Having your own design studio – now that is a nice thought, isn’t it? You’re the boss, and your creative knowledge and skills are steering your career and popularity within the industry.
There comes a time though when the work-load is too much, or where you and your partners want to get more hands on deck to help with the creative process or managing the projects or even manage your bank account. It is difficult to decide when and how to grow your own business. There are many factors to consider, client relationships, economic climate, location or size of the office, costs for staff and hardware,…. the list can go on! Getting the balance between “running at or over capacity” and “part-time idle staff” right can be daunting, so let’s have a look at what you could do.
Over the last week or so, the discussion “should we continue to support IE6” has been gaining more and more momentum. Digg, Mashable, Techcrunch and other websites ran features about why IE6 should be given the boot, websites like facebook and youtube are starting to phase out the browser, hinting users to upgrade their browser.
With more and more consumers spending time on the web looking for online bargains (let’s be honest, if I see a game for £27.99 online but £34.99 in shops then I wouldn’t be thinking twice either) instead of shops, companies must ask themselves if their website is not only showing the right prices, but is also usable enough to order items from.
Usability is a serious concern for many websites – what does the customer want when he arrives on your website? Does the user know where to go, what to do and how to ask questions or enquire / purchase?
I bumped into a former student of mine this evening – pleasant surprise. We had a quick chat about work and life, and he asked me if there was a quick way to explain the Usability Heuristics to someone in his company that would not involve a lot of reference material.
I was just talking to an acquaintance of mine (a php developer) about website design when we started discussing accessibility and usability. His response was: 
Working in a busy office is one of the best parts of being a designer or information architect – you can bounce off ideas, discuss projects with others and get their input, and you can generally have a good laugh.
Today I closed my 11th SEO proposal. This may not sound very impressive (and it isn’t a high profile client either), but it does to me, not only because it adds a few more numbers for the account handlers, but because it means that my sales strategy works (11 out of 11 closed) and that the data I am showing and preparing is useful.