Name: Emily Rasowsky

Team: Client Solutions

An inspirational past project you’ve worked on: I helped create a digital campaign around sexual violence on college campuses. I was able to leverage social media and community building which I found to be really fun. However, I was most inspired by how sincerely my own university, other college campuses and survivor networks supported my efforts and elevated them both on and offline. It was my first taste of social progress going digital, and it was awesome!

Favorite Nickelodeon show growing up and why?: This is a hard question! I think the easy answer here would be Rugrats but, in all honesty, I LOVED ‘Figure It Out’. It might have been Summer Sanders – I mean, who doesn’t love Summer? Or the charades/strategic thinking thing, but I was always so engaged in the episodes. Those were some really great childhood memories!

Fun fact about yourself that no one would guess by looking at you: I am a yoga instructor and have been doing yoga for over 6 years. I may even do a crazy arm balance if you ask!

Name: Leland Fiegel

Team: Client Services/Development

An inspirational past project you’ve worked on: I served as the web editor and a news writer at my college newspaper, The Elm. We worked together as a team of staff members, writers, and photographers to put out a weekly student-run newspaper. I learned a lot in the process.

Favorite Nickelodeon show growing up and why?: ’Hey Arnold!’ I can’t exactly remember why I liked it since I haven’t watched it in 15 years, and now feel incredibly old saying this, but I did. I think it had something to do with the city environment the story is set in. I like cities, hence why I love working in DC as well.

Fun fact about yourself that no one would guess by looking at you: I believe most people are pretty surprised when I tell them I’m a web developer. You also probably wouldn’t guess I’m a Twitter freak and have accounts (yes, plural) with over 6,000 total followers. This is fast-approaching the follower-level of some of your average D-list reality television “star.”

Name: Chelsea Clays

Team: Digital Strategy

An inspirational past project you’ve worked on: I worked on developing a marketing plan to launch Social Radar, a social discovery app launched by former Blackboard CEO Michael Chasen. This was my final semester project and totally fit with my obsession with apps!

Favorite Nickelodeon show growing up and why?: ’The Wild Thornberrys’ was my favorite because I always wanted to travel around the world, seeing different endangered species up close. My family is also pretty eccentric, just like the Thornberry clan!

Fun fact about yourself that no one would guess by looking at you: I took hula lessons as a kid growing up in Hawaii and have been taking belly dancing lessons for 3 years.

Name: Paige Howarth

Team: Operations

An inspirational past project you’ve worked on: As a student at American University, I was a Basic Photography Teaching Assistant. Every semester, it was really rewarding to help my students transition from learning to use a camera and evolve into actual artists by the end of the semester. Photography is a wonderful medium for people like myself who cannot draw or paint but like to express themselves creatively.

Favorite Nickelodeon show growing up and why?: My favorite was and still is ’Legends of the Hidden Temple’. First, it was knowledge and athleticism all in one show and second, Olmec was the coolest co-host. Finally, I really wanted to be a Silver Snake because they always dominated! I do have to say though, I could never understand why it was so difficult for the contestants to put that monkey together. It was three pieces; c’mon, people!

Fun fact about yourself that no one would guess by looking at you: I have two tattoos: a lotus for a close friend who passed away in high school and the other is an Italian horn surrounded by mother’s family’s Italian last names.

It’s no secret we think responsively designed websites rock. For those of you wanting to dig a little deeper, check out our take on why responsive web design is an excellent solution for our websites and how responsive design actually works.

National Society of Collegiate Scholars

The National Society of Collegiate Scholar’s website was ingeniously designed for the Millennial generation. The webpage’s easily resizable photo spread, mobile-ready layout and clear focus on the organization’s membership make for an incredibly inviting find.

Dadaab Stories

This site is awesome!  It’s the kind of responsive innovation that makes you go ‘wow’. The Dadaab Stories website actually transports you to the Dadaab African Village through the use of movie-like headers and wildly attractive design features that seamlessly transform over a variety of mediums.  Take a quick scroll through the straightforward screen options and you will see for yourself the impressive attention to detail. Now that is design you can feel good about!

More Hazards

I just love this site. More Hazard’s knows music but they also know website design. The awesome turntable and uncomplicated focus make this site just as much about music as it is about user experience. The page exemplifies the group’s ‘quiet is the new loud’ motto with a creative yet understated design that emphasizes the importance of mobile listening. You should definitely check More Hazard out, if for nothing more then to hear their album-which, by the way, is just as wonderful.

AWWWARDS

Awwwards.com not only creatively displays and assesses innovative websites but it also boasts one of our top choices in responsive design. This company does a great job of simply and clearly promoting well-made sites without taking their own design too seriously.

The Haberdash Fox

The funky details and crisp construction of The Haberdash Fox website make it nothing short of well dressed. The collection of menswear finds from Etsy is tactfully laid out and the navigation is intuitive. This site no doubt creates a fantastic shopping experience for its of-the-moment consumers.

The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

The Children’s Museum in Pittsburgh’s website sports an unfussy design, inviting bright colors and readable, multimedia layouts which are extremely accessible for the parent on the go.  With just a touch of whimsy, this website is a great fit for the kid inside all of us.

Contents Magazine 

Contents Magazine offers a fantastic example of how responsive design can enhance branding. The logo easily adjusts for any screen and the background imagery is both clear and fresh. Contents Magazine.com is well organized and cleverly designed which makes reading the equally interesting articles easy and inviting.

