

From that point forward, my day was pretty much like everyone else's. We spent most of the day watching CNN on the large screens in nearby conference rooms. I thought for sure we would all be sent home, especially since we were in one of the taller buildings in Dallas, in a very nearly-direct flight path to Love Field. No one was sure if there were more attacks planned.

Looking back, I wish now that I had come straight home, but at the time, I don't think I even comprehended the enormity of it all. I ended up leaving work early, listening to the radio the whole time. We went to a prayer service at church that night and prayed. I don't even know what I prayed for. What can you possibly pray for at a time like that?

That was 8 years ago today. This is the first year we have sent our kids to public school, where we have a 5th grader and a 2nd grader there. I sent an email to the 5th grade social studies teacher the other day asking what the school had planned in terms of remembering 911. Here was his response:

"We don't talk a lot about 9-11 or go into great depth because of people's different beliefs and feelings related to what happened. In the older grades they do go into more detail because the students are more able to form their own opinions and thoughts about the information presented. I hope that makes sense."

Make sense? No, that doesn't make sense! So people's different beliefs and feelings prevent us from talking about one of the worst catastrophes in our country's history? Are we also not going to talk about slavery or the Holocaust? I'm sure there are lots of different beliefs and feelings related to those aspects of our checkered past.

I think whatever you tell your kids, either at home or at school, should be age appropriate, for sure. I'm not advocating showing CNN footage of the day's events to the kids or showing any gory photos of people jumping out of skyscraper windows, but by all means, can't we find a way to remember the day? Don't let it go by without acknowledging what happened.

Too many people were killed. Too many heros gave up their lives to save others. Our country has changed too much to let this day go by without doing SOMETHING to remember that awful day.

Don't forget!

Rethinking The Fold

Recently I assembled some thoughts regarding The Fold and what we (anyone involved in publishing websites) should do about it. Enjoy!

My Top 5 iPhone Apps

I've had my iPhone for almost a year and have downloaded countless apps for it since then. However, there are a few "must have" apps that I would be hard-pressed to live without.

Twitterrific. Loads of great features, easy to use. No complaints at all. I love this app.

ESPN. I can't remember if this is a downloadable app or just an iPhone-optimized website, but either way its the app I use the most, no question. If you're into sports and you don't have this on your iPhone, get it now!

ESPN Scorecenter. What can I say? I'm a sports information junkie!

Byline. Excellent app for reading RSS feeds subscribed to from your Google Reader account. Simple, but elegant.

Super Dial. One-touch dialing for the numbers you call most.

I use every one of these apps every single day. Without them my iPhone experience would be somewhat unfulfilled.

It goes without saying (I hope) that these "can't live without 'em" apps are in addition to the ones that come with the phone, like Maps, Safari, Phone, Camera, Mail, Calendar, etc.

What about you? Any apps I should consider adding to my "must have" list? Do tell.

Foundation Fireworks

Last year I had the good fortune of writing a book called Foundation Fireworks CS4 about the graphics creation software Adobe Fireworks, a subject near and dear to my heart. The book is finally published and I'm long overdue in posting something here to promote it. Writing this book was a tremendously educational adventure for me. One thing I learned is that writing a book is a lot harder than I thought would be. I now fully appreciate the amount of effort and time required to write a book - regardless of the subject matter. I'm glad I was able to share the workload with some very talented designers and an outstanding editing team.

The other designers that contributed content were Matt Heerema, Hugh Griffith, Craig Erskine, Matthew Keefe and Grant Hinkson. These are some really talented designers and great authors. Also, the team at Friends of Ed (Apress) were great to work with - very helpful and very patient.

So who is this book for? Here's an excerpt that sums it up nicely:

Are you a designer looking for a new and quicker way to prototype and create for the Web? Or are you perhaps a web developer who finds most design tools to be overly complex for what you need to get done? In either case, productivity is key, and Fireworks is Adobe's Creative Suite web productivity tool of choice. So even if you're an experienced Fireworks pro who wants to keep up to date on the latest additions to Creative Suite 4, Foundation Fireworks CS4 will show you how to get the most out of Fireworks so that you maximize your efficiency without sacrificing any creativity or power.

You can learn more about the book from the Friends of Ed site here. And, if you're interested, you can buy the book on Amazon here.

Traversing the Bermuda Triangle

Good, fast and cheap. Any project that aims to satisfy all three is as doomed as an aluminum canoe in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. Perhaps you've been involved in such a project. It can be frustrating, stressful, uncomfortable and downright painful. So if you are ever dealing with a client that is asking you to do all three, point them to this graphic and ask them to choose which two aspects are most important to them. Then, point out what they get when they choose those two.

This whole concept is a fascinating study of give and take, human needs and communication. As designers, I'm sure most of us would want to be challenged to do great work, be well compensated and not have a ridiculous turnaround time. On the flip side, clients want a good quality product at a fair price and they want it done quick - time is money, right?

Somewhere in the middle of all this is a sweet spot. As the designer (service provider), its your job to find the balance that makes your work fulfilling and profitable, while at the same time making the client happy.

Ah, but that's the hard part, right? Its never that easy just to get the client to "choose two", is it? If you want to keep your sanity, that's what you have to do. But of these three scenarios, which do we want our clients to choose? Do we have a preference? Maybe, but in each of these cases, there's a potentially great project. Let's explore.

Good + Fast

First, the easy one. The client wants it good and fast. Set expectations up front that it won't be cheap. Remind them of the old adage, "You get what you pay for." Most designers can handle this one, right? Especially if they know they can charge a premium for the work. Sure, its stressful in the short term, putting in lots of hours and effort, but its worth it in the long run.

Good + Cheap

What if the client chooses good and cheap? Shy away from that client, right? Maybe not. They'll need to be warned not to expect a quick turnaround time. If good quality and a low budget are priorities, then the client needs to know up front that they have to be flexible on time. Set realistic expectations for yourself and stick to them. More importantly, provide a development plan for the client so they can see just how long it might take. This will help them understand your process and is much better than "I'll work on it when I have extra time." Explore quick and easy ways of providing some value to them in the short term, like setting them up with one of the various free blogging services. Maybe they don't need a custom designed site right away.

Cheap + Fast

Finally, my least favorite - cheap and fast. The client needs to be warned to not expect it to look good. For me, this is where things usually break down. I have a hard time committing to a project when I know that its not going to look good and I'll be rushed doing it. But perhaps if you've had a previous relationship with this client and are comfortable working with them, you'd take on a project like this. Again, its all about setting realistic expectations. Maybe for now, just getting something out there is what is really important. Maybe its just a splash page with an email collection form or a Facebook page - something with a url that the client can use. Then improve it later when there's more money and time.

I think designers have a responsibility to educate clients regarding all these matters. If you set expectations up front honestly, speak from a position of authority and expertise, and choose your clients carefully, I'm confident your project stress meter will point down and the overall project satisfaction meter will point up.

If a client continues to insist on getting all three - good, fast and cheap - then you might want to direct them to this video. I'm sure they'll get the point.

Putting together these thoughts is as much for myself as it is for the benefit of anyone else, but sometimes we all need a reminder. I know I can improve how I approach each of these situations. Feel free to improve the conversation by adding your suggestions and advice in the comments.

WebVisions in Portland

I made the trip to Portland, Oregon today to attend the WebVisions conference that starts tomorrow. This is the first time I've been to Portland and so far it seems like a nice enough place. The conference is a bit unique in that its a combination of workshops and speaker sessions.

I've attended many conferences over the years - SXSW, An Event Apart, Web Design World, Webmaster Jam Session - and they're all really good. An Event Apart in San Francisco last year was particularly good, but I thought it would be a good idea to try something different this year. I chose WebVisions this year because of the workshops they offered in addition to speaker sessions.

