Adactio: Links

How Readable? | Clearleft

Cassie and I went to a great Async talk last night all about code readability, which was well-timed because it’s been on our minds all week. Cassie explains more in this post.

Silicon Valley by the Sea: Is Brighton Really a UK Startup Hub?

Terrible title; nice article. Rich speaks his brains about Clearleft and what we like about being in Brighton.

UX past, present, and future | Clearleft

This long zoom by Andy is right up my alley—a history of UX design that begins in 1880. It’s not often that you get to read something that includes Don Norman, Doug Engelbart, Lilian Gilbreth, and Vladimir Lenin. So good!

Workplace topology | Clearleft

The hits keep on comin’ from Clearleft. This time, it’s Danielle with an absolutely brilliant and thoughtful piece on the perils of gaps and overlaps in pattern libraries, design systems and organisations.

This is such a revealing lens to view these things through! Once you’re introduced to it, it’s hard to “un-see” problems in terms of gaps and overlaps in categorisation. And even once the problems are visible, you still need to solve them in the right way:

Recognising the gaps and overlaps is only half the battle. If we apply tools to a people problem, we will only end up moving the problem somewhere else.

Some issues can be solved with better tools or better processes. In most of our workplaces, we tend to reach for tools and processes by default, because they feel easier to implement. But as often as not, it’s not a technology problem. It’s a people problem. And the solution actually involves communication skills, or effective dialogue.

That last part dovetails nicely with Jerlyn’s equally great piece.

Designing design systems | Clearleft

I know I’m biased because I work with Jerlyn, but I think this in-depth piece by her is really something! She suveys the design system landscape and proposes some lo-fi governance ideas based around good old-fashioned dialogue.

Developing a design system takes collaboration between the makers of the design systems and the different users of the system. It’s a continual process that doesn’t have to require a huge investment in new departments or massive restructuring.

It can start small.

How can designers get better at learning from their mistakes?

Jon has seven answers:

Build a culture to learn from mistakes

Embrace healthy critique

Fail little and often

Listen to users

Design. Learn. Repeat

Create a shared understanding

Always be accountable

It’s gratifying to see how much of this was informed by the culture of critique at Clearleft.

Transform your type online with variable fonts | Creative Bloq

This is a great interview with Rich on all things related to web typography—including, of course, variable fonts.

I’m so lucky that I literally get to work side by side with Rich; I get to geek out with him about font stuff all the time.

Leaving Clearleft – Jon Aizlewood

Following on from Ben’s post, this is also giving me the warm fuzzies.

I, in no uncertain terms, have become a better designer thanks to the people I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside at Clearleft. I’ll forever be thankful of my time there, and to the people who helped me become better.

So long, and thanks for all the beer. – Ben Sauer

Ben is moving on from Clearleft. I’m going to miss him. I found this summation of his time here very moving.

Working at Clearleft was one of the best decisions I ever made. 6 years of some work that I’m most proud of, amongst some of the finest thinkers I’ve ever met.

He also outlines the lessons he learned here:

Writing and speaking will make you a better thinker and designer.

Autonomy rules.

Own stuff.

Aim high.

Should you ever choose to work with, or work for Clearleft, I hope these words will give you some encouragement — it is an exceptional place to be.

Inside CSS | Clearleft

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to be a fly on the wall at a CSS Working Group meeting, Richard has the inside scoop.

The consensus building is vital. Representatives from all the major browsers were in the room, collaborating closely by proposing ideas and sharing implementations. But most fundamentally they were agreeing together what should go in the specifications, because what goes in the specs is what gets built and ends up in the hands of users.

Ampersand: Interview with Mandy Michael – Clear(left) Thinking – Medium

I’m soooo excited that Mandy is speaking at Ampersand here in Brighton in June!

Be there or be square.

Progressive enhancement and the things that are here to stay, with Jeremy Keith | Fixate

I enjoyed chatting to Larry Botha on the Fixate On Code podcast—I hope you’ll enjoy hearing it.

Available for your huffduffing pleasure.

In support of MakerClub | Clearleft

Declan from MakerClub came by the office week and told us all about this great initiative for kids in Brighton that we’re supporting through the BrightSparks programme.

How to use variable fonts in the real world | Clagnut

The gorgeous website for this year’s Ampersand conference might well be one of the first commercial uses of variable fonts in the wild. Here, Richard documents all the clever things Mark did to ensure good fallbacks for browsers that don’t yet support variable fonts.

@adactio looks like you are trying really hard to not crack up laughing & shoot coffee out of your nose in this posed photo. /cc @andybudd pic.twitter.com/WQbRmqqpY8
— Nick Finck (@nickf) November 7, 2017

The Juvet Agenda

Questions prompted by the Clearleft gathering in Norway to discuss AI.

Voice Guidelines | Clearleft

I love what Ben is doing with this single-serving site (similar to my design principles collection)—it’s a collection of handy links and resources around voice UI:

Designing a voice interface? Here’s a useful list of lists: as many guiding principles as we could find, all in one place. List compiled and edited by Ben Sauer @bensauer.

BONUS ITEM: Have him run a voice workshop for you!

Tags: clearleft

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