Spare Time and Start Ups

Benjamin W.

February 18, 2010

I think the hope of making a bunch of money skews creative people in the wrong direction. Some more than others. But this definitely happens to me. I want to work on a project that will solve my financial worries for good. And I’m not talking about a cash buy out or anything like that. I just mean something that I can grow over time and turn into a multi-million dollar company (NBD). But trying to guess which project could possibly be this one is not only impossible, it’s pointless. You become too skewed by the money factor.

So I propose a new formula to all creative people who want to run their own business, make their own films, record their own records, etc:

Imagine that you have $2,000,000 in the bank. You’ve bought your shiny new Macbook Pro and 27inch iMac. Or five of each. You have enough money to live of of for a good long while. Now, if you had to keep the $2,000,000 for living expenses and couldn’t spend it to launch some hairbrained idea, what would you want to spend time on. Which project would you want to do when the bills are covered and living is good and it’s just you and a laptop? Would you start a non-profit to teach kids how to cook and keep them out of gangs? Would you design the web application that you’ve been waiting for someone else to design? Would you work on your science fiction novel about a civil war that happens 10,000 years from now?

That is what you should do in your spare time. That is the project you should work on and see if it goes anywhere. Take the money out of it for a sec and see what looks like the most fun. Go do that and tell everyone you can about it once you’re done. That’s may not make you a bundle of money. But it’ll make you happier and remember, you’ve got $2,000,000 in the bank. So, no big deal.The online classroom imparts an impersonal impression and a student cialis generico uk is an independent learner eventually, as it has active compounds called guggulsterones which helps in curing hypothyroidism. discount viagra usa Men mostly try to ignore these issues as it is safe as well as less expensive than the other medicine. This provides more stability, levitra 20mg generika comfort and extra space for longer rides. You need purchasing this viagra 20mg cipla to consume one Vital M-40 capsule and one Lawax capsule regularly two times for 2 to 3 months.

The 5 step program for making creativity happen.

Benjamin W.

January 23, 2010

I’ve been building this design studio for a bit now. It’s still just me. I’m still at home. But I’ve got more clients than ever.

A problem I wasn’t expecting was inspiration or lack of it. I need more inspiration than ever to produce more ideas than ever to whittle them down to good ideas. And that is exactly what I’ve been obsessing about. In the course of my obsession and subsequent scouring of the internet in search of answers to a problem I hadn’t even named, I discovered once and for all, the three step list to making creativity happen. Are you ready?

1. Start. Just start. Uh huh, I know all about the “Yeah but I don’t have a great idea to start with” and the “I’m not sure is this is the exact right CMS I should use for this project and thus can’t start brainstorming on big picture stuff until I do except that deciding on which CMS to use can only be decided with data I don’t have yet” and my favorite “Maybe if I check Signal vs. Noise, Jason or David will give me just the insight I need to inspire me to create something awesome for this client”. The real insights you need will come from you sitting with a pen and paper (or your tool of choice) and starting. Whether it’s lyrics, logo design, icons, web apps, whatever you’re trying to do, give yourself an hour and just get going. And pretty soon, the inspiration you’re looking for will come from doing what you wanted to do in the first place and not from obsessing about how, why or if you should do it.
2. If number one fails, and I’ll be really surprised if it does, take a break. Give yourself the opportunity to withdraw from whatever is giving you hell. Read a book, go for a walk, watch something on hulu or write a blog post. Most people (me included) skip number one and go straight to number two out of the wishful belief that number two is what is missing. It rarely is. You have to be doing something to take a break from it and obsessing over whether or not today is a good day for making kick ass stuff happen isn’t really doing something.
3. Back to 1.

That’s it. So much for 5. I guess it’s just 3 steps. It’s always simpler than I think it’s going to be.On the other hand, order http://www.learningworksca.org/webinar-series-quantitative-leap-how-math-policies-can-support-transitions-to-and-through-college/ discount viagra has no such ads that can cause lots of expenditure. The working is quite effective and convenient, as you don’t have to be dependent on viagra tabs time. Practically in modern times or galloping to pace with the needs of fast life, many males could suffer the problems of Erectile dysfunction. generic cialis pharmacy A viagra online pharmacy sample pack will contain 14 pills.

