In the spirit of my post about the HOME button, I’ve also decided to take on the question of linking visitors from site A –> B. It’s my honest belief that a website shouldn’t trap the user by tossing all external links into a new browser window. To my surprise when I posted this question question to the LinkedIN community an overwhelming number of comments were in favor of popping up new windows for any links which take the user outside of the main site.

I believe I can break web users into two major groups;

Shorties – Those who are savvy and understand how to use shortcuts.

Mousers – Those who rely only on left-mouse clicks and are still learning how to use the right mouse button.

I don’t believe we should cater to the Mousers. There is a browser back button for a reason; to return you to the page you were just on. I’m not buying the bullshit argument that users will click on a link and forget how to get back to your site. I do however think that when you force new windows upon the user you run a greater risk of the user closing your site, in which case they lose the ability to click BACK.

Let’s just agree to keep it consistent and stop the madness of new browser windows UNLESS the user willingly right-clicks or opens them in a new tab…..by choice.

What drives you?

Being really good at what I do, staying on the leading edge of the industry, and having an impact on people who see/use my work. Too many people stagnate, if I ever start stagnating I want to be taken out back behind the chemical shed and ended.

When not by your computer, where might we find you on a Friday night?

There’s about a 95% chance I’ll be with friends, a 90% chance I’ll be up past 2 A.M., a 70% chance that I’ll be out on the town, and a 50% chance that at some point during the evening I’ll drink a great glass of scotch. Other possibilities include: beating people at Halo, playing pool, chess, or watching amazing movies like No Country For Old Men.

What’s more important loyalty, honesty or passion?

If it’s just one thing I think it has to be honesty. At least if someone is honest you know right away if they will be loyal or not.

Still I’d say ideally it’s a blend of all three. Passion is incredibly important to me, and therefore I need to see it from other people from time to time. If they don’t have passion chances are I won’t associate with them for too long.

If you were a rockstar, who would you be?

I’d like to say Zack de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine. He has a cause, he has a path he wants to follow, and he does it. The truth though is I don’t think many people could be Zack, even me, so I’d have to say Jon Bon Jovi. He seems nice, he’s into sports, and he knows how to rock it out.

Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, Tiger Woods or John Gruber? Which would you most want to grab beer with and why?

Steve Jobs terrifies the shit out of me. And while I’d love to pick his brain about his approach I think I’d just sit there being nervous. Obama I think I could actually open up to and have a good discussion with. He seems like he’d really listen and take ideas to heart, not to mention tell you when he thinks you’re wrong.

Barack is definitely my choice.

If Internet Explorer was a human and you were alone with it in a room for 30 minutes what would you say or do during that time?

There’s a very very high possibility that after I got the limbs off I’d eat them. Except IE8, I assume IE8 would join me in the feast.

Your bachelor pad is on fire, what are you grabbing as you leap out the window and race down the fire escape?

iPhone. It’d be the fastest way to get ahold of people and figure out the situation. Plus think of all the great tweets you could write.

“My house just burned down, fucking crazy. Want to grab a burger? – twitpic.com/holyfire”

*note: if I had a dog I’d take her instead of the phone.

What rules or general principles guide your coding or interface design?

I guess I look at the whole experience and what I really appreciate when using something. Sometimes you run into a site or concept that is just mind blowingly good and you think to yourself, “wow, someone really refined and nailed that, I should strive to do that in what I do.” That doesn’t mean I always achieve that level, but I’m constantly trying.

Give me a joke. Don’t hold back.

How do you make a baby cry twice? Hahaha, just kidding I’m not going to give that punch line on our blog.

Instead let’s go with: “How many Chuck Norris’ does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None. Chuck Norris likes to kill in the dark.”

What 3 things are you afraid of?

1. I’m terrified of death. Hence the reason I don’t drive with Scott often.
2. I’m really afraid of losing a coding finger. Especially to the garbage disposal.
3. I’m afraid of Kat’s raptor impression.

What 3 things could you improve on?

1. When I learn the most is when I do things on my own and don’t have people show me. I get too reliant on people around me from time to time.
2. I could be more conscientious of how my actions and approach effect other people. I think I know how I’m perceived but I’m sure I miss things.
3. I’d like to be more well read in other areas besides geek topics. I find people with a vast knowledge and cultural background to be fascinating.

What 5 artist are on your iPod right now?

• Rage Against the Machine
• Michael Jackson
• Dj Vernimal
• Brian Transeau
• Abdominal

If I could grant you one super-power what would it be?

The ability to read and grasp information 200x faster than I do right now.

What current trend just baffles you?

Girls wearing abnormally massive sunglasses. What is the fucking deal with that? Do they think covering their entire face with fake plastic gold plated glasses is attractive in any way?

Fill this in. I can’t believe I didn’t get tossed in jail for ____?

Using the blink tag.

* you could also replace blink tag with “spacer gif” and it’d be equally as hideous and revolting.

