A collection of articles, posts and thoughts since I began writing on the web.
I’ve just finished a long stint working within a large, risk-averse organisation. Being product-side for a change has been an incredibly eye-opening experience. It’s the first time in more... Read it →
January 21st, 2019
The retrospective is — in my opinion — one of the most important activities in any project. Routine post-sprint retros are a great indicator of project health, but end-of-project wash-ups are where the real gem... Read it →
August 1st, 2018
Our ability to learn when things go wrong is what helps us grow. Not just as individuals but as an industry. By better understanding when our ego clouds our better ... Read it →
July 30th, 2018
Our industry’s penchant for showing semi-fictional, utopian case studies has always rankled me. No project goes smoothly. There’s always something that goes wrong, and it’s often those moment... Read it →
July 30th, 2018
My first salary job out of university was working as an Accounts Receivable manager. I somehow managed to get companies across Canada to pay their overdue invoices for my employer: ... Read it →
May 18th, 2018
Sign-off. As Andy rightly points out in his recent post, it’s a thing that shouldn’t be part of the modern digital designer’s lexicon. I totally agree, and in som... Read it →
May 18th, 2018
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. The same has to be said for leaving an agency that felt more like family than a job ... Read it →
May 3rd, 2018
Back in 2013 I visited NYC to attend the wonderful Brooklyn Beta conference. It was Autumn. There was a slight nip in the air, the leaves were turning, and the weather ... Read it →
October 19th, 2017
I’m all for design systems. I’ve designed and created many, and they’re a great way of unifying patterns, usage and language. They reduce time, save on costs and pr... Read it →
July 7th, 2017
Are designers evolving from just UX designers or just visual designers into multi-disciplinary generalists? There seems to be higher-quality design all-rounders coming back into vogue. Jack-of-all-trades When I was a ... Read it →
August 9th, 2016
As a visual designer working on agile projects, I’ve said before how it’s easy to lose sight of the larger visual language in agile sprints. When you’re tackli... Read it →
March 9th, 2016
A few years ago when Mark wrote his article on performance budgets, we were working together on a redesign for a luxury travel holiday website. The use of large images ... Read it →
February 29th, 2016
A decade or more ago, digital marketing was more of a blunt instrument. It was like the first stone axe - crude, but it got the job done. I started ... Read it →
February 27th, 2016
A look into my use of Strava and how it's positively affected my behaviour over time. My name is Jon, and I'm a Strava user. I never thought I could ... Read it →
December 23rd, 2015
When designing a site, app or digital product, all of the elements on screen need to work together. They need to sing together, harmonise with one another and form something ... Read it →
December 15th, 2015
Climbing 13,000 feet and riding 100 miles on a mountain bike... in a day. The South Downs Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway running along the South Downs in southern ... Read it →
July 17th, 2015
Always nice getting a shout-out on a podcast, this time regarding the Code for America work and element collages. Read it →
May 25th, 2015
This article was originally posted on the Clearleft blog. Most Hack Farm projects start as someone's itch that needs scratching. Last year's TinyPlanner was Boxman's need for a backwards to-do ... Read it →
February 10th, 2015
This article was originally posted on the Clearleft blog Arguably the key deliverable we hand over to our clients is our pattern portfolio, comprised of two main components: The component ... Read it →
April 9th, 2013
Better late than never, right? In retrospect, my 2012 was pretty huge, both professionally and personally. On new additions In the early summer we welcomed another Aizlewood into the world - ... Read it →
January 17th, 2013
... absolutely nothin'! (Say it again, y'all) A short while back, I pitched for a project that I ultimately lost. After putting together a comprehensive proposal and fielding numerous questions (which ... Read it →
January 5th, 2012
Creating the content for your website can be a difficult task. You have to gather information, consult experts, write thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of words, source images and get ... Read it →
November 23rd, 2011
In early November, Quality English were kind enough to Eurostar me down to Paris to present to their member schools on digital marketing. The presentation, entitled 'The demise of the ... Read it →
November 9th, 2011
It's finally happened. After almost a year of waiting, a team of web designers, web developers, an agency and many talented others have been working with a well-known newspaper to ... Read it →
September 20th, 2011
Should websites be built around the content, or should content be created to fit the design? Here’s an argument for creating content first – or at least thinking about content firs... Read it →
September 15th, 2011
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