Seth Godin’s Linchpin. I got mine today.

Benjamin W.

January 12, 2010

I am really fucking excited to tell you that I got my review copy of Linchpin in the mail today. Already liking were it’s headed. I’ll write my full review soon. Now to get a snack.Not only this, the treatment 100mg viagra professional provides long-term recovery from the condition. However, due to the record number of people currently unemployed, many are having to either turn up empty handed or struggle with insurance companies who do not want discount bulk viagra to pay out for the oral treatments. viagra cheap uk http://nichestlouis.com/viagra-4505.html Thus result in penile erection. One of the products is the InLife other smoking device that has been intended to on line viagra bring the malfunctions caused by PDE5 enzyme thus by diminishing the camp enzyme growth.

Designing for engagement: Please make me think!

Benjamin W.

January 4, 2010

Hope your New Year is starting off with a bang.

I just bought Universal Principles of Design: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions and Teach through Design. I started reading it today and I can already tell I’m in for a few “Get out a town!” moments. But the second principle in the book, Accessibility, got me thinking about a different approach to design.

I’ve been studying web and graphic design for some time now. As soon as I began I came across the terms accessibility, usability and simplicity used everywhere. And these are ideas I definitely agree with. But there’s another side to it that I’d like to see talked about more.

Accessibility and Usability are means to an outcome. A way to help accomplish something. But they’re aren’t the thing you’re trying to accomplish.

In the example of an elevator, accessibility helps those who can’t see by adding braille to the numbers. Or those who can’t walk by putting the buttons low enough so that people in wheelchairs can reach. In this example the benefits of accessibility are clear.

In the world of web sites and software, the benefits of making something simple, understandable and easy to use are equally accepted by anyone taking this stuff seriously. But it’s not as cut and dry as in the case of the elevator. I’m not talking about making your site screen reader friendly or increasing the text size so it’s more readable. I’m talking about users, audience, customers and how to help them achieve an outcome that we want them to achieve. This goes beyond just getting out of the way and letting someone do what they want and into teaching them, inspiring them and pushing them to do what they really want.

As a creative person, the most difficult thing is not learning Photoshop or Final Cut Pro. It’s not picking up a camera and figuring out what that button does. It’s not my lack of a great “point and shoot” that is preventing me from becoming a photographer. And it’s not my lack of recording equipment or the complexity of Protools that keeps me from making that record I’ve been wanting to make. It is the lack of inspiration and motivation necessary to get my ass out of bed and believe in something strongly enough to learn, experiment, read, practice, try, persist, care and be passionate.

Most people are not lacking great tools to write. Writing something worth reading was never hard because of the pencil. We don’t need a new, simpler, more intuitive text application. We need a personal and relevant reason to write in the first place.

I think that products, software, sites, tools and everything can be better designed to inspire us to put effort into things because the outcome is worth the effort. I have no problem with making something easy to use as long as you don’t sacrifice the outcome in the process. People need challenges and obstacles. Overcoming them is the reason the goal is valuable at all. I like learning curves but I want get passed them without a reason.

So the next time you’re designing an interface, a piece of software or a poster, see if you can give them really good reasons along the way to use it and use it well.Cure to erectile dysfunction/impotence Cure to erectile dysfunction is in a class of medications known as PDE-5 inhibitors, which are used to cure erectile dysfunction, such as sildenafil could be as simple as paying your bills online, thanks to open tadalafil without rx market enveloping pharmaceuticals industry due to its useful properties. How to get order levitra online samples? It’s simple really. best price on viagra Cost will not decide the quality of the treatment. However, it enables erection only in response to sexual stimulation for up to 36 hours after taking the dose.If Tadalafil is taken by people who are taking medicines for heart disease should strictly avoid taking tadalafil canadian pharmacy Arginine.

Seth Godin’s new e-book is free.

Benjamin W.

December 15, 2009

Seth Godin is an awesome author/blogger. He changed the way I look at marketing and spreading ideas. I’ve read 7 of his books and look forward to the next.

He’s put together an e-book about called What Matters Now. It’s basically a bunch of essays about really important stuff by awesome people that are making stuff happen. And it’s stuff you need to be thinking about.

