Tag: performance

Weekly Links 12.04–12.10

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An Event Apart: “Leveling Up Your Design Communication”

Aarron Walter speaking at An Event Apart Orlando 2018 on October 10, 2018

Design is a medium for communication, and to do it well, we must cultivate our own communication skills. Within design teams, we do our best work when we create a culture of feedback shaped by our creative space and our design review process. Beyond the design tribe, our work thrives when it’s communicated in language that aligns to the goals of the business and invites participation early and often. In this presentation, Aarron will share the experiences of real design teams at Apple, Spotify, and other organizations to show how to improve the communication of design both inside your team and with key outside stakeholders. You’ll see how to run effective design reviews and retrospectives which will help you create a culture of feedback that produces better work, helps designers sharpen their skills, and communicates the value of design by making it more transparent and inviting.

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An Event Apart: “Name That Script!”

Trent Walton speaking at An Event Apart Orlando 2018 on October 10, 2018

How many third-party scripts are loading on our web pages these days? How can we objectively measure the value of these (advertising, a/b testing, analytics, etc.) scripts—considering their impact on web performance, user experience, and business goals? We’ve learned to scrutinize content hierarchy, browser support, and page speed as part of the design and development process. Similarly, Trent will share recent experiences and explore ways to evaluate and discuss the inclusion of 3rd-party scripts.

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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: “Performance as User Experience”

Aaron Gustafson speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 3, 2018.

Design is problem solving. Each and every day, we are tasked with finding ways to reduce the friction our users experience on the Web. That means streamlining flows, reducing cognitive load, and writing more appropriate copy, but user experience goes far beyond the interface. Our users’ experiences begin with their first request to our servers. In this intensely practical session, Aaron will explore the ins and outs of page load performance by showing how he made the web site of the 10K Apart meet its own contest rules, by having a site that was functional and attractive even without JavaScript, and was less than ten kilobytes at initial load. You’ll walk away with a better understanding of the page load process as well as numerous ways you can improve the projects you are working on right now.

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An Event Apart Orlando 2016

Photo source: Zeffrey Zeldman
Photo source: Zeffrey Zeldman

I was fortunate enough to attend An Event Apart in Orlando this month. I’ve posted my complete notes separately, but below you will find some of the key themes from the conference as well as an overview of each talk. You can also take a look at Articles, Links, and Tools From An Event Apart Orlando 2016 for more information and resources.

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An Event Apart Orlando: Special Edition 2014

My notes from An Event Apart Orlando: Special Edition 2014 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Walt Disney World.

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