Get it shipped — building better relationships with Devs
This advice works both ways:
- Collaboration
- Communication
- Respect
Link tags: lab
192
You Deserve a Tech Union, A Book Apart
Coming soon—Ethan’s next book is exactly what the tech industry needs right now.
Tech workers—designers, engineers, writers, and many others—have learned that when they stand together, they’re poised to build a better version of the tech industry.
Harnessing groupthink: fine-tuning CSS specifications | Clearleft
In order to thoroughly attend to every pertinent aspect of the spec, fantasai asked us each to read one sentence aloud to the group. At which point we were all asked whether we thought the sentence made sense, and to speak up if we didn’t understand any of it or if it wasn’t clear.
Rich documents the excellent and fascinating process used in a recent W3C workshop (though what he describes is the very opposite of groupthink, so don’t let the title mislead you):
I’d never come across the person-by-person, sentence-by-sentence approach before. I found it particularly effective as a way of engaging a group of people, ensuring collective understanding, and gathering structured feedback on a shared document.
Theory-building and why employee churn is lethal to software companies – Baldur Bjarnason
This extract from Baldur’s new book is particularly timely in light of the twipocalypse.
Building the new Utopia homepage | Trys Mudford
Trys has written up how he made that nifty little resizing widget on the Utopia homepage.
The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet’s Time | The New Yorker
This story of the Network Time Protocol hammers home the importance of infrastructure and its maintenance:
Technology companies worth billions rely on open-source code, including N.T.P., and the maintenance of that code is often handled by a small group of individuals toiling away without pay.
Improving the information architecture of the Smart Pension member app | Design and tech | Smart – retirement, savings and financial wellbeing
Here’s a really excellent, clearly-written case study that unfortunately includes this accurate observation:
In recent years the practice of information architecture has fallen out of fashion, which is a shame as you can’t design something successfully without it. If a user can’t find a feature, it’s game over - the feature may as well not exist as far as they’re concerned.
I also like this insight:
Burger menus are effective… at hiding things.
Douglas Engelbart | Hidden Heroes
An account of the mother of all demos, written by Steven Johnson.
Utopia - an introduction - YouTube
James and Trys have made this terrific explanatory video about Utopia. They pack a lot into less than twenty minutes but it’s all very clearly and methodically explained.
Turning 30 · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer
I have no idea what the web will look like in another 30 years. But I am sure that we will look back at the first 30 years of the Web like we look back at the silent era in cinema today: as the formative years of a medium that was about to evolve to even higher heights.
The Web has always been about what each and every one of us contributes. And contributing is easier and more important than ever. So let’s not leave the future of the Web to big tech alone. Inclusiveness, accessibility, performance, security, usability, decentralization, openness – in almost all areas, the Web is far from done.
Design Titles
Keep refreshing until you find your next job title.
Midweight Design Engineer | Clearleft
Want to work with me? If so, come and be a design engineer at Clearleft!
What’s a design engineer? A front-end developer at the front of the front end who values accessibility, performance, and progressive enhancement.
We’re looking for a design-friendly front-end developer with demonstrable skills in pattern-based prototyping and production to join our friendly and supportive team in the heart of Brighton.
Even if this isn’t for you, please spread the word …especially to potential candidates who aren’t mediocre middle-aged white dudes (I’ve already got that demographic covered).
Content Design Basics by Giles Turnbull - YouTube
This is a great series of short videos all about content design. The one on writing for humans is particularly good.
239: New CSS Tricks and Design Engineers | CSS-Tricks
We need engineers, we need designers, and we absolutely need design engineers to make that connection across the great divide between the front-of-the-front-end and the back-of-the-front-end. It’s only then that we can make truly great things together.
Design Engineering - Snook.ca
Here’s a seven-year old post by Snook—this design engineer thing is not new.
Halt and Catch Fire Syllabus
The intent is for this website to be used by self-forming small groups that want to create a “watching club” (like a book club) and discuss aspects of technology history that are featured in this series.
I’m about ready to rewatch Halt And Catch Fire. Anybody want to form a watching club with me?
Not so short note on aria-label usage – Big Table Edition – HTML Accessibility
This is a very handy table of elements from Steve of where aria-label can be applied.
Like, for example, not on a div element.
People Problems | CSS-Tricks
I’d maybe simplify this people problem a bit: the codebase is easy to change, but the incentives within a company are not. And yet it’s the incentives that drive what kind of code gets written — what is acceptable, what needs to get fixed, how people work together. In short, we cannot be expected to fix the code without fixing the organization, too.
How-to: Create accessible forms - The A11Y Project
Another five pieces of sweet, sweet low-hanging fruit:
- Always label your inputs.
- Highlight input element on focus.
- Break long forms into smaller sections.
- Provide error messages.
- Avoid horizontal layout forms unless necessary.
5 most annoying website features I face as a blind person every single day by Holly Tuke
Five pieces of low-hanging fruit:
- Unlabelled links and buttons
- No image descriptions
- Poor use of headings
- Inaccessible web forms
- Auto-playing audio and video