Process
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The Q Word
How we define quality, why we consider things to be good, bad, or ugly, and what it means for design.
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Agile Website Redesign for Agencies: Is it Possible?
Back when we first adopted an agile process, we had our doubts that it could work. But after using it on major redesigns for ESPN, NPR, and many more, we’re converts. We spent some time talking with…
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How We’re Testing a 4-Day Work Week
The ways we’re defining, measuring, and tweaking our approach to implementing a 4-day work week at Upstatement. Back in May, we kicked off a 4-day work week pilot that’s running through the summer of 2022. We wanted to…
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Surface, System, and Behavior: A Framework for Branding in a Digital-First World
This post is adapted from a presentation exploring the broader historical context of Upstatement’s brand through digital approach. It was originally shared at RISD in the spring of 2022. We create many different types of work at Upstatement,…
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Why We’re Trying a 4-Day Work Week
We're embarking on a summer-long experiment to test a hypothesis: That our business can thrive and our people will be more fulfilled working one fewer day each week.
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Learning to Learn: Career Advice from Upstatement
Find your niche, but also don’t be afraid to try everything. Upstatement has grown a ton over the past couple years. We’ve hired talented people who are at wildly varying stages in their lives and careers. Some of us finished…
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Making Service Journalism into a Product
How we designed and made Up the Block, a new type of digital news product for underserved communities. For years, Upstatement has collaborated with The Trace, the premier newsroom reporting on American gun violence. We’ve learned…
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What makes a good website redesign RFP?
We all love to hate requests for proposals – whether we write them or receive them. But many companies still use RFPs, so let's make them work.
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How long should your website last?
Your website is an investment. But what lifespan are we operating on? How to think of investing in your site over different time periods and for different reasons.
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When is a wireframe a waste of time?
Interrogating the value of the wireframe stage.