Kotsego Design

Who needs a hat?

Étienne — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:31:47 +0000

We don’t believe in hats, job titles, etc. We believe that the full potential of an individual transcends anything that can be written in a box in an org chart.

Think about it, who can really say in the Web world today that their job title fully describes their day-to-day reality? CEOs, Vice-Presidents… maybe.

The reality is that people evolve, tasks change but the hat generally stays the same. (more…)

Official business launch

Étienne — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:01:40 +0000

Tomorrow is the big day. After months undercover, we’re starting to do business. The Website is not perfect (French is missing, etc) but it’s not business critical at this point.

What’s critical for us is getting out there, making a name for ourselves. Of course, with this launch comes a risk, but it’s manageable and we’re up for it.

Blogging

The blog will be pretty active over the next few months. You should definitely subscribe to our RSS feed or our email newsletter to make sure that you’re not missing out on anything important.

Or, you can always get in touch. We’ll be more than willing to let you what we’re up to!

Avoid user limitations

Étienne — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:23:01 +0000

A few weeks ago I watched the movie Who Killed the Electric Car? If you haven’t seen it, it’s about the EV1, an electric vehicle made, popularized and destroyed by GM in the beginning of the 1990s.One of the vehicle’s “flaws” was its limited driving range (roughly 100 miles per charge). Even tough the average American drives 35 miles a day, a lot of potential buyers were turned off by this limitation. (more…)

27 useful resources to build Websites

Étienne — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:28:32 +0000

When building Websites, we find it useful to have a list of elements to consider to help us ensure we’re not forgetting anything. Over the years, we’ve used several online tools and resources to perform automated tests, improve the design, perform SEO, etc. The following is a list of some of the best resources we came across:

Accessibility

We use FAE and EvalAccess to perform automated accessibility compliance evaluations. It’s always a good start.

(more…)

TSN.ca - Website redesign

Étienne — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:44:54 +0000

At a glance

Earlier this week, Tsn.ca, a popular sports Website in Canada launched its newly redesigned Website. Overall, the Website structure is clearer and information is easier to find but, the overbearing use of upper cap text and shades of gray are questionable design decisions.

(more…)

[Design Ideas] ATP Live scores, Admission, Endless

Étienne — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:52:28 +0000

Good design: ATP Tennis Live scores

(Upon selecting Live scores)

Clear, using big fonts and real-world tennis conventions, ATP Live scores provides all the information needed in one simple and clean interface. (more…)

Getting rid of the splash page

Étienne — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:46:05 +0000

I’m always amazed to see Splash or intro pages on newly redesigned Websites. Asides from the various SEO concerns, Splash pages are wasted clicks that could be easily avoided.Users are looking for content on your Website. The less obstacles you put in their way, the more likely they are to stay and return. (more…)

[Design Ideas] Air Canada, Bloomtools, Google Maps

Étienne — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:57:53 +0000

Good design: Air Canada search form

We benchmarked several flight reservation systems over the last few years and AirCanada.com’s search form is truly one of the most usable.

(Typing “FRA” in the airport input field)

Their airport input field displays tips on focus, validates errors in real-time and, what we really like about it, suggests airports, cities, provinces, states and countries containing the 3 first characters entered. (more…)

Browser compatibility tests using Browsershots

Étienne — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 23:47:52 +0000

Browsershots.org is a very interesting and practical tool to test and fix browser compatibility issues. Designers will appreciate its simplicity and extensive testing parameters (screen resolution, color depth, javascript and Flash versions, etc). (more…)

The art of losing customers

Étienne — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:10:40 +0000

Earlier this week I was shopping for a digital camera. I went online and compared products and prices on a few Websites. After I had an idea of what I wanted to buy, I ended up going on a big electronics chain’s Website.

I sign up, add the product to my cart, proceed to checkout and begin the 5-step process. (more…)