Sketchin

Sketchin, an international user experience design company, has a website that clearly highlights its area of expertise. With changing background reels detailing different client-technology interactions, this website cleverly communicates with its users.

Disney 

Nothing makes a Disney fan happier then seeing their favorite character on display. Disney’s site does a fantastic job of showcasing the company’s greatest animated stars across all screen mediums. Go ahead and resize your browser to see how seamlessly Simba and Mickey change with you. Simply magic!

The Next Web

As one of the companies promoting well crafted responsive design, The Next Web does a great job keeping up with the trends. Intuitively designed for multiple mediums, the website is just as easy for me to peruse on my iPhone as it is on my desktop.

These are Things

After viewing a ton of responsive websites, These Are Things still remains one of my favorite designs. Created by two artists, this site is nothing short of creative. It has imaginative scrolling features that translate well on any screen. Scrolling through the pages made me feel like I was being taken through a day in the life of the two creators. By paying this page a visit, you will not only get a taste of Jen and Omar’s quirky imagination and lovable admiration for their pets, but you also get to experience the expertly responsive site that left me with a big ol’ smile.

A Book Apart

A Book Apart demonstrates that website navigation can be a breeze regardless of how you access a page. This organization does a stellar job of maintaining an orderly product display system that smartly conforms to different mediums without clutter. With their sharp aesthetic and clear branding, A Book Apart does a standout job displaying their products.

Design Week Portland

Now this is a group that understands the importance of multimedia. Design Week Portland offers a warm, personal welcome to its website’s visitors with a video appropriate for all viewing mediums. Add that to the page’s clear navigation, fun color scheme, and down to earth messaging and it becomes clear these designers really are experts in their craft.

The Boston Globe

Given the amount of content that passes through the Boston Globe on a daily basis, this website is extremely well organized! One of the pioneers in responsive news media, it continues to provide an outstanding example of how companies can optimize the webpage viewing experience across a large range of visitors. The ease of news access makes paying the extra subscription charge well worth it.

Rally Interactive

I so appreciate Rally Interactive’s website design. It does an amazing job of giving its visitors a sense of the company’s personality. Their attention to detail is clear and the page’s unexpected gadget-like design features made me feel like I was messing around with an outdoor toolkit from REI.  Complete with spinning buttons and whirling images this website was both intriguing and, as their name suggests, highly interactive. Rally interactive is the type of company that successfully embodies the analogy that reaching an audience is like climbing an icy mountain; it takes ingenuity, skill and a bit of intuition.

Ableton

Ableton’s community of musicians, producers and DJs have created a chart topping website design. The company’s focus on exciting color schematics, clear and interesting graphics, and browsing experience keep each page in visual harmony with the next.

An Event Apart 

An Event Apart’s website design makes a statement. The clean aesthetic and tactfully placed bold imagery effortlessly entices visitors to inquire more about their unique offerings. With clear descriptions and strong visual directives this site has mastered the art of concise persuasion. There is no doubt that their events are just as well executed and audience friendly as their responsive site.

Cafe Evoke 

The Café Evoke’s website is visually tasty in every sense. With yummy offerings prominently displayed and a downright cheery aesthetic, this website shows Café Evoke knows their customers and is attentive to detail. I especially love how easy and intuitive the mobile site is. My iPhone screen clearly displays everything I need to know on the go: their logo, social media links, hours and how to get my hands on their delicious offerings…I’m looking at you table side S’mores!

Wear You Belong 

When creative groups and responsive websites effectively sync, it can produce a match made in heaven. The spunky t-shirt design company, Wear You Belong’s, website is a perfect example of the type of harmonious digital marriage this pairing can produce. Scrolling through and resizing the browser of this funky website was both easy and really quite exciting. This site’s cool typography and enticing wordplay shift seamlessly and exemplify why this stellar company is well worth the online visit.

White Lotus Aromatics 

White Lotus Aromatics.com does a phenomenal job at instantly making website visitors feel at ease. The simple and natural aesthetic is as calming as I am willing to bet their scents smell. This no hassle, easy to navigate site wonderfully highlights both White Lotus’s products and the company’s values.

Trent Walton

This site is a favorite at Social Driver. Trent’s iconic style and attention to detail continually provide wonderful reading experiences across devices. His consistently innovating page never stops impressing us and his hallmark designs are definitely something to write home about.

The Creators Project

The Creators Project is the brainchild of Intel and VICE. This website clearly embraces multimedia channels with a unique, retractable header visibly listing social media platforms and its prominent introductory video. This site’s interactive design and functional layout skillfully create a platform for visionary art to be displayed and not overpowered.

Change.org

Change.org, a web-based petition platform, does a fantastic job making online visitor experience outstanding. The screen imaginatively expands horizontally and navigation is easily distributed amongst the headline’s featured images. The website clearly focuses on the causes it supports keeping everything refreshingly simple.

Harvard University

Harvard’s website is well organized, simple and classically designed. You wont find conspicuous logos or loud color schemes here: just tasteful touches of crimson red and concise, thoughtful headlines. The website’s current yet focused approach make it a perfect example of the difference between layout and design.

Food Sense

I’m not sure if its my inner foodie or the wonderfully detailed photo displays that makes me love this website, but I think it is just fantastic. The careful attention to detail and wonderfully displayed deliciousness are enough to make any techie or food enthusiast’s mouth water.

Gold Interactive 

This site may be in German, but the message that they are masters in digital communication is extremely clear. The flawlessly resizing text and bold colors keep the readers focus while the creative formatting easily keeps all visitors engaged.

