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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

There Should Be No “Season of Giving”

During the holidays, there’s a heightened awareness around philanthropic activities, and many use it as a time to focus on others less fortunate. At Blend, we believe the "season of giving" shouldn't be a season at all.

November 29, 2022

Episode 13: Develop the Graphic and Interface Design (w/Sam Otis) Off-site link

Corey asks Deane about his ideal web design, and Deane talks about how CSS ruined the web. (He’s kidding, mostly.) Then, Sam Otis, lead designer at Blend Interactive and designer of The Web Project Guide, joins us to talk about his history in design — from Flash to responsive web design, what young designers need to know about the web, and what he wishes clients would stop doing.

November 16, 2022 | The Web Project Guide Podcast

From Content Analytics to Intelligent Content: a Review of uMarketingSuite

In the early days of the web, analytics shifted from curiosity to a driving force. Now, the focus is on what you do with those analytics — what insights can you glean in order to help drive conversions? For Umbraco users, uMarketingSuite helps put these insights into action.

November 7, 2022

How Code Rots (and What To Do About It)

Just like humans, animals, and opinions, websites age. This means — again, just like humans, animals, and opinions — websites need to be cared for. Here are a few thoughts on how to manage and prevent "code rot."

October 28, 2022

2022 OMVP Summit Review

The Optimizely Most Valuable Professional (OMVP) program is designed to promote collaboration and expertise among Optimizely developers. This year was Bob's first year as an OMVP — and these are his thoughts.

October 24, 2022

A Better Budget: How Tech Planning Improves the Scoping Process

One of the toughest parts of any web project is estimating how much the project will cost and how long it will take. Technical planning helps create better budgets, plan for more realistic timelines, and improve the efficiency of the entire project.

October 17, 2022

Episode 12: Write for People and Machines (w/Sarah Winters) Off-site link

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.

October 13, 2022 | The Web Project Guide Podcast

The Web Project Guide on Agile Digital Transformation Off-site link

The Web Project Guide’s Corey Vilhauer and Deane Barker joined Tim Butara and the Agile Digital Transformation podcast to talk about the process of writing the book, the web project process itself, and the role of agility when moving toward a successful launch.

September 29, 2022 | The Web Project Guide

Optimizely Release Notes — July/August 2022

The following release notes highlight major or interesting changes in Optimizely's products in July and August 2022.

September 21, 2022

Episode 11: Model Your Content (w/ Jeff Eaton) Off-site link

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.

September 15, 2022 | The Web Project Guide Podcast

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.

The Web Project Guide

A phase-by-phase look at the web design and development process, providing context to each step.

Coding with Bob

A YouTube series by our director of development, focusing on .NET coding and Optimizely development.

Eating Elephant

A blog about content strategy, information architecture, and understanding user needs.