If you were a pro-wrestler, what would be your name?

It’d definitely be Pyrodeath. I mean… there’s no way I couldn’t name myself Pyrodeath. I’d light my pants on fire right before my final move of the match. It’d be seriously epic.

For us, Flash has it’s place. It’s not a tool which we here at Imulus use with indiscretion. There certainly is an audience for fully Flash-based sites, those which cater to rich-media, highly-interactive content and animation. Examples include movie, music, educational and television based sites.

I personally get angered by sites which use Flash to achieve a certain “look” at the expense of usability. While I’m not going to attack any particular site, I think you all know what I’m talking about, and you’ve seen it before. I’m talking about sites which take over your browser and go fullscreen without your permission. Sites in which the navigation is so much of a artistic element that it no longer becomes obvious to the end user. In most cases, when I see sites which could have been built using AJAX rather then Flash I tend to think the agency was more concerned for awards then actually building a site which is functional and user-friendly.

That’s my two-cents.

Can you really build a great Web site without having the visitor click their mouse button? I think that depends on the goal of the site. Don’t Click It is virtual catnip for those of us who feel compelled to click their mouse. I spent about 4 minutes on this site and although I mentally prepared myself not to click, I accidentally clicked within the voting area, damn it!

I enjoy a good site which makes me rethink my perception of a great user-interface; however I’m not sure we are ready to give up the mouse button just yet. For me, the experience of using mouseover as an alternative to the mouseclick just isn’t acceptable for a multitude of reasons:

1. Accidental Movements – While reading text I often will move the mouse off the page to avoid the distraction when reading. In a mouseover-only interface, this causes the content I’m reading to change. In addition, when moving across these regions the interface is constantly changing. This type of interactivity feels more like a loss of control rather then user-empowerment.
2. External Sites – Mouseover-only interfaces really eliminate the ability to link to external sites from within the Web content.
3. Direct Linking – This interface type doesn’t give the user the ability to share a link location to a particular page or frame within the site.

For me the overall experience was like cotton candy; nice to try but not something I want everyday.

Tell us a little about yourself. What do you do at Imulus?
I make myself obsolete. Everyday I try to start things up, get things going and then find someone better then me to get the job done. I’m always reinventing my job and I’m often critical of my own performance; most times I really wish I had a mentor to point me in the right direction. That would save a lot of time.

If you were a smell, what would you be and why?
I think the opinion of the office is different then mine. I would say I’d like to be Ammonia. It really wakes up the senses.

Where do you see Imulus going in 5 years?
I see us with several small web-products, a strong client base, a team of 20 or so people and a work environment and methodology which is emulated by others.

What do you love more than anything?
My baby girl Jillian. I thought I loved when I got married; but there really isn’t any love which is even close to the love of a parent for their kids. It’s way momma bear will always take on any foe which threatens her cubs, it’s hard wired love.

But if we are looking for something work related, I’d say I love change. I really enjoy adapting to the new challenges of the current economic crisis, shifting technologies and ideologies. It keeps my mind fresh and alive.

We all know that Kat is the best. What I want to know is, why do you think that? Please don’t be afraid to go into detail.
Well, she is. We struck gold when we found her and you’d have to pry her out of our cold-dead-hands before we’d give her up.

What kind of strange habits do you have?
I’m not a habit guy, sometime I really wish I had a few. But I honestly can’t think of any habits, maybe others have some opinion here.

How did you bag that foxy lady of a wife?
Roofies. I drugged her back in ‘96 and the effects haven’t worn off yet. Actually, I’m REALLY not sure. I certainly gave her plenty of reasons to go elsewhere but she stuck around and I decided to keep her. She is pretty awesome and I’m thankful to spend my life with her.

Tell me 10 ways to use a pencil other than writing.
1. A Weapon
2. Lever
3. Catapult
4. Dart
5. A deadfall trap
6. Eating Utensil
7. Post for tying back indoor plants
8. Support brace for a broken finger
9. Add stiff wire to make stick figures
10. To hold the jaws of an attacking beast open

How do you feel about hot pants?
If I wore them I would look like a Perdue Chicken reject.

What kind of qualities do you look for in a client?
1. Decisiveness
2. Good Communication
3. Mutual Respect and Honest Feedback
4. Actual money to pay us.

With your eyes closed, tell me step-by-step how to tie my shoes.
Pull the fuzzy Velcro strap across the harder side. You do wear Velcro right?

Are you hungry?
For food no. For work, yes.

If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
A Raven. They are key to so many stories across cultures and throughout time, yet they aren’t colorful and they aren’t song birds. They work well in groups but are just as often seen alone. They can survive in almost any condition and they aren’t hunted.

Where is my shaker of salt?
You used it up this morning on that Margarita.

If Imulus was a person, what kind of personality would he/she have?
An easy going, friendly, somewhat social 26 year old. Certainly opinionated, passionate and honest. It would look fairly fit but still carry a bit of a belly from all the partying.