House Style at Microsoft: In Front of and Behind the Scenes
By Molly Holzschlag
Some people are born with it, others have to develop it. Either way, having a personal style helps position you for success. Personal outer style can help you stand out from the ho-hum crowd, and inner style gives you the strength and flexibility to face challenge and change.
For five years, I worked as a contract designer and community manager for the Microsoft Network (home.microsoft.com). I recently decided to move on, but I began thinking about what I had learned there regarding my own definition of style. As a result, I now understand the need to define a company-wide and consistent methodology to guide developers as they perform their daily tasks. The lessons I'm sharing with you today come from watching MSN struggle to define its personal identity.
I'm not just talking about style sheets here, although they play a significant part in addressing site-wide style concerns. What I'm really referring to is the development of a style manual -- an organizational dress code that you and your developers adhere to daily.
While an HTML style manual is an imperative for hand coders, it is also wise for individuals and teams that use WYSIWYG software programs (see "
Inside My Toolbox"). Most professional WYSIWYG HTML software tools provide a way for users to define preferences.
