Business Archives
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A $30 billion powerhouse
May 5, 2008
In September 2006, Happy Cog set on a journey to redesign the site for the Thomson Corporation, a global provider of industry-focused business information. After helping Thomson complete a significant overhaul of the site’s information architecture, design, and CSS/XHTML, we learned that Thomson would acquire Reuters, the worldwide news agency. Drawing from a newly established brand and corporate messaging, we redesigned our redesign to accommodate the public unveiling of a $30 billion company. Presenting Thomson Reuters.
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The pig makes noise
April 14, 2008
SmartyPig has been all over the place lately. Since the site launched in early March, the Happy Cog-designed social banking website has been profiled in an article on Businessrecord.com, on American Public Media’s Future Tense (available as a podcast in RealMedia, MP3 or via iTunes), Dow Jones Market Watch, Webware, Download Squad, Mashable, and on Net Banker. When not making noise in the media, SmartyPig has been listening to its users. Righteous.
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Preview Praise
March 19, 2008
The paint isn’t dry on the WordPress 2.5 preview built by Automattic and designed by Happy Cog, but the buzz in user forums and on blogs is already white-hot, and journalistic reviews are beginning to come in, too.
In “Catch a Sneak Peak at WordPress 2.5’s Sexy New Look,” Wired Magazine says: “Although WordPress 2.5 includes some nice new features like better plugin management, full-text feeds, and built-in photo galleries, the most immediately obvious change is the sleek new look, which comes courtesy of Jeffery Zeldman and the Happy Cog design team.”
And in “10 Things You Need To Know About WordPress 2.5,” Technosailor summarizes: “By far the most comprehensive change in this release was the complete rethinking of how WordPressers do their administrative tasks. Happy Cog Studios was enlisted to do usability research and testing—with the emphasis being on usability research.”
Although 2.5 is still just in preview, the build by Automattic is rock-solid, and we are using it for our daily blogging.
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WordPress redesign preview
March 18, 2008
Founder Matt Mullenweg offers a sneak preview of WordPress 2.5: “For the past few months, we’ve been working with our friends at Happy Cog—Jeffrey Zeldman, Jason Santa Maria, and Liz Danzico—to redesign WordPress from the ground-up. The result is a new way of interacting with WordPress that will remain familiar to seasoned users while improving the experience for everyone. This isn’t just a fresh coat of paint—we’ve re-thought the look of WordPress, as well as how it’s organized so that you can forget about the software and focus on your own creative pursuits.”
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Kongrats!
March 13, 2008
Congratulations to Kongregate, whose Happy-Cog-designed site was named the People’s Choice at the 11th Annual Web Awards at SXSW Interactive, Austin TX.
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SmartyPig flies
March 11, 2008
Can online banking applications be social? Can social networking apps help your family save money? SmartyPig says yes to both questions. The creators of this pioneering 21st century social banking application know that when you’re bringing new services to the hectic web 2.0 market, everything depends on the initial user experience, and you have only one chance to get it right. SmartyPig chose Happy Cog to design their user experience.
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Doctors in the house!
February 14, 2008
Happy Cog announces the launch of its redesign of the website of the American College of Physicians, the largest medical specialty organization in the US, with over 120,000 members. Brand-strong and 23,000-pages-flexible, Happy Cog’s redesign brings needed vibrancy and pizazz while preserving the professionalism and trustworthiness ACP is known for.
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ALA 252: Introducing Offspring; Long Hallway II
February 5, 2008
In Issue No. 252 of A List Apart, for people who make websites: Alex Bischoff introduces Offspring, a JavaScript library bringing the power of advanced CSS selectors to browsers that can’t quite handle the real thing. And Jonathan Follett takes another trip down the the long hallway, looking at ways to collaborate, communicate, and manage conflict in virtual space.
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Web Design Survey Findings
October 17, 2007
Free 80-plus page report; first true picture of business of web design.
In April 2007, A List Apart and An Event Apart conducted a survey of people who make websites. Close to 33,000 web professionals participated, providing the first data ever collected on the business of web design and development as practiced in the U.S. and worldwide. Months of data crunching later, what emerges in our free 80+ page report is the first true picture of our powerful yet little-studied profession. Presenting the Findings From the Web Design Survey.
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ALA 246: handle layouts, people
September 25, 2007
In A List Apart No. 246, for people who make websites: Preserve layout consistency with JavaScript (Aaron Gustafson) and keep your team members from throttling each other with smart relationship management techniques (Keith Laferriere).