Author: <span>Ben Wilkoff</span>

Question 42 of 365: How can you frame a question so that it actually gets answered?

Participation matters. Above all else, if you expect people to come to your blog, read your feed, follow your buzz or engage in your web application; you must look for a level of participation that really doesn’t have a whole lot of modeling in the real world. The blogosphere had …

Question 41 of 365: When is vigilante infrastructure justified?

Being a vigilante in any organization creates a reputation. You are known for being on the cutting edge but also for being a lone wolf. You are known for pushing the envelope but also for pushing an agenda. Mostly, you are known for doing things that no one else has …

Question 40 of 365: Why can't we focus on making something, rather than the something itself?

It is the product that we are after: the book, the video, the iPhone, the worksheet, and the report. These products are the result of a huge amount of processing, working, collaborating, and creating. And yet, we are so focused on the product itself that we have almost no idea …

Question 39 of 365: What data points are we missing?

All of the data points matter. The ones that fit neatly inside of your daily life are just as important as the ones that lay way outside of it. The information that causes us to go forward unabated is no less valuable than the stuff that makes us cautious. The …

Question 38 of 365: How does color influence our actions online?

I am not a graphic designer. I am not a marketing guru. I am not a color snob. However, I did run across a really interesting reverse image search that made me think about how colors are associated with everything we do on the web. From the Twitter bright blue …

Question 37 of 365: What should you do if Google decides to compete directly?

Google competes with our jobs. We are only kidding ourselves if we believe otherwise. All of the knowledge that was known as expertise and was highly valued in a different time is now just a click away from any employee. Google directly competes with our textbooks, our reference books, and …

Question 36 of 365: How does distribution change the message?

There are new devices popping up all over that are shifting the ways in which we get our content. Blu-Ray players no longer just play the discs that the film studios produce; they connect to the internet, play music and let us rent movies from Netflix. The Boxee box creates …

Question 35 of 365: How should we react to budget cuts?

The pressure of budget concerns is absolutely crushing us right now. It is the reverberating hum in all conversations. In meetings is reaches climax, because the only reason we have staff meetings now is to discuss budget issues. They are all that matters to the people who sit in those …