As devices continue to diversify in dizzying ways, how can we make sure our work on the web stays as relevant as ever for the long haul? Cathy Dutton shares how practitioners must design for the unexpected by peering through the lenses of content-first and situation-first approaches. In doing so, you’ll ensure your designs are ready both for the paradigms of the present and the twists of the future, come what may.
Articles
Asynchronous Design Critique: Getting Feedback
Receiving feedback can be a stressful experience: will an open-ended question attract helpful guidance or harsh criticism? Erin “Folletto“ Casali has already taught us how to provide good feedback; now she shows how to have agency when receiving it. Follow her advice and you’ll be able to structure your feedback process to always generate an ego-friendly, focused, and above all actionably helpful review.
Asynchronous Design Critique: Giving Feedback
How do you know that you’re giving good feedback? Erin ‘Folletto’ Casali offers a tangible framework for delivering feedback through the lens of the design critique process in this first installment of a two-part series. While the examples are concrete and rooted firmly in the world of Design, the lessons are universally applicable: use them during performance reviews, code reviews, mentorship communications. The options are endless!
That’s Not My Burnout
Feeling connected and validated by experiences that mirror your own can help you understand how to conquer, or at least endure, times of struggle. But what if your struggle looks more like achievement? If you don’t see yourself reflected in accounts of burnout, it can be alienating and make you feel even more alone. If you reach the end destination of burnout by stepping on the gas instead of coasting to a stop, Donna Bungard will show you how to recognize that you’re low on fuel and give you a map of rest stops where you can refill your tank.
Beware the Cut ‘n’ Paste Persona
User personas are a cornerstone of user research, but can fail when they portray abstract caricatures rather than actual potential users. Emanuela Cozzi and Lennart Overkamp show us a new take on user personas that can prove to be more effective and meaningful.
Immersive Content Strategy
Those immersive experiences are so hot right now, as new tools and frameworks help our designs and code transcend the web. But fresh tech doesn’t mean our content is ready for extended and mixed-reality prime time. Preston So shows us how to recast our fixed web content in more immersive ways—to create exciting new experiences and prepare our sites for an unpredictable future.
Do You Need to Localize Your Website?
Your website reaches the whole world. Which makes the whole world, potentially, your marketplace. But translating your content into other languages may not be enough. Putri Hapsari explains how to effectively use your site to gain new markets in different cultures.
Human-Readable JavaScript: A Tale of Two Experts
JavaScript gives us many ways to do things, but deciding which way can be tricky. Laurie Barth gives us a story of two experts who solve this problem in different ways, giving some insight into how to make these decisions for your team.
Now THAT’S What I Call Service Worker!
If you’re looking to achieve the single-page app level performance without the overhead (and boot time) of a huge JavaScript library or having to completely rewrite your website in a new technology, Jeremy Wagner shares a clever approach combining Service Worker and streamed web page partials you’re sure to love.
Keeping Your Design Mind New and Fresh
When we design for ourselves, we exclude anyone who is not like us. We know that, but breaking out of our experience bubbles is hard. In this excerpt from Volume 2 of RECOGNIZE, Regine Gilbert reminds us that successful, inclusive design comes from watching, observing, questioning, and exploring.
