It operates at a functional, almost subliminal level distinct from decidedly more ornamental concerns like graphics, texture, and color. The quality of your typesetting can support your client’s message (and their application’s functionality)—or can detract from it by drawing undue attention to itself.

The reality is that high performance should be a requirement on any web project, not an afterthought. Poor performance has been tied to a decrease in revenue, traffic, conversions, and overall user satisfaction.

My focus has shifted from creating graphics and layouts with Photoshop and Illustrator then coding their way into the browser to just simply making loading times faster.

If a designer thinks web design is easy and is just about creating great stunning UI elements, he might want to think again. Although aesthetics have a factor in web design – and to some it is the most important factor – I say it’s way more interesting to solve how to get all the elements loaded before the user leaves the site. We got this down for desktop browsers, but we still struggle for browers in phones and tablets.

Questions like “What tasks do you want visitors to achieve when they visit the site”, and “How will you measure the success of the site” let on to how well the client knows what their goals are, and let us know exactly what we would be working to achieve. If all of those answers line up, we follow up with the potential client and request a phone call.

I can’t emphasize enough the importance of the client knowing what they want you to do for them. If a client doesn’t know – or isn’t clear of what – their goal (or what they want in the end) is, they can never be satisfied. It will look like a forever-and-ever project that you’d wish you had not taken in the first place.

You can never tell them that (if a website is an e-commerce site), what you have done – already – is enough for customers to start buying online. Or, the style of the site already pleases their target customers. Or, their website is so much better than before. Often times, clients without a specific goal, tend to sound like they have a perfect plan in the beginning but never seem to have an end.

If a client tells you the reason of why they need a website is because “I just want to have one.” forget about it and move your attention to client who actually knows why they need a website.

Why? Because they shared real user insights to engage us emotionally, used narrative and stories to compel us, drew sketches and visualizations to inspire us, and simplified the complex to focus us. It’s proof positive that numbers and bullet points, while important, aren’t necessarily what drive executive decision making.

I was a bit curious with what the man behind the redesign posted. Pat Dryburgh:

I’m especially proud of the interaction I came up with for users browsing the site on their iOS devices who want to download the app.

And so I tried it.

To be honest, this is the first modal window I’ve seen on a mobile that is decent.

If you build for every cool thing that’s going to happen online, you’re ready. Building forward for the growing user base isn’t just more fun, it’s smart. Build backwards and your app is dated before it’s out of the door.

I develop sites using Safari (when on a Mac) but when I’m at work I use a Windows machine — Safari just doesn’t cut it for me so — I prefer Chrome. Using a browser that runs the WebKit engine when designing and developing is the easiest way of making my work future proof.

For now, the LESS mixins above should prove pretty helpful if you plan to use CSS sprites. Just remember to prepare your sprite well; if you do, things should move ahead pretty smoothly, even when deadlines are weighing on you.

I never got why I should learn to use CSS pre-processors before until I’ve read this intensive post. It’s just my style to be conservative in using images for my design. The less images there are the faster the load times.

But we know that when it comes to (some of) our clients; they want icons here, images there, and so on. This technique can really make a difference with how I usually work with sprites. I’ll think of it as another skill set that may not be used that often, but can save a whole deal of time when its actually needed.

There is really no hurt in studying new ways of doing things.

But then something struck me. Why would I replace something I use daily and depend on so much that works already the way I like it? Would that even be smart?

Matt Alexander on the Loop, indicating why he did not even consider Android or Windows Phone devices:

[...] My life has just been made easier. There’s that much less in my digital life for me to be considerate of. No longer must I verse myself with codecs and conversion techniques in order to enjoy my media, or with firmware hacks and overclocking to get the best features and performance out of my hardware. My technology just works, and it does so in the background. I enjoy applications that help me work and live, and I no longer have to focus on the underlying mechanics that facilitate that.

Matt’s piece reminded me why I bought the iPhone 4S in the first place. It was simply because the last iPhone I had made my life simpler. Isn’t that why technology has been made available to the people, to our lives simpler?