Flow Festival

This site elevates the art of typography. The funky script and psychedelic lettering make Flow Festival seem both electrifying and fun. The website pays specific attention to the accessibility of ticket purchasing across media making it a particularly innovative and useful festival page.

Life in Greenville

This delightful site oozes southern charm and originality. With the uncomplicated design and prominently pictured cheeriness, the website both advertises Greenville extraordinarily well and entices its visitors to wonder what they have been missing. I especially love the detailed finishes, making the site feel like a giant ray of sunshine, and the multimedia appeal of the dropdown menus.

The Work Cycle

Some organizations today make mobile scrolling an uphill battle. The Work Cycle, a community of innovative bicycle enthusiasts, is beginning to redefine that. This group makes scrolling on a small screen dreamy. The use of color-coding and clear menu directives extend way beyond desktop innovation allowing The Work Cycle to be easily accessed on the go.

Thrive Solo

Thrive Solo’s online website does a great shop showcasing its product. Its simple graphics, clever use of colors, and ability to control the reader’s focus keeps this site direct and product-specific. No frills, just clear and thoughtful design that moves with their customers.

Deux Huit Huit

Deux Huit Huit was one of the best examples I found of context-aware imagery. The full screen logo flows throughout the multiple breakpoints. Even on the smallest mobile screen you can be sure that you will clearly see the wide collection of creative website innovations. This is truly a design for the future of mobile web surfing.

CSS Tricks

Our love affair with this site continues once again. If you didn’t pay CSS Tricks a visit the first time we reviewed this site, you ought to check it out now. The company did a revamp of the page replacing the former frog emblem with a new and improved logo. The changing menu title, which cleverly condenses as you shrink the browser, is one of my favorite features. The site’s attention to detail and careful design make it both functional and imaginative.

Zurb

Zurb.com takes resizing a browser to the next level. Not only do the background image and website text fluidly expand but the backdrop also swaps color and picture as you change your screen size. Go ahead-test it out-it is nothing short of inspirational. The site is extremely well done and embodies the design innovation the company offers.

Arman Hostikyan 

This site’s unique layout and interactive background designs enhance the distinctive style of the artist, Arman Hostikyan. Arman’s focus on one-of-a kind art creation is clear the moment you open his page. This site offers an extremely unique and artistic interpretation of responsive design.

Hello Monday

Hello Monday’s website is a perfect example of the company’s innovative and playful design skills. The site creatively draws attention to Hello Monday’s past work through exciting color directives and effortlessly resizing imagery. This page seamlessly displays why their work is unique from both my iPhone and my desktop. Well done!

ONY Agency 

ONY Agency’s website is a great example of how moving backgrounds can successfully form company descriptives. Anyone can add video to a website, but only few can do it in a way that is exciting and doesn’t loose meaning when taken off a large desktop. This responsive site is exhilarating to visit and shows how website technology can effectively enhance branding.

Magnus Cederholm

Designer Magnus Cederholm’s website, Formfett.net, does a great job of being simple and innovative all at the same time. The uncomplicated mobile screen and systematically resizing header utilizes creative, responsive branding and showcases Magnus’s expertise in creating positive user experiences.

Humaan

With Humaan.com’s clear emphasis on social media and wonderfully fluid resizing features, the engaging website exemplifies the design agency’s ability to craft expert digital experiences. The use of black in place of ‘white’ space provides a monochromatic layout that keeps potential clients focused on the company’s mission and people.

Starbucks

Starbucks is a great example of responsive design done well in a corporate framework. Noticing that more users were accessing the site from mobile devices, the international coffee chain fully delivered on a phone ready design. Appropriately detailed and well branded, this site demonstrates how well Starbucks knows its online audience.

HTC One

This is not your regular phone advertisement! The HTC One is beautifully displayed throughout every stage of browsing and the stimulating graphics are wildly interactive. Clicking throughout the website will pull you deeper into the phone’s features giving the vibe that this technology is nothing short of cutting edge. The website is forward thinking, responsive and clearly built around HTC’s product, well done!

The Hampton Inn: Jackson Hole

One of the first questions I always ask before booking a hotel room is “what will my hotel look like?’”. The Hampton Inn: Jackson Hole answers that question beautifully within the first few seconds of visiting its website. They are straight to the point and clearly understand that booking a hotel room is oftentimes done on the go. The company’s straight to the point site is full of client receptivity and exemplifies online customer service.

8 Faces

8 Faces.com was one of the sites that clearly stuck out in my mind as simplistically responsive. This magazine website is a great example of how reactivity can be done without complication. 8 Faces.com demonstrates that you don’t need extreme flashing colors and complex graphics to make for good website design. Awesome job!

Do Lectures

Do Lectures.com’s organic design and direct linguistics clearly attract the imaginative workshop attendees they seek. The brand itself focuses on innovation and their website definitely delivers that. Optimizing cross-media spacing and utilizing succinct menu options are a few ways Do Lectures has made responsive design work well for them.

AIDS.gov

AIDS.gov is one of the most easily navigable and clearly focused government websites out there. The site wonderfully integrates infographics, captive photography and embellished text that transfer extremely well across media. Overall the site is wildly attractive and intuitive for visitors without detracting from the purpose of the organization.

Clouds Over Cuba 

Clouds Over Cuba is a great example of movie making across mediums. This site not only brings you into the time period of the documentary it promotes, but it also maintains a keen sense of detailing throughout its entire aesthetic. With a separate, well executed, feature for mobile access, it knows its users want to browse from multiple mediums. The site, a winner of numerous digital recognition awards, is definitely worth the visit.

