Sprint 0, and its close cousin the design sprint, came about to solve real, everyday challenges. But do they deliver real value or just an illusion? In this article, Shamsi Brinn proposes an alternative first sprint that supports agile teamwork and delivers measurable results.
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To combat screen fatigue, voice assistants have entered the market to become a preferred option for quickly retrieving information. Voice assistants are hopping out of emerging tech and into everyday life. As a front end developer, you already have the skills to build one, so, in this article, Tris Tolliday will dive into the platforms.
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In case you missed it, we launched the Smashing Podcast just a few weeks ago — a bi-weekly podcast that is moderated by our dear friend and colleague, Drew McLellan. And so it’s time for another monthly update! Join us as we share the latest news and highlight the things we have enjoyed reading over the past month.
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Data analysis, tools and workflow are very helpful for UX designers in a data-driven world, especially for those working on visualizations or data products. Since we live in an increasingly data-driven world, basic data literacy is useful for almost any professional — not just UX designers. With this article, Adonis Raduca would like to give UX designers the knowledge and tools to incorporate data into their daily routines.
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Skipping servers and using the JAMstack to build and deliver websites and apps can save time, money, and headache by allowing us to deliver only static assets on a CDN. But the trade-off of ditching traditional server-based deployments means that standard approaches to dynamic, asynchronous interactions in our sites and apps aren’t available anymore.
Does that mean that JAMstack sites can’t handle dynamic interactions? Definitely not!
JAMstack sites are great for creating highly dynamic, asynchronous interactions. With some small adjustments to how we think about our code, we can create fun, immersive interactions using only static assets!
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In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about variable fonts. What are they, how do they differ from regular fonts, and how can they help in the design and performance of our websites? Drew McLellan speaks to a font of knowledge on the matter, Jason Pamental.
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Having a face-to-face meeting with your client can cause anxiety for those of us that push pixels for a living, but even the simplest kind of sketching can help. The sitemap meeting can be a minefield of multiple stakeholders, multi-dimensional categories, historical analytics, new products and mobile-first demands. Using a live illustration of a customer site journey, you can create a meaningful sitemap with which site visitors will resonate.
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Inclusive Components started shipping this month, and the response is overwhelmingly positive. This book is an essential handbook on how to build the most common interface patterns in an accessible way, but it’s also a set of blueprints for building inclusively on every project.
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You spend so much time focused on other people’s websites that it’s easy to put yours on the backburner and tell yourself, “I’ll fix it up someday soon.” But do you really want to wait to improve your professional portfolio site? It could be bringing you a lot more business — a lot more quality business, too — if you’d only spend some more time on it. In this article, Suzanne Scacca explains why spending that time turning it into a PWA would be worth your while.
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A roundup of Advent Calendar sites of interest to web designers and developers. From accessibility to UX, coding challenges to Perl, there really is something for everyone this December.
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