Computing was born in a Viennese café. Between 1928 and 1934, while Hitler plotted and Europe crumbled, a motley crew of mathematicians, philosophers, architects, and economists gathered weekly to puzzle out the limits of reason—and invented Computer Science in the process. What made their collaboration possible wasn't just brilliance (though they had plenty). It was amiability: the careful design of a social space where difficult people could disagree without destroying each other. Longtime A List Apart contributing author Mark Bernstein mines this forgotten history for lessons that might just save today's embattled web from its worst impulses. Spoiler: it involves better coffee service and the looming threat of public humiliation.
Design systems aren't component libraries—they’re living languages. Rigid adherence to visual rules creates brittle systems that break under contextual pressure. Fluent systems bend without breaking.
Having both a Design Manager and a Lead Designer on the same team is beautiful, but can be messy. To make it work without creating confusion, overlap, or “too many cooks,” check Michel Ferreira’s Holistic Framework for Shared Design Leadership.
Building towards bedrock means sacrificing some short-term growth potential in favour of long-term stability. But the payoff is worth it: products built with a focus on bedrock will outlast and outperform their competitors, and deliver sustained value to users over time. Liam Nugent shows us how.
At a time when budgets for user experience research seem to have reached an all-time low, how do we get stakeholders and executives alike invested in this crucial discipline? Gerry Duffy walks us through how the research we conduct is much like telling a compelling story, complete with a three-act narrative structure, character development, and conflict resolution—with a happy ending for researchers and stakeholders alike.
What a great and accidental thought from Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Little did he know how important that decision would be so many years later. Thank you Sir Tim Berners-Lee for your beautiful luck.
The only time I ever emailed Tim Berners-Lee was to ask him why he called it “index.html” versus “home.html” “default.*” or any other alternate file name. He was kind enough to answer, saying in so many words that it just seemed to make sense, and that he didn’t put too much thought into it.
A fine coincidence, but no artist should feel constrained by the maladies of a few. If every website had blue links, I’d be “blue” indeed.
“the maladies of a few”??? Considering about 10,000,000 men in the US (7% of the population) are colour blind, I find it shortsighted to dismiss that as “a few”. Geesh!
Interesting! I didn’t know that was pure coincidence.
Huh. I guess semantics and details like that mostly come into play when something manifests itself.