Every project has rounds of review and feedback built into the process. Designs are sent to the client with rationale and explanations, that’s part one. Part two is when the client sends back their thoughts, revisions or approval. The round-and-round that ensues varies from quick and painless to quite challenging in its length and uncertainty. And everything in between. I’m familiar with pretty much all degrees along this spectrum. When it comes to the worst feedback I’ve gotten, that boils down to one little phrase: “we want you to let your creative juices flow.” Nothing is more condescending. If you’re a client, try to avoid such statements. When it comes to the best feedback received, well that would be a hug. If you’re a client, more of those please. Even though my wife will be the first to say I’m not a hugger, when it comes to work getting approved, I’m all in for more hugs.
What stuck from Big Omaha 2014
Big Omaha is a wonderful conference. For inspiration, connecting and a swift kick in the ass. Billed as the nation’s most spirited conference on innovation and entrepreneurship, 2014 is the 6th annual and the second I’ve attended. Two packed days of speakers, breaks and parties. What I particularly liked this year was hearing from so many women leaders in tech. Diversity of perspective matters, especially in the male-dominated tech space. Hearing about tech’s great job opportunity for blacks and latinos from Laura Powers of Code 2040 and the urgency of taking on our global food system from Ellen Gustafson of FEED were two of my favorites. The importance of diversity, the need to prioritize creativity and why balance, including meditation and healthy eating, benefits the work. These are the ideas that stuck. Ideas I don’t associate with the startup world. The mark of a good conference is one that pushes out from the expected storyline. For that, bravo Big Omaha. Oh, and Ev Williams is a pretty humble guy.
When “fully integrated systems” should be used
When everything in the system does what it should do well. Not subpar, half-assed, kinda-sorta or good enough. No. The idea of fully integrating something that doesn’t do everything well is so odd to me. Take Squarespace for example. The blog feature, while not like Wordpress is still more than adequate. In no way am I left wanting. Portfolio, pages, blog all in one place and everything does the job. Here I'm in for fully integrated. But if the main benefit of something is “well, it’s all in one place but this and that do kinda suck,” then that's not a benefit. When this happens, you should instead, always use tools that properly do the job. Or build them.
What my Twitter account is for
I like all the standard sorts of social media. I have an account on pretty much everything people use. And I’m active, for the most part, on all of them. Maybe not Google+. What I mean by being active on them is that I use each in their own unique ways. I don’t have one master command center where I create one piece of content and it automatically is pushed out to everything. I don’t think that’s how social media should be used. A post on Pinterest is different than a post on Facebook and is different than the intentions I have on LinkedIn and Instagram. And definitely on Twitter. The 140 character idea is so specific that I use it specifically. Sometimes it’s similar to things I post on other networks but most of the time it isn’t. Twitter is its own thing for me and that’s how I treat it. What you can expect if you follow me: Design for progressive changemakers and do-gooders. Impeccable taste in music. Super liberal politics. Loves movie trailers and Instagram. Similar, of course, to a lot of my online postings, but still different.
