How do you move faster when adding folks to a project supposedly slows it down? Mailchimp’s CPO takes the reader through some considerations for preserving momentum while scaling up. Software is difficult to build with lots of complex interdependencies. And everyone needs to work together to get it done. As you work to manage dependencies and introduce tools to help scale, make sure you clearly communicate the why behind the practices.
Read more…
Many developers get to a point in their careers in which they’ve achieved many of their goals and wonder about the future. Although some are confident continuing down the same road, others might feel the urge to explore different options in which their skills can be used to have a broader impact on the projects we work on and the teams we work with. I explored some of the different directions we can take and the complementary skills that can help us throughout our journey.
Read more…
Climate change may not seem like an issue that should concern web developers, but the truth is that our work does have a carbon footprint, and it’s about time we started to think about that. As web developers, it’s understandable to feel that this is not an issue over which we have any influence, but this isn’t true. Many efforts are afoot to improve the situation on the web. The Green Web Foundation maintains an ever-growing database of web hosts who are either wholly powered by renewable energy or are at least committed to being carbon neutral. So, apart from powering servers with renewable energy, what else can web developers do about climate change?
Read more…
An old cliché says that “may you get everything you wish for” makes for a particularly insidious curse. As all the other browsers got easier and easier to deal with, Mat Marquis attempted to convince himself that there was at least still a challenge to quirky old IE. That even became something of a point of pride: he had gotten so good at fixing obscure IE issues that he’d learned to dodge them during the course of my everyday development, leaving nothing to dread come the big “open it up in IE and see what broke” phase. With Edge soon making the switch to Chrome’s rendering engine — well, for better or worse, a bitter wish is coming true.
Read more…
Developers and designers need to initiate a conversation about the ethics of web design, i.e. how do we define and measure goodness and rightness in the digital realm? It’s important to discuss responsibilities, decisions, and consequences. Even small and seemingly insignificant decisions can have enormous implications, and ethics can help ensure the longevity of our designs and help us carve paths to better futures for everyone. It’s about time that we, the people who build the web, initiate a conversation about where we are and where we want to go. It is time we talk about the ethics of web design.
Read more…
The past years have been remarkable for web technologies. Our design process is systematic and efficient. And after so many years, accessibility and performance have finally become established, well-recognized pillars of user experience. It’s a truly wonderful time to be designing and building for the web, and Vitaly Friedman couldn’t be more excited and honored to be a part of these developments. However, as designers and developers, we focus on beautiful interfaces and fast experiences, but there is one side often missing: respect towards privacy, security, inclusivity, authenticity, personality, and ethics. It’s about time we change that.
Read more…
Does every site looks the same to you? With so many tools and resources, web designers have to be generic to fit content in frameworks and templates. If everyone just follows best practices, we’ll create the perfect web. In this case, what’s the point of web designers if there’s a recipe? Creating empty carousels and sexy hero images is easy. Adding meaning through design is much more difficult. In this article, let’s consider content, rules and pattern fatigue as major obstacles to creativity online. How can we break through it?
Read more…
Chris Coyier has published a fantastic post recently covering the debate on the role of CSS in light of growing popularity of React.js, extensively and objectively. That’s the quality discussions we need, and that’s what keeps us evolving as a growing and maturing community. Web technologies are fantastic. Our tools, libraries, techniques and methodologies are quite fantastic, too. Sometimes they contain mistakes, but we can fix them due to the nature of open source. There are far too many badly designed experiences out there, and there is so much work for us to do. It’s up to us to decide whether we keep separating ourselves into small camps, or build the web together, seeking pragmatic solutions that work well within given contexts.
Read more…
Jeremy Girard loves being a web designer and he’s incredibly thankful that he decided to join this industry many years ago. Still, there have been a number of times during his career when his passion has waned. This scenario is called burnout. Do you find passion for your work an important part of your career? If so, what have you found to be helpful in keeping that passion for your job intact? In this article, Jeremy shares his moments of burnout in his career and what you can do to avoid them.
Read more…
One could easily argue that nothing affects a design more than typography. And good typography starts with choosing an appropriate typeface. But can having too much choice be a bad thing? In this article, Jeremiah Shoaf reviews a collection of beautiful websites and analyzes the impact that their designers’ typeface choices have had on the overall designs. She’ll critique both the good and the bad. Of course, type is subjective, so take any critiques with a grain of salt. Let’s dig in!
Read more…
