Yes, deliverables can slow us down and result in documentation that no one reads. But the right deliverables anchor teams in a united product vision, provide early validation for product ideas and speed up (the right) making activities. Those are worth the drawbacks for me. “Get out of the deliverables business” has become quite a mantra in the lean startup and UX movements. What follows is an account of Rian van der Merwe’s journey in navigating stormy design seas together with the community. Remember, deliverables aren’t bad. Bad deliverables are bad.
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Have you used calc()? It’s a function that should work as a value in all places where a number value — with or without specified units — works. However, while basic support is really good, you might run into trouble depending on where you use it. In this article, Ana Tudor will look at a few examples of how to use calc() including what support problems they have (if any) and whether they’re ultimately the best solution.
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User-testing mobile apps and websites is an essential component of the UX toolkit. Running regular mobile usability tests is the only way to gauge how well this channel is working for your customers. A bit of hacking is required. And, after years of experimentation, Colman Walsh thinks he’s figured out the best hack available yet. If you want to test iPhone or Android experiences, this solution is simple, cost-effective and high quality. After your first time getting things together, setup takes about five minutes the second time, and you can have this solution in place for less than $200 if you’re using a MacBook. (By comparison, Morae, the high-end usability testing software, sells for $2,000.)
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This post features artwork for December 2015. Each month, we challenge you, the design community, to get your creative juices flowing and produce some interesting and inspiring desktop wallpapers. And well, we are very thankful to everyone who tickles their creativity and contributes to this challenge every month. The wallpapers all come in versions with and without a calendar and can be downloaded for free. Now it’s up to you to decide: which one will deck your desktop this month? All images can be clicked on and lead to the preview of the wallpaper.
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The “P” in P versus NP stands for polynomial time. That just means we can predict the maximum amount of time it will take to solve the problem. You may have never heard of P versus NP, but in this article, Zack Grossbart will walk you through it, show you how it works and explain why it matters. There’s a little math, but don’t worry; it’s all pretty easy. P versus NP is a mathematical question masquerading as a philosophical one. It describes the difference between solving a problem and knowing whether you’ve solved it.
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What’s going on in the industry? What new techniques have emerged recently? What insights, tools, tips and tricks is the web design community talking about? Anselm Hannemann is collecting everything that popped up over the last week in his web development reading list so that you don’t miss out on anything. The result is a carefully curated list of articles and resources that are worth taking a closer look at.
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Validate your fundamental assumptions as early as possible, building a minimum viable product. If the minimum viable product does not work as it should, don’t blame it. Treat the cause, not the symptom. Do customer development before you start. Don’t aim to revolutionize something. Aim to make something better. Don’t start building before you have a clear understanding of your customers. In this article, Yaakov Karda will share a few insights, mistakes and lessons learned, so you know what to watch out for in your projects.
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Today’s SEO industry is split into two related fields: content marketing and technical optimisation. The ability to create content that resonates with audiences and communicates a brand identity is vital to the success of any website, and articles exploring every intricacy of this art can be found on the web with relative ease. In this article, Tom Bennet will be exploring three of the fundamental principles of technical SEO. By the end, you’ll be armed with a wealth of techniques for organic search optimization that are applicable to almost all established websites. Let’s get started.
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Technologies should never hold you back, and this book is nothing short of a strategic guide on how to use them efficiently to build flexible, scalable responsive systems today. Dive deep into how to actually apply mobile first to a design workflow, learn about the multi-column layout and how you can use it today, move towards designing atoms and elements first, and learn how to establish style guides, and much more! The brand new Hardboiled Web Design by Andrew Clarke is a book you deserve to have on your desk.
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In this introductory article, Slava Fomin II will show you the most important parts of the Sails framework and give you some specific examples to get you going. Of course, if you want to use it in your daily work, you will have to spend some time mastering it and taking it to the next level. The good news is that Sails comes with pretty solid documentation and an active community. The creator of Sales even answers questions on StackOverflow personally. He’ll neither confirm nor deny that Sails is being developed by a giant smart octopus, but he will do his best to guide you from the humble ensign to being the confident captain of your own ship! You will not be alone.
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