Much of the tension in product development and interface design comes from trying to balance the obvious, the easy, and the possible. Figuring out which things go in which bucket is critical to fully understanding how to make something useful. Shouldn’t everything be obvious? Unless you’re making a product that just does one thing — like a… keep reading
The hardware engineering and software coordination behind 3D Touch in the iPhone 6S is impressive. It’s such an Apple feature. Executed with exquisite diligence because they control the whole stack. Marvelous. But you know what, it’s not my favorite feature of the 6S. That honor belongs to the low-tech, behind-the-curve addition of an extra gigabyte… keep reading
Software makers are obsessed with new. And of course we are, that’s our job: making more, newer, better! But as a lot, we’d be well-served to remember this affliction is generally not shared by our users and customers. Sure, some people love upgrading to the latest version the minute it lands. It’s also a lot… keep reading
When collaborating with others — especially when designers and programmers are part of the mix — watch out for these dirty four letter words: Need Must Can’t Easy Just Only Fast They are especially dangerous when you string them together. How many times have you said or heard something like this: “We really need it. If we don’t we… keep reading
Remember the Flip camera? From its premiere in 2006 until the business was sold to Cisco in 2009, the little video recorder was killing it. Lavish praise, booming sales, flying high. And then cell phones got good enough at recording video, and that was the end of that. If you disregard the acquisition proceeds, was… keep reading
By Noah Lorang, Mr. Data at Basecamp. We’ve always felt strongly that we should share our lessons in business and technology with the world, and that includes both our successes and our failures. We’ve written about some great successes: how we’ve improved support response time, sped up applications, and improved reliability. Today I want to… keep reading
Many writers and publishers are freaking out after Apple opened Safari to ad blockers in iOS9. Ad blockers have been around for a long time, but the fear is that this is the move that will take the concept mainstream. That fear appears well justified. The App Store’s charts have been dominated by ad blockers… keep reading
Click away from the pen tool… Put down your Pantone book… Stop rearranging your layers… Close your stock texture folder… Log out of your Dribbble… And god dammit, hug your copywriter… Designing for the web is still about words.
Today we’re feeling really good because we get to announce that Mercedes De Luca will be joining Basecamp as our first-ever COO. Over the last few years, David and I have come to realize that high-level strategy and hands-on product development is what we enjoy doing most. But of course there’s so much more to… keep reading
Designers often talk about the look and feel of a product, an app, an object, etc. These are good concepts to be talking about, but how the thing feels isn’t really the important feel. The important feel is how it makes you feel. That feeling isn’t usually covered by look and feel discussions. This has… keep reading