By Paul Kastner
As told to Cory S. Hopkins, Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer
10. BUILD YOUR BACKEND ON OPEN SOURCE
It’s not just better value, it’s better software.
9. INTERNET EXPLORER v. FIREFOX
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You need to make sure your site works with both browsers, and it will drive you nuts.
8. CHOOSE A TEXT EDITOR CAREFULLY
You will spend more hours than you can imagine using whichever text editor you pick to write your code in, so choose one you’re comfortable with.
7. THINK LIKE A USER, NOT A PROGRAMMER
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Designing a good user interface is about displaying options people are looking for and performing actions they expect.
6. KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID
If somebody can use Microsoft Word and doesn’t understand how your program works, it’s either too complex or you’re explaining it wrong. Fix it.
5. PLAN FOR A BIG FINISH
The last 20 percent of getting a site ready for launch takes 80 percent of the time.
4. IT’S IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Visual design, from web pages to logos, should be done by an artist. If you aren’t one, find one.
3. LOOK FOR GOOD VALUE
The $100 per month server we started with took 10 times as much work to set up as the $150 per month server we switched to.
2. USE A BUG TRACKING SYSTEM
Keeping a list of the tasks that need to be completed helps you stay on-track.
1. ASK FOR HELP
For any given topic, there’s always someone who knows more about it than you.
