Category: Working

  • Cold Storage

    Cold Storage

    Good UX is what companies do when they have to. A company that has your stuff locked away doesn’t have to.

  • How do you spell success?

    How do you spell success?

    Working in tech means being comfortable with change and uncertainty. Successfully working in tech means not letting change and uncertainty paralyze you. Forge ahead on the best information you have, and be prepared to change…

  • Too many meetings?

    Too many meetings?

    At Automattic, we know our time is finite and precious. Here are the questions we ask ourselves before agreeing to any meeting:

  • Of Books and Conferences Past

    Of Books and Conferences Past

    Of books and conferences past: A maker looks back on things well-made but no longer with us.

  • The gift of a three-month sabbatical

    The gift of a three-month sabbatical

    It was late winter when my sabbatical began, and it’s late spring as it comes to an end. Next week I return to my post after three months’ paid leave, courtesy of Automattic’s sabbatical benefit. Three…

  • Ah yes, the famous “intern did it” syndrome

    Ah yes, the famous “intern did it” syndrome

    Poachers, when caught stealing content from our website, always blamed the theft on an “intern” or “freelancer.” We always pretended to believe them.

  • This Web of Ours, Revisited

    This Web of Ours, Revisited

    Why did leading designers in 2000 look down their nose at the web? And are things any better today?

  • Get it right.

    Get it right.

    “Led” is the past tense of “lead.” L.E.D. Not L.E.A.D. Example: “Fran, who leads the group, led the meeting.” When professional publications get the small stuff wrong, it makes us less trusting about the big…

  • My First Job

    My First Job

    I was a teenage telemarketer. Reading from a script, I attempted to raise money for St. Jude’s Hospital for Leukemia-Stricken Children. I was fired after three days for departing from the script.  We were supposed…

  • Never give up

    Never give up

    The really good designers stand up to the misfortune of a killed idea.

  • Ten Years Ago on the Web

    Ten Years Ago on the Web

    2006 DOESN’T seem forever ago until I remember that we were tracking IE7 bugs, worrying about the RSS feed validator, and viewing Drupal as an accessibility-and-web-standards-positive platform, at the time. Pundits were claiming bad design was good for the web…

  • I Cry Inside

    I Cry Inside

    MY DAUGHTER cries and begs me not to leave on my business trip. I hold her and tell her I will return soon. My grandfather died in a plane crash between New York and California.…

  • Big Web Show ? 98: Designer Debbie Millman

    Big Web Show ? 98: Designer Debbie Millman

    I CHAT with internet radio pioneer, design author, and brand maven Debbie Millman about broadcasting, writing, teaching, publishing, learning to be happy in your own skin, and the importance of early failure to long-term success…

  • Chicago, Chicago

    Chicago, Chicago

    AN EVENT APART Chicago—a photo set on Flickr. Pictures of the city and the conference for people who make websites. Notes from An Event Apart Chicago 2013—Luke Wroblewski’s note-taking is legendary. Here are his notes…

  • The Web Comes of Age – DIBI Keynote Address by Jeffrey Zeldman

    The Web Comes of Age – DIBI Keynote Address by Jeffrey Zeldman

    Jeffrey Zeldman – The Medium Comes of Age from Codeworks Ltd on Vimeo.