Author Drew McLellan

October 17, 2023 — In today’s Smashing Podcast episode, we’re talking about Tech Unions. What part can unions play in a modern tech workplace? Drew McLellan talks to Ethan Marcotte to find out. Read more…

September 26, 2023 — We’re talking about running grassroots conferences and meet-ups. What does it take to organize a small industry event for your community? Drew McLellan talks to WDC’s Alex Older to find out. Read more…

August 1, 2023 — We’re talking about headless content management systems. What are they, and how do they differ from more traditional systems? Drew McLellan talks to Alvin Bryan to find out. Read more…

July 11, 2023 — In this episode of The Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about The Transitional Web. What is it, and how does it describe the technologies we’re using? Drew McLellan talks to Chris Ferdinandi to find out. Read more…

June 13, 2023 — In this episode of The Smashing Podcast, we ask what is a design manager? What does it take and how does it relate to the role of Designer? Vitaly talks to Slava Shestopalov to find out. Read more…

May 23, 2023 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about Web Platform Baseline. What is it, and how can it help determine your browser support policy? Drew McLellan talks to expert Rachel Andrew to find out. Read more…

May 2, 2023 — We’re talking about the process of design. How do you build a process to enable your best work? Vitaly Friedman talks to designer Mei Zhang to find out. Read more…

April 18, 2023 — In this episode of The Smashing Podcast, we take a look at design storytelling. What is it, and how can it help us shape digital experiences? Vitaly talks to Chiara Aliotta to find out. Read more…

March 21, 2023 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we ask what is Customer Experience design, and how does it differ from User Experience design? Vitaly Friedman talks to expert Debbie Levitt to find out. Read more…

February 21, 2023 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we ask what’s the key to a great keyboard? Is this essential part of our daily toolkit easily overlooked? Vitaly Friedman talks to expert Marcin Wichary to find out. Read more…

February 7, 2023 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast we ask how has the design industry changed? Is technology making our work easier? Vitaly Friedman talks to veteran designer Veerle Pieters to find out. Read more…

January 24, 2023 — In this episode, we ask whether technology is making us redundant; will we all soon be replaced with AI? Vitaly Friedman talks to Tejas Kumar to find out. Read more…

November 18, 2022 — In this episode we’re talking about User Journey Mapping. What is it, and how does it help us build better digital products? Vitaly talks to expert Stéphanie Walter to find out. Read more…

September 20, 2022 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about HTML email. Do we still have to design like we would for IE5? Vitaly talks to expert Rémi Parmentier to find out. Read more…

September 6, 2022 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we ask how do you go from running a creative studio to designing NFTs. Vitaly talks to artist Yiying Lu to find out. Read more…

August 23, 2022 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we ask how you can prove the value of a Design System and how you can pitch it effectively to stakeholders. Vitaly talks to Ben Callahan to find out more. Read more…

August 9, 2022 — In this episode, we ask how you can affect change to UX design in large organizations stuck in their ways. Vitaly talks to Marko Dugonjić to find out. Read more…

July 12, 2022 — In this episode, we ask what qualities are required to introduce change in large organizations, how to convince management to do the right thing, and how to ship a billion-dollar idea. Vitaly talks to expert Paul Boag to find out. Read more…

June 28, 2022 — In this episode, we ask if Sass is still relevant in 2022 and if it adds any value modern CSS workflows. Vitaly talks to expert Stephanie Eckles to find out. Read more…

May 31, 2022 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we ask why accessibility really matters and why it is so important to get it right. Smashing’s Vitaly Friedman talks in-depth to Sara Soueidan to find out. Read more…

May 17, 2022 — In this episode, we ask how one man can go from designing websites for local bands to heading up Google Fonts Knowledge. Smashing’s Vitaly Friedman talks to Elliot Jay Stocks to find out. Read more…

February 22, 2022 — In this episode, we’re talking about Responsible JavaScript. What does it mean for code to be responsible, and how should we approach projects differently? Drew McLellan talks to expert Jeremy Wagner to find out. Read more…

November 30, 2021 — In this episode, we’re asking if changes to best practises over the last year have negatively impacted the web. Is it all downhill from here? Drew McLellan talks to expert Chris Ferdinandi to find out. Read more…

November 4, 2021 — In this episode, we’re talking about Astro. Will this modern static site builder launch you into the stratosphere? Drew McLellan talks to developer Matthew Phillips to find out. Read more…

October 19, 2021 — In this episode, we’re talking about DevOps. What is it, and is it a string to add to your web development bow? Drew McLellan talks to expert Jeff Smith to find out. Read more…

August 10, 2021 — In this episode, we’re talking about designing for safety. What does it mean to consider vulnerable users in our designs? Drew McLellan talks to expert Eva PenzeyMoog to find out. Read more…

