{"rowid": 82, "title": "Being Prepared To Contribute", "contents": "\u201cYou\u2019ll figure it out.\u201d The advice my dad gives has always been the same, whether addressing my grade school homework or paying bills after college. If I was looking for a shortcut, my dad wasn\u2019t going to be the one to provide it.\n\nWhen I was a kid it infuriated the hell out of me, but what I then perceived to be a lack of understanding turned out to be a keystone in my upbringing. As an adult, I realize the value in not receiving outright solutions, but being forced to figure things out. \n\nEven today, when presented with a roadblock while building for the web, I am temped to get by with the help of the latest grid system, framework, polyfill, or plugin. In and of themselves these resources are harmless, but before I can drop them in, those damn words still echo in the back of my mind: \u201cYou\u2019ll figure it out.\u201d\n\nI know that if I blindly implement these tools as drag and drop solutions I fail to understand the intricacies behind how and why they were built; repeatedly using them as shortcuts handicaps my skill set. When I solely rely on the tools of others, my work is at their mercy, leaving me less creative and resourceful, and, thus, less able to contribute to the advancement of our industry and community. \n\nOne of my favorite things about this community is how generous and collaborative it can be. I\u2019ve loved seeing FitVids used all over the web and regularly improved upon at Github. I bet we can all think of a time where implementing a shared resource has benefitted our own work and sanity. Because these resources are so valuable, it\u2019s important that we continue to be a part of the conversation in order to further develop solutions and ideas. It\u2019s easy to assume there\u2019s someone smarter or more up-to-date in any one area, but with a degree of understanding and perspective, we can all participate. \n\nThis open form of collaboration is in our web DNA. After all, its primary purpose was to promote the exchange and development of new ideas.\n\n\n\tTim Berners-Lee proposed a global hypertext project, to be known as the World Wide Web. Based on the earlier \u201cEnquire\u201d work, it was designed to allow people to work together by combining their knowledge in a web of hypertext documents.\n\n\nI\u2019m delighted to find that this spirit of collaborative ingenuity is alive and well on the web today. Take the story of Off Canvas as an example. I was at an ATX Dribbble meet up where I met Jason Weaver and chatted to him about his recent work on the responsive layout prototype, Off Canvas. Jason said he came across a post by Luke Wroblewski outlining the idea and saw this:\n\n\n\tIf anyone is interested in building a complete example of this approach using responsive Web design techniques, let me know!\n\n\nFrom there Luke recounts: \n\n\n\tWe went back and forth on email, with me laying out ideas and Jason doing all the hard work to see if they can be done and improving them bit by bit! Once we got to something we both liked, I wrote up an article explaining things and he hosted the examples.\n\n\nLuke took the time to clearly outline and diagram his ideas, and Jason responded with a solid proof of concept that has evolved into a tool we all have at our disposal. Victory!\n\nI have also benefitted from comrades who have taken an idea of mine into development. After blogging about some concerns in regards to maintaining hierarchy as media queries are used to shift layouts, Jordan Moore rebounded with some responsive demos where he used flexbox to (re)order content as viewport sizing changes.\n\nSimilar stories can be found behind the development of things like FitVids, FitText, and Molten Leading. I love this pattern of collaboration because it involves a fairly specific process:\n\n\n\tInitial idea or prototype is outlined or built, then shared\n\tDiscuss\n\tSomeone develops or improves it, then shares it\n\tDiscuss\n\tSomeone else develops or improves it, then shares it.\n\tInfinity.\n\n\nThis is what the web looks like when we build it together, and I\u2019d argue that steps 2+ are absolutely crucial. A web where everyone develops their own ideas and tools independent of one another is like a room full of people talking and no one listening. \n\n\n\nThe pattern itself mimics a literal web structure, and ideally we\u2019d be able to follow a strand from one idea to the next and so on.\n\nBlessed are the curators\n\nSometimes those lines aren\u2019t easy to find or follow. Thankfully, there are people who painstakingly log each experiment and index much of what\u2019s out there. Chris Coyier does this with CSS in general, and Brad Frost is doing this for responsive and multi-device design with his Pattern Library. Seriously, take a look at this page and imagine what it would take to find, track and organize the progression of each of these resources yourself. I\u2019d argue that ongoing collections like these are more valuable than the sum of their parts when they are updated regularly as opposed to a top ten tips blog post format.\n\nHere\u2019s my soapbox\n\nHere are a few things I appreciate about how things are shared and contributed online. And yes, I could do way better at all of them myself.\n\n\n\tConcise write-ups: honor others\u2019 time by getting to the point. Not every idea or solution needs two thousand words to convey fully. I love long-form posts, but there\u2019s a time and a place for them.\n\tVisual aids: if a quick illustration, screenshot, or graphic helps illustrate your point or problem, yes please.\n\n\nBy the way, Luke Wroblewski rules the school on both of these.\n\n\n\tDemo it: host it yourself, or put it on CodePen or JS Bin for others to see.\n\tPut it on Github: share and improve with the rest of the community. Consider, however, that because someone puts something on Github doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re forever bound to provide support or instruction.\n\n\nThis isn\u2019t a call for everyone to learn everything all the time, but if you\u2019re curious or interested in something, skip the shortcut and get your hands dirty: sketch, prototype, question, debate, fork, and share. Figuring these things out on our own makes us valuable contributors to the web \u2013 the thing that ultimately we\u2019re all trying to figure out together.", "year": "2012", "author": "Trent Walton", "author_slug": "trentwalton", "published": "2012-12-03T00:00:00+00:00", "url": "https://24ways.org/2012/being-prepared-to-contribute/", "topic": "process"}
