Define success. Imagine the steps you have to take to get there. Multiply that by the number of clients you want to work with by the end of the year and see if your plan is still viable. Success is tightly connected to scalability, a term equally familiar to systems engineers and to entrepreneurs. Scales are not just about measurable units, but also about brands, products, processes and teams managed for growth before the need to scale up becomes overwhelming. This week's post is about scalability for businesses, not just websites.

Is usability a persuasive element in UX Design? To what degree does usability account for an online business' success? What guidelines exist in design for creating usable and captivating interfaces? This post provides a few useful answers to the questions above, answers that will be useful as general guidelines for one to keep in mind whether working on larger web projects or smaller ones. 

A couple weeks ago we had our first Velora team meetup and spent the weekend exploring Bucharest, the capital city of Romania. It was a blast. Though we are a multimedia design studio based in Philadelphia, our team is spread across the world. We collaborate remotely everyday with each other using tools like our project management system, Dropbox, and Skype. Read on for pictures and more about what happened.

How do you differentiate yourself when there are so many similar applications and products in the market? The story, image and personality behind your brand is what can make your brand stand out. It is important to realize that people aren't just purchasing your product, they are purchasing an experience and the story behind the product. Everyone wants to hear a story and to be part of an experience. The most important thing a brand can do to promote their product or service is to make it tell a story. A great story adds value and personality to a brand and its products or services. It makes the product more approachable and friendly.

If your brand can present a unique story or make the customer feel like they are a part of something, you'll win big time.

Becoming more productive can help you get where you want to be with your business, but the answer to what you can do to become more productive usually isn't staring you in the face. We often get used to our workflow and make a habit of it. It takes effort to identify where bottlenecks are and to take action on improving your process to become more productive as a designer or business owner.

There are many different little things you can do to become more productive, ranging from meditation to exercising to learning how to speed read. We have outlined what we think are the five most important techniques that will have the greatest impact on your productivity as a designer or business owner. Following, reviewing and conditioning yourself to these five strategies will help you to optimize your workflow so that you can get more accomplished each day.