Diana Zink: Web Business, Engineering & User Experience

How to optimize “The Zone”?

2013-03-22T10:29:19Z

“In The Zone” Expression used to describe a state of consciousness where actual skills match the percieved performance requirements perfectly. Being in the zone implies increased focus and attention which allow for higher levels of performance. Athletes, musicians, and anybody that totally owns a challenge of physical and mental performance can be in the zone. [...]

No Tags

How Hackable is Your Human System?

2013-03-22T22:27:53Z

When exposed to human nature any new law, incentive program, product, game, or business (aka. any new human system) is put to the test for "hackability". Not unlike software systems, If there is a hole in your process that can be exploited, a rule that can be taken advantage of, it WILL be exploited sooner or later. Flawed human systems not only get hacked, but may also create crooks by means of surfacing a skill that cannot be unlearned. [...]

No Tags

Temporary Blog Retirement

2011-08-16T16:00:10Z

Hi everyone, Due to work and other factors I have to temporarily retire this blog. The latest posts are from 2008, and while you can still enjoy them, I doubt I will be able to post any new ones any time soon. The last though I want to leave behind: The web is moving faster [...]

No Tags

A Little Secret on Performance and Perception

2008-08-21T16:21:27Z

No matter how long of a history you hold with a person, if asked about your performance in the end they will likely remember not the averages of your work, but the highest of HIghs and the lowest of LOWs you've delivered. This post puts the Hi-Low concept of performance into perspective for businesses, employees, and brands.

No Tags

Why is it so hard to find good web developers?

2011-08-16T15:21:51Z

Ajax, accessibility, Flash, ActionScript 3, and Flex, are familiar to many but well known by few. Here are some tips on the conditions of the web industry, the effects they have on finding quality People 2.0, and some ideas on how to go about identifying good developers [...]

No Tags

Recruiting and Retaining Generation Y Tech Professionals

2011-08-16T15:31:11Z

There is something special about Generation Y tech professionals This article takes a deep look in the general tends, motivational factors, and best practices in recruiting and retaining young technologists [...]

No Tags

On Web 2.0: User Experience, Product Development & Entrepreneurship

2008-06-03T13:49:05Z

This year's Y Combinator Startup School and some of the recent Google Tech Talks shared top of the line advice from the thought leaders in User Experience, Product Development, and Entrepreneurship. After watching the separate presentations over a period of a few weeks, I could not help but to connect the three topics. Those disciplines together shape and the Web 2.0 environment and its current leaders and will more likely than not affect the industry for years to come. This my summary of recurring themes and notes interconnecting the three topics that and I hope will provide inspiration to Entrepreneurs, Intrapreneurs, Marketers, Brand Managers, and Product Leads alike [...]

No Tags

Web translators need accessible content too

2008-05-10T17:46:47Z

Here’s a piece of news: only about 20% of the world’s population speaks English (about 30% or so of web users). And guess how the remaining whooping 70% of web users would be able to read your content? Web translators! Those useful little tools use the same technology to traverse through web content as some [...]

No Tags

20 Habits That Can Damage Your Career

2008-05-27T03:46:08Z

A great book by Marshall Goldsmith outlines 20 often-unconscious habits that can damage your relationship with colleagues, family, or people that work with you closely. These traits can often also impact careers and opportunities for promotion as they put you in negative light despite hard work, devotion or talents that could make you a good [...]

No Tags

Speed is inversely proportionate to perspective

2008-04-10T03:23:42Z

Being in the flow of development can be both satisfying and energizing as days and nights of excited work pile into months and series of great projects. Yet getting used to the stress and pressure of oncoming work can seriously limit ones ability to see outside the stream. Just as driving at high speeds narrows one's focus into a smaller area to boost reflexes and reaction times, sinking into fast paced projects can rarely allow a good view of the big picture.

No Tags

Best sources of knowledge in web design and engineering

2011-08-16T15:42:13Z

If you want to stay current with web matters, but have no time to explore all opportunities this list is for you. (Caveat – this was post was published in the Spring of 2008.) The categories below will be updated with the most interesting sources in each category to match your favorite style of learning. [...]

No Tags

Designer-friendly JavaScript and Ajax Learning

2011-08-16T15:44:32Z

Here is a common problem: barriers to learning. Whether we’re talking about the walls between design and development or development and engineering or crossovers between many other web related disciplines, we are talking about walls. This is the first of several posts that will attempt to create bridges between these disciplines and open up the [...]

No Tags

Wake up from that layoff

2011-08-16T15:46:16Z

Today, out of the blue, a layoff at a company I know sent 13 very smart and successful people out to the job market. Layoffs are normal, the job market takes and gives and, often enough, being sacked benignly may be one of the best things that ever happened to you. All of your former [...]

No Tags

One post already stolen

2008-03-13T07:03:52Z

An interesting Google search today revealed that the first post I wrote for this blog had been replicated 100% without credit or links on a host news site. If you’re curious, or just feel like writing a good hosting post and you wonder where it would end up, run a google search on any phrase [...]

No Tags

SXSW get all the details over twitter, podcasts, and blogs.

2008-03-13T06:33:31Z

For those of us unable to catch the interactive event of the year, live, here are some places where you can get the spiel for free: 1. Twitter: SXSW has been an amazing phenomenon for the status listing app. All participants from presenters such as Zeldman, Aarron Walter, Dan Cederholm, Cameron Moll (and much more) [...]

No Tags

How a great deal can make you cry: Overseller Hosting

2008-03-13T03:50:29Z

It seems intuitive to think that a site will be only as fast as its host. Speed of download is a pretty important factor in the usability of a site, in return of users and customers, and yet most shared web hosts pray on users seeking not speed, but the biggest host size for their [...]

No Tags