Got a mac with iSight? Then you have all you need to test out your designs and run simple usability tests with Silverback. For $50, you can’t beat the amount of value this app brings. It allows even the smallest design firms to conduct rudimentary usability tests.
Great simple affordable software that every design shop should at least try out for free. Plus, who doesn’t like saving Gorillas.
I never read books. Ever. Aside from Dr Suess as a kid, I could probably count on 1 hand the books that I have read in my life. I was always a firm believer that I could get the gist of the book from reviews, a friend or reading the jacket of the book. Any books that were assigned in school were read via Cliffs Notes or SparkNotes (I barely read those!).
I’ve since found that there are a few authors out there who are writing about topics that actually interest and motivate me (Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Robert Kiyosaki etc). I’ve also found that I want to know how other entrepreneurs think and what techniques they use in becoming successful. A book that really struck a chord with me was 4-Hour Work Week, by Timothy Ferriss. I will agree with Brian that the second half of the book has a lot of self-help information, which isn’t always bad (get those motivational juices flowing). This book hit home for me because I was at a job that didn’t seem to be taking me anywhere and was becoming very stifling. It also helped to reassure me that the decisions I made were the right ones and that I didn’t want to fall in the mantra of working for 30 years to retire and become bored. I highly recommend picking up the book, not only if you are in a crappy job situation, but if you want to learn more about how to run a business without sitting in an office all day.
A small but powerful topic discussed in the book was eustress. Wikipedia defines eustress as:
Distress is the most commonly-referred to type of stress, having negative implications, whereas eustress is a positive form of stress, usually related to desirable events in person’s life. Both can be equally taxing on the body, and are cumulative in nature, depending on a person’s way of adapting to a change that has caused it.
The premise is to use healthy stress to get yourself to the next level. Whether that next level is taking a calculated risk with your business, working out and losing a few pounds or seeking criticism about your design/product/etc. It can be stressful to put yourself out there and not know the outcome, but if you know your hard work can pay off keep pushing yourself to stimulate growth. I don’t want to sound preachy but this is why 60% of the US population is overweight, people avoid any form of stress, even if it leads to life changing results.
So coming from a book hater, put down the Maxim mags and find some good authors.
The whole Thought & Theory crew will be in Boston for the next couple of days for a big kick-off meeting. Be sure to give us a ring if you’re in the area and want to meet-up and chat.
I will be the first person to admit that I am not an interior decorator. I am a minimalist at heart, I like very clean things and I don’t like a lot of frills or extra junk. I do, however, get bored with most things in my life very quickly and like to change it up. You can imagine it is a little unrealistic to “change-up” my couches, until LoveSac.
If you don’t know anything about LoveSac or haven’t heard about them, hop over to their website. There are some great videos about their products, photos of customer setups and you will definitely get a kick out of Shawny D, the founder of LoveSac.
The premise is simple, customize your own couches (Sactionals), along with a ton of other furniture (Sacs, Chairs, etc etc). The Sactionals are so versatile you will never get stuck with the same boring couch ever again. Here is a snippet about Sactionals from the website:
How do G2 Sactionals work? Don’t worry, it’s easy. A Sactional Base and a Sactional Side clamp together like Lego’s, basically. You can arrange any number of Bases and Sides, clamp them all together and poof! You have a full G2 Sactional arrangment. For instance, if you combine 3 bases and 5 sides you get a G2 Sactional Full Sofa Configuration.
Here are some photos to help illustrate the ease of constructing your couch configuration using sides, bases, clamps and pillows. You can check out configurations with same pieces here (navigate to the right in the gallery).
It is such an interesting concept and would be so easy to configure your living room in tons of different ways. Not to mention you can change out the covers for everything and have a completely different look/feel at any time. This makes me think I wish they had some sort of rental system for parties, as it would perfect for my upcoming 24-Hour Movie Marathon! Can you imagine watching movies like this?
Joey from YGG did an interview with Shawny D (Founder of LoveSac), you can read it here.
I’ve stumbled across this scenario on a few websites I frequent, most prominent of these being Google Calendar. Google Calendar has been in Beta for at least a year and that seems odd to me. Google obviously does not need any press regarding it’s growth from Beta to a full-launch, but your site might.
We are working on a few projects which will be in Beta, but we have never been a fan of labeling things as such. Yes it gives you a crutch to stand on when something breaks, but you can easily explain to your users that you are just getting started and bugs are bound to appear. Beta is a fun way of getting some light press and that is perfectly fine, but work your way out of Beta and get a second round of press when you are in full-launch. You may as well make a point of moving out of Beta since you made the point of starting in Beta!
Speaking of using “Beta” to your advantage: instead of throwing the word “Beta” in your logo, use Beta Codes or a Beta Login to show a limited group of people what you have going on. This gives people a sense of value when they have a code and are one of the privileged who can access your website. This also serves as a kick in the butt to open your website to the masses and move out of Beta when you are ready.