June 29, 2021 — In this episode, we’re talking about Chakra UI. What is it and how can it help with your React projects? Drew McLellan talks to expert Mike Cavaliere to find out. Read more…

June 15, 2021 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about image optimization. What steps should we follow for performant images in 2021? We talk to expert Addy Osmani to find out. Read more…

June 1, 2021 — In this episode, we’re talking about React performance. What factors slow our React apps down, and how can we fix it? Drew McLellan talks to expert Ivan Akulov to find out. Read more…

May 18, 2021 — In this episode, we’re talking about VisBug. What is it, and how is it different from the array of options already found in Chrome DevTools? Drew McLellan talks to its creator Adam Argyle to find out. Read more…

May 4, 2021 — In this episode, we’re starting our new season of the Smashing Podcast with a look at the future of CSS. What new specs will be landing in browsers soon? Drew McLellan talks to expert Miriam Suzanne to find out. Read more…

February 9, 2021 — In this episode, we’re talking about HTML controls. Why are they so hard to style, and how might that change in the future? Drew McLellan talks to Microsoft’s Stephanie Stimac and Melanie Richards to find out. Read more…

January 26, 2021 — In this episode, we’re talking about Web Performance. What does the performance landscape look like in 2021? Drew McLellan talks to expert Harry Roberts to find out. Read more…

January 12, 2021 — In this episode, we’re talking about Machine Learning. What sort of tasks can we put it to within a web development context? Drew McLellan talks to expert Charlie Gerard to find out. Read more…

December 29, 2020 — In this episode, we’re taking a look back at 2020. Who did we speak to in our episodes this year, and what did we learn? Let’s listen back to some clips to find out. Read more…

December 15, 2020 — In this episode, we’re talking about GraphQL. What is it, and how does solve some common API problems? Drew McLellan talks to expert Eve Porcello to find out. Read more…

December 1, 2020 — In this episode, we’re talking about Product Design. What does it mean to be a product owner, and how can you learn the skills required? Drew McLellan talks to expert Chris Murphy to find out. Read more…

November 17, 2020 — We’re asking what it looks like to dogfood the Jamstack at Netlify. Can you deploy an entire app to a CDN? Drew McLellan talks to Netlify Staff Engineer Leslie Cohn-Wein to find out. Read more…

November 3, 2020 — We’re talking about Eleventy. What is it and how does it fit into your Jamstack workflow? Drew McLellan talks to David Darnes to find out. Read more…

October 20, 2020 — We’re talking about TypeScript. What is it, and how can it help us write better JavaScript? Drew McLellan talks to expert Stefan Baumgartner to find out. Read more…

October 6, 2020 — We’re talking all about VueJS. What’s new in the 3.0 release, and how hard will it be to migrate? Drew McLellan talks to core team member Natalia Tepluhina to find out. Read more…

September 22, 2020 — We’re talking about RedwoodJS. What exactly does it mean to be a full-stack Jamstack framework? Drew McLellan talks to community champion Anthony Campolo to find out. Read more…

September 8, 2020 — We’re talking about SVG Animation. How can vector images, JavaScript and CSS all work together to provide engaging motion graphics? Drew McLellan talks to SVG expert Cassie Evans to find out. Read more…

August 25, 2020 — We’re talking about Next.js. What is it, and where might it fit into our web development workflow? Drew McLellan talks to co-creator Guillermo Rauch to find out. Read more…

August 11, 2020 — We’re talking about Serverless architectures. What does that mean, and how does it differ from how we might build sites currently? Drew McLellan talks to Chris Coyier to find out. Read more…

July 28, 2020 — We’re asking if modern best practices are bad for the web? Are modern frameworks taking us down the wrong path? Drew McLellan speaks to Lean Web expert Chris Ferdinandi to find out. Read more…

July 14, 2020 — We’re talking about Gatsby. What is it and how does it fit into your web development stack? Drew McLellan talks to expert Marcy Sutton to find out. Read more…

June 30, 2020 — We’re talking about CUBE CSS. What is it, and how does it differ from approaches such as BEM, SMACSS, and OOCSS? Drew McLellan talks to its creator, Andy Bell, to find out. Read more…

June 16, 2020 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about learning React. What’s React like to work with, and how can experienced developers get started? Drew McLellan chats to Mina Markham to find out. Read more…

June 2, 2020 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re taking a look at what’s new in Drupal 9. What are the major upcoming changes to this nearly 20-year-old open-source project? Drew McLellan talks to Drupal core committer Angie Byron to find out. Read more…

May 19, 2020 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about shaping our physical spaces when working from home. What can you do to take a step up from working at your kitchen table? Drew McLellan talks to workspace geek Ben Frain to find out. Read more…

