A photo journey through my first IA Summit
[intro]I’ll soon be writing up a blog post on my experiences leading a workshop on responsive content modeling, doing a talk on stories of discovery, taking in a great conference, meeting amazing...
View ArticleThe Non Breaking Space Show
[intro]My interview on The Non Breaking Space Show covers the gamut of content strategy, project discovery and open source projects. Sam gets lost in Encarta and Christopher has issues with Canadian...
View ArticleResponsibly Responsive: A better future on the web
I’m often asked how I’ve changed my process to adapt to a world that is all about responsive web design (RWD). Short answer is, I haven’t. A responsive process is a responsible process. RWD...
View ArticleUX Day Toronto Workshops
[intro]I’m very excited to be part of a new Canadian user experience event called UX Day Toronto. On June 20 there will be two amazing UX workshops with two industry leaders, Andy Budd and...
View ArticleSilos are for farming, not web design. Interdisciplinary Teams
Everyone is a design-thinker and can be part of creating elegant solutions to ugly problems. The stumbling block is often the label we give to people or teams and the artificial barriers we create....
View ArticleFinding Your Ideal Client: The Why and How
The following is an excerpt from a post I recently wrote for the QuoteRobot blog. I write smart things so I’m a regular there. Finding your ideal client isn’t as simple as finding awesome human beings...
View ArticleConflict Is the Key to Great User Experience
We need to look at our projects through a vulnerable lense to see imperfections, pre-empt design oversights, and let go of personal defense mechanisms that interfere with the creative process. I work...
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Responsive Content Modeling
I’ve always told clients that we’re a team, solving problems together. And I believed that, but a missing piece promoted distraction and prevented trust. Turns out that missing piece was a good ole...
View ArticleEight Steps to Creating Your Best Web Content
There were no readability guidelines when I started writing on the web in 1998. There was enough awe and wonder (and piles of shitty sites) that bad writing and zero standards had their way. But today,...
View ArticleI'm a Thankful Canadian UX Architect
This past weekend was thanksgiving. You know, the real one in Canada. It got me thinking about this past year at The Republic of Quality and all the great companies we’ve had the opportunity to work...
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Creating Content for Zombies
Have you ever looked around during the inflight safety demonstration and noticed your fellow passengers gripped by the presentation? Yeah, me neither. When I do catch myself watching the demo, it’s in...
View ArticleThe Art of Great Design Critique
I’m often asked how to help organizations, web design, and development agencies—anyone, really—make better design decisions as a team. I asked Yellow Pencil, a fabulous Canadian web agency, if I could...
View ArticleThe Key to Great User Experiences
The key to every project, and to finding deeper connections, is seeing beyond ourselves and finding and addressing the conflict that runs through our stories. It’s our job to mine for conflict and, in...
View ArticleAnnouncing the Design & Content Conference
Designers and content strategists—we’re perfect together. At The Republic of Quality we’ve been dreaming. Dreaming big about an event to bring together two essential disciples in the web industry:...
View ArticleThank you for your there-ness. Please accept mine.
Showing up is a gift we give each other and ourselves. We hold each other’s stories like tiny birds. We cup them with warm, gentle hands and float hight on the thrill of trust. The gift of crossed...
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Camp Contentment
I go to a lot of events. Like, a lot. It’s part of my role at The Republic of Quality. Meeting people, learning, and sharing what I know (mostly about zombies). I love watching ideas transform into...
View ArticleGreat Design is Great for Business
When I was a kid, I built a set of stairs that helped my friends and I get up a hill to our treehouse. That was the first time I can remember solving a problem like that. It wasn’t that the hill was...
View ArticleLessons from a Code of Conduct
“I think I just violated our code of conduct.” The Design & Content Conference audience chuckled, but I winced as the words left my mouth. I made light of our own code of conduct. Made it into a...
View ArticleA Diverse Production Team
“I am making TV look like the world looks.” –Shonda Rhimes When Steve began to curate a list of speakers for the first Design & Content Conference (DCC), his struggle centred around creating a...
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