Tag: communication


  • The agency dictionary

    Information Architects have released their dictionary. From the launch post:

    The result is a growing dictionary of our internal talk enriched with a few raw diamonds that explain playfully how we see things. It is useful as a documentation of our normal madness. It’s helpful for new staff to understand us older uncles. It is interesting for old, new and prospective clients, and we certainly hope it gets interesting enough for colleagues at other agencies that they feel incited to create something similar, so we can learn how they speak.

    The dictionary can be found here.

    I love this, it’s a brilliant idea, useful and potentially powerful. My agency, Odd Alice, have added five people the past year, and we would’ve benefitted from having a dictionary of our own in the process. In the longer run, I think clients might appreciate it even further, because it’s never fun to ask what something means. I believe clients might feel more secure knowing there’s a way to look something up, instead of relying on a fuzzy explanation from someone who might not actually grasp the full extent of the term, technology, or whatever it is. I for one will definitely consider doing something similar for OA.


  • Put Down Your Phone

    There’s a video doing the rounds called I Forgot My Phone which I found very telling about today’s social interactions. Watch it.

    My iPhone is always with me. I communicate a lot using the iPhone, almost never utilizing the phone part, but rather through Twitter, App.net or messages. Sometimes I kill time on Tumblr, and I read a lot on my iPhone. In my weakest moment, I might even open the Facebook app.

    I don’t watch the world through my phone though. The times I go to a concert, I don’t take a ton of crappy photos or make Vine movies out of every little thing. It ruins the experience, both for me and everybody else. That said, the iPhone is my primary camera, because it’s the one I carry with me.

    I write a lot on my iPhone, and I’m not only talking about the novel project. I also take a lot of notes.

    The iPhone is a powerful tool, just like most smartphones out there.

    However, it’s also addictive. Suddenly you’re not eating unless you’re instagramming, you don’t exist until you check in, and you better refresh your Twitter feed every third second so that you don’t miss out on anything. It’s fascinating how quickly this behavior embedded itself in our spines, making us collectively forget every ounce of our manners.

    I’m not perfect, and I’m easily bored. My iPhone’s a savior more often than not. I’ve been that rude douche who picks up his phone and starts fiddling with it while in a conversation at times, something I’m not proud of and try not to do. It’s socially acceptable to a degree that still astounds me.

    Don’t throw away your smartphone. Keep reaping the benefits of technology, and by all means don’t stop communicating through the web. But do consider the world outside of your screen, preferably slightly more than how it’d look with your favorite Instagram filter.


  • This is the new Basecamp UI

    I’m a big fan of Basecamp (and Campfire), in fact we’re using it almost exclusively for communication at Odd Alice. The new UI looks good, snappy and utilizes stacks in a pretty intuitive way. Here’s hoping it will perform just as well on an iPad. It is coming soon and personally I can’t wait.


  • I promise to behave

    The web is a dirty place. People are assholes and behave as such. They are in real life too, but few dare to feed their inner asshole when you’re face to face. Common decency along with fear of getting your ass kicked does that. It is a good thing, because people are also idiots.

    That’s why I promise to behave. Actually, I’ll promise a bunch of things. (more…)