Web Design From The Gut – Web design has a process that’s for sure, but so much still just comes from the gut.

40 Helpful Resource on User Interface Design Patterns – Smashing Magazine serves up this great collection of all the patterns you will ever need.

Feedback. The Creavity Killer – Very nice 12 step program for those that find themselves always on the defensive with their creatations.

Wabi-Sabi and Experience Design – The zen of design. Enough said.

The Time of User-Centered Design Has Come and Gone. Time to Move On – Thought exploration on why UCD fails to innovate. Very compelling.

Design Rule #1 To Live By – “Know the project brief inside and out, clarify any questions with your client or project manager before beginning”

The Carefully Designed Experience of Kinder Eggs – My first experience with Kinder Eggs was when I met my wife back in high school, and I still love them to this day.

photo credit: stuartpilbrow

Twitter’s Most Moronic Change: Removing @ Reply Settings – Twitter community outrage on recent change to their @ Reply system.

About Challenges and Authentic Experiences: An Interview with Bill DeRouchey – Great interview looking at the history of Interaction Design, and where the profession is going. At the end of the interview is a nice piece of advice for young UX Designers.

How to Elevate Your Website Design Process and Results - Very smart and thorough tutorial on how to streamline creating a design for a website using Photoshop.

Usability Bytes #1: Visual prominence – First screencast of Usability Bytes presented by Robert Hoekman, Jr of Miskeeto.

Interview with Chris Spooner – My favorite part of this interview was Chris explaining why having a blog is important and how it helped him in his career.

Deconstructing Analysis Techniques Part 2 Deconstruction – Analysis is the one aspect of User Experience that is not documented well enough. Steve Baty is making great strides in correcting that fact.

Ten Graphic Design Paradoxes – This is a nice little checklist that can help a designer grounded.

Kicker Studio Touchscreen Conference Concept Phone – The worst experience about any conference call is the bridge, I have yet to have a good experience with one. With Kicker Studio’s concept all that frustration might go away one day though.

Persona Templates V2 – I have a soft spot in my heart for personas. The design and layout of these templates can help anyone properly convery the message their personas are telling.

Developing a UX Strategy -Provides an overview of how Miskeeto develops a user experience strategy for their clients. The process they use is very practical and the article is informative enough to help you develop your own process for your company or clients.

50 Sites That Will Help You To Become A Better Designer - Using tutorials are my main source of education when it comes to learning a new technique or process. The awesome collections given here can help anyone with their on going education.

A month ago I was asked to write on how heavy usage of Flash effects the User Experience of a website, specifically for Interactive Agencies by Brain Schartz (twitter).

In the example that Brain gives in his tweet, it is clear whoever made this site was trying to show off their abilities using the Flash platform. The result is a piece of digital ‘art’ rather than a designed website that highlights the agencies capabilities and work. This is a classic mistake of sites that go heavy on the Flash.

The use of Flash on the web has been debated for years, and best practices are well documented. Rather than rehash what is already out there I will just highlight a couple things to keep in mind when incorporating Flash into a design.

1. Use as an accessory – Don’t let Flash become the be all end all. The use of Flash, or any other RIA platform, should be a small portion of the design of a site. This allows for the content of your site to be more accessible and SEO friendly.
2. Degrade Gracefully – Using a full Flash site doesn’t inherently mean it will convey a bad user experience. Steps can be taken to offer a fully standard compliant XHTML alternative, and a style that support mobile browsers.
3. Website, not Art – Don’t get all ‘Flashy’ (pun intended) just to show off your skills. Showing off your business and portfolio should not be buried in a piece of art.

Using an RIA platform as part of your site can do wonders to impress your users. The old adage holds true though, content is king. If a site is too rich or too interactive, you can distract or mislead a user. Using these new and exciting interactive platforms  responsibly can offer users a much deeper and richer experience.

Some links to what others have said on this topic:

• 65 Excellent Flash Designs
• UIE RIA Archives
• What is “rich”? Why do “rich”?

If you have other links please post them in the comments and I will add to this list.

Yesterday, I gave Whitney Hess of Pain and Pleasure my definition of what personal brand means to me.

For me personal brand is related to how much you are valued as a resource by both your industry and your peers. Wealth and commercial success doesn’t really play into my overall concept of a personal brand.

In my attempts to build my personal brand, I try to add relevant and constructive content to the overall community. By doing this, it is my hope that when people are faced with a problem or question they need help with I am one of the resources they reach out to for assistance. Yes, gaining wealth and success may be a by-product of this, but it is not the intended goal.

Until I wrote this I didn’t realize that this is how I live my life on a day to day basis. I always try to help someone, no matter how well I know them or how well I personally ‘like’ them. Sometimes this feels like a burden as I put my life on hold in order to help others. But, the feeling I get when I make someone else’s life better, easier, or I give them that little piece of advise they need it makes it all worth it.

I have recently moved into the world of freelancing for web design, development, and social media consultation. This move has brought my ‘brand’ to the top of my priority list. If I had to define my personal brand it would be as a person that is completely willing to help anyone with anything. In the world of freelancing this puts me at a slight disadvantage.

There have been several projects where I have agreed to do the work before ever agreeing on a price or method of payment. As one can imagine, this puts me in an awkward position as I have to contact the client in order to get paid once the project is complete, which for some reason makes me feel bad for nagging them. I know I shouldn’t feel bad, but money was not the driver for doing the project. I agreed to do it because someone needed help and I had the ability to help them.

In the future, it is going to become a balancing act of helping people and looking out for myself. It is my hope that by reaching out and helping people I become a resource that people think of when they need help or know of someone that needs help. In the end though I am not giving away charity, but a service which I need to make sure I get reimbursed for. An interesting problem to have, and in time we will have to see if my personal brand is a blessing or a curse.