From our brains to your screen, get the latest from our team on digital strategy, building better teams, and making the most of AI.
Featured insights. First result: “Write for People, Not Algorithms”.
September 14, 2026
As we think about handing more work off to AI agents, we need a framework for understanding both the type of work we're delegating and the consequences when an agent gets something wrong.
The one-way versus two-way door distinction gives us a useful mental model for what kind of work agents can do. It helps us determine the level of autonomy they should have.
4 mins
August 19, 2026
If you want to experience what work will feel like in the future, Grok Bot is the most accessible way to do it.
It gets the chat-like interface, agent orchestration, and connections right. The models and privacy questions are why I'm staying on Codex.
7 mins
July 28, 2026
What OpenAI's Hugging Face incident tells companies about AI workflows that can act without human approval.
A practical review for deciding which AI actions should remain independent, require approval, or be removed.
7 mins
July 13, 2026
ChatGPT Work is bringing agentic workflows to a much broader audience, but the transition from using a chatbot to managing agents is more complicated than the labs make it look.
Organizations need to help people learn how to assign work, provide context and tools, evaluate outcomes, and know when to step in.
4 mins
May 25, 2026
Mostly Serious tested AI-assisted workflows in Vei, our internal test environment for realistic business systems. In 32 of 36 completed runs, at least one field we checked was still wrong after better information arrived.
The issue was not always that the AI misunderstood the situation. Often, the AI made the summary better while failing to update the fields another person would rely on later.
6 mins
April 24, 2026
A website can keep loading, submitting forms, and technically doing its job while quietly introducing people to an outdated version of the business behind it.
Our long-term relationship with OMB shows what happens when a website foundation and the team behind it keep adapting as the business grows into new divisions, new audiences, and new offerings.
6 mins
April 14, 2026
The AI industry wraps simple concepts in complex language. Agents, agentic workflows, and multi-agent orchestration can sound like they require a computer science degree. They don't.
A practical look at how folder-based AI systems handle real organizational work, from marketing content to client onboarding, and why the barrier to entry is lower than the jargon suggests.
8 mins
February 24, 2026
AI made it easy to produce content at scale. It also made it easy to produce content nobody wants to read. The companies winning in search and AI-driven discovery are the ones publishing content with real perspective, not the ones generating hundreds of keyword-stuffed articles a month.
7 mins
February 17, 2026
Most AI training ends with excited teams and productivity gains. But a few weeks in, people are spending their AI time re-explaining context. Skills are portable, shareable instructions that teach AI how to handle specific work. They change that pattern and help training compound across an organization.
4 mins
February 5, 2026
This is a guide for the people who get a little nervous when they need to open Terminal (or don't know what it is). I'll try to break down the complexity, simplify the buzzwords, and allow you to build something quite incredible within the next hour.
14 mins
February 2, 2026
AI runs my week. I started this as an experiment to test the capabilities of the latest models over a year ago. Since then, it has become a core part of my daily workflow. This post outlines that system, how it works, how it helps me, and where it still fails to do the innately human stuff.
6 mins
January 27, 2026
Why AI pilots stall in 'pilot purgatory' and why failure is often the signal that teams are learning fast enough to make the next model jump count.
A practical look at the 30-day Implementation Launchpad approach for mapping workflows, shipping focused pilots, and building AI agents that actually work.
8 mins
January 25, 2026
At CES, it was obvious how wide the gap still is between knowing about AI and actually running it inside everyday work. Even advanced audiences can describe the tools but very few are operating with autonomous agents or the workflows that make them worth it.
The companies pulling ahead are the ones that keep failing fast, redesigning team structures, and shrinking the human layer to make space for always-on execution partners. That shift is already here, and most organizations are not ready for it.
9 mins
December 4, 2025
Anthropic built an AI-powered interview tool and used it to talk to 1,250 professionals about how they actually feel about AI at work. They spoke with the general workforce, scientists, and creatives.
The research validates a lot of what we're seeing. People tend to like AI, they use it frequently, and they're still uneasy about it.
5 mins
December 1, 2025
With the launch of this new website, we're bringing our three divisions, Mostly Serious, Habitat, and MSAI, into one space. It's important to understand how this all came together.
