March 28, 2023 Smashing Newsletter: Issue #398
This newsletter issue was sent out to 213,972 subscribers on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
Editorial
There are so many wonderful resources around us! But why is it that when we need something very specific, it’s always difficult to find anything? In this newsletter, we highlight incredible knowledge hubs for design, UX, accessibility, front-end components and UX research — kindly put together by wonderful members of the community for all of us to use.
We’d love you to join us for a few exciting and adventurous days at our upcoming SmashingConfs (in-person/remote):
- SmashingConf SF 🇺🇸 (May 23–26) all around front-end, CSS, JavaScript, Next.js, accessibility, and web performance,
- SmashingConf Freiburg 🇩🇪 (Sep 4–6) on design systems, CSS, accessibility, Figma, and front-end,
- SmashingConf Antwerp 🇧🇪 (Oct 9–11) on design, UX, design systems, Figma, enterprise UX, and UX research.
And, of course, you could dive into some of our friendly online workshops, with new workshops from data visualization and accessibility testing to Figma workflow and React performance. Happy learning, everyone!
— Vitaly (@vitalyf)
1. Start Here, Designer!
There are so many wonderful design resources out there that it can be hard to stay on top of things and find the resources that will really help you get better at your craft. To give you a credible starting point, Krisztina Szerovay published the resource collection that she has been sharing with fellow designers, students, and mentees.
“Start Here, Designer!”, as the collection is called, features only design and visual thinking resources that Krisztina has experience with: books and articles she read, talks she watched, podcasts she listened to, newsletters she’s happily subscribed to, and more. The database currently features more than 440 of Krisztina’s favorite resources, and she adds new ones to it every week. One for the bookmarks. (cm)
2. The Guide To Design
Have you ever wondered if a career in UX might be right for you? Then “The Guide to Design” is a great opportunity to get a realistic idea of what UX is all about. Designed as a self-guided class, it helps you take your first steps into digital product design before investing in more formal education and training.
The guide consists of nine chapters that cover everything from finding your place in the design industry to design methods and practices, the impact of design, and shaping your career. You won’t find any talk about magic formulas or UX unicorns, and there is no job waiting for you at the end of the course either. Instead, you’ll get a rock-solid introduction to what design is, why it matters, and how you can become a part of it all. And that knowledge is the perfect base to build upon. (cm)
3. Accessibility Resources And Guides
Accessibility is still often overlooked in design and development education. The A11y Project wants to change that and published a comprehensive collection of accessibility guides and resources that raise awareness for the topic and make digital accessibility easier.
The collection features media like books, newsletters, talks, podcasts, handy development tools, browser extensions, bookmarklets, communities, conferences, meetups, and much more to help you create accessible and inclusive experiences.
Another fantastic library all around accessibility comes from Stark. You can browse the resources by category to find what you need or draw on one of the handpicked and curated collections. They cover different accessibility topics, including accessible color combos, tips and tricks for accessible social media, inclusive personas, design patterns, and more. (cm)
4. UI Components Handbook
No matter what kind of UI component you’re working on, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. To make your work easier and shorten research time, the folks at UI Guideline analyzed some of the most popular design systems and UI libraries to standardize the design and code of more than 40 UI components. The result is the UI Components Handbook.
For each component, the handbook gives you an overview of real-world examples, anatomy, grouping, and properties of the component. The cherry on top is a ready-to-use Figma component that includes all the best practices and the ready-to-use HTML code that you can use as a starting point to code and style your own component. A real timesaver. (cm)
5. Upcoming Workshops & Conferences
That’s right! We run online workshops on front-end and design, be it accessibility, performance, or design patterns. In fact, we have a couple of workshops coming up soon, and we thought that, you know, you might want to join in as well.
As always, here’s a quick overview:
- UX/UI Design & Figma Introduction UX
with Christine Vallaure. Apr 20–28 - New Front-End Adventures, 2023 Edition Dev
with Vitaly Friedman. Apr 25 – May 9 - Architecting Design Systems Workflow
with Nathan Curtis. May 11–19 - Data Visualization Masterclass Dev
with Amelia Wattenberger. May 4–18 - SmashingConf SF — May 23–26
- Deep Dive On Accessibility Testing Dev
with Manuel Matuzović. June 12–26 - Smart Interface Design Patterns Video Course UX
9h-video + Live UX Training with Vitaly Friedman - Jump to all workshops →
6. Design Lessons And Toolkit
You want to learn design and are looking for a guide that gives you a complete overview of the field? Hackdesign teamed up with some of the world’s best designers to create a practical, self-paced design course that does exactly that.
The course is divided into 50 digestible lessons, each of them curated by a renowned designer to teach you the tools, techniques, and terminology of good design — be it on typography, UX, UI, graphic design principles, mobile, interaction design, front-end, or product design. Hackdesign also includes a handy Toolkit that makes it easy to find just the right design tools for your purpose. A fantastic 360° look at design. (cm)
7. Guide To User Research
User research helps us gain a deep understanding of our users. But as essential as user research is, only few teams have UX researchers on board. If you’re a UX designer without a research background, Paulina Barlik curates a wonderful collection of resources to get you fit for the task: the Guide to User Research.
Covering everything from usability heuristics to choosing a research method, recruiting participants, and creating personas, the guide features more than 250 resources and tools to incorporate user research in your design practice. The resources for each topic are divided into different categories — from “quick summary” to “deep dive” — depending on how deep you want to dig. Even if you’re an experienced practitioner, you will find some useful nuggets in there. (cm)
That’s All, Folks!
Thank you so much for reading and for your support in helping us keep the web dev and design community strong with our newsletter. See you next time!
This newsletter issue was written and edited by Cosima Mielke (cm), Vitaly Friedman (vf) and Iris Lješnjanin (il).
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