Pushing a web app out the door is a lot like moving. There’s always a slew of extra chores you absolutely must complete before you can enjoy the satisfaction of launch. The facets of completing an application reach far beyond the interface design and functional development. You need a much broader set of components to nurture and grow your app:

1. Multi-device support (read: mobile)
2. Analytics
3. business intelligence
4. SEO
5. Security
6. Administration (intranet)

Everyone has a different way of handling these multiple fronts. At our company we employ a scrum-but process model. As the spanish like to say, “poco-a-poco.” Each sprint we force ourselves to tacke one or two items from the chore list along side the product development. It’s not the ideal but it’s enough to keep us agile and give us the tools we need to manage the product.

The world cup has reminded me how much I really like soccer, or as the rest of the world calls it, futbol!!! The athleticism, intelligence and creativity required to succeed elevate it to an elegance few sports can match. Every four years we americans wonder if it’s about to take off here too. Then we’re reminded of some of the ridiculous rules that would be ridiculed mercilessly in other sports.

Here are a few humble suggestions to help improve things:

No More Penalty Kick Shootouts

The penalty shootout is inherently flawed because it makes soccer no longer a team sport. It removes most of what makes the sport beautiful: teamwork, creativity, strategy (deking the goalie is a tactic, not a strategy).

Can you imagine if a hitter in baseball had the opportunity to hit from a tee? Or if an American football game was decided by field goals? It’s a perversion of the rules.

As an alternative I propose some rule changes that maintain the integrity of the game:

1. Disallow hand use by goalies after 90 minutes
2. Create an “orange card.” Any player that commits a foul in overtime is immediately removed from the game.
3. Eliminate throw-ins. They just waste time and encourage  momentum killing tactics.
4. Reinstate the “Golden Goal” rule so that the first goal ends the game.

Disallow “Running Out The Clock”

Too many sports allow this. Clock rules encourage idling and inaction. Cutting the game short is a cop-out. Baseball and tennis force you to give the other man his fair chance; you have to put the ball in play. The victory in those sports is complete.

Football and basketball partially solve the problem with “shot clocks”. At most you have a lame 30 seconds rather than 15 minutes or more.

Soccer should employ the shot clock as well:

• You must move the ball inside the 17y box within 2’
• Moving the ball back into your half (or retreating twice in a row) is a penalty.

Post the official time

Only one person on the field, in the stadium, or watching on television knows the actual time of the game: the referee.

I can’t fathom the reasoning for this. Surprise? Tradition? Union rights?There’s no good reason in this day and age that an element so essential to the game theory is kept a secret.

The current solution of add-on time is a hack. if the NFL can relay time from the head referee’s watch to the clock then so can FIFA.

Provide The Complete Text

Don’t truncate. Your layout must accommodate the full text. If you need to cut text to fit a layout for aesthetic reasons then the layout must be redone. Design should complement the content.

Display Full Images

Imagery such as slideshows and mastheads are content. Covering them with buttons, labels, captions usually gets in the way. It’s a distraction. This is even more important when serving User Generated Content. Your customer is paying you to present their hard work. Don’t contaminate their content with your UI.

Content Before Ads

Never push content out of the focus area in favor of ads. Your customers’ intent is to access your content. Pushing that content over, down or in to fit more ads “above the fold” means you are really just pushing your users away. People on the hunt for content will navigate around those distractions and then receive an inferior content experience. Ads should be treated as content and integrated via timing and interactions instead of space.

Clarify the play button

Audio and video content that requires a user trigger should have a single clear point to begin playback. Do not add conflicting buttons or icons around and near the content.

Anticipate Error Conditions

User generated content will contain misshapen images, blurry photos, bad typography, grammatical errors, and run-on titles. A well design tool accommodates humanity.

Rules of the road

• In New York cars drive on the right side of the road. In London they drive on the wrong side. Be extra vigilant of cars on your newly exposed flank.
• You might think it’s safer to bike on the left side of the road as cars operate on the right. This is wrong. The correct position is the center of the road (or “ centre” as you incorrectly call it) to discourage cars from side-swiping you at intersections.
• There are clear, well-marked bike lanes traversing the busiest intersections (i.e. Times square, Herald Square, Union Square, et al). Avoid these at all costs. The green paint and dearth of cars encourages pedestrians to clog the bike lane.

Basic Navigation

• In Manhattan even streets run east, while odd streets run west. Except in the west village where streets bend in circles through the space-time continuum. It’s often faster to bike around this area rather than attempt to go through it.
• Bike lanes are marked on the left side of the street. Except when they’re on the right side.
• The cross-town bike paths found at 9th, 10th, 20th, 21st, 29th, 30th streets are by far the slowest routes. Use Houston, 14th, 23rd and 34th instead.
• Uptown & downtown bike lanes can be found on 1st avenue and 2nd avenue respectively. Use the red bus lanes instead. Cabs accelerate into bike lanes during left turns, and the bus behind you will serve as motivation.

Cycling Safety

• Never signal. It is a sign of weakness and will only help guide the cabbies who are trying to hit you. Hand signals are also more likely to confuse civilian drivers rather than alert them.
• The correct way to run a red light, or “jump” as you incorrectly call it, is fading left with crossing traffic. This allows you to weave through the gridlock caused as cars slam on their brakes.
• It is best to accelerate when approaching a crosswalk that is full of jay-walkers. Any hint of hesitation will encourage more of them to walk into the street.
• Biking the Brooklyn Bridge is a full contact sport. Make liberal use of your bike polo mallet. Collect 10 points for each tourist you hit. 20 for any taking a selfie.

New York Life

• There’s no need to purchase lights, bells, fenders, or other accessories as it’s quite acceptable to take any that are attached to bikes nearby.
• Young white bike messengers are still a vibrant and crucial element in the socio-economic ecosystem of new york.
• New York tends toward more extreme weather than London with hotter summers and colder winters. There is no bad weather, only bad clothing. Ask the delivery men.
• As anti-theft measure you should purchase a lock that is more expensive than the bike it is protecting. This will help ensure only your lights, bell and fenders are stolen.