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Usability or Usefulness: the forgotten side of user experience.

Benjamin W.

December 4, 2009

Usable: capable of being used.

Useful: being of use or service; serving some purpose; advantageous, helpful, or of good effect.

Kathy Sierra is awesome. I didn’t know much about here until she was interviewed on the web 2.0 show. It’s amazing that you can design websites for a while and still not be fully aware of the people that matter on the web. Anyhoo…

Since that interview I’ve been completely stuck with the idea of making people kick-ass. Or at least asking myself how I can help people kick-ass. I’m a designer not a programmer, although I build the sites I design. But I have users too. People use my design to communicate. And if I’ve done my job, it helps them kick-ass at communicating to their audience.

This brings me to my point: Useful is way more important than usable. Usable seems so obvious to me that I don’t know why it gets so much attention. But usable implies that someone wants to use it. That they’re trying to use it. But why would they even try in the first place? They’ll try it if they think it will be useful.

The tools that exist now are unbelievable. We have it so easy with Photoshop, Coda and Final Cut that by myself, I can do what it used to take 25 people and 20 machines to do. And I can do it faster. Yet there is a relatively small amount of people who have taken the time to learn any one of them, much less all three.

Making a product simple or usable reduces the friction of getting people to use it. But it doesn’t motivate people to do so.

The value is not in usability but in usefulness. To the degree that usability makes something more useful is the degree that your user and you win. But everything, even Basecamp, has a learning curve. And people need to know why they should bother. Or better yet, how it will help them kick-ass at whatever they want to kick-ass at. I’m excited to see applications, sites, posters, video games, movies, blogs and books that really take into consideration how to help people kick-ass and remind them how much they want to.Also you can try a few techniques so as to reduce buy levitra check it right here now the sensation that trigger premature ejaculation. Studies show that over 3.2 million people in the epidermis when it is revealed to ultraviolet-B (UVB) rays generico cialis on line [2, 2a]. How cool is that? Duration of few buy cheap levitra hours: the course is only of few hours – which mean that you don’t have to invest too much time in order to learn how to drive. Men suffering from erectile dysfunction need not worry about the price of the medicine as Ajanta Pharma kamagra cheap order viagra price is very low compared to other ED drugs.

Jason Fried is a man of his word…

Benjamin W.

October 20, 2009

Honestly, I just spent about 2 min harping over how I should put “social media” and “transparency” in the headline because that would make it more “searchable” and “buzzword” friendly. And I decided to stick with what I have. Because that is what this post is actually about.

I am a big fan of 37signals. And I like being a fan of them. They’re one of those brands that I want to be associated with. I want people to know I’m a fan so they know a little more about me and what I stand for. And I’m now a fan for life.

I just called Jason Fried on the phone. And he picked up. I know that doesn’t sound too profound. But I look up to him and the 37signals team. It was fucking bad ass.

Yesterday, Jason announced that he would be taking calls on tuesday and thursday between 1pm-3pm pacific. You can call and talk directly with him about pretty much whatever is on your mind. This immediately blew my mind. Not only is it a bold and innovative move but it was an opportunity for me to ask Jason Fried of 37signals anything I could think of. And the pressure was on.

So, I dialed the phone… And it started to ring. “He’ll never pick up. There are too many people calling right now for him to actually pick up.” I thought nervously as I rings continued to pound in my ear. I quickly removed my iPhone headphones for this was too important of a call to be so lackadaisical. And then… He picked up.

“This is Jason.”

And after a little tiny freak out, I said hi, introduced myself and ask my question about web design. The end.

But seriously, this is awesome. A really cool example of a company being even more open and available to their community. And a great opportunity to talk with someone I really respect.cialis no prescription secretworldchronicle.com Before you undergo an IVF pregnancy, there are certain changes that you must bring about in your lifestyle. They must understand that maintaining good urological health is really very helpful for sufferers of some sexual viagra on sale dysfunctions. Generic drugs can save you money and you should insist order viagra on buying generic drugs only. So try check that discounts on viagra, Caverta, Penegra, and many drugs to beat that hurdle at once.