The Importance of Open Standards

Open standards means simply that what you build today you will be able to maintain tomorrow. Any element of a software solution that relies on only one vendor or uses a closed, proprietary interface will eventually break the entire system. And a system of software is only as strong as its weakest part. Even within the set of tools from a single software vendor, there are degrees of openness.

Closed proprietary systems may have a lower initial cost, but much higher maintenance fees in perpetuity. Closed systems tend to use a few standard approaches which may or may not be relevant to your requirements. The more you use and invest in the these proprietary systems the harder it is to switch. Lower cost of ownership is nowadays refers to the ongoing cost of maintenance. A site, app or program that is simple, almost to the point of austerity, is one you can maintain yourself.

Like a stock, if you don't understand it at the time of purchase, don't buy it. This may sound limiting, but by solving basic problems in manageable ways it prepares you for the more unique challenges in the future.

With the advent of CSS and HTML5, gone are the days when any employee could tag their way to a presentable web site. We nevertheless recommend staying with as many proven coding techniques as will still reach your target audience.

We help you manage risk by maintaining openness of systems and transparency of functionality:

• If it can't be explained to a layman, then it can't be expected to work reliably.
• Every extra layer of technical complexity reduces the lifespan of the coding.
• Use open source software and open coding standards where possible.
• Minimize the amount of different software vendors where open source is not available or cost-effective.
• Make use of prototyping as early as possible.

Visually we think that a website or user interface also be as simple and elegant as possible:

• No flashy graphics when they don't perform a specific function.
• Reserve graphics for the product and have the photography be as high quality as possible.
• The site should not draw attention to itself and away from you message.
• Think of your business from your customer's point of view, not from the point of view of your divisions, processes or manufacturing.
• Provide ample whitespace.
• Model the information before the design.

We measure functionality by: 

• What users need to do.
• How many keystrokes, clicks and web pages they have to navigate.
• How little they need to learn.
• How little they need to retain between sessions.
• How few choices they have to make.