Things I Like
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Our users want a usable page as quickly as possible—within a second, ideally—so we want visible text as close to that goal as we can. There are several approaches you can take to work around these issues, but the most important thing you can do is to move away from the default way we’re told to load fonts.
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I am, ever so slowly, coming to use a bit more of Sass than just variables. I like these snippets not just for ways to do things easier/faster but also for giving me ideas for what is possible in Sass.
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Jeremy's design principles are wonderful, lots of good ideas in here. I particularly like that he has all kinds of different organizations principles laid out so you can compare and contrast them.
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When the Apple Watch was announced, I was gutted that they'd decided to stick with that word because consumers will apply the same mental models to a smartwatch as to an analogue one. It's like calling a smartphone a pocket watch, or a computer an electronic abacus.
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An utterly fascinating breakdown of data on how CSS is actually being used. Lot of tidbits that I found really interesting. Also, the conclusions tell me that people who really care about CSS are few and far between and there is a spot for them to help clean up the mess. In addition they say:
The best thing a company can do (especially true the more people are involved in writing CSS) is to run a CSS Audit. This will help identify past mistakes, and integrate tooling into your workflow to prevent mistakes moving forward.
If you need help with that, let me know, cause I love doing them.
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This is a giant, wonderful cartoon about climate change and our economy. Go, read it, think about it, it's so good.
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Making is not a rebel movement, scrappy individuals going up against the system. While the shift might be from the corporate to the individual (supported, mind, by a different set of companies selling a different set of things), it mostly re-inscribes familiar values, in slightly different form: that artifacts are important, and people are not.
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I essentially told them the things I have to remind myself: it’s okay to take time. Rushing doesn’t improve things, it might even slow you down. Focusing on a few things and doing them well is worthwhile. Sharing what you learn—even while you’re still figuring things out—is even better.
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A dozen years ago, companies like Teehan + Lax and Adaptive Path were unique. They thought differently and communicated the value of their perspective through great work and compelling language. Firms like these created and popularized the language of user experience design. They made it possible for their clients and the digital industry at large to think differently. Hundreds of firms followed their lead over the last decade, but they copied the mindset of these formative companies. They didn’t create new language and ideas to challenge what they saw in the digital world. When an entire design industry follows a single mindset, commoditization quickly sets in. This is good when you want to buy more of the same, but not when you want something different. It’s no surprise that in-house design is so strong today. Agencies have fallen into the trap of competing with them, instead of providing a valuable contrast.
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This isn’t anything new. If you think about it, sites that used the Flash plug-in to deliver their experience were on the web, but not of the web. They were using the web as a delivery mechanism, but they weren’t making use of the capabilities of the web for universal access. As long as you have the Flash plug-in, you get 100% of the intended experience. If you don’t have the plug-in, you get 0% of the intended experience. The modern equivalent is using a monolithic JavaScript library like Angular. As longer as your browser (and network) fulfils the minimum requirements, you should get 100% of the experience. But if your browser falls short, you get nothing. In other words, Angular and its ilk treat the web as a platform, not a continuum.
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I know a simple truth: that people who genuinely care about you are the same people that you should care for as well. These are relationships that deserve more than just a thumbs up, or a #blessed, or a +1. These deserve love — that thing that wells up from the deepest springs of your soul and you give away with no thought to yourself.
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I finally feel successful, and it’s not about the money. I feel successful because I’ve gotten better at treating myself well, at finding that elusive work-life balance, and at making a major difference in my clients’ lives and businesses. I feel successful because I know that the work I’m doing in the world is important, and I don’t have to run myself ragged to do it. (In fact, just the opposite. We have to put on our own oxygen masks first. Of course.)
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Consistency is the small effort that happens every day, that only in looking back do we see the effort that created something big, something great, something meaningful.
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It’s tough to let go of that rush, the importance that can come with that reactive sort of busyness. It’s easy to focus on the times when you jumped in quickly and saved the day. Harder to remember all the times you jumped on something that could’ve waited. Harder still to picture what you could’ve done, the things you could’ve built, if you hadn’t been reacting constantly.
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I think the “because” is the much more interesting and informational part, and the part that’s harder to doubt. Oh, you wrote a book? Awesome! You spent 2 years doing that on your last job? Impressive! I learn so much more about your experience with something from the “because” than I do from hearing a claim of expertise.