If you’ve been looking for a list of email newsletters dedicated to web designers and developers, Ricky Onsman has got one that is bound to help you keep up with the industry — the most useful news and resources sent directly to your email inbox. The newsletters that were most namechecked are included here in their own section: “The Favorites.” For this article, Ricky focused on great newsletter content. It could be presented as sophisticated HTML with videos and infographics, or it could be no nonsense plain text with minimal descriptions, as long as the content — including how reliable any links are — is good.
Read more…
Today we have a real choice in terms of the layout methods we use in CSS to develop our sites, which means we often need to make a choice as to which approach to take. Whether you’re fairly new to CSS or an experienced developer from elsewhere in the stack who wants to make sure your understanding of layout today is up to date, this guide covers everything you need to know about CSS Layout today. In this article, Rachel Andrew will run through the various layout methods that you have available to you by explaining the basics of how they are used and what they are used for.
Read more…
In this article, Ricky Onsman brings you a list of current podcast for web designers and developers that our Smashing community listens to. We had what can only be called a very strong response both in number and in passion, and we’re pretty sure that any web designer or developer will find a few podcasts in this lot that will suit their particular listening tastes.
Read more…
The movement towards a more ethical future has begun. As designers and developers, we have an obligation to build experiences that are better than the norm. In this article, Trine Falbe explains how unethical design happens, and how to do ethical design through a set of best practices. She will also also help you understand how you can plant the seed to change the meaning within the company you work for and in the design community, even if you are not part of the management layer. Change starts with a movement!
Read more…
So you think you’ve designed something that’s perfect, but your test tells you otherwise. In this article, Christopher Murphy will be focusing on usability testing, where he evaluates the design decisions made against a representative set of users to test if his assumptions are correct. User testing should be happening at every point in the process as an integral part of an iterative design process. With that thought in mind, it’s important to establish a structured framework for user testing throughout the design process. let’s explore the importance of user testing.
Read more…
The best design follows an iterative process. The earlier in the process you can identify and fix problems, the easier and the less expensive it is. This is where prototyping comes in. Techniques such as wireframing and prototyping have transformed how user experience designers work nowadays. In this article, Christopher Murphy will take a closer look at the benefits and the process.
Read more…
GDPR requires you to be more thoughtful about the sites and services you build, more transparent about the ways you collect and use data, more considerate of your users, and more thorough in your development and documentation processes. In this article, Heather Burns will explore what you, as a developer, need to know about the new data protection regime. At the end, you’ll understand how the challenges posed by the privacy overhaul will ultimately help to make you a better developer.
Read more…
When it comes to websites there is often a failure to plan properly or at all. In Part 1 of this series, Ben Seigel emphasized on the importance of recognizing the purpose of your website, and why planning for the web is just as important as planning for anything else associated with your business. In this article, he’d like to go into more detail of evaluating a plan, choosing web professionals, and determining your site structure.
Read more…
Planning is essential for most businesses and organizations. Unfortunately, when it comes to websites there is often a failure to plan properly or at all. As a veteran designer, developer and project manager, Ben Seigel has identified a common problem with many web projects: failure to plan. For that reason, Ben has written a guide in order to help other designers, businesses and organizations plan and realize successful websites.
Read more…
How would you design a responsive car configurator? How would you deal with accessibility, navigation, real-time previews, interaction and performance? Let’s figure it out. In this article, Vitaly Friedman dives deep into the dos and don’ts of designing a perfect configurator. As designers, we might try to make our configurators advanced and sophisticated, but too often we overwhelm customers with too many non-trivial options.
Read more…