Fifteen years ago, Mostly Serious started in a spare bedroom building websites. Along the way, we built a team and culture that actually works, and that foundation led to Habitat and MSAI. Three divisions, one team, solving connected problems.
2 mins
November 26, 2025
As AI tools become part of everyday work, the model you choose has a huge impact on quality, speed, and how “smart” the assistant feels. That might be 4o, o3, 4.5, o3-pro, or whatever comes next.
This article shares how we teach teams to think about model choice in AI Quest Foundations, including simple personas for today’s ChatGPT models and why learning to pick the right one is a skill that will only matter more over time.
4 mins
November 5, 2025
Most companies try to bolt generative AI onto existing workflows instead of reimagining how work should run when AI is in the loop, and that choice quietly determines who gets real ROI from these tools.
Drawing on data from Wharton’s 2025 AI Adoption Report and lessons from more than 50 organizations in our AI Quest program, this piece explains why smaller, more flexible teams are seeing outsized gains and how any company can start redesigning work for generative AI.
4 mins
September 26, 2025
OpenAI Pulse is a new ChatGPT experience that proactively does research and delivers personalized updates based on your ongoing conversations, feedback, and connected apps like your calendar, instead of waiting for you to ask.
For teams thinking seriously about AI, Pulse is an early glimpse of a future where off‑the‑shelf assistants predict what you need next, replace fragile custom workflows, and quietly meet you where you already work.
2 mins
September 15, 2025
Instead of obsessing over the number-one blue link, this article shows you how to become the source AI overviews and answer engines quote when they synthesize an entire topic.
You'll learn how to structure pages, schema, evidence, and measurement so your content is clear, quotable, and trustworthy for both humans and generative search systems.
11 mins
September 10, 2025
Digital accessibility requirements are becoming sharper, broader, and tougher, and regulations in the U.S. and Europe are redefining what "compliant enough" really means for your website.
This guide highlights the most urgent 2025 updates across ADA, HHS, and European Accessibility Act rules so you can understand which industries are most at risk, where your site may be falling behind, and how Mostly Serious can help you get ahead of enforcement and lawsuits.
4 mins
April 17, 2025
B2B buyers are searching, skimming, and comparing long before they ever fill out a form, so your website can’t afford to act like a static brochure.
This article walks through four practical B2B SEO moves: industry-specific landing pages, cleaner navigation, conversion-focused product copy, and intentional link-building. Together, they can turn your site into a real lead-generation engine in an AI-shaped search landscape.
4 mins
February 4, 2025
Neglected websites quietly turn into security liabilities, performance bottlenecks, and lost revenue as outdated CMS versions, vulnerable plugins, and poor builds pile up, and marketing teams are often stuck waiting on overloaded IT or agencies to clean up the mess.
This article unpacks the real costs of website neglect, explains why proactive maintenance and our Craft CMS Health Check are smarter long-term investments, and outlines how a structured audit can stabilize your site, protect customer trust, and create a foundation for growth.
10 mins
January 20, 2025
Quality Assurance Testing is the final comprehensive check before launch, a cross-departmental effort to catch bugs, verify accessibility, and ensure every feature works as intended.
This Process Spotlight walks through our three-stage QA workflow: developer testing with accessibility and security tools, collaborative team review using Marker.io and Asana, and structured client testing windows that keep launches smooth and error-free.
13 mins
January 15, 2025
Learn how LLMs have improved President of Mostly Serious Spencer Harris' writing productivity by helping him overcome initial hurdles, allowing him to focus on what he likes most: editing and refining his work.
This article shares practical strategies for using AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT to generate first drafts, refine messy prose, explore counterarguments, and discover topics you might have missed, turning blank page anxiety into productive editing sessions.
9 mins
November 21, 2024
Creativity is what makes brands feel truly distinct, but every bold idea asks leaders to accept real risk instead of staying safely on the well-worn path.
This article explores how to evaluate the return on creative risk, learn from your customers, iterate your way toward bolder ideas, and test and refine brand moves so you can stand out without tanking trust or results.
9 mins
October 29, 2024
This Dot One 2024 workshop recaps how to move beyond AI hype and start using tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and NotebookLM as part of your everyday work, from learning new topics faster to researching clients and preparing for sales conversations.