I just needed the updated hardware so I can keep on using the apps I was using.

As a web designer, I already have so much on my plate and experimenting which phone is right for me is impractical and definitely not my priority in life.

So as long as I’m enjoying the experience of using my iPhone, I finally decided to stop thinking of switching to the Galaxy Nexus (or any other device). I may even find it hard—myself—to switch if I bought the Galaxy Nexus. It would be like buying a new phone to collect dust—now that’s a waste.

Regardless if you’re an Android user, a Windows phone user, or you just use some phone (of an unknown brand) that sprouted from someone’s ass. If you like how it works for you, then stick with it. Buying the newest version of your current phone when it ships wouldn’t hurt if you know that it will work better for you.¹

The important thing to keep in mind is be practical with what you buy with your hard earned cash.² Invest on something that will help you on the long run in the way you want it.

1. Sometimes, you may not need the hi-end model if the low-end model works for you just fine.
2. Lets face it, these days are hard times—globally.

But the biggest joke is the price: $20 (currently on sale for $5).

The app’s UI is so Windows it isn’t even funny. It,s a disgrace to the entire iOS ecosystem. The app should always be seen at Read the fucking HIG (I hope the people maintaining Read the fucking HIG considers — ugly — iOS apps acceptable) and never be seen at the App Store.

(via @imjustcreative)

Progress doesn’t happen by wasting time today on supporting the things of yesterday when we could be spending that time making the things of tomorrow even more awesome.

I agree with Aral’s point here. We as designers and developers have a share in the blame why people are still using outdated browsers, its because we still design and develop for those browsers. Truly, its a time wasting task to make a site look exactly the same across all versions (and browsers).

But what if all designers had a strike not to support outdated browsers? Lets just assume and imagine this for a minute. For a designer or developer this is Eureka, but for users this might be a lame but high-end tech world, where if you use an outdated browser, you’re out of the game.

Will this be too much for the end-users? Or is it just another window for designers and devs to use to escape the duty of supporting old browsers?

I can see supporting for only the latest browsers being more relevant to the next generation of users, where almost every kid in high-school knows how to browse the web. Not only that, they know what browser they’re using to view the web.¹

The casual user browsing the web isn’t really a problem. The problem are the companies—and the large ones. What I’d like to know is why these big companies are having a hard time in keeping up with browser updates. Is it that hard to update a browser, or do they just want to feel old and outdated?²

Whatever the answer is, it would sound cheap coming from a large enterprise company.

1. The age where cyber-phobia is an illness worst than cancer.
2. I guess these only apply to companies who love Microsoft and so hooked on using an outdated version of Windows that they have no choice on using browsers that are only supported by their current OS.

I’m currently sketching a redesign for my site¹. Using position: fixed as an essential part of the redesign is not a good idea. For now it should only be as an enhancement for the design.

If I have an element thats fixed at the top, it will probably work fine. If position: fixed doesn’t work due to support, you’d still have the that element scrolling with the rest of the content and not in the way of everything else.

But if I were to place an element somewhere in the bottom—and this was in a form of a tab controller or Foote—then the element will be static in its initial position, always on top and scrolling along with the rest of the content. In short I would end up in a broken design.

Just a thought that I’d like to remind myself when sketching the—new—layout is to keep asking myself “how will this look with position: fixed supported?” and “how will this look without position: fixed supported?“.

I threw the (draft that I thought had a) promising layout that I have been working on for weeks, when I remembered about the type of devices that I’d want to suppport. But its ok, I think its better loosing 20 drafts rather than redoing a design that I thought was finished.

Like all people working on the web, I’d like to support every device. I’d like my site to say “Hey dude! you have an iPhone, Cool!” to the readers of my site² regardless if one has an iPhone 4s or the original iPhone.

But I think its only fair (and this applies to almost everything is) to give a slightly better experience to users with the high-end model. But this doesn’t give us excuses to deliver a trashy experience to users who can’t afford the high-end model.

My site’s design is towards a good reading experience to users by delivering content without the extra clutter. If I can get away with removing the logo and the navigation, I would—but they each serve a purpose—so that all a reader sees is the article.

That is why (position: fixed a) style should never intervene with how a web site works.

1. I know its still less than a year, but this redesign will focus on layout rather than style.
2. This only applies to users with an iPhone but not limited to the iPad users.

The ubiquitous WD-40 lubricant got its name because the first 39 experiments failed. WD-40 literally stands for “Water Displacement–40th Attempt.” If they gave up early on like most of us do, we’d sure have a lot more squeaky hinges in the world.

Very inspirational.

I don’t want to upgrade my iMac to an SSD because just because I don’t want anyone opening up my machine other than real Apple people¹.

I reside in the Philippines where there is not a single Apple store that exist, only authorized retail stores. Some of the retail stores like the Power Mac Center does a really good job at mimicking the original Apple store from the US². It also follows that the people inside the store as well as the technicians/experts aren’t employees of Apple.

That’s a problem for me. I don’t trust any person can do better than what a real Apple employee can do – in terms of fixing, repairing or even upgrading my machine.

It looks like I’ll just have to wait until my iMac breaks down. When that time comes, it looks like I don’t have any other choice but to let them screw with my machine, not a big deal since I’ll be bringing my machine to them already in a screwed state.

1. I know that a even simple Hard Drive replacement for the iMac means opening up the machine. So I want real experts to do the real work
2. I guess its probably the deal with Apple that if you want to sell their products, the store needs to look and feel like consumers are inside a real Apple store – just my hunch.

I’ve heard from several friends who have MacBook Airs that they have been blown away by their performance. For most of these people, buying an Air was their first experience with an SSD. As we know, moving from an HDD to an SSD is a significant speed upgrade.

A lot of people – still –  doesn’t know this. The SSDs are offered at certain tech stores but (ordinary) consumers tend to ignore this upgrade because of its price. Most consumers still don’t understand what is better between an HDD and an SSD. They think they won in buying an HDD because they’ve got more storage space for a cheaper price.

The Fullscreen Apps

Before there was OS X Lion, there was no Full-Screen Apps. This was unpleasant for me because the only way I knew how to make my screen looked clean and organized is by having my current app in full screen mode¹. It made me focus on the task at hand for the active app.

You had the green button with the plus symbol, but I wanted the window to snap on all sides.

But as I use my Mac more and more and actually do real work, I realized that I’m not filling the screen with only one app as often as I do when I was on a PC.

Most of the Mac apps work best for me when not in full-screen mode.

So even now, with Lion offering the Full-Screen feature for apps, I don’t really use it. I think on a 27 inch display – and in fullscreen mode – a certain app can be harder to work with. The extra screen estate doesn’t necesarilly increase functionality of an app compared to when its on a window state².

Going back to the PC with a new habit

In the office where I work, I use a PC – I know right? Even though I know that on a 22 inch display the fullscreen view for windows works better most of the time, I still don’t use it anymore – even if I’m on a PC where this works best for most cases (atleast for me before). The result, a not-so tidy desktop.

It’s not just in me anymore to make all my apps in full-screen and view them one at a time. I find it as a waste of screen estate.

I found it more productive to have several apps/windows open in one screen and just click on them (the visible areas of the window) to activate the app if ever I want it to be the active app/window. The CTRL + TAB on Windows isn’t really useful to get to a specific window.

Its useful if you’re doing CSS where you have your coding app and a browser open side by side³. I usually get the job done faster this way.

This contradicts my minimalist taste

I know that being messy and disorganized while working contradicts my minimalist taste.

I’ve linked to an article by Trent Walton before about having a lot of windows open can be more distracting than helping. And what I’m liking now is the complete opposite. Not because I’m going against it; currently, the way I do things (for me) just works.

I’ll Leave it to my Display

If I had a smaller screen resolution with limited amount of space to work with, it would be a challenge for me. But lets say I do have a Mac Book Air, probably I will still have more than one window open and keep pressing CMD + TAB just to get the whole view for the window/s I’m referring to.

Since I mostly work⁴ on screens with a minimum of 1920 by 1080 resolution, I’m just making use of what I have at any given situation.

