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The Story of Building the New Common Craft
Posted by: leelefever on December 12, 2011- 10:24am
Categories: design, development, history, New Common Craft, story, website
A few months ago, we released a completely new and different Common Craft. This is the story of the big ideas that drove the change and getting the website designed and built.
App or Not?
In 2010, we wanted a Common Craft app that would put our video library in your pocket, any time you need it. We had a version built, but something didn’t feel right. We dropped it. Soon after, I talked to a few people I respect in the mobile world, like Brian Fling at Pinch/Zoom and Brian Leroux at Nitobi... Continue Reading
We've re-thought our website from the ground up and soon you'll see the all the changes we're making. For now though, I want to highlight a few things that make a big difference.
1. A Focus on the Business. This may be the best way to explain how the focus has changed:
The current Common Craft site says "WE HAVE A BLOG - and we sell videos"
The *new* Common Craft site says "WE SELL VIDEOS - and we have a blog"
It's true - the new site is more closely aligned with the goal of finding, viewing... Continue Reading
Me (to the friendly TSA ID checker): Do I have to remove my laptop computer?
TSA Employee: Yes, you do.
Me: It's not listed on the sign
TSA Employee: Well, it's the most important thing to remove.
Me: But not important enough to be on the sign?
TSA: It's supposed to be on there, the people that printed it messed up (rolls eyes).
The TSA folks have hard jobs and I appreciate what they do. However, it doesn't exactly give me a safe feeling when the instructions for moving through... Continue Reading
As you may have seen, the Common Craft Store has a section for merchandise that is looking pretty minimal at the moment. At the same time, we often get requests for t-shirts. Hopefully, we're about to solve this problem.
We've created a new "assignment" on a website called Pixish. Using Pixish, we can describe an image we need and have a community of creative people submit their ideas. The creator of the winning images win "rewards" - often money, links, etc.
We're hoping to identify... Continue Reading
My Personal Life Stream on Tumblr
For a while now I've been fascinated by the idea of creating a single place (other than Facebook) that brings together all the things I do on the Web. That is why I created the zeitgeist page here on Common Craft - to have that single place to bring it together. At the same time, I've had a blog at leelefever.com that has become a pain to keep updated - I needed a replacement.
Recently I discovered Tumblr, which is a super-simple and lightweight way to have a blog with a minimum of... Continue Reading
After 3+ years, Common Craft has a new design and a new platform (Drupal) - Yay! We hope you like it, we sure do.
Please kick the tires and give it a test drive while it's still got that showroom sheen. I'm sure there are some kinks to work out of the system and we'd really appreciate it if you'd let us know so we can fix 'em. Just leave a comment below. Any feedback is welcome.
Over the next little while we'll be tweaking things and posting some content that will represent where Common... Continue Reading
Congrats to my friends and fellow Seattle guys Blue Flavor for getting their new company off the ground. From their site:
We're four guys with a zeal for simple, clear and effective communication and creating lasting interactive experiences.
We’re big picture thinkers, Web and mobile architects, user advocates, writers, speakers and well-respected experts. We're also fairly regular folks who think technology should work for people, not the other way around.
Blue Flavor is: Brian Fling, D... Continue Reading
Boxes and Arrows: Building a Vision of Design Success
Since I started to learn a little more about Contextual Inquiry/Ethonography, it seems like it is coming up every where.
Though this article does not mention the terms above, it describes the techniques as a viable way to build and promote a vision for a project.
I find it useful to use Peter Senge’s Five Why’s. This is a very simple technique in which you ask why, and when you get a response, you ask why again. It helps you move from... Continue Reading
This interview with Peter Coughlan, by Mark Hurst of GoodExperience.com, provides a good look at the "broken" state of hospitals and how his company IDEO works with hospitals to improve.
Having a Masters in Health Administration, I hold this stuff close to heart. I think there are incredible opportunities to help hospitals improve and I like the way Peter describes their process.
Ordinarily the hospital spends a year or two in committee, create what they think is the perfect team process, and... Continue Reading