I'll be attending two workshops tomorrow: Good Design Faster, by Leah Buley and Designing for Content-Rich Sites, by Jared Spool. I've heard Jared speak before and he's excellent and I've heard good things about Leah, so hopefully tomorrow will be a super informative, educational day.

Here's a sample of sessions I'm thinking of attending later in the week:

• Interaction Design in the Designer's Hands - Ryan Stewart
• Bringing Design to Life: What Every Designer Should Know About Interface Engineering - Bill Scott
• All Together Now: Aligning the UX Behind Your UI - Melissa Casburn
• How To Win Projects and Influence Budgets - Daniel Schutzsmith
• Process Meets Presentation: Visual Interaction Design - Jina Bolton

I'm hoping to post some notes and thoughts about some of the sessions here later in the week.

iPhone Scrunge Wallpaper Set

While working on a project recently, I created a background pattern that I really liked. I liked it so much I made it a full-sized desktop background for my iMac and my Macbook Pro.

I also really wanted to put it on my iPhone, so I modified it just a bit and created a handful of color variations that can be used as iPhone wallpapers. I've packaged them together and offer them here for you - a free download.

Enjoy!

(btw: Scrunge = scroll + grunge. Just in case you were wondering.)

How I Manage My LinkedIn Network

The other day I received an invitation to join someone's LinkedIn network. This was a person I worked with at a previous company a few years back. I declined the invitation because I didn't really know the guy. He worked in a different department and I don't even recall a one-on-one conversation we ever had. Before proceeding, let me just say that I love LinkedIn. I think its a terrific service and one of the most important networks I have. It has loads of great features, is easy to use and is very polished as an application. If you're not on LinkedIn, I highly recommend you sign up. (Just read below before inviting me to join your network.)

In LinkedIn, when you send someone an invitation, it pre-populates a standard message that says something like this:

Since you are a person I trust, I'd like you to join my network.

When you receive the invitation, you have the option to click on an "Accept" button or a button that says "I don't know this person". I feel bad whenever I click on that "I don't know you" button, because most of the time, I do know who the person is, but that's about the extent of the relationship.

Everyone has the right to manage their networks in their own way, but I personally don't want to be too flippant about that word "trust". I manage my LinkedIn network differently than I manage other networks, like Twitter, Facebook or Readernaut (highly recommended, btw). These networks have completely different purposes and deserve a different approach. They're more for social networking, keeping up with old friends, sharing information with your buddies, etc.

What is the purpose of LinkedIn? On the surface, it could be as simple as an online resume. The social aspect of it (connections, recommendations, answers, etc.) makes it much more dynamic than a standard resume, though. In addition, LinkedIn could potentially be your most important network if you were to suddenly lose your job. Your connections in LinkedIn would be the place you start looking for work, right? In this scenario, this network would have tremendous value.

So, who should you add?

Do you add everyone you have ever met or had a conversation with? I guess some people do and to each his own, but for me to maintain the "integrity" and value of my network, I try to only add people that I do know and trust. Even if its only someone that you know online, there can still be an element of trust in that "virtual" relationship.

In some regards, I think LinkedIn makes it too easy to add people to your network. In a few simple steps you could send an invite to everyone in your email contacts list. Or to everyone from Company X that you worked for 10 years ago. Those are nice tools that make finding potential connections much easier, but I like to think that more discretion should be used.

Who's In?

• Current and former teammates
• Current and former clients
• People I worked closely with at previous companies
• Online colleagues that I know do good work and that I trust
• Friends and family

Who's Out?

• People I shared an elevator ride with once, but never talked to again
• Former colleagues that I really never worked with, even if I recognize their name
• High school classmates that I haven't spoken to in 15 years and probably never will again
• All Philadelphia Eagles fans (ha! I jest)

In the past, I have probably added people to my network that I shouldn't have, based on the thoughts that I've outlined above. I guess I just did it to be nice before I really formed a real philosophy about all this. Because of this, there are definitely people in my network that I don't really know or trust. Its good to be nice, but you also have to be smart.

