These days, content models have to serve a variety of delivery channels, each more outlandish than the last. But why do many content models still look more like design systems rather than reflecting structured data? Mike Wills takes us on a personal journey as he examines his own past experiences and invites us to conceive content models that articulate meaning and group related content together for use on any channel.
Articles
Design for Safety, An Excerpt
None of us want to build products that put our users’ safety at risk, but how do you reduce the risk that our products will be weaponized by abusers? In this excerpt from Design for Safety, Eva PenzeyMoog offers a clear strategy for building inclusive safety in our products.
Sustainable Web Design, An Excerpt
Climate change is a daunting problem to face, but in this excerpt from Sustainable Web Design, Tom Greenwood provides clear guidance on how we can track and moreover address the carbon footprint of our websites in order to lessen our impact on our planet.
Voice Content and Usability
In this excerpt from Voice Content and Usability, author Preston So talks about the messy, primordial nature of human speech and challenges with programming computers to deal with these complexities.
Designing for the Unexpected
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.
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.
