Thinkcage

Clicking “no” exits the installer. Is it just me or is this complete gibberish?

Dragon installer

If you start micromanaging people, then the very best ones leave.

If the very best people leave, then the people you’ve got left actually require more micromanagement. Eventually, they get chased away, and then you’ve got to invest in a whole apparatus of micromanagement. Pretty soon, you’re running a police state. So micromanagement doesn’t scale because it spirals down, and you end up with below-average employees in terms of motivation and ability.

— NYT interview with Cristóbal Conde, president and C.E.O. of SunGard

Again we’ve decided to do forego paper cards and send electronic cards with a link back to this post. No complaints when we did it last year so I think this tradition is a keeper.

So, that said, we just want to wish you a very Merry Christmas. We’ve had a great year and want share some of the highlights with you.

Grace is a fourth-grader now. She had a big year with getting her braces on and switching from soccer and gymnastics to tennis. She went skiing for the first time in February and hasn’t met a critter she doesn’t like. Currently her collection includes two small red-eared slider turtles. Grace loves art, always making something in her room. She has been expanding her interest in art taking after school art classes and even participated in an art camp in the fall where she was able to show her work at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

Brett is now is seventh grade — his second year of middle school. Brett still loves video games, Lego, and building increasingly elaborate cities in the sandbox in the back yard. He’s really started to take some interest in technology making videos with his friends. He’s also become the iPod expert at his school helping his friends install the latest and greatest software. He also got to ski for the first time this year and joined the school Cross Country team in the fall. Brett stays busy but never misses a chance to relax in a hot bath or with a big blanket.

Jason has had a big year, too. Early in the year he accepted a new job that allows him to do what he loves and work from home. He works with an amazing team of people — it is truly a dream job. Jason continues to have way more interests than time and splits his focus among family, work, music, art, games, yard work, etc.

Holly is busier than all of us combined, it seems. She’s always got a project going wether it is building a deck in the back yard, landscaping, or remodeling the house. And that’s just at home. Many of her friends and neighbors have asked Holly to work on their projects, too. All this while keeping the rest of us in line and making sure everyone is fed, dressed and where they need to be when they need to be there. Whew.

It’s been a wild year and we can’t wait to see what is in store for 2010. We hope all of you are doing well and that you have a wonderful Christmas and New year.

Love,

The Zimdars
Jason, Holly, Brett & Grace

Please enjoy these pictures from the past year (click each one to see it larger).

Swiss Underground home.

I love everything about this from the unique and eco-friendly underground design to the beautiful, natural materials — all with a modern aesthetic.

Tons more pictures here.

I’ve really been enjoying photos posted at The Impossible Cool. This simple blog showcases incredible photos of famous writers, actors, directors, artists, etc. Most of the photos are ones that I’ve never seen before and are, indeed, impossibly cool. Definitely give it a look.

The site made me think of one of my favorite photos of all time. This is a photo of my grandpa Zimdars looking every bit like a Chicago gangster posing with his car in Wisconsin. I don’t know the year, or what kind of car, or the occasion; but I’ve always thought that this photo just dripped cool.

Here’s a scan of the image:

Grandpa Zimdars, impossibly cool

Update: Michael Farley suggests the car is a 1931 Pontiac 6. Beautiful car.

An interview I did with Tiago from Locaweb in Brazil is now online. Read Entrevista com Jason Zimdars, designer visual da 37Signals on their user experience blog (yes, it’s mostly in English).

I haven’t been writing much here, now that most of my effort has been on pieces for Signal vs. Noise and our new Design Explorations series. Here are a few recent articles in case you missed them:

• Exploring the Basecamp Account (Upgrade/Billing) screen
• Highrise Edit Contacts Screen
• Work in Photoshop, don’t save in Photoshop
• “Good enough” instead of “absolutely perfect”
• Design Decisions: Redesigning Basecamp’s global milestone view
• Working at 37signals

I’ve been working on some really great new features in Basecamp that I think you’ll like. Keep an eye on SvN and our Product Blog for updates.