The 37signals Transition
Once upon a time, I was worked with a company that hired 37signals to do web usability and design work. It really wasn’t that long ago that they only did consulting.
The ship has changed course. They are now a software company: “Simple softare to help you get organized.” Indeed, it takes effort to find their consulting page, which is really just their old home page.
Personally I think this move by 37signals is smart. They have talented developers and designers, but they have less skill with hard core usability. Don’t get me wrong, they are good but they never really did focus on “usability” as most people think about it: research and testing. Although they don’t do usability deeply, they most definitely understand usability. Their work is excellent.