What is software development? When we say software we typically mean a software product to sell to a market or a system to increase productivity. In both cases, doesn’t the customer have some idea of the cost and potential value before the project is initiated? If the initial estimated cost versus the expected value (Rate […]
Changing the Total Cost Discussion
Discussions with client representatives concerning hourly rates can be frustrating. The belief that an hour of any person’s (or supplier’s) time is exactly the same as any other is like comparing software engineering services to purchasing a case of creamed corn. Even this focus: Real Hourly Cost = Total Work Done/Hours to Do It …Doesn’t […]
Tips for Designers Fresh Out of School
There are already a bunch of articles on the interwebs with advice for designers fresh out of school, so I wanted to share the technical skills I wished I had honed to perfection before embarking on my design career. Most of them are based around the Adobe Creative Suite. I apologize in advance if it […]
The 30 Second Standup
The Three Pillars of Standup Meetings: What did you do yesterday? What are you doing today? What is blocking your progress? Everyone stands in a circle and takes their turn answering the questions. The whole meeting should last only a few minutes and gets everyone of the same page. But when you consider all the […]
SEP Celebrates 25 Years of Culture, Good Practices, and Vision
Hitting the 25-year milestone at SEP is a source of pride. We have built a great company proving that it can and will last. For me, I hit the second 25-year mark this month as well so there is naturally some thought towards the next generation. Becoming an ESOP in 2010 was certainly a big […]
“How to fail” – by avoiding failure…
Why do we, as humans, keep doing the same thing over and over again? Albert Einstein would call that, insanity. Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. – Albert Einstein The most common way that I see people failing, is by trying to avoid failure. By avoid, I […]
Failure behind a curtain helps performers to shine in the spotlight
In any profession involving performance (like music or sports), the professionals practice out of sight of their audience. They practice to get better. They push their limits and try things they’ve never tried before. When they try those things for the first time, they suck! The football player misses the catch trying out that new […]
POP for Prototyping
Do you POP? Maybe you should. It’s a free prototyping app, currently available for iPhone but soon to be released for Android. POP is a super simple way to capture your wonderful pencil scratchings electronically and create a semi-functional wireframe that you can share with others. POP uses the camera on your phone (or existing […]
Why HTML-based Smartphone Apps are a Bad Idea
I’ve long had this opinion that building smartphone apps by writing HTML and sticking it into a native app shell is a bad idea. I’m not talking about web apps, mind you; I’m talking about apps you get from the App Store or Play Store, but really just run HTML and Javascript. My two main […]
