Author: Chad Michel
UI Kills the Developer — Things That Need to Change in Software Development
The thing that most people think of when they think of a software program is the UI (user interface). The UI is how users interact with software and it’s how they identify with (or fight against) the system. But, the process of building user interfaces hasn’t really seen the improvements you would expect given the…
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Thinking Hurts — Things That Need to Change in Software Development
It is easy to convince people to eat sugar, it tastes good. I think it is also easy to convince people not to think, especially in the context of software development projects. Decide what you want to build and just go go go! In my post “Things Need to Change in the Software Development World”,…
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10 Rules for Providing a Good User Experience
I am not a designer, I don’t play one on TV, and I didn’t stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. But over the years, I have developed some thoughts around UI / UX that have resulted in some basic “rules” to apply when building systems. While this set of rules is far from…
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Database Change Control, Part 5
We have spent a good amount of time discussing database change control. But why should we care? Why not just let people manually deploy things to SQL? Why would we want database change control? Repeatability Trackability Maintainability Tying application code to the database code Repeatability Ideally, we want the ability to rebuild our environment quickly….
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Things Need to Change in the Software Development World
Warning: Minor rant below. I can’t say how my mind got on this topic, but lately I’ve been thinking a lot about our industry’s approach to software development. In many ways, software development is getting better. It’s ahead of where we were when I started as a professional developer over 20 years ago. But while…
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Disney + Technology: A Magical Summer Vacation Experience
As a kid, I went with my family to Disneyland and Disney World a few times. We made some great memories at Disney, riding rides, watching the parades, and buying stuff we didn’t need in the stores. We have lots of great memories, such as my sister and I running free and jumping into the…
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Working for Beer
Beer, Beets, Battlestar Galactica. Oh my! I feel it is safe to assume that beer is pretty popular here in the good old USA. Thirty years ago, everyone was drinking their favorite big brand: Bud Light, Miller Light, or — my personal favorite of the classic big beers — Coors Light. Now the world has…
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Book Review: A Whole New Engineer
Engineering is just for geeks with pocket protectors, right? Engineering is all about math, formula, and intensive study of existing builds, right? I have done a good amount of software education over the years. Some as a student, and some as a teacher. The book “A Whole New Engineer” is a refreshing step back from…
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Top Ten Things You Might Not Know About Startups
Creating an MVP (minimum viable product) is hard. At Don’t Panic Labs, we have helped many companies stand up that crucial first version of their products. And in my time here, I have learned quite a bit from interacting with startups. This Top Ten list is a culmination of much of what I’ve picked up…
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Executive Summary – Understanding Developers
From the outside, developers are sometimes seen as trolls living under a bridge. Okay, maybe that’s a bit harsh. How about this: strange wizards who wield unknowable powers to make things work. Or perhaps this: t-shirt-wearing loners who subsist on junk food and never go outside. Wrong on all accounts. They are actually quite normal…
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