Time Magazine

Time.com’s recent web redesign was very successful in giving all readers the same viewing experience. The visual displays and responsive approach are consistent with what you would expect from the successful news source: practical, minimal and most importantly extremely readable.

This is Responsive 

The second you enter this site you are enveloped in user response. From the headline literally reading “This is Responsive” to the fluidly resizing imagery, this site, which provides patterns, resources and news around crafting responsive web experiences, truly has it all. It is direct, uncomplicated and provides its browsers with a one of a kind viewing experience that dabbles in playful.

Tattly

This site is a temporary tattoo lovers dream. Tattly.com is a bit quirky, design heavy and very fresh. The young audience and cute tattoos are just a touch hipster and equally creative. This site attractively displays Tattly’s products across multiple mediums and does a fantastic job appealing to their audience.

The Theme Foundry 

The Theme Foundry.com leads by example. As a WordPress template website it is clear that they not only know how to make websites, but they are also really good at it! The website’s features easily shifted around my screen and the blog content was consistently the main focus. Overall this is a great website with a great product to offer technologically progressive bloggers!

Notre Dame

Notre Dame is another university doing a great job at adapting with the times. This site looks great in mobile view which emphasizes attractive graphics and a minimalist aesthetic. Fight on, Irish!

I was fortunate enough to get introduced to Chris Brauckmuller a couple months back. Chris is a brilliant front end designer/developer at Fundrise, which you’ll learn little more about a few hundred pixels down.

Responsive web design will continue to evolve for the better as more talented designers and developers contribute their discoveries to the community at large. So, without further ado, let’s hear from Chris!

Tell us a little bit about Fundrise. Why is it so awesome?

Fundrise is an investment platform that lets you invest directly in real estate. We apply the crowdfunding method to real estate investment, empowering a large number of individuals to pool their money and invest in a single property. We’re the only company in the United States that has offered and successfully funded a public crowd equity real estate investment.

What do you think is the biggest challenge when designing a responsive website? Is there a common error or weakness you see in responsive websites today?

I think the toughest thing is ordering content in such a way that it makes sense on any device. Trent Walton wrote about this in his article on content choreography. It’s not much of an issue if it’s just an article or blog post, as it is usually just a single stream consisting of title, body, and comments / meta. However, if you have a more complex UI like the investment offering page on Fundrise, where there are multiple calls to action or paths a user could conceivably take through the content, things can get tricky.

How do you solve this problem?

The most important thing is establishing a sound hierarchy of content before you start designing anything. Allison House, one of the most talented UI designers I know, has an amazing article where she covers her method for categorizing and laying out interface elements. I usually start out any new UI by employing some variant of the method she covers.

The other thing to remember is that you can do some neat things with CSS to re-order content depending on the device. To bring up the example of the Fundrise investment offering page again, at first glance it looks like a standard two-column layout when you pull it up on a tablet or desktop. When you go over to mobile, you might think the entire right column would slide under the left. However, we are actually putting the call to action with the meta-data from the right column immediately under the photo because that’s more important than the extended description / documentation about the investment. This kind of thinking and application of CSS can ensure that more important information is closer to the top of the page on any device.

There’s a lot of talk in the design community about ‘mobile first’. Do you design for mobile devices and work up to the larger layouts? Or the vice versa?

I personally design for desktop first, while trying to think the whole time about how the layout might look on mobile. If you have a large mobile audience or have reason to believe that by doing a redesign you will gain one, it may make sense to pursue a mobile-first strategy.

Do you design directly in the browser or Photoshop first?

It really depends on what I’m designing. If it’s a UI, especially something data or text-heavy, I often do a paper sketch and then go directly into mocking something up in the browser. Also, if it’s a new UI for an existing product, like Fundrise, I definitely lean more heavily on the browser because I have instant access to all the CSS styles for the existing UI components. A lot of times I will hash something out quickly in the browser, then screenshot it and refine in Fireworks – I hate Photoshop.

That being said, for a new brand or a thorough aesthetic overhaul, I always start in Fireworks as it offers you much greater freedom to branch out and explore alternatives. Starting in code tends to keep your thoughts and UIs pointing in the same linear direction as where you’ve been already (which can be a good or bad thing).

What are your favorite responsive websites to date?

trentwalton.com is one of the most beautifully executed responsive blogs/personal sites I’ve seen. Wonderful reading experience across devices and of course has Trent’s hallmark clean, iconic style and attention to detail.

bostonglobe.com does a wonderful job of presenting an extremely rich and varied collection of data in a clean, pleasant and consumable format across devices. This is truly one of the quintessential examples of responsive web design done right. It manages to do with one set of code what many newspapers (with their mobile-specific versions) fail to do in two or three.

What are a few of your favorite RWD tools, frameworks or plugins?

I was actually frustrated with what was available as far as frameworks go, so I wrote my own framework for responsive design called Helium, which is used on Fundrise as well as on my personal site. I was honored to have it picked up by Hacker News and featured as one of GitHub’s trending projects.

Another thing, which isn’t really a tool so much as it is a process, is setting up my local machine with a virtual host (e.g. chris.local/fundrise) so I can easily test my designs on my iPhone and iPad while I’m working, without needing to upload anything to a web server.

What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone about to design a responsive site?

It sounds cliche, but my main advice would be to keep it simple, especially if it’s your first time. Also, whenever you come across a design problem that seems impossible to crack, it’s likely that someone else has encountered it, so check out one of the many responsive design galleries and get some inspiration to get you over that creative hurdle.