{"rowid": 85, "title": "Starting Your Project on the Right Foot (and Keeping It There)", "contents": "I\u2019m not sure if anything is as terrifying as beginning a new design project. I often spend hours trying to find the best initial footing in a design, so I\u2019ve been working hard to improve my process, particularly for the earliest stages of a project. I want\u00a0to smooth out the bumps that disrupt my creative momentum and focus on the emotional highs and lows I experience, and then try to minimize the lows and ride the highs as long as possible. \n\nDesign is often a struggle broken up by blissful moments of creative clarity that provide valuable force to move your work forward. Momentum is a powerful tool in creative work, and it\u2019s something we don\u2019t always maximize when we\u2019re working because of the hectic nature of our field.\u00a0Obviously, every designer is going to have a different process, but I thought I\u2019d share some of the methods I\u2019ve begun to adopt. I hope this will spark a conversation among designers who are interested in looking at process in a new way.\n\nJump-starting a project\n\nI cannot overstate the importance of immersing yourself in design and collecting ample amounts of inspiration when beginning a project. I make it a daily practice to visit a handful of sites (Dribbble, Graphic Exchange, Web Creme, siteInspire, Designspiration, and others) and save any examples of design that I like. I then sort them into general categories (publication design, illustration, typography, web design, and so on). Enjoying a bit of fresh design every day helps me absorb it and analyze why it\u2019s effective instead of just imitating it.\u00a0\n\nMany designers are afraid to look at too much design for fear that they\u2019ll be tempted to copy it, but I feel a steady influx of design inspiration reduces that possibility. You\u2019re much more likely to take the easy way out and rip off a design if you\u2019re scrambling for inspiration after getting stuck. If you are immersed in design from a variety of mediums, you\u2019ll engage your creative brain on multiple levels and have an easier time creating something unique for your project. Looking at good design will not make you a good designer but it will make you a better designer.\n\nDesign is design\n\nTry not to limit your visual research to the medium you\u2019re working in. Websites, books, posters and packaging all have their own unique limitations and challenges, and any one of those characteristics could be useful to you. Posters need to grab the viewer and pass on a small tidbit of information; packaging needs to encourage physical interaction; and websites need to encourage exploration. If you know the challenges you\u2019ll be facing, you will know where to look for design that tackles those same problems.\n\nI find it refreshing to look at design from the turn of the nineteenth century, when type was laid out on objects without thought to aesthetics. Many vintage packages break all sorts of modern design rules, and looking at that kind of work is a great way to spark your creativity. Pulling yourself out of the box and away from the rules of what you\u2019re working on can reveal solutions that are innovative and unique.\u00a0After a little finessing, the warning label text from a 1940s hazardous chemical box from could have the exact type and icon arrangement you need for your project.\u00a0There\u2019s a massive pool of design to pull from that doesn\u2019t have the limitations the web has, and exploring those design worlds will help you grow your own repertoire.\n\nIf all else fails, start with the footer\n\nThe very beginning of a project is the most frustrating point in a project for me. I\u2019m trying to figure out typeface combinations, colors and the overall voice of the design, and until I find the right solutions, I\u2019m a wreck. I\u2019ve found often that my frustration stems from trying to solve too many problems at once. The beginning of a project has a lot of moving targets, nearly endless possible solutions, and constantly changing variables. You\u2019ll knock out one problem only to discover your solution doesn\u2019t jive with something you worked out earlier \u2014 you end up designing in circles.\n\nIf you find yourself getting stuck at the beginning of a website design, try working out one specific element of the site and see what emerges. I\u2019m going to recommend the footer. Why? Footers can easily be ignored in a design or become a dumping ground for items that couldn\u2019t be worked into the main layout. But, at the start of most projects, the minimum content requirements for the footer are usually established. There needs to be a certain number of links, social media buttons, copyright details, a search bar, and so on. It\u2019s a self-contained item within the design that has a specific purpose, and that\u2019s a great element to focus on when you\u2019re stuck in a design. Colors, typefaces, link styles, input fields and buttons can all be sketched out from just the footer. It\u2019s a very flexible element that can be as prominent or subtle as you want, and it\u2019s a solid starting point for setting the tone and style of a site.\n\nSave the details\n\nDesigners love details. I love details. But don\u2019t let nitpicking early on in your process kill your creative momentum.\u00a0Design is an emotional process, and being frustrated or defeated by a tricky problem or a graphical detail you just can\u2019t nail down can deflate your creative energies. If you hit a roadblock, set it aside and tackle another piece of the project. As you spend time engaged in a design, the style you develop will evolve according to the needs of the content, and you might arrive naturally at a solution that will work perfectly for the problem that had you stuck before.