May 5, 2020 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about building apps on a tight timeline. How can you quickly turn around a project to respond to an emerging situation like COVID-19? Drew McLellan talks to Phil Smith to find out. Read more…

April 21, 2020 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about running online workshops. How can a traditional event adapt when participants can’t attend in person? Drew McLellan talks to Rachel Andrew to find out. Read more…

April 7, 2020 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast we’re talking about online privacy. What should web developers be doing to make sure the privacy of our users is maintained? Drew McLellan talks to an expert on the subject, Laura Kalbag, to find out. Read more…

March 24, 2020 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about the user experience around converting site visitors into customers. Drew McLellan talks to conversion optimization specialist Paul Boag to find out. Read more…

March 10, 2020 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast we’re talking about an interesting open-source tool called Sourcebit. How can it help our content workflow with JAMstack sites? Drew McLellan speaks to developer Eduardo Bouças to find out. Read more…

February 25, 2020 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about Ethical Design. What does it mean for a design to be ethical, and how do we make improvements in our own projects? Drew McLellan speaks to Trine Falbe and Martin Michael Frederiksen to find out. Read more…

February 11, 2020 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re taking a look at UI Frameworks. How can the custom needs of a highly usable application be met with a set of off-the-shelf tools? Drew McLellan speaks to UX Designer Stéphanie Walter to find out. Read more…

January 28, 2020 — We’re taking a look at the brand new version of Microsoft Edge and its Chromium-based rendering engine. What does that change mean for web developers, and how does the death of Microsoft’s own rendering engine impact the web? Drew McLellan talks to Microsoft’s Aaron Gustafson and Stephanie Stimac to find out. Read more…

January 14, 2020 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re taking a look at the UK Government’s design system. How are design systems used within government? Is it any different to how we might work in the commercial sector? Drew McLellan talks to design systems advocate Amy Hupe. Read more…

December 31, 2019 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast we’re talking about micro-frontends. What is a micro-frontend and how is that different from the sort of approach we might be taking at the moment? Read more…

December 17, 2019 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about variable fonts. What are they, how do they differ from regular fonts, and how can they help in the design and performance of our websites? Read more…

December 3, 2019 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about inclusive components. What does it mean to be inclusive, or let alone a component? And what has that got to do with accessibility? Drew McLellan talks to Smashing author Heydon Pickering to find out. Read more…

November 26, 2019 — Many sites have hosted media and content that can be shared elsewhere by the use of some HTML embed code. What happens if you just have the URL of the item and need to find an embeddable version of the media without human intervention? That is where oEmbed comes in. Read more…

November 19, 2019 — What are Design Tokens and how are they used? In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, Drew McLellan talks to Design Systems expert Jina Anne. Read more…

November 5, 2019 — What does it mean to be a freelance designer or developer? In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, Drew McLellan talks to experienced freelance brand designer Liz Elcoate to find out more. Read more…

November 5, 2019 — In this inaugural episode of the Smashing Podcast, Drew McLellan talks to Andy Clarke about Art Direction. What is it, and how can it be used in our web projects? Find out about the book Art Direction For The Web, and catch up on the latest from Smashing Magazine. Read more…

April 17, 2019 — Many performance optimizations can be made when we can predict what users might do before they actually do it. Resource Hints are a simple but effective way that web developers can help the browser to stay one step ahead of the user and keep pages fast. Read more…

April 9, 2019 — Every bit of JavaScript you add to a site is a potential way in for a hacker. This is doubly true if that JavaScript is hosted by someone else, such as on a public CDN. Subresource Integrity is a browser feature you can use to make sure that the code being used is exactly what you intended. Read more…

January 16, 2019 — HTML5 introduced thirteen new types of form input, adding significantly to the number of different fields web designers and developers could add to our forms. But what is the state of those field types in 2019? Let’s find out. Read more…

October 30, 2018 — The Server Timing header provides a discrete and convenient way to communicate backend server performance timings to developer tools in the browser. Adding timing information to your application enables you to monitor back-end and front-end performance all in one place. Over the years developer tools have been improved to help us troubleshoot these sorts of performance issues in the front end of our applications. Browsers now even have performance audits built right in. This can help track down front end issues, but these audits can show up another source of slowness that we can’t fix in the browser. Read more…

July 27, 2018 — The Beacon API is a lightweight and efficient way to log information from a web page back to a server. It is used for sending small amounts of data to a server without waiting for a response. Think of it like a postcard sent home when on vacation. You put a small amount of data on it, put it in the mailbox, and you don’t expect a response. In this article, Drew McLellan will help you find out how that can be used and what makes it so different from traditional Ajax techniques. Read more…