In early 2014 I had just gotten married and recently moved into a new home. With two major life events out of the way, I decided I was ready to lead a WordCamp. I originally planned to organize WordCamp Detroit. I was an organizer twice before and the event had missed a year and I […]
You’re thinking about redesigning your website (or maybe need a new one from scratch). You have a high level idea of what you want, but the specifics escape you. We might use websites constantly, but planning a website isn’t easy. There are hundreds of decisions to make and the critical decisions aren’t always obvious. Building […]
I used to furiously switch from task to task, completing small tasks as they came up while also working on a larger, longer term project. This felt good, like I was accomplishing things quickly — each small task crossed off the list was like increasing my score in the game of productivity. But while the small […]
Two years ago I authored a simple project visualization plugin dubbed “Project Status.” The inspiration for Project Status, was a simple question I heard frequently. Over the past ten years of client services, I’ve received numerous e-mails and phone calls with the simple and reasonable question… “Where are we at?” It turns out, even with […]
Last week the 3.7 Designs team was invited to speak at LA2M about customer service and client expectations. We spent several hours discussing the topic internally in preparation for our thirty minute presentation. While we discussed a range of skills from planning for the unplanned to being transparent, the most important lesson we covered is […]
Don’t care why I created the plugin? Skip the explanation and download it here. The most valuable insight I have gained from running a design agency is an understanding of my strengths and weaknesses. Like most agency owners or freelancers, I got into the business because I love creativity. While business is exciting and I […]
Several years ago I wrote a post which became shockingly popular called “Free Project Management Tools.” Well a lot has changed since 2008, especially regarding free (or almost free) pm tools. When I first wrote the post, there were some good options but no great ones. Today, the opposite is true. There are so many […]
Due to a few interesting posts on Forrst.com and some interesting client interactions, I have been contemplating the designers ideal role in website creation. It was not long ago that I found myself constantly frustrated because, as the designer I had made informed decisions that people chose to ignore. Much of my energy was being […]
If you are anything like me you started designing on the web because you loved design, not because you wanted to be a project manager. Having met countless agency owners and freelancers it is abundantly clear that while project management is essential to the success of any web project most people struggle with the “best […]
I recently did a presentation at local marketing group LA2M in which I explained how changing the way you look at your website could double if not triple its performance. The group primarily consists of professionals who handle all areas of a company’s marketing plan with the website being one portion, so as a whole […]