July 16th, 2007

Seizing the Opportunity: Bokardo is becoming a design company

by Joshua Porter  |   29 Comments

Over the past several months I’ve been receiving many requests for designing social web applications. After all, designing social web applications is the topic of this blog, so it makes sense that folks would assume I do design work. Since I’ve had a full-time job, however, I haven’t been able to offer services…I’ve only been able to write about my observations and ideas with you all.

It was frustrating, however, because social web apps are the future of software and I felt sort of on the sidelines from a design standpoint. At UIE we work on some great projects, such as a recent social web app where we’re doing some cool research on how people are using it, but I still heard the call of those Bokardoans who would ping me and say “Hey, we’re working on this cool thing…” The responsibilities of my current job (which is a great job, btw) forced me to say “Sorry, I can’t help” over and over again.

But that’s about to change. I’ve decided to start a company: Bokardo Design. I’m going to offer the exact services that I write about here at Bokardo: Interface design and strategy for social web applications. For those of you who have read Bokardo for a long time, nothing that I offer will be a surprise. I’m simply putting into practice what I’ve been preaching…so to speak.

Bokardo Design

So, if you’re working on a social web project and you’re looking for specialized help for interface design or strategy, give me a holler. I’m working with several clients right now, and I’m ramping up my bandwidth going forward. I’ll also be revealing details of those projects, which are loaded with interesting lessons learned that apply to many social web apps. So I’ll have even more to blog about here at Bokardo! :)

There’s so much to talk about, but in the meantime here’s my site: Bokardo Design

Comments ( 29 Responses so far )

1.  Daniel Szuc on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats! Suggest some oppportunities to develop a pattern library for social applications? :)

2.  Sérgio Santos on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Best wishes for the company. And I’m really looking forward to see what you’re working on ;)

3.  Bud Caddell on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats! I’ve been contemplating something very similar lately. I totally understand that feeling of being on the sidelines.. Good luck to you, and hopefully we will work together one day.

4.  jspad on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congratulations on hanging out your own shingle! As always, I’m looking forward to what/how you’ll write about what you are thinking.

5.  ~bc on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

I can attest that Joshua Porter is a great designer to work with. You would be certifiably crazy not to hire him for your next social design need… good luck Josh!

6.  mikepk on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Awesome! Congrats! I think the social web scene will be made that much better by this move. Maybe we’ll be able to work together again. We really liked the design work you did for us for Grazr.com.

7.  Danny on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Social UI design is a new thing all together.

Great going, all the best with the new adventure.

8.  Kyle on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Great to hear! Congratulations and best wishes from a long time reader.

Kyle

9.  Dennis on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats on the venture. Can’t wait to see some new work.

10.  Adam Darowski on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats Josh! And best of luck juggling all the things you’re trying to do. Best part is, you enjoy doing all of them. So I’m sure you’ll figure it out. :)

11.  Tolana on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Way to go! Running a business is a big step, and I applaud your courage. As I am about to embark on an intranet redesign, I look forward to using your ideas daily!

12.  Josh Catone on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats Josh! Best of luck. :)

13.  Helen on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Are you still a full-time UIE employee? How do you deal with the potential conflicts of interest?

14.  Richard MacManus on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats Josh! I think this is a great move.

p.s. I’m not sure if you’re getting my emails, you better check your spam folder.

15.  Scott G on July 16th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats! very cool news and I subscribed to your blog ages ago as the content is great and original, plus it’s designed well.

Good to know the blog made this happen for you.

16.  Josh on July 17th, 2007 (Comment) #

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone! I’m working hard to make this site more and more valuable over time…stay tuned!

17.  Ethan on July 17th, 2007 (Comment) #

Dude, congrats. Can’t wait to see what you’re up to next.

18.  Christine on July 17th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats, Josh. You will really be missed at UIE!

19.  Patrick Haney on July 17th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats, Josh. Good luck with your new venture. And if you’re ever in the Cambridge area, give me a holler.

20.  Deborah on July 17th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats Josh! Does this mean you have left, or will be leaving, UIE?

21.  web on July 17th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats and good luck Josh.

22.  Amitabh Handa on July 17th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats, Josh! I wish you all the best.

Pingback: links for 2007-07-18 (Leapfroglog)

23.  Lasse on July 18th, 2007 (Comment) #

Great news Josh! I’m sure you will prosper as entrepreneur.

I just hope that you’ll have the same drive to write as much and good articles as before.

24.  Adam on July 18th, 2007 (Comment) #

Smart move and good luck.

25.  Peter Boersma on July 18th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats. It takes some nerve to do this but it probably feels great :-)

26.  Paul on July 21st, 2007 (Comment) #

Nice! Can’t wait for the launch.

Btw, you might want to add a email subscription box to the page, this way we can drop in our email address n get notify once u launch.

27.  Lee LeFever on July 24th, 2007 (Comment) #

Congrats Josh. My prediction is that you’ll never look back. Onward and upward.

28.  Artem on August 1st, 2007 (Comment) #

As I see by your previous post, you had to do it much earlier. Specialists in this area are very demanded. Good luck in your beginnings :)

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ABOUT

Bokardo is the blog of Joshua Porter, a web designer/developer, researcher, and writer. I live in Newburyport, MA, USA.

WHAT IS SOCIAL DESIGN?

Social design is design that focuses on the social lives of users. It deals with the activities, behaviors, and motivations of people who work and play together through software interfaces. It is built on the observation that many of the decisions we make are greatly affected by those we surround ourselves with in our social lives: our family, friends, and colleagues. Exploring our motivations and how to design interfaces to support them is what the Bokardo blog is all about.

Designing for the Social Web

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