Throughout my career I've had the opportunity to work on a number of teams with a lot of different people. The most successful teams and projects I've been a part of all had one thing in common, an open mind and positive attitude. That's a pretty broad statement, but there are key aspects I've come to learn that make an effective team player. Successful projects are comprised of members who have an open mind, support one another, have common goals and collaborate as a team to deliver a top notch product by any means. One of the main things I've experienced that bottleneck a project is the clashing of egos. What this typically means are members who think they are experts and don't listen to suggestions or recommendations, aren't open to new ideas or simply, are only in it for their own benefit and not the team. One thing to remember is attitude isn't one dimensional nor are you stuck with one type. Working on a positive attitude is a continuous process and will only help set you up for success.

I'm a big believer in confidence and from time to time see people give up before a project or task has even started due to overwhelming anxiety or pressure. We all experience pressure or challenges in our careers however having an attitude that something is impossible is automatically setting yourself up for failure. I've learned to counter those thoughts by looking at all the positive things that can come out of working through or accomplishing a challenging situation. It's been my experience that you learn the most through challenge both in your career and personal life. Lacking confidence or a positive attitude is cheating yourself of experiences that may benefit you and better yourself. Learn to view challenges as a positive and an opportunity to learn. Complaining or letting frustration take control will only put a roadblock in the way of your success. My motto, "there's no such thing as a dumb question".

Just as design elements are important to the visual aspect of a web site, so is its ease of use. Most users visit web sites to get information or make a transaction (retail purchases, banking). Within a corporate intranet, web-based tools and applications help employees do their job. The key principle to remember is that usability is a continuous process. It's not uncommon for a web site to go through multiple iterations in its lifetime because just like anything else, there is always room for improvement.

Usability is a complex aspect because it not only encompasses the entire web site from front to back, but also factors in the user's thought process and actions. Web teams need to be aware that everyone thinks and interprets things differently. Will every visitor of your web site navigate it the same way? Have the same understanding? The answer is no. However, by following some basic steps you can increase the probability of user actions.

• Visit other web sites in your industry and take note of commonality between them. For example if you're developing a retail web site where users will be able to purchase products, visit the leaders in your industry such as Amazon or eBay. Usability has played a major factor in their success.
• Have users who are not familiar with your business or web site go thru pre-developed test scripts performing various tasks. Collect test results, general comments and recommendations.
• Perform usability reviews throughout the entire development lifecycle, not just at the beginning or end.

Site/ information architecture, labeling, interoperability, performance measures, and process architecture are just a few critical parts that may affect a user's experience and the site's overall success.

The bottom line: it shouldn't take a brain surgeon to navigate, find information or perform a task within your web site You can have the flashiest or most robust web site on the internet, but if folks can't find their way around, they'll go elsewhere.

Technology to me is a combination of excitement, intimidation and awe all rolled up into one. It seems impossible to keep up with it and once you learn and get comfortable with one technology, something new emerges that is "the next big thing". I don't think it is critical to know how to use every technology in the market, but it is important to know what's out there. How you pick and choose what suits you or your company the best depends on a combination of your business processes, goals and objectives and in a lot of cases budget. Being a developer I've never been one to be a proponent of any one technology. I have friends in the industry who work in many different environments and all produce top notch solutions. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself when choosing a technology:

• Will you be dealing with internal customers, external customers or both?
• Will you be providing a service?
• Do you want to tie your system into your vendors or customers systems?
• Will you be housing your own infrastructure (data center)?

RIA technologies (Flex), cloud technology, collaboration services, wireless/cellular technologies, .NET, Java, ColdFusion, PHP, SQL, Oracle, B2B, B2C, ERP, CRM, POS etc. The list goes on and on. Sure it's overwhelming, however you should be excited because 10 years ago there where fewer choices. Researching these technologies along with how companies are utilizing them will help you decide what is best for you.

Those that say web design is dead couldn't be more wrong. Web design is and always will be a critical part of a web site from the large to small, corporate to personal, the first thing a user sees when going to a web site is its design or what is known as 'look and feel' or 'branding'. It is one aspect that makes it unique from your competitors and one of a kind.

So how important is a web site design? With millions of sites on the internet, imagine if all of them used the same layout, no graphics, black text on a white background and one font type and size. If you visited a hundred sites would you be able to identify one from another by their look? Design also has the power to create curiosity amongst its viewers causing one to explore to find out more about it while enhancing the user experience. One of the most important things to remember is to take your time and carefully brand your site. Here are some foundational questions to help develop an effective branding strategy:

• What is your business and industry?
• What is the purpose/objective of your web site?
• Who is your intended users and audience?
• What message(s) are you trying to convey?

Determining the answers to these questions will help guide your team to branding success.