What advice would you give to someone trying to decide between designing responsive websites and a native mobile app?

I look at a responsive web app as a good “testing the waters” solution for exploring the possibility of developing a native app. You can offer a solid experience across a range of devices at a fraction of the cost to develop a suite of native apps. Once you’re live, if you notice an uptick in usage from a particular device(s), you might consider if there is a business case for developing the native app. This approach of course assumes that access to core hardware functionality (camera, GPS, etc.) is not necessary for your product.

Do you give much thought to designing for high-density (retina) displays? Do you think this is something web designers should worry about yet? If so, how does this effect RWD?

I try to pick the low-hanging fruit when it comes to optimizing for high-density displays. I think this is more of a pure aesthetic consideration than a usability concern at this point in the life cycle of high density displays. Text (the most important component of any design) is automatically rendered at high density, so it’s really just a matter of how much of a perfectionist you want to be when it comes to images and graphical assets. As support for vector graphics becomes more thorough and CSS takes care of things like gradients and shadows, the only thing that will really need to be optimized is photos.

I think what the web needs is a “smart” photo format. Depending on a combination of user-defined settings, connection speed and display density, a device would request higher or lower resolution versions of the same file.

What would you say to a company concerned about the financial implications of having a responsive website created? Is RWD a cost effective solution, or should they stick with a fixed width site?

You have to look hard at analytics when making that decision. The question is more and more often becoming “can you afford not to have a responsive site?”. If 20% of your users are coming in on mobile and you expect that number to climb, are you willing to give them a less than optimal experience to save money? The reality is obviously far more nuanced than that, but if you can afford it, a device-agnostic product sitting on a single codebase makes a lot of sense.

Not very long ago companies used to invest in creating a completely separate mobile website. Do think there is ever a need to do this today with existing RWD technologies?

I think this route will go the way of the dinosaurs in most cases. However if you have an extremely data-rich product like Amazon or Facebook where you need a very distilled experience on mobile, it may still make sense. Obviously this raises the question of whether or not a native app might serve those purposes better.

As NSCS’s primary audience is college-aged millenials, they wanted their digital presence to reflect the youthful energy and vibrancy of their membership. They needed to provide a large amount of information while maintaining an intuitive navigation. Additionally, the website had to be mobile accessible.

Before

Before

After

After

Over the past several months, Social Driver has worked with NSCS to completely redesign their website. In the process we learned a few things and we want to share with you some of the top-level considerations we focused on to make this website a success.

Share the Stories of Your Constituents

It’s easy to talk about yourself, but it’s far more effective to talk about your customers. To tell the story of your company or organization, be sure to show the people you help and lift their stories. NSCS’s mission is to elevate high achievers, but their old website focused more on the organization than on the students they supported.

For the new design, we wanted to share stories and images of NSCS’s members. The website now features large splash images of their members as well as an entire section dedicated to recognizing great alumni stories.

Keep Navigation Shallow (but not too shallow)

Determining navigation starts with having a clear understanding of your audience, the actions you want them to take, and a clear content architecture that supports those goals. Menu structures that are too shallow rely on a massive list of unrelated information which is confusing to the visitor. Conversely, menu structures that are too deep end up burying relevant information under excessive layers of menus.

For a complex website, we use information hierarchies that keep all of the content within two to three layers of the homepage. To accommodate for the large amount of information, we used multiple navigation bars that slide onto the page giving the visitor the ability to explore the different areas of the site more freely.

Every site’s architecture will be different, but keep in mind who you are targeting and what action you want them to take.

Design Responsively

We’ve said it again, and again, and again. Designing your website responsively is an absolute necessity in today’s digital arena. NSCS’s primary audience is college students, who access the web through their mobile devices at an increasingly high rate. (TeensAndTechnology2013.pdf)

For NSCS, we divided the information into breakpoints that condenses the navigation into two expandable menus, leaving access to the entire site content while not overwhelming the visitor with a laundry list of menu options.

Congratulations to NSCS on a successful new launch!

Brace yourself and “retrain your brain,” the contents proceeding defy normal logic of successful staff meetings:

Invite More Than Just Your Staff

This might seem counterintuitive. A staff meeting with non-staff members? While this might not work for all meetings, particularly ones where you discuss confidential information, opening up staff meetings to outsiders can be a great way to build relationships with clients, contractors, and mentors. If your employees see that non-staff members are excited to attend your meetings, they’ll be more likely to want to attend themselves. Plus, having non-staff members helps give a fresh perspective to your discussions. Try inviting a remote employees or subcontractors to your next meeting via Google Hangout and/or Skype.

Practice Appreciation

Now that you have everyone all in, thank them. Companies that practice appreciation far outperform those that don’t.

To make the appreciation meaningful, have peers recognize other peers for specific behaviors or actions and then tie those recognitions back to company values. At Social Driver, we call our team member recognition the “Victory Lap.” Each week we request all employees to nominate someone they feel should be recognized for his or her outstanding performance and/or effort. And then… you guessed it! We play our favorite victory-themed song, “Chariots of Fire,” as our victory lap winner runs around the room in slow motion, giving everyone a high five—even giving virtual high fives to remote employees.

Give Air Time to Everybody

Staff meetings should allow for team members to share, not just listen. Make sure you allot time for staff meeting attendees to share and comment. These moments do not always have to be work-related.

