Thoughts and Articles from Blend Interactive

Congratulations to Blend CEO Karla Santi on being named one of the Small Business Association's People of the Year for 2022!

Corey and Deane talk about understanding the audiences of the The Web Project Guide book, and the concept of predicate knowledge. Then, C. David Gammel, author of Online and On Mission, joins the podcast to talk about how to prioritize outcomes when stakeholders all have their own interests, understanding the expectations of those who use your website, and how to best introduce domain knowledge.

Discovery and Scoping  |  Strategy

Chances are, you’ve found yourself in the sticky situation of adapting a default search engine. But, there are options beyond the default, starting with an open source solution called Apache Solr. Here's how to get started.

Development

Corey and Deane talk about Bleachers, music producers, and how understanding your audience increases effectiveness. Then, Erika Hall, author of Just Enough Research, joins the podcast to talk about interviewing the people who will visit your site — how to frame interviews, effective incentives, and the difference between researching assumptions versus learning about your users.

Discovery and Scoping  |  Strategy

Over its history, Blend has developed a pattern of being an early North American partner for a number of European CMS systems. Blend was an early North America Partner for eZ Publish (now Ibexa), Episerver (now Optimizely), and Umbraco (still Umbraco!).

Development  |  Discovery and Scoping

Every day, we encounter things in our life that require a plan — vacation, meals, kid’s school and after-school activities. If there’s not a plan, something will get missed. A ball will get dropped. And you’ll be left wondering, “What happened?” Enter project management.

Project Management

Blend Interactive is excited to recognize Bob Davidson for his selection as one of 2022’s OMVP (Optimizely Most Valuable Professional) developers.

Development  |  Optimizely

Corey and Deane talk about how project plans rarely stay intact upon first contact with real life.  Then, we chat with Brett Harned, author of Project Management for Humans, about his definition of a project plan, creating better retrospectives, and how to help clients and project teams keep on track. (Also, Brett tells us the best album in his record collection.)

Project Management

Blend's Director of Development Bob Davidson takes a brief look at the internals of XhtmlString properties and the fragments that make them.

Development  |  Optimizely

Passion. Progress. Advocacy. Authenticity. Integrity. These are our values — and, they’re what make Blend Interactive the place it is.