xperience
E-By Design Technologies is pleased to announce that we’ve just closed an agreement with the National Research Council’s Industry Research Assistance Program to develop a prototype of a new technology we’re very excited about. If you’re interested in hearing more about the prototype or getting involved, please contact us here: irap@e-bydesign.ca
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What vs how
Posted by
on December 31, 2010
So I sat down to write out my GTD 50k goals and work my way into the next quarter. And its hard. Let me rephrase that … it’s haaaaaaaaaaaaard. The question is why? I know what’s important to me, I know what I want to accomplish, don’t I? Why is it so ever-loving hard to sit down and write out those goals? More…
Eunice accepts position with Zedit
Posted by
on December 20, 2010
Eunice has accepted a Senior Project manager position with ZedIT Solutions to round out her ERP experience with SAP. And she gets to spend the bulk of 2011 “home” in beautiful St. John’s Newfoundland.
Basel III and the credit unions
Posted by
on September 17, 2010
While its not hot in the mainstream media, there’s been a great deal of talk lately in financial circles about Basel III. There’s a great review of the what Basel III is over at BankSimple, but the gist of the changes to the world’s banks is this:
- Banks are required to carry capital of at least 7% of risk-weighted assets
- Banks are required to carry capital of at least 3% of all assets
- Banks are required to carry sufficient liquid assets to cover 30 days of liabilities
The question I have is, so what? Credit Unions in this country have been doing that and better for years.
Function without form is no function at all
Posted by
on September 2, 2010
You’ve all heard the derisive phrases “form over function”, “lipstick on a pig” and the like. The gist of these epithets is to indicate that more care and attention is put into how something looks than into how that something works. Its a fair criticism when the function is lacking, but I’d argue that when the function is solid, the form is an equally important consideration. Function without form is no function at all. I believe that this is an important concept that is ignored. I believe that this needs to be a fundamental tenet of the IT industry. I believe that form is the diferentiator and I’ll tell you why.
Electile Disfunction
Posted by
on August 26, 2010
Here at e-bydesign we take community involvement seriously. And as one of our communities, Edmonton, is currently going through the paces of its current municipal election, I thought I would take a moment to reflect on the issues that are resonating with me at this early stage. My goal is awareness and my own feeble ploy to save some of you from municipal electile disfunction: that state where you can’t be bothered to get up and vote, or worse, voting without knowing who or what you’re supporting.
More…
The 4 ‘A’s of team behaviour
Posted by
on August 19, 2010
I’ve worked with a number of teams over the years. Built-from-scratch teams, in-place teams I’ve inherited and teams that have grown organically with me over a long period. In all cases, people have interesting dynamics when they operate in a team, but despite their ability to amaze me with their individualism, teams always seem to go through 4 stages as they react to a new leader.
Jon confirms contract with Alberta Justice
Posted by
on May 3, 2010
Jon has confirmed a long term gig with Alberta Justice on the Court Case Management Program.
A user story – in video
Posted by
on April 29, 2010
Wire-framing is God’s gift to requirements gathering. Its true. I’m a recent convert to formally including a wireframe in the design/requirments process. Why this sudden conversion? The discovery of a tool that makes it almost child’s play to explore your options: balsamiq. Here is my top-5 list of why wireframing, and balsamiq in particular, is awesome:
- with a wireframe tool, I can whip up a “sketch” of the screen(s) for a particular user story in less than an hour
- the process of wireframing is the first test of the requirements and highlights very quickly when the requirements aren’t detailed enough. I know within an hour if I have to go back to the client and I can show them what’s missing and why
- I tend to be a form over function kind of guy, so this forces me into a make sure I have the functions (both data capture, and UX) in there, without worrying about how the CSS should work, or browser compatibility, or if that blue is too blue
- you can begin to establish some conventions early: where do buttons go, where do menus go, what’s a grid vs whats a list. This is important so that when developers begin to code they already have a common understanding of how things will plug together. Don’t get me wrong, you still need designers and so forth, but at a minimum you don’t have apples and oranges
- probably the singularly most awesome thing is that it visually tells the story of what you are trying to accomplish. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I say a picture is priceless if it brings consensus.
Oh, and did I mention that balsamiq stores its wireframes as XML so they’re portable and easily modifyable? Thought not.
I’ve been working on the wireframes for our next SaaS offering, and I thought I would share. But then I thought, if a picture is awesome, a movie would be even better. So here’s my first go at a user story come film:
I’d love to know what you think of the film, the concept (of making a film of mockups) and of the product itself. I’ll be going through it in more detail as we work through the kinks.
A simple response
Posted by
on April 22, 2010
I’ve spent the better part of a year now doing nothing but business development. Its a rough sport and don’t ever let anyone tell you differently. The hardest part is definitely ‘the void’. That place that your emails go to. That place that your voicemails go to. That place that seems to suck in all the people that you’re trying to talk to. I suppose I can understand, its easier to ignore a request that you’ve decided you can’t or won’t deal with than it is to have to disappoint someone. But it certainly doesn’t feel like it on the receiving end.
But fear not, the void doesn’t get all of us. There are a stolid few who still recognize the value of acknowledgement and the power of a simple response. I wanted to take a moment to thank the universe for someone I’ll call Robin. As many of you know, I’ve been running for the Board of Directors of Mountain Equipment Co-op (http://mec.ca). As part of that election process, I was given an email that voters could use to pose questions. Robin’s question revolved around how a major textile buyer like MEC could work to support Canada’s textile industry. A simple question. A complex answer. I did my best to give Robin a simple response. Robin took the time to reply back and that email is the highlight of the MEC elections process for me hands down. Its polite, its honest and it makes me smile every time I read it. I’m choosing to share it with you as an excellent example of dying art.
Hi Again Jon:
Thank you for getting back to me. Thanks also for the very impressive way you tackled the complex nature of my questions, especially since you don’t have inside access (yet) to the operational information and audit reports.
You might be interested to know that most other MEC Board candidates have spoken along the same lines as you: MEC is not responsible for the status of Canada’s textile industry. Instead, they say, that responsibility rests with the open market which, of course, is then based on the manufacturers’ abilities, and, finally, with the consumers’ subsequent purchase choices.
My personal wish on this issue is that local suppliers and the Canadian textile industry should survive in good order, but without compromising overseas workers in their struggles to earn a decent living, and all the while by ensuring good environmental practices. Jeesh, is such a scenario possible anymore? I don’t know either Jon. I am pleased, however, that you have obviously put some intelligent thought into this matter – even if neither of us knows the solution yet.
Jon, thanks again for your response.
Best wishes,
Robin
