When I first learned javascript, I mainly used the jQuery library for small interactions (select something/do something) and adding very basic behavior to the websites I worked on. At the time, it was no big deal to just throw all of my simple jQuery methods and functions in a .js file and be done with it. Today, most of the web projects I work on tend to have significantly more complex behavior than just “select something/do something”, utilizing multiple libraries (Angular, Kendo, Backbone, etc.) with multiple developers involved. …

I was very happy to have the opportunity to check out the Texas JavaScript 2013 conference while I was back home in Austin, visiting with family. There were some really good speakers, and while some have complained about the lack of focused talks, I enjoyed the diversity of topics at this conference. I will definitely try to make it there sometime in the future. Below are my notes from the conference, but there is also videos up on the TXJS 2013 vimeo channel:

Harper Reed (@harper) — Keynote

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“Build a great team, practice failure, facilitate community”

• “Hacker” == sharing, openness, collaboration
• Take advantage…

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. These are two completely different fields of design that require extremely differing skill-sets, but please hear me out. I have been deejaying for over 4 years and after playing an album release party for another local deejay this past month, I realized that my hobby as a deejay and my occupation as a designer are more closely related than I ever imagined.

In short, both situations require adequate knowledge of your target audience and the ability to be perceptive & intuitive, along with the implementation of current (design) patterns to successfully achieve your audiences…

If you’ve ever had to design for Android, you already know the pain of having to determine the best approach for which device resolutions to support. Needless to say, it can be an excruciatingly mind-numbing ordeal, especially when you don’ have a clear idea on what type of Android devices your target audience may be using. Well, after having gone through this experience, I felt it was only right to share my findings.

If you’re not familiar with Android, the first thing you’ll notice is that screen sizes are defined in ‘dp’ units, not pixels. One ‘dp’ (density independent pixels)…

Responsive web design has been getting a lot of attention in the last year & rightfully so; if you’re building a website, #RWD techniques are the simplest way to adapt a website to the “constantly in flux” mobile landscape. Of all the techniques involved in creating a responsive design, media queries are the most powerful technique for making drastic changes in your layout & design. I’m not going to go in to detail on responsive design techniques here; there’s already great articlesand books that have been published on “the what & how” of responsive design. …

All I can say about this book is “wow”!

The Truth about HTML5 by Luke Stevens is one of the most opinionated looks at HTML5 I’ve come across in the last year, and for good reason. What we (web designers & developers) think we know about HTML5 is convoluted by misinterpretation and industry buzz words to make the next iteration of HTML much more than what it actually is. That’s not to say that HTML5 doesn’t have it’s good points, and that’s what Luke Stevens aims to point out in this book. …

I had the great opportunity to attend the 2012 CSS Dev Conference here in Honolulu this year with some of the best and brightest minds in the CSS community. Below are my notes from the talks and links to slides/resources that were made available. I’ll try to update some of the sections as links become available later.

Jenn Lukas — Cure for the Common Code (Opening Keynote)

• Web design = “It’s not about dancing baloney & flashing lights, it’s about communication and conveying meaning”
• People that do not have careers in web design still have value in learning CSS (self-hosted blogs, personal websites, etc.)
• Focus on real use-cases when learning…

Personas also bring issues of social and political consciousness to the forefront. — About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design

This past week, Indi Young (User Researcher, Founder of Adaptive Path) tweeted a reminder to the design industry on its practices in developing personas, which sparked a great discussion on the relationship between demographics and human behavior.

As someone who has created and worked with personas created by others, this totally hit home.

Inadvertently, anecdotal and/or experiential data creeps in to our design process and is used to reaffirm biases, which have no effect on human behavior. The…