Use this article as the interactive companion to the talk: you’ll find links to the tools we used, copy‑and‑pasteable prompts, and a practical FAQ you can share with teammates who are just getting started with AI.
8 mins
August 20, 2024
As AI search and Search Generative Experiences change how people find information, measuring SEO performance has become more complex than watching keyword rankings.
This article reframes SEO value around people-first metrics, engagement, helpfulness, brand visibility, and conversions, and explains how to adapt your measurement strategy so you can prove ROI and keep your content strategy resilient in an AI-shaped search landscape.
10 mins
August 17, 2024
Accessibility has always been important for websites, but as new legislation and standards are developed, it stands to become even more significant.
This article explores the current state of website accessibility, who is responsible for compliance, what WCAG standards mean for your business, and how Mostly Serious helps clients build accessible websites that meet legal requirements while improving user experience for everyone.
7 mins
August 15, 2024
Craft CMS integrations connect your website with powerful services and tools, from e-commerce platforms and search engines to AI, CRMs, and specialized industry solutions, enabling a more integrated digital experience.
This article explores top Craft integrations across eight categories, including Shopify for unified commerce, Algolia for smarter search, Airtable for workflow management, ChatGPT for AI-powered content, and DeepL for multilingual support, plus how to choose the right integrations for your business goals.
4 mins
August 1, 2024
Many companies are so focused on debating whether AI will evolve toward human-level intelligence that they overlook the tangible, immediate benefits generative AI offers today.
This article explores why businesses should use AI now, from concrete efficiency and quality gains to early adoption advantages, and outlines a practical three-part approach without waiting for an uncertain future.
11 mins
July 26, 2024
Craft Commerce 5 introduces multi-store management, inventory locations, tiered pricing, and product versioning, features that give businesses more control and flexibility without sacrificing ease of use.
The new first-party Stripe plugin syncs products, subscriptions, customers, and invoices directly with Craft Commerce, offering a cost-effective migration path and enhanced customization options for businesses seeking world-class ecommerce without compromising on content or user experience.
8 mins
July 22, 2024
Tailwind CSS includes most utility classes you need for styling based on element states, but sometimes you need custom variants that don’t exist out of the box.
This article shows how to create custom state variants using Tailwind’s plugin system, from simple is-active variants to global application state utilities, with just a few lines of code.
6 mins
July 17, 2024
We started 2024 with an experiment: intentionally opening ourselves up to new types of work and evolving our processes to better accomplish client goals.
After six months of running our "YFL" (yess-er, faster, lighter) approach and MS Doubtfire framework, we reflect on what worked, including Critical Problem Meetings and improved client collaboration, and what we learned about staying agile while maintaining quality.
11 mins
July 10, 2024
Healthcare systems are under pressure to make access to care feel as intuitive as consumer apps, but legacy scheduling tools, scattered provider data, and manual workflows often get in the way.
This article breaks down how Kyruus-powered scheduling and directory integrations can simplify patient access, keep provider data accurate, and support real-world care journeys, highlighting a CoxHealth case study that shows what this looks like in practice.
9 mins
January 1, 2023
After more than a decade of building and maintaining custom websites, our team keeps coming back to Craft CMS as the easiest platform for real people to use day to day.
This article walks through the learning curve, preview tools, carefully scoped features, plugins, and modular content blocks that make Craft feel approachable for new editors without sacrificing power for your digital team.
8 mins
December 12, 2022
Static imports and generic selectors can quietly turn your Craft CMS or multi‑page application into a slow, brittle JavaScript monolith.
In this Process Spotlight, senior developer Cornelius Ukena walks through how our team uses dynamic imports, data attributes, and Svelte adapters to keep front‑ends lean, explicit, and maintainable over time.
11 mins
November 18, 2022
In B2B marketing, the most effective content doesn’t shout for attention, it quietly answers the exact questions your buyers are already asking, long before they ever talk to sales.
This guide walks through a four-step expert-content process you can use to identify key decision-makers, uncover their real pain points, interview your internal experts, and turn those insights into evergreen content that converts across channels.
9 mins
November 15, 2022
Mostly Serious has been leveraging AI and machine learning tools for years, from marketing automation to our custom DeepL translation solution. This year, we're making significant investments in AI, bringing ChatGPT Plus to every team member, building additional AI solutions, and enhancing our internal operations.
