Over the last years, people came to expect that the website logo is always a link back to a websites’ homepage. It’s a standard now that helps lots of users go “back to start”. The Google approach goes even further and is not only a link to the homepage but also to other important areas (in case of Google – web apps). That saves space and also makes the logo the first stop for the navigation.

However, as new as this seems, if we look at operating systems we see something similar. A button to access the systems apps and functions. And now there’s the Google operating system button. Looking into the future I’d expect that lots of other websites will use that feature.

The first argument against wireframes is that they emasculate the designer. Yes, they do and I think no designer wants to get your wireframes and just paint by numbers. On the other hand designers need to have something to design. And that’s what from my experience should be in wireframes. The should inform the designer about the content that should be on the page, in the form etc. I have been working with some good designers, one of them Nina Wilke, who sometimes tell the IA that they missed this function or that information. But that should be the IAs job – to gather and structure the content – not to visualize or design it.

In addition, if you already have a good visual design and an running site, wireframes are sometimes just enough what a developer needs to get the page done. There’s no need to create designs for every aspect and thus be faster in the design process.

At the end of his article, he concludes that you not only need need a view of both, business and design, but also other disciplines such as journalism, arts, library and so forth. I agree with that because a limited view is always something to avoid. Instead one should focus in thinking outside the box, with box your business, design, or any other thinking.

As an example he mentions Brandon Schauer who has an MBA and is a Master of Design. Hence, he is trained to have at least two, sometimes opposing, views. But what if you don’t have two degrees and can’t get another one?

The key is now to get many views in a single person, so it’s actually something one has to do on his own. How? Take every chance to do something that you haven’t done before, buy a book about a topic that draws your attention, go to places you would usually not go, or talk to people that are not part of your normal live. Just be open to new things and curious. Or as Steve Jobs says it in his 2005 commencement address: “Stay hungry, stay foolish”.

Today I wanted to delete my wordpress.com account. Why? I just don’t use it. I searched for a way and found a faq-page which told me something I just couldn’t understand.

Why would the software or database crash if an account is deleted? If you write your app code properly that won’t ever happen.

This question is a very important question, especially if someone thinks about OpenID. Can I unregister from a webpage. What happens to my data? Any suggestions?

Unlike Google or many others, 37signals does not try to replace currently existing desktop applications, such as Word, with a web version (Word will be around for some more years, so competing against is really hard and maybe even sensless). Instead, they create products that solve problems better than many others by making it just simple, easy and a pleasure to use.

Since Highrise is out just a few hours ago, I won’t give any detailed review yet. However, one feature I already like. Adding categories to tasks:

This makes the task list a lot easier to view. Also, look at the grouping in GTD style.