Writing

Tech Culture

The best products sell them selves

The concept of 'Pull Marketing' is all the rage at the moment. In the age of the Mad Men, selling a new product was easy. You'd be handed a commodity product like toothpaste or washing powder and set about building a brand to set it apart from the competition. You would then buy advertising space on a small number of influential marketing channels and wait for the sales to roll in. The growth of multi-channel TV, the commercialisation of radio and the rise of desktop publishing in the 80s fragmented audiences, making it hard to get the message out. However it was the appearance of the Internet that changed marketing for ever.

Personal

Information Anxiety

One of the problems of working in the knowledge economy is the constant need to keep abreast of current trends and thinking. This would be fine if you worked in a mature industry or one with a limited number of books, papers and conferences appearing each year. However in the knowledge economy of the web, more information is being published every day than could be consumed in a year. What's more, that pace is increasing.

Speaking & Events

7 Ways to Improve your Public Speaking

As a self confirmed conference junkie I speak at a dozen events each year, and attend many more. As such I've probably seen close to a thousand talks over the last five years. Because of this I've got a pretty good idea what makes for an exciting talk and how you can guarantee your session will suck. As somebody who also organises two conferences, "UX London":http://uxlondon.com and "dConstruct":http://dconstruct.org I'm really keen on getting new talent into the speaking circuit while still maintaining quality. As such I've put together a quick guide to help both new and experienced speakers kick arse/ass. Most of these tips aren't new, but you'll be surprised how few people actually follow them. However if you do, you'll be well on your way to being the next Jeff Veen, Jared Spool or Jason Santa Maria.

Tech Culture

More on the sorry state of web design education

Yesterday I documented my thoughts and observations on the standard of digital design education. From talking to current and recent students I've shared their frustrations as they bemoan being taught out-of-date technologies by lecturers far removed from the daily practices of design. Through visiting degree show I've witnessed a slew of substandard work caused by an over reliance of tool based education and a lack of design thinking ( If I witness one more Flash portfolio in the shape of a designers studio I think I'm going to cry.) So where does this problem arise from and what can be done?

Tech Culture

The Sorry State of Web Design Education

A couple of weeks ago Wired Sussex invited me to a debate on the standard of design education in the UK. Being a topic incredibly close to my heart I literally jumped at the chance to participate. In order to create a sense of drama, the event pitted three designers against three educators in a heated and passionate discussion on the quality of design education in our industry.

Personal

Generation Y-pay

After trying to convince us that we're "funding terrorism":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wssfl22Hhp4, "equating us to petty thieves":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5SmrHNWhak and "calling us cheapskates":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TbqBPmInjQ, the UK film and TV industry have decided to take "a more positive response":http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/sep/07/anti-piracy-campaign-bill-filesharing. I'm surprised it's taken them so long to realise "people see the weakness in their arguments":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBJRoPgex8E and that "their actions may actually be having the reverse affect":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRVHUbrbEUA.