Ten Commandments of Modern Web Design

Jeffrey Zeldman, Author, Designing With Web Standards, 3rd Ed.

Thou shalt ship. Thou shalt iterate. Love thy reader as thyself. Like their biblical predecessors, the ten commandments of modern web design can inspire us to be and do better. Learn to think noncanonically about responsive layouts, to avoid bearing false visual witness, to keep the content holy, and more.

Strong Layout Systems

Eric Meyer, Author, CSS: The Definitive Guide

CSS has been the web’s core presentation language for at least a decade, and yet it has always lacked the one thing you would instinctively expect a presentation language to possess: a strong layout system. In its absence, we latched onto floats as would a drowning man and then proceeded to pile on hack after hack after hack. There’s no denying the strategy was effective, but now that era is drawing to a close. With the recent work of the CSS Working Group and multiple vendors, strong layouts are coming to a browser near you; in fact, depending on your specific situation, they may already be here. We’ll explore the fast-emerging CSS enhancements that will one day allow us to sneer at floats the way we sneer at tables today.

Billboards & Novels

Jon Tan, Co-founder, Fontdeck

Journey into the science and technique of beautiful, functional type for the web. We’ll explore the technical landscape of screen type, detour into choosing good fonts for the work we face every day. We’ll also delve into science that will equip us to make the business case for beautiful web typography. By the end of our trip, we’ll have discovered the nuances of typesetting that can help our employers and audience get their work done, and enjoy what they’re doing along the way.

Lunch

It’s a Write/Read (Mobile) Web

Luke Wroblewski, CEO & Co-Founder of Input Factory Inc.

On the surface, content is king online. But digging deeper into the underbelly of the web reveals a complex ecosystem of communication and contribution that shapes the web and how we interact with it. What lessons can we learn from the web’s inner workings as we move to a mobile-driven, multi-device internet? Luke will not only lift the covers on where we need to focus our efforts but share lots of practical advice on how as well.

Responsive and Responsible

Scott Jehl, Author, Designing with Progressive Enhancement

Building responsive websites with progressive enhancement allows us to create flexible, future-friendly web experiences that support the widest possible audience with a single front-end codebase. But as we continue to embrace the ever-increasing contexts in which our sites are used, performance and accessibility must remain our highest priorities; we must continually question each code addition, and improve our techniques to ensure they’re best serving users’ needs. This talk will explore the challenges of creating fast and reliable responsive websites, consider common pitfalls, and offer approaches to address them in a responsible way.

Designing for Touch

Josh Clark, Principal, Global Moxie

Handheld touchscreen design introduces genuine ergonomic issues; it’s no longer just how your pixels look but also how they feel. Learn practical guidelines for touchscreen ergonomics on phones, tablets, and hybrid devices. Among the design patterns and finger-friendly techniques you’ll take home: when and how to embed gestures in your site; how to avoid thumb sprain with the all-too-common endless scroll; how to use sensors to speed or replace touch input; why extra taps are a good thing on small screens; and how complexity can be fat fingers’ new BFF.

A Lounge Apart, brought to you by Squarespace

We invite you to take a break at A Lounge Apart - a place to chat, check your email, grab a drink, or relax between sessions. A Lounge Apart offers complimentary refreshments and snacks throughout the day with a full open bar starting at 5 p.m. on Monday. There are comfy couches as well as chargers for laptops and mobile devices. Come in and talk shop, beer, Squarespace... or don't talk at all. We're cool with that. Additionally, Squarespace will grant 100 attendees a free Squarespace Developer account for one year (a $240 value) after the event. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Opening Night Party

Sponsored by: (mt) Media Temple

Fado Irish Pub
273 Buckhead Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 841-0066

Media Temple’s opening night parties for An Event Apart are legendary. Join the speakers and hundreds of fellow attendees for great conversation, lively debate, loud music, hot snacks, and a seemingly endless stream of grown-up beverages.  Please RSVP if you’re coming so we’re sure to have enough on hand for everyone!

The Spirit of the Web

Jeremy Keith, Maker Of Websites

With the explosion of web-enabled devices of all shapes and sizes, the practice of web design and development seems more complex than ever. But if we can learn to see below this overwhelming surface to the underlying web beneath, we can learn to make sites not for specific devices but for the people using them. This presentation will demonstrate how tried and tested principles like REST and progressive enhancement are more important than ever. By embracing the spirit of the web, you can ensure that your websites are backwards compatible and future friendly.

