Blend has upgraded from Gold to Platinum Partnership with Umbraco! Read the full press release.
Thoughts from Blend Interactive
One of Blend’s core values is a dedication to advocacy and progress — to expand upon and give back to the community that fuels us. This is where those thoughts live.
Search Results List
Episode 21: Migrate and Populate the Content (w/ Carrie Hane) Off-site link
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.
Looking Back at Codegarden 2023
This year, our team attended Umbraco’s international conference, Codegarden. Karla attended as Host/Emcee, Joe as a session speaker, and Chase as a diversity ticket attendee.
Optimizely Release Notes — May-June 2023
The following release notes highlight major or interesting changes in Optimizely's products from May and June 2023.
Umbraco Releases Version 12
An overview of Umbraco's newest release, Umbraco 12, highlighting the anticipated changes it brings to the user experience.
Episode 20: Implement the Back-end Functionality (w/ David Knipe) Off-site link
Corey and Deane discuss a high-level philosophy of back-end development. Then, David Knipe, Vice President of Product at Optimizely, joins to discuss back-end development — how developers and project stakeholders work together to make decisions, the difference (and balance) between technical perfection and audience needs, and the reasons why AI will help, but not take over, back-end development. Deane also equates developers to lumberjacks.
Overcoming the “Suck It Up, Buttercup” Mentality
As Mental Health Awareness Month concludes, Karla Santi shares a few thoughts to help fight stigma, raise awareness, advocate for anyone on our team with mental health conditions, and honor her loved ones.
Optimizely Release Notes — March-April 2023
The following release notes highlight major or interesting changes in Optimizely's products from March and April 2023.
Episode 19: Implement the Design (w/ Ethan Marcotte) Off-site link
Corey and Deane talk about how front-end development has evolved past the early days. Then, Ethan Marcotte, author of Responsive Web Design and Partner at Autogram, joins to discuss front-end development and how the world has impacted how front-end design is treated and approached. We also joke about whether Deane actually “invented” responsive web design. (He didn’t.)
Blend Interactive is an Inc. Magazine Best Workplace for 2023
Blend Interactive is excited and proud to announce its inclusion in Inc. magazine’s annual Best Workplaces issue — both as a part of Inc.'s Best Workplace 2023 and Special Category: Midwest Region. Blend is the only South Dakota company to be chosen this year.
How Audits Improve Your Site: Accessibility, Performance, and Design Audits
Much like we maintain our homes from season to season, our websites need periodic audits — to see what has changed and what has not. In this post, we focus on three specific types of audits: accessibility audits, performance audits, and design audits.
Beyond Blend.
Blend doesn’t just write here: we also write books, create videos, and dive deep into our individual disciplines. Check out some of our external sources of knowledge.
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The Web Project Guide
A phase-by-phase look at the web design and development process, providing context to each step.
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Coding with Bob
A YouTube series by our director of development, focusing on .NET coding and Optimizely development.
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Eating Elephant
A blog about content strategy, information architecture, and understanding user needs.