In this transparent look at our AI strategy, CEO Jarad Johnson shares our history with AI tools, how we're currently utilizing ChatGPT across teams, our approach to balancing AI with human creativity, and our commitment to responsible adoption that protects brands while delivering real value.
14 mins
October 4, 2022
In the last few years, more and more organizations have started asking whether a multilingual website could help them better serve customers and stay competitive.
This article explains what we mean by a multilingual website, how it compares to free browser-based translation tools, three questions to ask before you invest, and how Craft CMS plus DeepL can make managing multiple languages surprisingly manageable for your team.
8 mins
July 11, 2022
Estimating a new website project may never be perfectly predictable, but it shouldn’t feel like a shot in the dark.
In this Process Spotlight, Mostly Serious engineer Mike Moreau shares how our team uses real time data, detailed task lists, and simple formulas to produce estimates that are transparent, realistic, and easy to talk about with clients.
6 mins
June 22, 2022
When your site starts to pick up small design quirks, a button that looks off, a layout with awkward gaps, visitors notice, and their trust takes a hit long before you see it in analytics.
This Process Spotlight explains how breaking your site into reusable modules keeps design consistent, speeds up publishing, and gives authors just enough control without letting things drift off‑brand.
6 mins
June 2, 2022
Twig is the templating language behind every Craft CMS site we build, and over the years our engineering team has collected a grab bag of shortcuts, functions, and filters we reach for again and again.
This quick reference rounds up our favorite “TwigBits” for reading config, working with global variables and services, generating HTML, wielding powerful filters, keeping templates DRY, and debugging effectively in Craft.
10 mins
October 5, 2021
WordPress may be the most popular content management system on the web, but for teams who care about flexible content, performance, and long-term maintainability, Craft CMS often delivers a better day-to-day experience.
This article compares Craft CMS and WordPress across eight practical categories, from content editing and SEO to plugins, ecommerce, and pricing, and explains why we usually recommend Craft CMS and Craft Commerce for client projects.
9 mins
June 1, 2021
When you need the flexibility of a custom content-first website and the power of a proven ecommerce platform, combining Craft CMS and Shopify can be a smart way to get the best of both worlds, if you understand the trade‑offs.
This article walks through the pros and cons of a blended Craft + Shopify approach, compares lightweight Buy Button embeds to full-store integrations, and shares how we help clients choose the right platform mix for their goals, budget, and internal team.
9 mins
January 25, 2018
When 417 Magazine asked Mostly Serious to help overhaul its family of magazine websites, the project quickly grew into a full rethinking of how their digital products serve readers and internal teams.
This behind-the-scenes look walks through how we rebuilt our discovery process, collaborated shoulder-to-shoulder with 417's team, and engineered a flexible, component-based platform that now powers thousands of pages across three publications.
8 mins
January 17, 2018
Even beautifully designed websites can quietly leak leads when copy runs long, navigation feels confusing, or contact forms ask too much of visitors.
This article walks through four common website missteps, unfocused copy, missing incentivizing language, unclear navigation, and clunky conversion points, and offers simple ways to tighten each so your site converts more visitors into real inquiries.
5 mins
July 4, 2017
When you’re planning a new website, it can be tempting to reach for the quickest path, a plug-and-play site builder or an off-the-shelf template, without stopping to ask whether that approach can really support your goals.
This article outlines three clear signs you may be ready for a custom, ground-up website build that’s designed around your conversions, business objectives, and real customers instead of template constraints.
5 mins
March 12, 2017
If your website feels “good enough” but still isn’t pulling its weight, there are a handful of warning signs that usually mean it’s time for a thoughtful overhaul, not just a fresh hero line or new photos.
From low conversions and sluggish performance to outdated content and inflexible tools, this checklist walks through ten of the most common red flags we see when organizations are ready to turn their site into a true revenue-generating, customer-pleasing asset.
8 mins
October 13, 2016
CoxHealth, a five-hospital health system headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, partnered with Mostly Serious to launch a fully responsive website that spans more than 600 pages and makes it easier for patients and families to find what they need.
The new site puts search tools and high-traffic tasks like bill pay and patient portals front and center, all on top of a modern content management system that will support CoxHealth’s growing digital presence for years to come.
4 mins
