Marty July 7th, 2006
As of July 3, I am officially an employee of GSI Commerce. I’d been consulting with them for 3 months, and knew that they were a good place to be full-time. Their client list is enviable and they’re one of the behind the scenes giants in e-commerce. What’s more, they’re branching out, developing new competancies and applications. It’s great work, with the only downside being the dreaded Schuykill.
More to come in the coming weeks.
Marty June 28th, 2006
While working on a website we are redesigning, I was seeing some minor usability/accessibility issues that I was concerned about. I brought up those issues, mentioning that the site would be significantly less functional in some cases to those with disabilities, such as the vision-impaired and physically handicapped persons for whom using a mouse is difficult. That was when someone asked, “Do blind people actually buy sporting goods?”.
In their defense, the speaker asked the question in good faith, and they were thinking of snowboards, golf clubs and footballs when they said it. It took me only a second to respond perhaps not, and to ask if they had considered sweatpants, baseball caps, knee braces and more. Suddenly, it was more pertinent, and I decided to look into the question - do the disabled really buy sporting goods, or more specifically, do they buy them online? Continue Reading »
Marty June 16th, 2006
We were doing a usability test recently on a site that I’ve been working on for a major sports retailer. In the tests, we were testing a hover functionality which would prompt the user to click for more information about that product. Continue Reading »
Marty June 2nd, 2006
I have been consulting with a company for a couple of months, and really like the job (mostly Information Architecture with a smattering of other work). Well, I just got the job offer a couple of weeks ago, and I’ll be starting full time in July at GSI Commerce. I’m psyched because they are a great company and they are working on some pretty cool projects. The commute sucks (the dreaded Schuykill), but other than that, it’s a great job.
The money’s great - about a 37% increase over my salary when I left MBNA a year ago - so I’m happy about that, plus it’s nice to have benefits again. Plus, having paid vacation will be nice - something I haven’t really had since I took the severance package. Right now the office I’m in is in transition as they start to create an interactive agency for new projects, but it’s still pretty cool. Lots of good people with a LOT of talent around me. Looking forward to being official in July.
Marty May 29th, 2006
You might have noticed that there haven’t been many updates lately on this site. I had a major SNAFU with my old host (Affordablehost aka Avoidablehost) and had to get my whole site moved over. At the same time, I’ve been working ridiculous hours at my new job where I’ve been contracting - AND where I’ll be full-time starting in July. Pretty cool stuff that I can’t talk about but it’s keeping me more than busy in the meantime.
Hopefully, I’ll have more time to write in June…
Marty April 8th, 2006
I started a new job this week, and it’s been a LOT of work - but good work. I’m working more on the Information Architecture side of things which I haven’t had much of a chance to do lately when I was working with my old contract company. Better yet, this position could hopefully lead to full-time employment, something that I could get into since this seems like a pretty cool company. I’ll miss the flexibility of my other position, and driving up the Schuykill daily is a bit of a drag, but I like what I’m working on, the people are good and the whole “…into full-time employment” portion is something that I could get into.
Unfortunately, it also means that I don’t have as much time to tool around as I once did. Big difference between getting home at 4:30 and 7:30 each night - but there’s always a trade-off for good work, and the potential benefits it brings. Even if I can’t play hooky as often.
Other links - some relevent, others … well, not so much »
Marty January 17th, 2006
I’m looking for full-time work again - my contract position has run out of design and usability work, and while I have a couple of projects to finish up, I’m looking for larger scale (and preferably permanent) work that includes benefits, an office, ample free time to be creative, an in-house racquetball court and lender Nikon D200’s. Anyone know of places hiring like that?
Speaking of the D200, I’m just a little jealous of my wife. She’s getting one - at least, she is once Nikon finally starts shipping them reliably. Unfortunately, it’s because of a major mishap we had on her birthday. While out taking some pictures, she slipped on some rocks and *BAM* - cracked her LCD, messed up the four-way controller and who knows what else on her Nikon D70. She was devastated, and after making sure she was okay (she’s banged up, but was more concerned about the camera), I felt horrible for her. We went home to find out that:
So, off we went to Calumet Camera in Philly to see what they had available. She just wanted the body, but they had no idea when those were going to come in. So, we went with the kit - a Nikon D200 plus the highly regarded Nikon VR 18-200mm lens. It will set us back a pretty penny, but at least we have it (for now… ugh).
But back to me — expect some actual updates on my site and on the Blueline Concepts pages. It’s due for a true overhaul, so I’m going to put some real time into it. In the meantime, send me offers!
Other amusements »
Marty December 23rd, 2005
Well, it’s been a long two weeks - tons of different projects to work on both ‘officially’ and freelancing. Here’s a sampling:
I have a few more things that I am still working on, but it’s been a LOT of work and variety of projects at once lately. And I still need to get going on 2006 work!
Links You Don’t Want to Miss »
Marty November 8th, 2005
While designing a sytem for alerts on a customer service site I’m working on, there’s been a debate about the best way to notify users of new content. The basic format is for a series of icons to set at the base of the landing page, one for each major category of alerts - site updates, miscellaneous news, shipping alerts, etc.
Marty August 3rd, 2005
Life has been quite busy lately - and although I like it, it isn’t without its share of stresses. The plusses: cool project to work on, great experience, good pay, getting lots of great pictures, closing in on vacation. The minuses: long commute most days, working on a new contract for the rest of the year, too understimulated puppies who don’t understand how tired I am at night, Lyme Disease.
Still, things are going up - so what else can one ask for? I should have a new contract in place for the rest of the year by the end of this week, which will reduce stress there - and it’s good because I like where I work and what I’m doing. The project is great - and will look nice on the resume - and giving me a chance to do what I have been wanting to do, and couldn’t get done at MBNA.
I’m having a ton of fun playing with my Nikon D70 as well - I feel better about my photography, and have managed to get some really good shots lately.
All in all, I’m getting less sleep but things are getting better every day…
Daily Links »
