September 29, 2008 | The Worthwhile Company recently developed and released new Web sites for four clients: Grace Church of Alexandria, Cross Roads Baptist Church, Matra Systems, and Premier Insurance. Read the rest of this entry »

So, in my luxurious career at Worthwhile, I’ve had the privilege of managing and launching 15 web sites, with plenty more ready to go into the can. That’s what you see, anyway. What you don’t see is the number of people we’ve spoken with who’ve chosen not to work with us (or us with them, which unfortunately has to happen from time to time). These meetings have been heartbreaking at times; but at other times, they’ve been straight-up hilarious. I’ve decided to share with you some of the funnier things we’ve heard said at these meetings. Keep in mind that we don’t go out and find our clients. Virtually all of our business comes from people contacting us first. (Yes, we know that’s not the norm - we consider ourselves very, very blessed.) Knowing this little fact, though, will make some of these quotes all the more hilarious. Ready? Read the rest of this entry »

Dave, our designer, aptly handled the new Facebook design protests here. Without navigating the same terrain, I wanted to hit this from a Strategy perspective, namely in the way of bringing to light several axioms (evidently true statements/principles) that are pertinent with the New Facebook realignment.

User complaints do not necessarily warrant backward changes.

I probably tell this story too often, but here it goes. I was listening to a group of 40-50-60 year-old people discuss how much they hated the BIG BAD corporate monster that Walmart has become. Their complaint was based on the fact that since Walmart recently opened one of their ‘Supercenters’ in their small suburb, many of the ‘mom-n-pop’ establishments were forced to shut down. It’s not that these people knew the owners of the locally-based stores or had a personal investment in any of them. Read the rest of this entry »

Everywhere you go, it’s the same old thing - just how different is Amazon.com from BN.com, Walmart.com, CircuitCity.com, BestBuy.com, etc? And haven’t you ever noticed that technology sites are pretty much all the same? The new CNet is very, very sweet, but we’ve seen this before on like, everything . . . from MSN.com to IGN.com. Of course, there was the time Engadget stood out as head and shoulders above the rest, as a clean, minimalist, content-is-king blog - but there’s a line of lookalikes now, just look at the ‘Technology’ tab in iGoogle.

So where’s the originality? Where’s the flair? Where are the sites that get us excited about the Web again? Remember when someone first told you about Facebook? What about the first time you won an auction on Ebay? Exciting stuff, right? What about that time when you discovered The Worthwhile Blog and that author Chris Rackley and you thought, “Man! He’s a genius! I should take that guy to lunch some time . . . at the Bohemian, or Barley’s”? (What . . . you never thought that? Hmmm . . . ) I remember the first time I found CNet and Engadget. I remember the day I discovered W00T.com and fell in love. They were selling one of those robot vacuum cleaners. I didn’t want the product, but I became an instant fan of the site. I remember Google Street View and iGoogle and Google Calendar and thinking “Wow! These are great!” So is there anything that exciting or inspiring on the Web anymore, or is it all a mishmash of copycats and half-baked ideas? Fear not my friends, here are three sites sure to get you pumped about the Web again: Read the rest of this entry »

Among the annals of the “web world” sits a small little site, built by two people, that is quietly revolutionizing the way developers are designing their sites. If it’s true that “Great Designers Steal,” then Pattern Tap is Fort Knox and the game is afoot. . .

I was first introduced to Pattern Tap a couple months ago by Dan and haven’t looked back since. When I need an idea, a solution, or just some simple inspiration - it’s my go-to site for all things web design. Read the rest of this entry »