Minds Eye Web Design, Inc.

1. It’s All About The User - find the sweet spot
2. Avoid Solutioneering - identifying problems before solutions, remind business that they need to have goals
3. Form Always Follows Function - always think of function first
4. Allow for Failure
5. Do Not Imitate, Innovate
6. Do Not Get In The User’s Way - content is critical
   95% of web users do not read 80% of your content
   • only surface what’s important
   • have headings, summary
   • CNN - checkout what you should say
   • doesn’t mean that your content isn’t important, it means it’s more important
7. Use Your Network - always have a mentor, be a connector, don’t be afraid to reach out for help

Websites

• Slideshare
• Digital-Web.com
• Blue Favor
• NickFinck.com
• Denim

Books

• The User Is Always Right
• The Art of Project Management (Theory in Practice (O’Reilly))
• The Design of Everyday Things
• Fail Better!: The World’s Worst Marketers and What We Can Learn from Them
• Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
• Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition
• Killer Web Content: Make the Sale, Deliver the Service, Build the Brand

Recently I’ve taken interest into web application development and what it would require. After a little bit of research I’ve come up with the following information.

There are three parts of a web application that need to be taken into consideration when planning the project.

• User Services - Represents the user interface, the visual gateway in which customers will interact with the web application. The common scripting languages used for the user interface consist of HTML, DHTML, and Java.
• Business Services - The business logic and procedure, backend of the web application that consists of the functionality of the web application. The common scripting languages used can range from Web scripting in ASP, PHP, JSP to server side programming such as TCL, COBRA, and PERL.
• Data Services - The part of the web application that connects to the database or other means of data storage. Data is stored, retrieved, and updated during this phase.

Now that you have the three levels of a web application the next step is planning the project. Here are the four phases of a web application project.

1. Envision nature & direction - documentation, versioning of the application, limitations, scheduling
2. Devise a plan - establish the best scripting language for the project, necessary features, and timeline of the project.
3. Development - coding, testing, publishing, meeting milestones and having up to date reports
4. Test, Support & Stability - testing, debugging, network issues resolved, policies and procedures established.

That’s all for now, as I continue to learn and dig into this subject I will be posting more later.

We need interoperability between different front-end developers, programmers, designers, web app developers, etc. So how do we go about doing this? The answer is web standards in CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. There is no need to master a variety of tools. Just know and understand enough so that if you need to code in a language that you don’t normally use that you will be able to code in the correct standards.

Version control is VERY important when multiple people are working on the same project. I have had many run-ins myself with accidentally writing over more up to date code. Having some form of version control allows for the following.

• Provides fall-back point
• Prevents over-writing
• Helps with accountability
• Track change history

Design by community and not by committee.

Summation

• Strive to write elegant code
• Know your personality code
• Choose the right framework
• Be passionate but don’t risk the site

Websites

• Viewzi
• Godbit
• Drupal
• Human Metrics
• 37 Signals
• 960.gs
• Subtraction
• AAFES
• Twitter.com/nathansmith
• Sonspring