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Corey and Deane talk about the concept of the “Nails List.” Then, Bob Davidson, Director of Development at Blend Interactive, joins to talk about how to get your site ready for launch, what makes a good QA practitioner, the role of quality assurance and testing in the development process, and how to prep the site so it doesn’t fall over when exposed to the real world. We also spend a lot of time talking up Jenna Bonn, Blend’s QA Practice Manager.

Content and IA  |  Development

Corey and Deane discuss an old migration project. Then, Carrie Hane, Principal Digital Strategist at Sanity and co-author of Designing Connected Content, joins to talk about preparing content for site migration — how good content modeling helps set up a site for future success, the psychological side of migrations, and a few horror stories from Carrie and Deane. Carrie graciously insists this is not the most depressing episode yet.

Content and IA  |  Migration  |  Strategy

When a site includes volatile content, constant updates are unavoidable. Blend developed a tool for Gate City Bank to help make term updates fast and easy.

Financial Services  |  Content and IA  |  Development

The path to computer intelligence hasn't proven quite so direct. On the surface, brains and computers seem very similar, but it's clear that computers aren't thinking yet. 

AI  |  Content and IA  |  Strategy

Corey and Deane talk briefly about how hard it is to run a conference. Then, Sarah Winters, founder of Content Design London and author of Content Design, joins to discuss the difference between content design and content strategy, writing and designing for accessibility, and the work it takes to turn a big ship toward lasting content change.

Accessibility  |  Content and IA  |  Strategy

Corey and Deane chat about the first time they realized they really liked content modeling, and how modeling is the hidden language of content.  Then, Jeff Eaton, partner at Autogram, joins to define content modeling, the concept of content reuse (and its many issues), and the balance between philosophical modeling and actually doing the work in spreadsheets.

Content and IA  |  Strategy

Corey and Deane chat about Information Architecture for the World Wide Web — ”The Polar Bear Book” — and then our experiences with information organization in real life. Then, Lisa Maria Marquis, author of Everyday Information Architecture and You Should Write a Book, joins to discuss how to frame information architecture for those who aren’t web people, the hidden biases in organizing content, and a bit about why you should write your own book. (We also take a critical look at Lisa Maria’s bookshelf.)

Content and IA  |  Strategy

Corey and Deane talk a little about that time Kristina Halvorson (founder of Brain Traffic, co-author of Content Strategy for the Web, and executive producer of Confab and Button) visited Sioux Falls. Then, Kristina chats with us about content strategy — defining content strategy vs. content design, what tasks are often overlooked, and some basics on spinning up an internal web content team — including a bit of conference talk about the upcoming Button Conference.

Content and IA  |  Strategy

When Minnesota West needed to submit an RFP for a new website, they turned to Blend to help them determine what that site might look like.

Higher Education  |  Content and IA  |  Discovery and Scoping  |  Strategy

There’s a lot more to building a mobile-friendly and responsive site than just saying the words “mobile-first” and willing it into being. What does it mean? How is it done? In this article, we take a look at the process behind designing for mobile.

Content and IA  |  Design and Front-End