SxSWi - Friday
Saturday, March 8th, 2008 at 9:30 am2:30PM: Pro Javascript Design Patterns by Dustin Diaz. Diaz, and engineer at Google, talks about his book. Not my domain, but Diaz seems smart and interesting.
3:00PM: The Principles of Beautiful Web Design by Jason Beaird. A good book for hobbyist and beginners. He gives a shot to kuler.com. I tried that when it first came out, but the community was weak. I opted for the Illustrator Color Guide (awesome). I’ll have to check out kuler.com again.
3:30PM: Building Findable Web Sites by Aarron Walter. Not the typical SEO approach. So refreshing to hear. He emphasizes web standards, microformats, and progressive enhancement (one of my favorite concepts in this space — first heard here). Materials from the talk are here.
4:00PM: Subject to Change by Todd Wilkins. Wilkins (AdaptivePath) talks about qualitative approaches to product design. Talks about how quantative takes the human element out of products, and how this frequently ruins products. Based on my experience, I couldn’t agree more. Most companies think their customers are the elephant man. Quote: “Companies think their customers buy stuff and crap cash.” The pressure from number crunchers to validate is a terrible burden in developing quality products. He talks about moving from goals and tasks to behavior and motivation. Gives a shout to Emotional Design by Donald A. Norman (from Apple).
4:30PM: Radically Transparent by Andy Beal. About managing your reputation online. Pretty interesting statistics in the beginning. 50% of people don’t get hired because of what is found online.
5:00PM: PANEL - Bankrupt Your Startup in Five Easy Steps. Pretty silly panel, not serious or useful. Some moron in a unicorn suit asks a question. THIS is the kind of dumb shit that bankrupts your startup! Sean Tierney (from jumpbox) list of failure criteria: 1) hand over the reins; 2) over-engineer everything; 3) seek growth before profitability (shout to the Innovator’s Dilemma); 4) establish a culture of subservience; and 5) disregard cashflows. Andrew Hyde’s list: 1) Show nothing to anyone; 2) Have an exit plan; 3) everyone signs an NDA; 4) Funding is your exit plan; and 5) Theme weeks for the office (ie. Klingon week). And Joshua Strebel’s list: 1) Forget your purpose; 2) launch Under funded; 3) miCromanage your team; 4) be the King; and 5) believe the Dreamkillers.
That’s about all for Friday. The long lines sent us native. Pictures forthcoming.