The importance of culture is sometimes hard to explain, especially when you’re small; but it becomes quite obvious once you start to grow. Culture can change quickly; it only takes a few team members that do not fit the model to create a cultural change that quickly spreads. Culture has to be nurtured, and as a team we need to be relentless about hiring designers and developers that strengthen our culture and avoid those that don’t. Take a look at a few characteristics of people we look for at Engage and why:

Providing a better user experience (UX) is not just about making the site speedy or visually appealing – it is about making the site more enjoyable to use in order to drive conversations with consumers and promote your brand. As we begin a new year, many of the web design and development trends we see revolve around UX – from more effectively curating content, to making interactions clear and accessible to sprinkling in subtle animations. In no particular order, here are the top trends for 2016.

If you're like me, and get most current events via your Twitter feed or have spent some time looking up hilarious memes on Google Images, then you’ve experienced infinite scrolling—a web design technique in which content continually loads as a user scrolls down the page. Infinite scrolling is most commonly utilized on social networking sites such as Twitter and Tumblr, and websites like ESPN.com, where the ability to quickly scan information is a major component of the user experience.

Nothing is more frustrating than trying to read a company’s Web site on your phone and having to scroll up and down, zoom in and out, and strain your eyes until you find the right information–especially when you’re in a hurry.

Mobile First Responsive Web Design is a combination of philosophies and strategies that focus first on mobile devices, as well as user accessibility when creating a design. Websites and digital applications are getting more and more complex, and with that change, designers need to create experiences that work across the entire array of digital devices out there in the wild.

This year's Day of DotNetNuke in Charlotte, NC was my second time presenting at the event, and overall I think it was a success. It was a great event as always, with plenty of knowledge, appreciation, and laughs shared. The DNN Core members, sponsors, and of course the guys at Queen City User Group really pulled it off.