April 2018 – ntdln

An Event Apart: “Designing an Intuitive Navigation”

Gerry McGovern speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 4, 2018.

Confusing menus and links are the number one issue people have in getting stuff done in digital. Sure, search is critical but even the best search usually only jumps you down a few levels in the navigation hierarchy. To complete your task you nearly always have to click more, and selecting the right link is where so many people get frustrated, confused and annoyed. Learn about methods to reduce confusion and increase speed and simplicity for your customers. Learn how to use evidence to uncover the core navigational mental models within people’s minds and to create intuitive interfaces based on these mental models. Learn how to apply essential navigational principles such as: Familiarity, Unity, Essentiality, and Forward-Focus.

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An Event Apart: “Variable Fonts and the Future of Typography”

Jason Pamental speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 4, 2018.

For centuries, typography has shaped the way we ‘hear’ what we read. In our web work, though, we’ve have to balance our typographic desires with user experience and performance, knowing that every weight, width, or style of a typeface required a different file download. Variable fonts change that, as they include every width, weight, slant, and other permutation of a typeface, all in a single file not much bigger than a regular font file. Now, beautiful web typography can be crafted to respond to screen size, language setting, even ambient light. In a detail-packed hour, Jason will show you not just how far the new capabilities can take us, but how to make use of them right away.

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An Event Apart: “Inclusive UX: Techniques for Everyone”

Derek Featherstone speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 4, 2018.

You and your teams are doing the things that need to be done to create inclusive designs. You’ve been using meaningful, semantic markup from the get-go. You stopped using light grey on slightly darker grey text years ago. Designing and building your apps and sites in an accessible way is just how you work now—you have to try really hard to make things that don’t work with a keyboard. So, what’s next for you? How can you make sure that you’re delivering on the promise of the web by delivering an inclusive design that can be easily used by people with disabilities? In this talk, Derek will tackle the tougher problems through design approaches and practical development techniques that you need to create accessible, modern web sites.

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An Event Apart: “Responsive Content Models”

Steve Fisher speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 4, 2018.

Responsive Content Models describe all of the content types on a target site, the elements of each, and then prioritize the content type that should appear on a specific page type. They help us define the content creation, design, and user experience concepts for the new or refreshed site. This is especially important for the responsive web—because layout and user context is constantly changing, we have to make sure that content priorities are represented consistently across all platforms. In this engaging talk, Steve Fisher will show you how to find the core piece you need, prioritize for multiple devices, and sketch out the solution to your responsive-content woes.

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An Event Apart: “Use Your Words”

Kristina Halvorson speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 4, 2018.

UI is language. Interaction is conversation. Content is the fuel that powers our designs. So what happens when the writer’s not in the room, or missing from your project team altogether? Good news: you don’t need to settle for lorem ipsum or half-baked prose. In this talk, Kristina will share language principles and content design tools anyone can put to work—yes, even the “non-writers” among us. Using examples from popular products and well-loved websites, we’ll uncover the secrets to stellar content that anyone can create, no matter your role or area of expertise.

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An Event Apart: “Tech Humanism: Data, Meaning, and Human Experience”

Kate O’Neill speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 4, 2018.

With so much emphasis in business on artificial intelligence, automation of various kinds, and digital transformation, the future of human work — and even humanity itself — can feel uncertain. And while we often talk about user experience, customer experience, patient experience, and so on, we rarely consider what a truly integrated human experience might look and feel like. But “Tech Humanist” Kate O’Neill presents the case for why the future of humanity is in creating more meaningful, dimensional, and integrated experiences, and how emerging technologies like chatbots, wearables, IoT devices, and more can be included in this kind of human-centric design. While weaving in examples from a range of industries, applications, and even pop culture, Kate offers an inspiring and useful framework for designers, strategists, or anyone creating experiences for humans.

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An Event Apart: “The All-Powerful Front-End Developer”

Chris Coyier speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 3, 2018.

The internet is, without metaphor, just a bunch of servers tied together with wires. Without servers, we’d have no way to share our creations with the world. Yet in a bit of a paradox, servers are less essential to our work than they’ve ever been. We can now do things on the front end that used to require a back end. When we do need a back end, our front end skills can be put to work, giving us some surprisingly powerful new abilities. Join Chris on a whirlwind tour of the tools, tech, and code that puts more power than ever into our front-end hands.

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An Event Apart: “Designing Progressive Web Apps”

Jason Grigsby speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 3, 2018.

If you have a website—particularly one that generates revenue for your organization—you need a Progressive Web App. So where do you begin? How do you decide which features of a Progressive Web App make sense for your users? What tools can make the process easier (or harder)? In this practical session, Jason will guide you through the key design decisions you’ll need to make about your Progressive Web App and how those decisions impact the scope of your project. He’ll also teach you how to avoid common pitfalls and help you take full advantage of Progressive Web App technology.

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An Event Apart: “Mobile In the Future”

Luke Wroblewski speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 3, 2018.

In this session, Luke will take a look at what we’ve learned over the past ten years of designing for the largest, most connected form of mass media on our planet. Have all the mock-ups, meetings, emails, and more we’ve created in the last decade moved us beyond desktop computing interfaces and ideas? If not, can we find inspiration to go further from looking at what’s happening in natural user interfaces and hardware design? Find out in this session from the author of Mobile First.

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An Event Apart: “Navigating Team Friction”

Lara Hogan speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 3, 2018.

Friction is a common, and necessary, part of team growth–but when left unchecked, team friction is unhealthy for you, your coworkers, your company, and ultimately your end users. In this engaging talk, Lara will draw on her experiences at organizations large and small to illuminate the sources of team tension, how you can better understand and manage unexpected teammate reactions, and the best ways to give actionable feedback without escalating drama. You’ll walk away with tactics you can employ immediately to address and improve your relationship with your teammates. Your coworkers, your organization, your users, and you will reap the benefits.

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