Useful links: Adaptive content, troubleshoot WordPress, design principles

Notes from Karen McCrane’s talk about Adaptive Web Content at the latest An Event Apart. Luke Wroblewski took excellent notes.

Interesting tips for troubleshooting a WordPress site from Kristarella.

Design Principles for gov.uk. Unlike WCAG or some set of principles from the W3C, this document only contains 10 easily readable principles. They are,

  1. Start with needs*
  2. Do less
  3. Design with data
  4. Do the hard work to make it simple
  5. Iterate. Then iterate again.
  6. Build for inclusion
  7. Understand context
  8. Build digital services, not websites
  9. Be consistent, not uniform
  10. Make things open: it makes things better

Review: The Cross Browser Handbook

The Cross Browser Handbook by Daniel Herken is an ebook that takes a narrow focus. I think it would be very helpful to have around. Many books talk about cross browser issues as they cover topics like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and cross-browser testing. However, that information is mixed in with all kinds of other information about things like new HTML5 or CSS 3 features. This book tackles those HTML5 and CSS3 features, but only in relation to browser support. That sharp focus makes the book a mere 118 pages long. Here’s a screen capture of the table of contents.

table of contents

Daniel Herken developed a cross browser testing tool, found at BrowseEmAll, prior to writing the book. Part of the purpose of writing the book is to get you in the habit of using his browser testing tool, of course. As a reader of the book, you can get a deal on the cost of using the tool. To his credit, he describes several cross browser testing applications in the book, in addition to his own.

Once you build a cross browser testing web app, you have all the information about each browser and what it supports at your fingertips. It is only logical to share it in a book. That makes the information useful to many more people. You can use the ebook without using the BrowseEmAll website. In addition, the book’s site has a knowledge base that will be updated as new browser information becomes available.

The book details each feature of HTML, CSS or JavaScript that might cause you grief. It explains which browsers will contain the problem. And it gives you the exact information you need to make the browser do what you want – namely render your page according to standards. If no one has yet come up with the appropriate script or whatever you need to make the browser work as if it knew the standards, the book tells you that, too.

Besides the Knowledge Base, which comes with the base book price ($29), there is also a password protected set of templates for the cross browser code examples at the book’s site. The price for the book plus access to the code templates is $59. The book has not been released yet, but there’s a sign up form on the site that will generate an email alert for you when it launches. Release date is November 28, 2012.

Summary: Focused information on a single issue. Very useful.

A review by Virginia DeBolt of The Cross Browser Handbook (rating: 5 stars)

Disclosure: The author provided a review copy of this book, but my opinions are my own.

Pinterest Secret Boards and Instagram Web Interfaces

Let’s talk about how storytelling and a sense of shared experience can make a brand stand out and achieve success. Look at the letter below from Pinterest. This is a brilliant piece of outreach that I’m sure every person with a Pinterest account received just like I did.

Hi, Virginia!
I had two thoughts driving home from the hospital with my wife, Divya. The first was, “I can’t believe I’m a Dad.” The second was, “I hope I can get our new baby, Max, out of that new car seat when we get home.”
During the first couple weeks, we started to figure out all the little things that are second nature for experienced parents: changing diapers, swaddling a wriggly infant, and doing every household task with one arm. As usual, Divya was a few steps ahead of me. When our doctor suggested we buy a humidifier she said, “Oh, I already have one!” When I was getting Max ready for his first bath, she pulled out a neat homemade bath kit, complete with a tiny towel, comb and toothbrush. I felt like I’d forgotten to read a secret New Baby Instruction Manual. In an exasperated moment, I remember asking Divya, “How did you figure all this stuff out already?!” She looked at me and and cheerfully replied, “I just follow other parents on Pinterest!”
Over the last year, there have been so many ways, big and small, that the Pinterest community has made my life better. I’m happy to say that I’m not alone. We’ve heard from teachers who use Pinterest to plan lessons, chefs who share recipes, and museums that pin their archives. We’ve also heard from millions of people who’ve been inspired to pick up an old hobby or try something new. It’s honestly more than we ever expected when we started Pinterest. We’re humbled to be part of such a positive, warm and creative community.
Today, we’re excited to continue this tradition with a new feature we hope will make Pinterest even better—secret boards. Secret boards give you a place for things you’re not quite ready to share yet, like a surprise party, special gift ideas, or even planning for a new baby. We’re testing out the feature by giving everyone 3 secret boards. You’ll find them at the bottom of your profile. We can’t wait to hear what you think!
On behalf of our team here at Pinterest, thanks so much for pinning, inviting your friends, and sending us ideas for how we can improve. Most of all, thanks for sharing your inspirations. With your help, we’ll make Pinterest a little better every day.
—Ben & the Pinterest Team

For comparison, take a look at the way Instagram announced that the mobile app was going to have a web interface. What they have there is well written and friendly just like the Pinterest letter. But Instagram’s notice leaves out one very important fact. The web is merely a display – the guts of the display and the ability to edit what shows up on the web all still happens in the mobile app. For a Flickr user like myself, it was hard to wrap my head around the idea that I couldn’t do anything with the stuff on the web except look at it and share it. You have to go back to the mobile app to do more. Knowing that in advance would have saved me some frustration.

I know the Pinterest letter doesn’t tell me anything about how to work with Secret Boards. Maybe when I get in there are create my first secret board I will discover hidden snares and fume over unanswered questions. But right now, I’m feeling like Pinterest won the +1 for good user communications.

Useful links: display:none, mobile input, touchscreens

display: none; Or The things you think are common knowledge but really they aren’t. Worth your time, especially if you are using responsive design and display:none; figures into what you’re doing.

Mobile Input Methods. Here’s another post that will teach you a lot about what you thought you already knew, but don’t.

Even Microsoft has given in to the touchscreen trend. As people scramble madly to come to terms with Windows 8, global moxie declares, New Rule: Every Desktop Design Has to Go Finger Friendly.

 

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

nate silver
Nate Silver from Wikimedia Commons

Nate Silver is a statistician. On election day his blog Five Thirty Eight at The New York Times accounted for 20% of all the traffic at the newspaper. That’s because Nate Silver had been standing up for his statistical analysis of the voting trend numbers and predicting Obama’s win for days before election day.

Keep in mind we’re talking about a mathematician here. But his name was all over Twitter and the news because he knows how to crunch numbers.

So here’s to Nate Silver. May his name become an inspiration to young people who are thinking about a career in some branch of mathematics.

Useful links: GitHub, Retina display, UX, Circuit Boards

Want a Date? Try GitHub. I just love this. It’s funny and real. And the only way to appreciate it is to already know what GitHub is for.

10 Tools for Optimizing for Retina Display by Craig Grannell a .net magazine.

University Websites: What Users Want Vs. What they Get. The results of this survey remind me of a university redesign program I attended a few months back that really improved user interaction: Getting in Bed with Your Users.

A quick video about how we may reduce the mounds of electronic waste currently polluting the earth. The secret? Really hot water.

The Tablet Market: Take Our Poll

With iPads, Surface, Nexus, Kindle FIre and other tablets out and vying for your tablet dollars this holiday season, it’s reaching a point where there are too many choices. How do you make decisions about which one will be best for you – or which one you can afford to buy.

Are you planning to buy a new tablet device any time soon? For yourself or someone else? What are the things that are going to affect your decision. Please take a moment and indicate the most important point for you in making a decision. Thanks for voting!

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