It looks so messy and disorganized when you look at it. But thats how I roll now and I love it.

1. Alteast on a PC, thats how I did it and I got used to this practice before.
2. This depends entirely on what app and how you use the app.
3. This is even more useful if you’re using something like LiveReload, where you don’t even have to press CMD + TAB to switch to your browser just to reload the page and hit CMD + TAB again to go back to your coding app
4. Either at home and at the office.

If you’re looking for some practical solutions to tablet heat problems, let good sense be your guide. Be aware that both a tablet’s front and back surface can get warm, and try to avoid situations that might make them even warmer. If you do use your tablet to the point where it becomes uncomfortably warm, dial down the display’s brightness for a while, or take a short break and give the tablet a chance to cool off a bit. Your eyes—and maybe even your lap—will thank you.

(via John Gruber)

For something like this, to paraphrase Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the design is finished not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

Golden. This is how every designer should look at every project. The challenge of making something work is a lot difficult than making something beautiful.

Well, we all know its easy to change wallpapers for your desktop — heck, thats one of the first things I do on a windows machine¹. But why do I still use Apple’s default wallpaper?

Believe me, I’ve tried so many times to find the right wallpaper for a 2560px by 1440px resolution that suits me. Now when I say I’ve tried, I at least let it sit for at least a week. To me a perfect wallpaper really means a lot.

It’s the first thing you see before going to work. I want to use this as a tool to motivate me to work and get things done.

Based on my experience

I don’t bother when I’m doing photoshop work since I like to work in fullscreen mode.

But when coding I usually have 2 windows open at the same time. One for my coding app and the other one is Safari for testing. This also holds true when I’m writing stuff, I have a window for iA Writer and another for Marked app to see how it looks².

The solution is simple, make both windows equally large taking completely half of the screen. That was simple right? Problem solved? Not quite, both windows seem to be large for its content. So as a result I tend to resize it back to just the way I want them.

Worst is if I only need Safari open or Mail on a single time.

This is my problem

If I have a dark background the windows themselves look awfully bright³ even at my preferred brightness setting.

If I have a bright background, and browse on a dark website for a long time in Safari, I get these flashes in my eyes when I close the window.

How about a background with a shade of grey? I’ve tried it and truth be told, I experience both of the problems said above simultaneously. I can’t explain why. I may be getting old and my eyes can’t adapt to dynamic lighting conditions and get tired faster than before, that’s why I usually set my brightness to about 4 dots to start with.

Using those boring default wallpapers

I went back to the default wallpaper in which my current OS ships with — I was still in Snow Leopard, and I don’t have any problems with it. Then came Lion, and now with Mountain Lion’s Developer preview available, I’m now using its default wallpaper.

Even if there are icons on my desktop, or whether the windows are bright or not and regardless of placement of my windows, it doesn’t affect how I work.

It amazes me, from Snow Leopard to Lion I didn’t have any complains with the transition. And now I’m letting Mountain Lion’s wallpaper sit on my desktop and hasn’t been changed since the announcement of the Developer Preview. Still, I’m fine with it.

I’d like to think there is great amount of thinking behind the design of the background/wallpaper.

What’s a good wallpaper?

Each and everyone of us have their own holy opinions about their desktop wallpapers. There are people who wants really graphic intense designs while others want to keep it simple and minimal. It all drills down to preference.

But for me Apple has done a pretty good job with their’s, so I’m sticking with the default.

Just a tip. You should never spend too much time trying to change your wallpaper everyday. It tends to waste so much time trying to browse for the perfect one for your particular mood for that particular moment. Pick one and live with it.

Just so you know, I tried going back to Snow Leopard’s wallpaper and I didn’t like it anymore. It felt like I was using an old system.

I’m still waiting for the next OS X release where the default wallpaper isn’t worthy to decorate my desktop.

1. After installing all the drivers and making sure everything is ok and running.
2. Oh yes, I still get confused with how my markdown would look like in html.
3. It depends on Safari which website I’m browsing at the moment.