Glatz's Laws

posted by phil on Thu, 04/15/2010 - 09:41
in

A few observations, made after many years in the web development business:

  • Users rarely change default settings.
  • Users rarely upgrade software or install plugins.
  • Retaining satisfied users is much better than buying new ones.
  • You have three seconds to give them a compelling reason to stay.
  • Things should work on all browsers.
  • Cookies are not inherently evil.
  • Writing documentation before you start coding pays back in great dividends.
  • Satire is dead - how can you compete with the truth these days for strangeness?
  • Cascading style sheets are very important, use them simply and wisely.
  • Nobody wants to hear music, see animated graphics, open a child window, or endure a splash screen unless they tell you otherwise.
  • Use garish colors and popups and you'll look like a porn site, and get about as much respect.
  • Never give a programmer a screwdriver.

And if you choose to ignore the obvious, hiring crappy programmers isn't very difficult.