Last night one of my friends organized a potluck on two hours notice.

It’s not the first time something like this has happened, but when I saw the various dishes we’d prepared, it reminded me of the various ways that people will approach their website design.

One person brought a pair of French baguettes and some nice cheeses.

Another looked about her apartment, saw what ingredients she had available, opened up a cookbook and made us an eggplant/Poblano pepper relish from fresh ingredients, making substitutions as necessary.

Me, I heard what the other participants were making, ran off to the supermarket, saw some fresh ingredients I thought would go well together, came up with a plan on the spot, and made an apple, beef, teriyaki udon.

All three dishes were wonderful, but they were definitely improved by being served in combination.

The Simple Side

The cheese board was definitely reminiscent of a template website. It was quick, required a minimum of effort, and allowed for some personal customization. On it’s own it would have been a very plain dish, but as a side it was perfect. Social Media profile pages work well as when you just want a standardized template that will go well with the rest of your online presence.

The Controlled Experiment

The eggplant/pepper relish reminded me of people who start with standard site building software, but are willing to play with the underlying code as they realize that the off the shelf version can’t actually do what they want. By staying close to a recipe you can be reasonably certain that you will turn out a reasonable site with some original (or at least customized) functionality. However, as you host more sophisticated visitors, they will realize that you have not truly struck out on your own.

The Original Dish

The sweet and savory udon seemed most like what we focus on here at MB/I. After hearing what dishes were going to be a part of the meal, and examining the market to see what was new and what would offer the best quality for the money, I came up with an approach that fit the needs of the meal, brought my creative talent to bare in order to successfully (and deliciously) complete my plan, all while testing the product to ensure that it was developing properly.

All together, the potluck was a great success. It is good to have friends who can coordinate on short notice.

Let me know what you think, post a reply below.

- Aaron