Care to Compare

Colleen Jones, author, Clout: The Art + Science of Influential Web Content

As users interact with your website, they take a journey through decisions. Colleen will explain principles from decision science and what they mean for the design and content of your comparisons. You’ll learn why the comparison is a pivot point that will either move your users forward or stop their journey altogether. And, you’ll get practical techniques to transform your comparisons from a neglected dump of content to a useful and compelling guide. No matter whether your site offers products, services, or information, better comparisons will lead more users to decide in your favor.

The Mobile Content Mandate

Karen McGrane, Author, Content Strategy for Mobile

You don’t get to decide which device people use to access your content: they do. By 2015, more people will access the internet via mobile devices than on traditional computers; in the US today, nearly one-third of people who browse the internet on their mobile phone say that’s the only way they go online. It’s time to stop avoiding the issue by saying “no one will ever want to do that on mobile;” chances are, someone already wants to. In this session, Karen will discuss why you need to deliver content wherever your customer wants to consume it, and explain how to get started with your mobile content strategy—defining what you want to publish, what the relationship should be between your mobile and desktop site, and how your editorial workflow and content management tools need to evolve.

Lunch

The Real Me: Personality in Design

Aarron Walter, Director of User Experience, MailChimp

While some companies use their brand as an opaque facade to hide questionable practices, others are opening up to their audience and sharing their true personality. The result is a more honest relationship with customers. We will share real world examples of personality in action, explore key business benefits, discuss how to create a design persona, and explain the relationship between brand voice (which must be constant in all media) and tone (which varies in each situation).

Silo-Busting with Scenarios

Kim Goodwin, Designer and Design Management Consultant

Perhaps the biggest cause of bad user experiences is the organizational silo: customers have to talk with three different groups to fix one problem, or use a mobile app that’s nothing like the desktop site, or deal with a retail store associate who has no idea what’s offered online. In this session, Kim will show you how effective scenarios can shift everyone’s perspective away from internal structures. You’ll learn what makes an effective scenario and what scenarios can do that use cases and user stories seldom can.

It’s a Great Time To Be a UX Designer

Jared Spool, Founder, User Interface Engineering

After years of wishing we’d be recognized and appreciated for the value we bring, we designers are now highly sought after. The demand for great design has never been higher! Yet, while we’re presented with more opportunities than ever, we also face increased challenges. Mobile design requires us to rethink how we design for screens and interaction. Agile methodology forces us to critically reevaluate best processes and techniques. Learn how we can deliver world-changing designs while our own world is dramatically shifting under our feet.

A Lounge Apart, brought to you by Squarespace

We invite you to take a break at A Lounge Apart - a place to chat, check your email, grab a drink, or relax between sessions. A Lounge Apart offers complimentary refreshments and snacks throughout the day with a full open bar starting at 5 p.m. on Monday. There are comfy couches as well as chargers for laptops and mobile devices. Come in and talk shop, beer, Squarespace... or don't talk at all. We're cool with that. Additionally, Squarespace will grant 100 attendees a free Squarespace Developer account for one year (a $240 value) after the event. Looking forward to seeing you there!

The Web Everywhere: Multi-Device Web Design

Luke Wroblewski, CEO & Co-Founder of Input Factory Inc.

The web no longer starts and ends on our desktop and laptop computers. Today, the tremendous growth of mobile devices is turning more and more people into multi-device and, as a result, cross-device users. Designing for this reality requires new ways of thinking and building for the web.

Join Luke Wroblewski, author of Mobile First (A Book Apart, 2012), for an up-to-the-minute, in-depth look at today’s multi-device ecosystem. Learn how mobile provides a foundation for this new reality, how to build on this foundation to reach an ever-increasing set of devices, and where the web will take us next.

Packed with all-new material, this is an absolutely essential workshop for anyone designing digital experiences in today’s rapidly changing multi-device environment.

This full-day workshop follows An Event Apart Atlanta and runs 9:00am-4:00pm on Wednesday, February 20. You can register online and save over $100 when you sign up for both An Event Apart and the workshop.

Note: The workshop is not a hands-on learning session; 300 or more people typically attend.