A note from the editors: We’re pleased to share an excerpt from Chapter 1 of Erika Hall’s new book, Conversational Design, available now from A Book Apart.
Texting is how we talk now. We talk by tapping tiny messages on touchscreens—we message using SMS via mobile data networks, or through apps like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.
The summer of 2017 marked a monumental victory for the millions of Americans living with a disability.
As web developers, we marvel at technology. We enjoy the many tools that help with our work: multipurpose editors, frameworks, libraries, polyfills and shims, content management systems, preprocessors, build and deployment tools, development consoles, production monitors—the list goes on.
When I started working as a web developer in 2009, I spent most of my time crafting HTML/CSS layouts from design comps. My work was the final step of a linear process in which designers, clients, and other stakeholders made virtually all of the decisions.
Welcome to the second installment of the “Discovery on a Budget” series, in which we explore how to conduct effective discovery research when there is no existing data to comb through, no stakeholders to interview, and no slush fund to draw upon. In part 1 of this series, we discussed how it is helpful to articulate what you know (and what you assume) in the form of a problem hypothesis. We also covered strategies for conducting one of the most affordable and effective research methods: user interviews.
Last year I gave a talk about CSS and accessibility at the stahlstadt.js meetup in Linz, Austria. Afterward, an attendee asked why I was interested in accessibility: Did I or someone in my life have a disability?
I’m used to answering this question—to which the answer is no—because I get it all the time. A lot of people seem to assume that a personal connection is the only reason someone would care about accessibility.
In 2014, the clinic where I served as head of communications and digital strategy switched to a new online patient portal, a change that was mandated by the electronic health record (EHR) system we used. The company that provides the EHR system held several meetings for the COO and me to learn the new tool and provided materials to give to patients to help them register for and use the new portal.
A note from the editors: We’re pleased to share an excerpt from Chapter 19 (“Filters, Blending, Clipping, and Masking”) of CSS: The Definitive Guide, 4th Edition by Eric Meyer and Estelle Weyl, available now from O’Reilly.
If you want to improve your UI design skills, have you tried looking at chess? I know it sounds contrived, but hear me out. I’m going to take a concept from chess and use it to build a toolkit of UI design strategies. By the end, we’ll have covered color, typography, lighting and shadows, and more.
But it all starts with rooks and pawns.
The picture of the tortured artist has endured for centuries: creative geniuses who struggle with their metaphorical demons and don’t relate to life the same way as most people. Today, we know some of this can be attributed to mental illness: depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and many others. We have modern stories about this and plenty of anecdotal information that fuels the popular belief in a link between creativity and mental illness.