Traditional websites need to learn from blogs just like traditional firms need to learn from design shops
Just as traditional firms need to learn from design shops, so too should traditional websites learn from blogs, wikis and social networking sites like Orkut, Flickr, LinkedIn, etc.
Traditional websites need to adopt the best attributes from blogs and social software such as RSS, easy publishing, easy ability to create multi-pages with easy to understand URLs, ability to update the website via multiple methods including web browsers, emails, etc.
From Fast Company Now - Smart Thoughts on Smart Design:
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Traditional firms will have to start looking much more like design shops on a number of important dimensions...Whereas traditional firms organize around ongoing tasks and permanent assignments, in design shops, work flows around projects with defined terms. The source of status in traditional firms is 'managing big budgets and large staffs,' but in design shops, it derives from building a track record of finding solutions to 'wicked problems'--solving tough mysteries with elegant solutions. Whereas the style of work in traditional firms involves defined roles and seeking the perfect answer, design firms feature extensive collaboration, 'charettes' (focused brainstorming sessions), and constant dialogue with clients. "When it comes to innovation, business has much to learn from design. The philosophy in design shops is, 'try it, prototype it, and improve it.' Designers learn by doing. The style of thinking in traditional firms is largely inductive--proving that something actually operates--and deductive--proving that something must be. Design shops adds abductive reasoning to the fray--which involves suggesting that something may be, and reaching out to explore it."
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