With that said - good luck and have fun using LinkedIn. I highly recommend writing recommendations for people who's work you endorse and that you know well. But above all, be judicious with those invitations.

That's my take. How do you manage your networks?

I Love Books

I read a lot of books. Seriously. I haven't always liked reading, but the older I get the more I love to read.

My goal for this year has been to read 25 books. I'm almost there, but still have quite a few pages to flip before the end of the year. To date, I've completed 18 books, I'm in currently in the process of reading 3 more and have 4 waiting on deck. I think I have a pretty good chance to reach 25 because I have a trip to India coming up in early December, so I'll have plenty of time on the plane to read.

I have read more books this year than ever before. I usually read a handful of books each year, so I'm not sure what the reason for the spike has been this year. About mid-year, I realized I had already read quite a few and decided to see if I could set a goal and reach 20. I've since upped that goal to 25.

The more I read, the more it makes me want to read. I've gotten to the point where I don't ever want to be without a book or a stack of books that I'm currently reading. Some of the books I read are for keeping up with design industry trends like Don't Make Me Think and Transcending CSS. I also like to read books about war like The Shark Mutiny and Warrior Soul. The type of book I like to read the most, I've found out recently, are the books that change the way I think about the world — The Kite Runner, Same Kind of Different As Me, and Divine Nobodies.

The amazing thing is that I used to really not enjoy reading. As a kid and in high school and in college, I didn't like to read at all. Maybe I was too busy playing Pacman, Tecmo Bowl and EA Sports NHL Hockey '94 (best ever). Now I read for pure enjoyment — and not just magazines and books about sports.

Who knew reading could be so fun?

What good books are you reading? I'm open to suggestions for what I should put on my list for 2009.

What's On Your iPhone?

I've been the proud owner of one of the new Apple 3G iPhone's for the past couple of months and couldn't be happier with it. After a couple months of everday use, I've pretty much settled into a comfortable state and have everything set up the way I like. I've downloaded a few apps and established a few Home Screen favorites. I figured I would take a moment to document the current state of my iPhone.

I employ a 3-page Home Screen set up. First page contains apps I use and access frequently, like iCal, ESPN, CNN and Twitterific among others. Second page is for lesser used apps and accessories such as Weather, the App Store and Calculator. The third page is reserved for games only. I have a handful of free games I keep on there - you know, for the kids.

What apps are you using? How have you organized your iPhone? Feel free to post your own images or links to same in the comments.

An Event Apart - San Francisco

When I was younger, thinking about San Francisco conjured up images of Joe Montana and Jerry Rice playing in Candlestick Park. Oh, and earthquakes. Growing up in Texas (Cowboys Fan), that was my narrow view of that storied city.

Nowadays, when I think of San Francisco I think of Apple, .com companies and Monk. I've never been to San Francisco, so even as an adult, my view tends to be a bit narrow. I suppose much in the same way that folks who have never been to Texas think we all wear cowboy boots and live on ranches with our pet longhorn steers.

Tomorrow, all that will change as we get to visit San Francisco for the first time. I'll be attending An Event Apart, a Conference for People Who Make Websites. It will be a family trip/vacation and we will spend the weekend taking in the sites and sounds of San Francisco before the conference begins on Monday. We'll plan on spending the remainder of the week hanging out with our good friends that live in the burbs.

I'm looking forward to some down time away from work, but I'm especially stoked about attending the conference. All my online heroes will be there - Zeldman, Meyer, and Cederholm among others.

So if you've attended an AEA Event in the past and have any tips for getting the most out of my time there, pass them along. Likewise, if you have any recommendations for "must see" things to do while we're in San Francisco, do the same.

But whatever you do, don't bring up The Catch.