July 16th, 2007
Seizing the Opportunity: Bokardo is becoming a design company
by Joshua Porter | 
29 Comments | shortlink: http://bokardo.com/p/649
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.
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
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1. Daniel Szuc 10:03am, Mon 16th, 2007
Congrats! Suggest some oppportunities to develop a pattern library for social applications?
2. Sérgio Santos 10:26am, Mon 16th, 2007
Best wishes for the company. And I’m really looking forward to see what you’re working on
3. Bud Caddell 11:05am, Mon 16th, 2007
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 11:09am, Mon 16th, 2007
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 12:02pm, Mon 16th, 2007
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 12:47pm, Mon 16th, 2007
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 1:46pm, Mon 16th, 2007
Social UI design is a new thing all together.
Great going, all the best with the new adventure.
8. Kyle 1:54pm, Mon 16th, 2007
Great to hear! Congratulations and best wishes from a long time reader.
Kyle
9. Dennis 2:11pm, Mon 16th, 2007
Congrats on the venture. Can’t wait to see some new work.
10. Adam Darowski 2:19pm, Mon 16th, 2007
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 2:25pm, Mon 16th, 2007
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 2:49pm, Mon 16th, 2007
Congrats Josh! Best of luck.
13. Helen 4:36pm, Mon 16th, 2007
Are you still a full-time UIE employee? How do you deal with the potential conflicts of interest?
14. Richard MacManus 6:11pm, Mon 16th, 2007
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 8:31pm, Mon 16th, 2007
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 9:14am, Tue 17th, 2007
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 10:43am, Tue 17th, 2007
Dude, congrats. Can’t wait to see what you’re up to next.
18. Christine 10:49am, Tue 17th, 2007
Congrats, Josh. You will really be missed at UIE!
19. Patrick Haney 10:56am, Tue 17th, 2007
Congrats, Josh. Good luck with your new venture. And if you’re ever in the Cambridge area, give me a holler.
20. Deborah 11:11am, Tue 17th, 2007
Congrats Josh! Does this mean you have left, or will be leaving, UIE?
21. web 11:29am, Tue 17th, 2007
Congrats and good luck Josh.
22. Amitabh Handa 5:17pm, Tue 17th, 2007
Congrats, Josh! I wish you all the best.
23. Lasse 10:45am, Wed 18th, 2007
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 11:11am, Wed 18th, 2007
Smart move and good luck.
25. Peter Boersma 4:16pm, Wed 18th, 2007
Congrats. It takes some nerve to do this but it probably feels great
26. Paul 11:45am, Sat 21st, 2007
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 11:42am, Tue 24th, 2007
Congrats Josh. My prediction is that you’ll never look back. Onward and upward.
28. Artem 5:01pm, Wed 1st, 2007
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