Blog

The seeds of that thought were first planted at a previous job when, on my first day, I somehow managed to receive 47 emails (and only 2 were addressed to me.) Nobody knew who I was. I certainly wasn’t on any projects. How on earth was my attention already required to 45 pieces of content? Well, it wasn’t.

The feeling of “something’s wrong” was palpable. Maybe not quite at the “first time I saw ‘America’s Next Pussycat Doll’” level, but it was there. And that feeling has only grown as email as proliferated.

Before you ask, I’m not one of those anti-email luddites who spews Rooney-esque rants about the good ol’ days when we all … Read More »

A client came to us with a challenge to create a way for users to conveniently upload large numbers of files to their website. We settled on Flash to get the job done and here’s why…

One of the limitations of the current HTML standard is that a user is limited to selecting a single file at a time using the browse dialogue of a file input element. Fortunately, we can get around this limitation by using Flash. Below is a picture of a browse dialogue generated by Flash that allows the selection of multiple files at once.

The ability to select multiple files at once permits the user to do things like upload … Read More »

We have a previous blog post that talked about a meeting in SF last month: An Event Apart. I was really glad that I got the chance to sit in a fantastic talk by Jeffery Veen about his experience working on Heatmap and Google Analytics. This got me to start thinking about the topic of web traffic analytics, and how it relates to user research, especially its relationship to more traditional user research tools such as user testing.

User Testing versus WTA

Usability Testing is a powerful method in understanding user behavior and discovering obstacles that prevent users from successfully reaching their goals on an interface. Usually after testing 5 users you can discover 85% of issues … Read More »

This week on the Twelve, we meet Adam Trissel.

1. What’s your role at SolutionSet?
Officially I am the head of the Java practice here at SolutonSet. Practically that means that I head up the group building Java based community sites here and can have opinions on other Java development around the company. It also means that I get to play a supporting role in lots of different projects. I kind of like the business title of an old boss of mine: “Chief Spackler.”

2. How long have you been with the company?
I have been with SolutionSet for a little under a year. That is seven years in programmer years.

3. Where are some places you’ve worked … Read More »

A friend and mentor, Mike Yapp, often spoke to clients about his 3 questions (Yapp’s 3 rules) that any home page must answer. They were:

Who are you?
What do you do?
Who do you do it for?

These questions are the most important goal to accomplish with any home page as you need to quickly communicate to users about your brand and why should it be relevant to them.

Why the urgency? Well, for any new or uninformed user, they will spend perhaps a total of < 5 seconds reviewing the site depending on where they came from and why they are there. It is important that they … Read More »

Not long ago, new stories broke with the morning headlines. Each story from the major media outlets had a big impact and carried the conversation for the day. Then, people would wait for the next update from the evening news or through the follow on stories from the next day.

Today’s stories are broken in real time. Updates and opinions pile in from the thousands of alternative new sources online every minute. I’d argue that each new story carries less weight. This new media landscape balances major news outlets with bloggers and other media outlets that were created with the new digital world.

There are positives and negatives to all of this, however:

1. Everyone Steals … Read More »

I have found the best definition of graphic design is, a visual communication that combines images, words, and ideas to convey information to an audience. So in a nutshell, my job as a graphic designer is to basically organize someone else’s information and make it attractive and enticing. At SolutionSet I mostly design for the world-wide-web, or as it is sometimes called, “the information superhighway.” The Internet allows us to stack layers upon layers of information and access this information anywhere and anytime; the list of things we can do with information on the web is endless.

Recently I read the book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell. This book … Read More »

One of the things I like doing when I have just 15mins of free time on weekends - you know, not long enough to actually get out of the house or read a book or get into a TV show or nap, but too long to do nothing – is surf around delicious. It never gets old because there is just an amazing amount of cool stuff on the internet that I would never find on my own because I don’t really read a lot of blogs and I don’t have enough time during the week to keep up with all the latest web2.0socialmediacloudblogwidgetmashup news out there. And of course, every time I go there I discover … Read More »

This week on the Twelve, we meet Libby DeMeo.

1. What’s your role at SolutionSet?
Glue. I am a founding Partner and manage the business operations (HR, facilities, finance, and resource allocation) within the company.

2. How long have you been with the company?
Since 2004

3. Where are some places you’ve worked prior to SolutionSet?
3Com, USWeb, Form-Studios, Regis McKenna Inc.

4. What’s your favorite thing about your job?
Working with the diverse folks that make up the SolutionSet family. This is one of the most dedicated, talented, fun teams I’ve worked with.

5. When you’re not at the office, where are we likely to find you?
Chasing my kids.

6. When you were a little kid, what did you want to … Read More »

First some context. . .

The history of Python is an interesting one. While it has been around longer than Java, quirks (some may say features) have kept the language in a niche position. Over the years there are more than a few (that after coming to grips with the “python” way to do things), realize the potential of Python and the potential to cut the fat from their programs.

This realization moved python into the role it seems most comfortable today: the “glue.” With its straightforwardness and ease of use, Python is ideally suited to interact with other languages; it “plays well,” if you will.

Fast-forward to 2008, Python has firmly cemented its use as a utility player in the development game, … Read More »