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- March 12, 2013
8 Ways to Become Obsolete on the Web (a lesson from US politics)
I was fascinated by a recent NY Times article about the digital divide between America’s two main political parties:
"Can the Republicans Be Saved From Obsolescence?"
It’s a long but worthwhile read, and something I’ve enjoyed discussing with a pal and local philosophy professor, Myron Penner, who shaped some of my thinking here.
No matter what your political leaning, there’s no question that the Democrats obliterated the Republicans in the digital space during the last election. Republicans relied on an old guard of consultants who know television and direct mail, but ignored the web, at their own peril.
The article includes some interesting criticism from forward-looking conservative pundits, and points out the libertarian leanings of many who work in the tech space that might preclude great tech leadership in the...
- March 4, 2013
Real Mobile Stats from Domain7.com
Still wondering if going mobile is a good investment? It's probably time to stop wondering and start acting.
Two years ago we released our Mobile Manifesto, stating we'd always put mobile first when planning for the web. Not long after, we committed to making every new Domain7 web project responsive.
It seems the rest of the development world and popular media are catching on, which is exciting—but how often do you visit the site of a major brand on your smartphone only to find they still don't have a mobile optimized platform? Way too often in my opinion.
Recently I dug into the analytics on our own site to see the impact of mobile traffic on domain7.com. The...
- October 4, 2012
I never thought I would say this but...
The new Microsoft website is pretty nice.
This week's official launch of microsoft.com has caused quite a buzz with its clean, responsive redesign—not to mention the use of icon fonts and web type. It's a giant shift away from the dense, content-heavy Microsoft we've known in the past. And frankly, it makes the Apple site look antiquated.
This is a great article that describes the risk Microsoft had to take to get to this point:
"For the Microsoft.com team to take a calculated risk and pour their understanding of their users into a cleaner, smarter, and modern page, the change had to start with the the source of the, and in my opinion every, problem: People."
- April 30, 2012
Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce's 40 Under 40
Last week I spoke at the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce alongside other previous recipients of Business in Vancouver's 40 Under 40 designation.
Though asked to share some of my keys to success, I can never separate Success from Purpose. Success looks much different when it flows from purpose, rather than standing as an entity pursued on its own. For me this purpose has always stemmed both two things: the feeling that life is an amazing gift and a passion for the underdog.
I began Domain7 to help a non-profit organization bring their voice to the web. Since then I've spent 15 years—with the talent and support of an incredible team—creating practical solutions for clients (often underdogs) online.
At their core, every problem we face in our work is a Human problem. I think the Web opens up a world of creative opportunities to solve those problems—it levels the playing field and gives everyone a voice. We all have equal access to the internet. It gives great opportunities to underdogs.
In our work and life, it's too easy...
- March 28, 2012
My thoughts: Growing without middle management. Part 2
The Globe and Mail recently featured Domain7 in an article focused on building teams around creativity and flexibility, instead of creating a level of middle management. We've grown quickly in the last five years, but have worked hard to preserve our culture of community and collaboration. I think that's largely what makes Domain7 such a great place to work, and what helps us produce great results for our clients.
A few weeks ago I posted an initial response to the article and promised to follow up, explaining our approach. At D7 we've always put a high priority on collaborative work, but as we've grown we're putting much bigger emphasis on the role of skilled teams.
Here are some of the pitfalls we hope to avoid through this team approach.
- People management overemphasized - If you perform well in a team, does your next step need to be people management? We want to build a team where individual skills are valued and continually...
- February 14, 2012
My thoughts: Growing without middle management
Today Domain7 was featured in the Globe and Mail's “Challenge” series. We presented a team of experts with our current challenge of growing as a company, without introducing middle management.
It was a very cool opportunity to get thoughtful feedback on a relevant challenge. And the more we dig into it, the more we see this challenge as a great opportunity for our team.
I really appreciate the helpful advice from the article—a big thanks to each of the contributors. In the weeks ahead I'll do a series of posts on our own approach to this challenge, but first I'll reflect on the advice we were offered:
First, Greg Tricklebank, principal at Delta Partners, Ottawa.
Although I'm not sure...
- October 13, 2011
Using Error Messages as Opportunities
Are you more human than your competition? part 2
As great as the web is, it's not perfect. The Internet is in a constant state of flux. Online, change is a given, and web developers are always trying to keep up. In spite of our best efforts, from time to time things do go wrong. Websites break, pages go missing, and the result is usually a nasty, unfriendly error message.
When something does go wrong and visitors see something like this, they get annoyed, promptly delete your URL from their bookmarks, and (likely) never return again.
Here at Domain7 we have a dedicated team of people who work hard to ensure glitches don't ruin users' experience on our sites. When things do go wrong, we treat it as an opportunity to direct visitors to the search function or the home page.
With that in mind, web developers need to be one part running back, and one part figure skater. Like running backs, they should make every effort to keep going, no matter how much opposition is in the way. Like figure skaters, when they fall, they should topple with as much grace as possible.
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