Having something as simple as a “Hot Topics” discussion where everyone on the team can share the latest trends or personal interests they’ve been pursuing is a great way to build morale.

Use Laughter as a Metric for Success

It’s inevitable to have a few “not so” interesting pieces of information that must be shared in weekly staff meetings. When choosing the content for your staff meeting, be sure to plan segments that your entire staff will enjoy, not just one or two teams. Sometimes we start out meetings with an impromptu dance party. Other times we introduce new members of the team by having everyone else tell a funny fact about themselves. It doesn’t take a lot of effort, but be creative. Your metric for success should be number of smiles and bursts of laughter.

What does your team do to liven staff meetings? Share with us in the comments below.

At Social Driver we pride ourselves on getting with the future through engaging, fun, and fulfilling work that is accomplished by a group of people all pulling for the same team. If you’d like to learn more about joining us, visit: http://socialdriver.com/jobs/

1. My Fitness Pal

What it is: Leading fitness App that provides an easy method to track food intake and exercise activity.

Why We Like It: In addition to being able to set goals, log calorie intake and physical activity, MyFitnessPal let’s you share your weight loss journey with friends—allowing motivation for more success.

Cost: Free

2. Lose It!

What it is: A weight loss app and online service aimed at motivating you to get to your goal.

Why We Like it: Feel free to Lose It! To start, the app allows you to create a weight loss plan equipped with helpful tools such as a food calorie tracker, suggested challenges and forums.

Cost: Free

3. Pocket Yoga

What it is: A PocketSports app equipped with a comprehensive pose dictionary for any aspiring yogi.

Why We Like it: If you’ve ever wished for yoga on the go, Pocket Yoga does just that. Downloadable for both phones and iPads, the app lets you engage in full yoga classes or for a specific duration. You can also choose your environment for practicing yoga. We like ocean.

Cost: $2.99-$4.99

4. Cyclemeter

What it is: Advanced iPhone application for cycling, running, and more.

Why We Like it: Not only can users track, visualize, and share cycling and/or running experiences, but they can also hear. By configuring (up to 25) announcements users can be updated on variables such as time, speed, distance and elevation.

Cost: $4.99, iOS Only

5. RunKeeper

What it is: Personal training app for to tracking workouts and improving fitness.

Why We Like it: RunKeeper lets users measure heart rate, keep track of calorie count, and measure distance (using GPS). You can use the app for a variety of activities (not just running), and the app also lets you regulate music and take pictures during exercise.

Cost: Free

6. Fitocracy

What it is: Social network geared towards making weight loss fun through gamification.

Why We Like it: Fitocracy was created with the idea of mixing the excitement of weight loss with the thrill of gaming. The community-based network lets users interact with others striving to beat each level of their weight loss goal.

Cost: Free

7. Nike Training Club

What it is: Nike’s premier training fitness app for women.

Why We Like it: Featuring over 100+ workouts, fitness rewards & bonuses and audio trainer guidance, Nike Training Club (NTC) provides the exclusivity of having a personal trainer right at your fingertips.

Cost: Free

8. Fitbit

What it is: Premier fitness app, which can be enhanced with a wearable device.

Why We Like it: Fitbit helps users active, eat better, manage weight, and sleep better with a mobile app and synch-able website. Fitbit accessories The One, Flex, and Zip offer a more accurate snap-shot of fitness and sleep activity—ultimately enhancing chances of weight loss success!

Cost: Free, Device $100

9. Runtastic

What it is: App that tracks routes and data during exercise activity for a maximized fitness experience.

Why We Like it: Runtastic improves the running experience by offering mobile, online tracking, and live cheering. More in depth tracking can be achieved when paired with the Runtastic GPS Watch.

Cost: Free, Pro $4.99

10. MapMyFitness+

What it is: Inspiring fitness app allowing users to map their fitness strategies and achievements.

Why We Like it: Unlike the usual fitness app tracker, MapMyFitness+ creates a visual map of exercise and activity. Users can track calorie intake with a food log and connect and share with friends.

Cost: .99 Cents

If you’ve used any of the fitness & nutrition apps on our list, leave a comment below and let us know how you enjoy them. If your favorite fitness app isn’t on the list, share it with us!

A lot of publicity has gone to nonprofits and organizations tackling the issue, but how can individual companies and females themselves make a difference in the gender gap? As an aspiring female developer at Social Driver my experience has been none other than positive. Here are some first-hand tips for females and companies to successfully integrate diversity into your tech teams.

Take Risks

If you don’t take risks on yourself others will not take a risk on you

Taking risks goes both ways. If you are a female wanting to break into any new field (not just STEM), take a risk, try something new. If you are really passionate, quit your job and take the plunge! The more risks you take, the more passion it shows, and the more likely others will be to take a risk on hiring you because they will see your passion. Enthusiasm and passion will go a long way to overcome doubts about breaking into a male dominated field. When you can focus on your passion and what you need to do to achieve your goals it is easy to ignore worries such as potential gender bias.

If you are a company, take risks on diversifying your team. It is always a big decision bringing new people into your team, but look for those who have taken risks to pursue their passion. Social Driver took a risk on me as I had no prior tech experience, but they saw my passion and saw the potential for my new development skills. Diversifying your team will not only benefit your office culture, but will also benefit your companies bottom line.

Be Supportive

Women don’t need hugs and daisies, recognition for a job well done will do

A big reason the risks Social Driver and myself took have worked out as a great experience, is because of the supportive environment within the company. Women – if you are interviewing with a new company or team and aren’t feeling the support right away, RUN! Support is not referring to a hug at the end of your interview, it means finding people that are confident in your skills and see your potential.

