Words 117
I take time out of each day to sketch.
Words 116
Even the nicest car won’t make driving in traffic enjoyable.
Words 115
Do you label a button Submit or Save or Update or New or Create? That’s copywriting. Do you write three sentences or five? Do you explain with general examples or with details? Do you label content New or Updated or Recently Updated or Modified? All of this matters.
Words 114
When you write like everyone else and sound like everyone else and act like everyone else, you’re saying, “Our product is like everyone else’s”.
Words 113
A good pitch starts with a crystal-clear exposition of the problem you are trying to solve. The unspoken response you want in the minds of your audience are: ‘He may not have solved it yet, but this guy really knows what our problem is.’ Then elaborate.
Words 112
Stress is not attractive at all. We love people who work hard but we don’t want them to be white and shaking.
Words 111
Go on a ‘re-launch’ programme to get yourself in better shape, get a tan, tone up and dress a bit more interestingly.
Words 110
Think about your customers and think about what those buttons and words mean to them. Don’t use acronyms or words that most people don’t understand. Don’t use internal lingo. Don’t sound like an engineer talking to another engineer. Keep it short and sweet. Say what you need to and no more.
Words 109
Build predictable websites. Design what the user expects. Do not try to build the next big web feature unless its absolutely a better, more intuitive way to complete an old task.
Words 108
Always anticipate that a user may not use your website the way you intend. Predict how they might misuse the website, and don’t let the consequences of misuse be undesirable.
Words 107
Great brands work, they say to people that you care about quality.
Words 106
Always look as good as you can and as good as you wished you felt without being too fussy.
Words 105
Good writing is good design. It’s a rare exception where words don’t accompany design. Icons with names, form fields with examples, buttons with labels, step by step instructions in a process, a clear explanation of your refund policy. These are all interface design.
Words 104
How you look and feel really matters. This is a totally pragmatic thing, not a style or fashion thing. From now on always try make the very best of what you’ve got. People will make instant snap decisions about how they feel about you, based on how you look. So there’s a need to groom,Continue reading “Words 104”
Words 103
Every feature has some maintenance cost, having fewer features lets you focus on making them work well.
Words 102
People can copy what you’ve done, but they can’t copy what you still want to do.
Words 101
It’s pretty hard to be efficient without being obnoxious.
Words 100
Never be afraid to sit a while and think.
Words 99
I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.
Words 98
Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time.
Words 97
Users should never have to guess if something is clickable or not.
Words 96
The price the user sees in their shopping cart should be the same as what the user is charged on their credit card.
Words 95
Showcase your best work, not all of your work.
Words 94
People overestimate what they can accomplish in the near term and underestimate what they can accomplish in the long term.
Words 93
It’s important to get away from work until you miss it.
Words 92
Taking time to sit back and watch is important – a million ideas will come to you.
Words 91
You know you’ve done something right when everyone at the conference table is smarter than you.
Words 90
Is web design an artistic undertaking? Or, is it a pragmatic process.
Words 89
We do not remember days, we remember moments.
Words 88
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination can take you anywhere.
Words 87
Set goals, reach, repeat.
Words 86
When Winston Churchill was asked to cut arts funding in favour of the war effort, he simply replied, “then what are we fighting for?”.
Words 85
The young are always coming up with the good ideas; it’s because they waste time. They follow their passion and do something, not looking for a payoff, just doing what’s interesting.
Words 84
Branding is what people say about you when you are not in the room.
Words 83
I want a life that other people tell stories about.
Words 82
Be passionate about whatever you do.
Words 81
It’s not that I have more energy. I also get tired. It’s more a case of choosing to use it.
Words 80
Treat every job interview as a success. You then have very little to lose once you get there.
Words 79
Old, wise or experienced?
Words 78
It is never too late to be what you might have been.
Words 77
Never miss the chance to dance.
Words 76
You have to create content before you can design it.
Words 75
If you want to complete a tax return or repair a dishwasher, go for logic every time. But if you want to overthrow a tyrant, write a sonnet, make something great or get people to think in a new way, then go for passion.
Words 74
Charisma appears to be a very special gift that’s easy to recognise in others yet dauntingly hard to inculcate in oneself.
Words 73
The painful truth is that, at work, we’re on trial all the time. Life outside the office is no different – you are subject to obvious scrutiny on the big occasions.
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Above all, encourage each other, and make the work fun.
Words 71
Writing a business presentation, writing a best man’s speech at a wedding, writing an after-dinner talk – these are all creative acts but they require preparation and structure.
Words 70
The vast majority of presentations today are done on PowerPoint. Yet PowerPoint is to communications what a microwave is to cooking – living proof that easier is not always better. And just as a microwave is the perfect short cut to bland food, so PowerPoint is the perfect short cut to bland thought.
Words 69
If you don’t have confidence in you, they won’t have confidence in your idea.
Words 68
The bigger the problem, the more valuable the solution.