The great thing about being pushed to the edge of your abilities/patience/comfort level is that, as long as you don’t fall off, you can go farther next time.
November 12, 2012
by Randy
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August 26, 2012
by Randy
1 Comment
How to Succeed at Everything
Remember that project that you’ve been meaning to do?
Here’s my tip on how to make sure it succeeds:
Do it. Now.
I don’t care if you have to leave in 20 minutes, or if you have to re-focus on work in 5 minutes, or if you are on vacation right now – if you want to succeed, you have to start it RIGHT THIS MOMENT.
So get to it.
August 23, 2012
by Randy
0 comments
The HTML5 Question
There are a few questions that people frequently ask me that, for whatever reason, really bother me.
Today, I’m highlighting one of my favorites:
Are you building my site in HTML5? Because my son/neighbor/associate/advisor/other agency told me to be sure you’re using the latest version of HTML.
Gees, I almost don’t even know where to start on this one without sounding like a prick…. It’s just wrong on so many levels. Continue Reading →
August 19, 2012
by Randy
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The Web of Tmrw: Part II
There has been endless, incessant babble about Facebook’s stock price woes (and trust me, I’m not about to add to the fray – that is definitely not the point of this post). Basically, the struggle for investors is that Facebook hasn’t proved that it can make money from its mobile platform.
Why is their mobile platform such a big deal? Continue Reading →
August 2, 2012
by Randy
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Collaboration is King: Coworking
I know you don’t have this problem, but I tend to do this thing where I just assume that my approach to something must be right, especially when I’m working on a solo project. But I’m learning more and more that my opinion is only one perspective, and often not the best one.
So how do I overcome this issue? Continue Reading →
July 30, 2012
by Randy
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Learning to Love Discomfort
Let’s face it, no one loves to be uncomfortable. In fact, if we could relax like this all day long, most of us would be in heaven (at least, I would!).
image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/iloveblue/
But comfort is overrated.
In fact, I would argue that discomfort is underrated.
When was the last time that you accomplished something amazing while you were relaxing? (And no, reading the entire Harry Potter series in one sitting does not count as “something amazing”!) Continue Reading →
July 22, 2012
by Randy
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I didn’t say “Keep It Direct, Stupid”
“Directness” should never
be confused with “simplicity.”
The other day, Shannon and I were meeting some friends for dinner at Maloney’s Sports Bar in downtown Overland Park (great place to eat, by the way!). Our friends weren’t familiar with the area, so we gave them directions.
At first, we gave them turn-by-turn directions of the exact route that we would take to get there. We gave them the quickest, most direct route possible – but it was also fairly complicated. It involved cutting through a couple of neighborhoods to utilize the convenience of side streets (and avoiding stop lights!). Really, it was a masterful route that Garmin would be proud of. Continue Reading →
July 16, 2012
by Randy
0 comments
Minimalism vs. Simplicity
As you know by now, I am a strong proponent of simple websites (remember this post? and this one? I could go on…but I’ll just let you search my site for “simple” instead).
In all of my preaching for simple sites, there are certain questions that I hear all the time. One of the common misconceptions is that, when I talk about a simple website, I am talking about a minimalistic website.
So today, I want to dispel those rumors. Continue Reading →
July 12, 2012
by Randy
0 comments
Aim for the Bullseye
image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/bogdansuditu/
Have you ever played a game of darts?
I have, and I discovered that I thoroughly suck at it.
But there was one thing that I quickly learned: Pick a spot on the board and aim for it.
At the beginning of the game, I was just holding my dart and trying my best to get the projectile to stick on the board anywhere (somewhat unsuccessfully, I might add). My first round score was miserably low. Continue Reading →
July 8, 2012
by Randy
1 Comment
I’m not blind, but use a larger font, please
I know that designers love using small-ish font sizes. It makes the text feel more sleek, and it devotes less room to copy and more room to graphics. And most designers treat copy as just a block of text anyways, so they don’t need to read the text.
Content-producers (particularly inexperienced ones) tend to love small text, too, because they feel like they can write more copy to include on the site.
But from a usability standpoint, I really need the text to be much larger than that – really around 16-18 px. First of all, I don’t want to have to hold my face 6 inches from the computer screen to read it. Secondly, an average column of text should have somewhere around 45-75 characters in it – just ask Trent Walton.
But using larger typeface also helps in a couple of other (pragmatic) ways. Namely, it forces content-producers to really focus their message. Less copy = better copy.
I could go on, but it’s a lazy Sunday afternoon, and Smashing Magazine already did a pretty good write-up on why you should use bigger font sizes on your website. You can read it here.
Thanks,
Randy Greene