As women, we often undersell our abilities and accomplishments. Having professional supporters that recognize these accomplishments and talents helps provide the confidence we as females need to keep giving our best. Social Driver recognizes a star employee every week at a company wide meeting. Having this public announcement of achievement for employees makes it easier for employees to feel accomplished and supported. It also provides an equal opportunity for all to be recognized, not just males or females.

Be Conscious

Do your job with intent and success is inevitable

This piece of advice is for everyone, not just women. When working on a project, it is critical to understand the users, desired outcomes, and purpose. Understanding these pieces of the puzzle and being mindful to always be in line with them better ensures successful products.

Social Driver is constantly re-evaluating company and project goals to make sure project deliverables are inline with the project mission. As a company, holding yourself to these standards allows for more personal satisfaction for employees. If everyone is on the same page with company and project goals and missions, it allows employees to feel like their contributions are making a difference. If employees feel like their contributions make a difference it creates a more collaborative and open working environment for all employees regardless of individual differences.

Be Bold and Be Yourself

You cannot be anyone else better than yourself

The last piece of advice is to be bold and be yourself! Women – don’t be embarrassed to discuss how your friend from book club disliked a new website because she felt it was too masculine and couldn’t relate. Men – don’t hold back from your stories of epic video game battles and how elements of the game may better your product. Or vice versa! Don’t shy away from your experiences and opinions that may be gender specific or gender nonconformist.

One of the best things about the Social Driver team is that everyone is an individual and feels comfortable relating their individual experiences and opinions to help better the products. This not only leads to a more empathetic product but it also hits that “more diverse team equals better results” research that has recently come to the surface. Don’t relate every suggestion to being a female or male, but also don’t let yourself second guess those thoughts just because you think it’s only due to your gender. Chances are other people are thinking those same thoughts, they just might not be bold enough to express them (or there might be no other females on the team to think those thoughts).

As long as you remember to take risks, be supportive, be conscious, be bold, and be yourself you can never be unhappy with the work you or your company is doing. If you are looking for a new position in a diverse workplace, you are in luck because Social Driver is hiring! Now get out there and chase your passions!

“Should I be on Google+?” That might be a common response to a new-ish social channel, but not for long. Your organization or business might have a blog and a presence on Twitter, Facebook and maybe even Pinterest — great! While we would never categorically recommend getting on a social network without knowing more about your organization, Google+ is definitely worth a closer look. You probably already know this, but Google+ is stepping up in social. Everyone wants to be one step ahead on social marketing these days. If you do decide to test out Google+, here are a few easy ways to get the most out of it:

Credit: Google+ Branding

1. Submit Your Business to Local Places

Google+ is many things, but one thing is certain: It dominates the search-engine space. If you are a B2C business owner, this is gold. By simply entering in your information in Local Places, your business can be found online by more people in your area. Start by filling out your Google+ Local page, making sure to include relevant keywords. Check out my favorite half-smoke spot Ben’s Chili Bowl and its use of Google+.

Did you know Google+ just launched new features with larger photos? Posts with images typically perform better. The larger photos make the page more visually appealing and may get you more +1s (Google+’s equivalent to likes). World Wildlife Fund (WWF) does a great job at using visual content.

2. Host a Hangout

Did you know that you can host a free Google Hangout of up to 10 people? Consumer Electronics Association did a fantastic job of keeping attendees and non-attendees updated on happenings at its huge annual gathering with Google Hangout. Check out a Hangout on Air from the 2013 CES. Now there is a way to snap your favorite moments with Capture; a camera component that allows you to take pictures during the Hangout. You can repurpose the Hangout for content on your page, especially the organic pictures from the Hangout!

3. Setup Webmaster Tools

There are many tools to explore in Google+, but I want to highlight this one. By simply logging into your Gmail account, you can sign up your site for Webmaster Tools. The next step is to create a Google+ profile and include a link to that profile on your site to let Google know that the site is yours. To learn more, head over to https://plus.google.com/authorship and explore this feature. This will help Google find your site and increase your site’s visibility in searches. The Google Webmasters Tools blog has very easy-to-understand guides including photo and video tutorials. There’s also a super-helpful cheat sheet for beginners.

These Google+ features will improve engagement with potential customers and the odds that users will navigate to your page or follow you on other social channels!

What social channels do you use most? If you don’t use Google+, what’s stopping you?

It was a tough job but somebody had to do it! Social Driver evaluated hundreds of websites based on the following criteria: clarity of call-to-action, mission portrayal through photography, vibrant and engaging website design, and responsive site layout. We’ve defined our criteria below and highlighted the nonprofit website from our list that does an exceptional job showcasing the criteria.

38 Great Nonprofit Web Design Examples

Want to see if your favorite nonprofit made the cut? Check it out!

See the List

CLEAR CALL TO ACTION

With any successful campaign, whether online or off, an organization must have a clear call to action. A clear call to action provides users and members with a purpose and easy way to carry out that purpose.

LiveStrong does an excellent job displaying calls to action prominently on the site. Visitors are greeted with instructions to “Join Our Team,” “Wear Yellow,” or “Donate” giving visitors an easy and quick way to begin their fight for the cause.
Successfully defining problems and developing solutions among the cancer community has contributed to LiveStrong’s wide-reaching impact.  The site’s clear calls to action help their supporters make an impact as well!

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photographs are a powerful tool in telling your organization’s story. A single stunning photograph can pull in visitors and compel them to get involved.

