Need someone to lead product management at your software company? I build high-craft software and the teams that build it. I'm looking for my next opportunity. Check out my resume and get in touch.

Adam Kalsey

This is the blog of Adam Kalsey. Unusual depth and complexity. Rich, full body with a hint of nutty earthiness.

User Experience

Designer Knowledge

Freshness Warning
This blog post is over 24 years old. It's possible that the information you read below isn't current and the links no longer work.

30 May 2000

Recently on A List Apart there
has been some discussion
about the need for web designers to know HTML.

The general
consensus was that, yes, designers need to know HTML because that
is the medium that they are working with. My initial reaction was pretty
much the same.

Then I got to thinking. (I hate it when that happens.) HTML really isn’t
the medium. The Web itself is the medium. This led me to the idea that
maybe a designer doesn’t need to know HTML. What they need to know is
the Web.

Knowing HTML isn’t enough. Designers need to know the capabilities and
limitations of the medium as a whole. By understanding the concepts behind
DHTML, Flash, image optimization, and database-driven sites, a designer
can be more effective by having a larger palette from which to draw.

Recently Written

What branding can teach about culture
Jan 8: Culture is your company’s point of view in action—a framework guiding behavior, even in the unknown. You can’t copy it; it must reflect your unique perspective.
Think Systems, not Symptoms
Dec 15: Piecemeal process creation frustrates teams and slows work. Stop patching problems and start solving systems. Adopting a systems thinking approach helps you design processes that are efficient, aligned with goals, and truly add value.
Your Policies Aren’t Your Culture
Dec 13: Policies guide behavior, but culture is the lived norms and values of your team. Policies reflect culture -- they don’t define it. Netflix’s parental leave shift didn’t change its culture of freedom and responsibility. It clarified how to live it.
Lighten Your Process Burden
Dec 7: Everyone hates oppressive processes, but somehow we keep managing to create them.
Product Add-Ons Are An Expansion Myth
Dec 1: Add-ons can enhance your product’s appeal but won’t drive significant market growth. To expand your customer base, focus on developing standalone products.
Protecting your Product Soul when the Same Product meets New People.
Nov 23: Expand into new markets while preserving your product’s core value. Discover how to adapt and grow without losing your product’s soul.
Building the Next Big Thing: A Framework for Your Second Product
Nov 19: You need a first product sooner than you think. Here's a framework for helping you identify a winner.
A Framework for Scaling product teams
Oct 9: The people, processes, and systems that make up a product organization change radically as you go through the stages of a company. This framework will guide that scaling.

Older...

What I'm Reading