“Block off the first hour of every Monday to organize your todo list. Turn off instant messenger, close e-mail and silence your phone. You need absolute silence so you can focus.” – Ryan Carson, Think Vitamin.

“The value of presence is sometimes in its absence.”

Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there, and isn’t vital. It might not seem important to everyone, but background information is the core of every single project we work on. I found this out recently when I was trying to be articulate during a project… it turns out it didn’t matter how eloquent I was; I didn’t 100% grasp what we were doing. I could have said the same thing eight different ways and it still wouldn’t have made sense. The biggest communication barrier was that I didn’t even know I was missing information. But then someone connected those dots, filled me in.

It was my missing link.

Suddenly I was able to put the pieces together, and it made all the difference. So next time you find yourself in that situation- either you or with a co-worker- it might help to take a second and make sure everyone’s on the same page… and essentially working toward the same goal.

We used to call ourselves “motion designers.” People who flirted with a new type of design where things moved, videos played, and content was immersive.

I’m ashamed to say I wasted a lot of my formative years learning Actionscript, keyframe animating, and some BS catchphrase called R.I.A. design.

I bought the Macromedia pitch pretty wholeheartedly. While Zeldman was preaching standards, I was still obsessed with the idea that the internet would turn into something like an interactive television.

I still think it might, eventually, but we’re further away from that now than ever. I’m glad the industry caught its breath, and a dose of sanity about interface design, but I miss “motion design.” Keep Reading

“Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way.
This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody
thinks of complaining.”

-Jef Raskin

“A new study shows that every hour per day spent in front of that monitor raises your risk of early death from heart disease by a whopping 18%—even if you’re not obese and you exercise. It also raises the risk of dying from cancer 8%, and all causes 11%.”

Well how are we supposed to do our jobs if we’re not at the flippin’ monitor? If your work day is anything like mine- everything takes place at the computer, leaving you few options. On that same note, our team works remote a lot of the time, so in order to communicate effectively, we need to be available… via e-mail, chat or Skype. That doesn’t leave much time for me to escape to the gym.

Turns out you don’t have to do that much exercise to tip the scale in your favor, according to this other Newser.com article. Keep Reading

You already know you can create Snippets- words or phrases you use repeatedly- throughout a Jumpchart project, but we’re introducing a Global Snippets- an upgrade we hope you find really useful.

Now you can create Snippets for use account-wide, improving your workflow by allowing you to access constant bits of information across multiple projects.

In a nutshell:

• When you share a project containing a Regular Snippet, the Snippet is then available to view, use and edit by whomever you share the project with.

• When you share a project containing a Global Snippet, the Snippet is then available to view and use by whomever you share the project with- but not editable by that person. It is only editable by you… and it’s available for you to use across each of your projects.

• You cannot see someone else’s Snippets unless they share their project with you.

For more info on how they work, check out the new support article we’ve added.

I semi-religiously read the NY Times online. it’s sometimes frustrating inside of a browser, but the writing is amazingly worth the effort. Even on the iPhone, it’s worth all the pinching to get at that great content.

I have never in a decade of post-college adulthood subscribed to a physical newspaper. I have subscribed to a few printed magazines (mostly as received gifts) but for more than a year have subscribed to none.

However I’m what I would consider a voracious consumer of content. I read blogs, books (both virtual and digital) listen to podcasts, and lots of audiobooks. So it’s not that I lack the wherewithal, or the desire to read a daily newspaper. Keep Reading

The Problem

According to this New York Post piece, “Biking is booming” in New York and there aren’t enough places to park the bikes- inhibiting a growing trend.

The Solution

The city is replacing some parking meters with bike racks!

“The new racks will cost about $300 to install, but will save the city the $200 cost of removing the entire meter and then repairing the ripped-up sidewalk.”

The solution is cost effective, and aesthetically pleasing. It’s a two-fer.

This is Cool Because…

It encourages us to mold solutions from existing problems. Instead of searching for brand new ways to solve an issue, why not look right under your nose? A simple re-design, or addition of code, or re-vamp of copy might be just what the project needs. Sometimes the best form of innovation means using the work already laid before us.