Kiva made the cut as one our 38 Best Nonprofit Websites because of the compelling use of photography to tell their members’ stories. As a nonprofit that utilizes crowdfunding to promote entrepreneurship globally, potential donors must be able to connect with the individual projects showcased by Kiva. Inspiring descriptions of the need for funding accompany each “borrower” photo, better assisting lenders in their quest to give.

VIBRANT WEBSITE DESIGN

Along with photography, vibrant and unique website design is key to attracting your target audience and pulling them into the site to ensure your audience commits to your organization’s calls to action.

Sesame Workshop’s vibrant design, easy to ready typography, and simple color scheme bring visitors at all levels into the site. Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? With Sesame Workshop’s fun to navigate website you will cheerfully and easily find the nonprofit’s mission and calls to action. Not only do we enjoy Sesame Workshop for all they do educationally to help children in 150 countries, but also for their visually stimulating site!

RESPONSIVE SITE LAYOUT

Web traffic is increasingly becoming more and more mobile. Your users are viewing and sharing your nonprofit website on a variety of devices, whether you want them to or not. Having a website that can adapt to different technologies and screen sizes is essential for connecting with your audience.

Boot Campaign helps raise awareness of the challenges American solders face upon returning home from war and raises money to provide assistance to programs helping our heroes on the front lines. Boot Campaign knew their target audience was heavily concentrated with mobile users. Creating a fully responsive site that looks and functions great on desktops, tablets, and smartphones allows Boot Campaign’s supporters to make a difference wherever they may be.

38 Great Nonprofit Web Design Examples

Want to see if your favorite nonprofit made the cut? Check it out!

See the List

Do you know of other nonprofit websites that we didn’t choose that could be contenders based on the criteria? You can let us know in the comments below.

In this respect it becomes all the more important that an organization creates a strong work environment, promoting a cohesive culture that supports and encourages an organization’s greatest asset – its employees.

Below are 4 tips on how to increase interactivity, boost communication, and cultivate a positive culture with insight from our own Thomas Sanchez, founder of Social Driver, on his experience building the character and culture of a start-up.

1. Get Intimate.

Gone are the days of corner offices enforcing professional hierarchy. Knock down the walls that divide a workplace! “When we were looking for a new office space, we intentionally chose a location that was more open so everyone could sit together,” says Thomas Sanchez.

Leaders must set the tone of intimacy and inclusiveness to help increase workplace interactivity. Doing so can allow relationships between employees and fellow executives to be more genuine, trusting, and comfortable. Having an open space is a simple way to make executives more accessible to employees, facilitating the flow of communication by making everyone feel included and equally valued.

2. Meet Often.

“Meeting often is very important. Social Driver team members meet daily. Once a week we have a group meeting as a whole (remote associates video chat in) where we recharge our motivations, whether on projects or simply motivating each other. That one hour of recharge is a chance to stop and assess our culture and impact,”  says Thomas. Prioritizing meeting and fellowship time is a great way to build a culture and it’s relatively easy to achieve by implementing some continuous practices.

Team meetings are a given when it comes to accomplishing a goal or starting a project, but one on one meetings are just as essential. Encourage employees to meet with each other one on one, it’s the best way to really have a two way dialogue and to ensure that everyone is being heard. Outings are another great alternative and offer a twist to the usual group meeting. Try a new lunch spot or take advantage of a nice day with a walk and talk meeting.

Giving people the opportunity to stretch their legs and leave the confines of an office can have an enormous effect on boosting morale and energy. If someone cannot physically make a meeting, do whatever it takes to include them. There are no shortage of digital tools to connect people so make the extra effort to set up a video chat with Google Hangout or Skype whenever possible (even if a phone call might be more convenient).

3. More Pull and Less Push.

This is a great way of making group communication more accessible and encouraging interactivity. Thomas confesses that “a lot of times, it’s not me challenging the team. There are people on the team who push me to do better by probing for answers to generate successful outcomes. We also have a private Facebook group which is an easy way for me see what topics and successes my teammates are sharing.”

More pull and less push; listen more and talk less. This is a golden rule for everyone on a team, but it’s especially pertinent to executives and supervisors who can get in the habit of excessively putting out information without taking the steps to balance that push with pull in the form of feedback from their team.

4. Invest in your employees.

Ultimately, a culture is created by the people who contribute to it. Making sure employees needs are being met is the best way to ensure that they will be productive and happy at work. Give options so that people can figure out what works best for them. This might mean offering more flexible hours to ease a harsh schedule or clearing out the extra office to make a communal workspace when an employee needs a change of scenery.

We have a culture at Social Driver that values the quality of work and supports the employees behind it. Everyone has different habits and needs, especially when it comes to work, a willingness to accomodate goes a long way and sets the tone of a work environment that gives back to the people who make it great.

Want to work at a company with an awesome culture?

You should talk to us. Social Driver is now hiring both awesome part-time and full-time people to help bring our projects to life. We have free Nespresso and lots of fun!

Find Out More About the Positions

Remember, a company culture is not created from the top-down.  It must be lived and developed through all the employees at your company.  Make sure you are hiring individuals who will fit into the culture you have fostered and who will continue to contribute to your culture.  Culture can have a huge impact on the success of an organization; here at Social Driver we pride ourselves on getting with the future through engaging, fun, and fulfilling work that is accomplished by a group of people all pulling for the same team. If you’d like to learn more about joining us, visit: http://socialdriver.com/jobs/