Staying Up To Date with Technology

The other day we met someone who asked us, “how do you guys keep up to date on all the new technology?”

Well, we pick and choose. While we do read through all sorts of tech news — and we have a lot of techy friends so the conversations usually revolve around what is going on in that realm. It comes down to picking and choosing.

Luckily focusing on a few things at a time gives us a general knowledge of many things — and specific expertise on a handful of others.

Right now we are focusing on:

• Mobile App Design & Development
• Responsive Design

This work includes the photo “Sad Cartoon versus Technology,” (although he looks more inquisitive than sad to me) available under a Creative Commons Attribution license, © Sean Loyless.

Work Less to Get More Done

I read an interesting article about how Woody Allen works the other day. This was my favorite part:

4. Productivity. To put out a movie every year or so, plus plays, magazine stories, books. you would think Woody Allen works around the clock. From a 1980 interview, “If you work only three to five hours a day you become very productive. It’s the steadiness of it that counts. Getting to the typewriter every day is what makes productivity.”

That is how we have structured our days. We don’t work 80 hour weeks, but we sprint every time we sit down to our work, great focus and great productivity ensue.

This work includes the photo “The Time,” available under a Creative Commons Attribution license, © bingham_becky.

How to Open a Work Ticket so it Actually Gets Closed

So you have a bug or task you need to report to a ticket tracking system. How can you put it together in a way that the developer can actually address it and get the problem solved and the ticket closed?

First off, make sure you are reporting an actual problem. Sometimes there is a difference between what you think should happen and what someone else thinks should happen. You’ve probably seen the tire swing cartoon.

Usually a quick email or conversation can clear this up, don’t open bugs that say things like, “The color on the homepage is green.” Yes, it’s supposed to be green according to someone else. Why open a ticket to state a fact?

Secondly, a bug assumes you can reproduce and explain the problem and the steps taken to create the problem. If something happens once, it’s not a bug, it’s an anomaly. If you can explain the steps taken to get it to happen again, then you should do so. Describe all the steps from the beginning to where you encounter the bug and what the bug looks like. And then make sure you can reproduce it again.

Third, once you can reproduce the bug make sure and take a screen shot or two. A picture is worth a thousand words so help everyone out and show us what you are seeing.

Forth, report your environment. When you take your car in to a mechanic and you explain a problem—the mechanic has a great advantage over a developer—they are working in your actual environment (a 2010 Honda Civic for example). You need to tell your developer which environment you are using. Is it a computer or a tablet? Mac or PC? Firefox or Safari? OS 10.7.3 or 10.5? Here is a handy tool for getting all of that information together in one shot: http://systemandbrowser.com/

Once the bug is closed or reassigned to you to close take a minute to walk through the reproduction again and make sure it’s fixed in a way you think it should be fixed. If it isn’t, comment on it explaining what you are expecting and reassign it. If appropriate follow up with a thank you – either as a comment when you close the bug or when you see the developer.

To Recap:

• Report problems only.
• Make sure you can document how to reproduce the bug.
• Provide screenshots.
• Report your environment.
• Check it over and say thanks.

Go forth and squash some bugs!

What your boss is doing today

I was having lunch with a client and fellow small business owner several weeks ago. We were talking about the age old issue of starting a business to do what you love then spending all of your time managing the business instead of doing what you love (unless you are lucky like me and love to manage your business). This is the same thing that happens when a great employee is promoted to management—they are no longer a great designer, they are a person who manages designers.

We were talking about how the people that we work with don’t really know what we do all day. I confess when I worked for a small company I didn’t realize everything my boss was doing all day. There is also a perception that we are messing around all day, goofing off on Facebook, chatting on the phone, etc while our coworkers are doing the “real work”. In my case the “real work” of my business is designing the mobile app, web app or corporate tool or being the person that gets to develop them.

So, what is your boss doing today while you are doing the “real work”?

She or he is worrying. We are worrying about you having food on your table. We are worrying about food on our own table. We are worrying about delivering on current projects and securing new ones. We are talking to people we may not want to talk to, we are getting dressed up and driving all over the valley to back to back meetings. We are promoting our business through social media. We are wistfully remembering that we wanted this business because we loved what we did and wanted to do it all the time.

If your boss is very lucky — every once in a while she or he gets to join you and do the “real work”.

Please take a moment to thank your boss for creating the security for you to be able to do what you love to do all day. Don’t wonder why you are the one doing all the “real work” while your boss runs around doing other things that you don’t see the immediate value in. Pay close attention and if you have the spirit to be an entrepreneur, learn all that you can because someday you’ll be the one on the phone, running around, spending more time than you want to on Facebook and sneaking in a few minutes to actually design.

This work includes the photo “Green Pastures and Blue Skies,” available under a Creative Commons Attribution license, © katmeresin.

To Give Anything Less than Your Best is to Sacrifice Your Gift

Photo Source

This is so true. Whether you consider your gift the opportunity to run your own business or the talent you were born with and then grew over a lifetime.

It’s great to be positioned in such a way to only give our best. It’s why we are careful about the projects we take on and why we price ourselves the way we do. We can’t give our best if we’re overtaxed and we can’t give our best if we can’t make ends meet. We’ve also found that we can’t give our best if we aren’t taking time to go to yoga and hit the gym.

Are there any changes you need to make to ensure you are giving your best and not sacrificing your gift?