\u00a0\n\nIf I find myself working on one particular element for more than a half an hour without any clear movement, I shelve it. Designers often wear their obsessive detail-oriented tendencies as a badge of honor, but there\u2019s a difference between making the design better and wasting time. If you\u2019ve spent hours nudging elements around pixel by pixel and can\u2019t settle on something, it probably means what you\u2019re doing isn\u2019t making a huge improvement on the design. Don\u2019t be afraid to let it lie and come at it again with fresh eyes. You will be better equipped to tackle the finer points of a project once you\u2019ve got the broad strokes defined.\n\nHave a plan when you start and stop designing\n\nWe all know that creativity isn\u2019t something you can turn on effortlessly, and it\u2019s easy to forget the emotional process that goes along with design.\u00a0If you leave a project in a place of frustration, it\u2019s going to stay with you in your free time and affect you negatively, like a dark cloud of impending disaster. Try to end each design session with a victory, a small bit of definable progress that you can take with you in your downtime. Even something as small as finding the right opacity for the interior shadow on the search bar in the header of the site is a win.\u00a0Likewise, when you return to a project after a break, it can be difficult to get the ball rolling on the design again if you set it down without a clear path for the next steps. I find that I work on details best when I\u2019m returning from downtime, when I\u2019m fresh and re-energized and ready to dig in again. Try to pick out at least one element you\u2019d like to fine-tune when you are winding down in a design session and use it to kick-start your next session.\n\nContent is king\n\nI would argue there is nothing more crucial to the success of a design than having the content defined from the outset.\u00a0Designing without content is similar to designing without an audience, and designing with vague ideas of content types and character limits is going to result in a muted design that doesn\u2019t reach its full potential. Images and language go hand in hand with design, and can take a design from functional to outstanding if you have them available from the outset. We don\u2019t always have the luxury of having content to build a design around, but fight for it whenever you can. For example, if the site you are designing is full of technical jargon, your paragraphs might need a longer line length to accommodate the longer words being used.\u00a0\n\nOften, working with content will lead to design solutions you wouldn\u2019t have come to otherwise.\u00a0Design speaks to content, and content speaks to design. Lorem ipsum doesn\u2019t speak to anyone (unless you know Latin, in which case, congratulations!).\n\nEvery project has its own set of needs, and every designer has his or her own method of working. There\u2019s obviously no perfect process to design, and being dogmatic about process can be just as harmful as not having one. Exposing yourself to new design and new ways of designing is an easy way to test your skills and grow. When things are hard and you can\u2019t get any momentum going on a design, this is when your skill set is truly challenged. We all hope to get wonderful projects with great assets and ample creative possibilities, but you won\u2019t always be so blessed, and this is when the quality of your process is really going to shine.", "year": "2012", "author": "Bethany Heck", "author_slug": "bethanyheck", "published": "2012-12-02T00:00:00+00:00", "url": "https://24ways.org/2012/starting-your-project-on-the-right-foot/", "topic": "process"}
{"rowid": 88, "title": "Think First, Code Later", "contents": "This is a story that\u2019s best told from the end, and it\u2019s probably one you\u2019re all familiar with.\n\nYou, or someone just like you, have been building a website, probably as part of a skilled and capable team. You\u2019re a front-end developer, focusing on JavaScript \u2013 it\u2019s either your sole responsibility or shared around. It\u2019s quite a big job, been going on for months, and at last it feels like you\u2019re reaching the end of it.\n\nBut, in a brief moment of downtime, you step back and take a look at the code as a whole. You notice that the folder called \u201cjQuery plugins\u201d suddenly looks rather full, and maybe there\u2019s evidence of several methods of doing the same thing; there are loads of little niggly fixes in the bug tracker; and every place you use Ajax the structure of the data is slightly different. You sigh, and your shoulders droop slightly, and you think \u201cYeah, we\u2019ll do that more cleanly next time.\u201d\n\nThe thing is, you probably already know how to rewrite the start of this story to make the ending work better. This situation is not really anyone\u2019s fault \u2013 it\u2019s just an accumulation of all the things you decided along the way, all the things you agreed you\u2019d fix later that have disappeared into the black hole of technical debt, and accomodating all the \u201ccan we just\u2026?\u201d requests from around the team and the client.\n\nSo, the solution to this is easy, right? More interminable planning meetings, more tightly controlled and documented specifications, less freedom to innovate, to try out new ideas and enjoy what you\u2019re doing.\n\nWait, that sounds even less fun than the old way.\n\nMinimum viable planning\n\nActually, planning and specifications are exactly what you need, but the way you go about them can make a real difference, both to the quality of your code, and the quality of your life as a developer. It can be as simple as being a little more thoughtful before starting on any new piece of functionality. Involve your whole team if possible, or at least those working on what you\u2019re doing. Canvass opinions and work out what the solution to the problem might look like first, rather than coding speculatively to find out.\n\nThere are easy ways you can get into this habit of putting the thought and design up front, and it doesn\u2019t have to mean spending more time on the project as a whole. It also doesn\u2019t have to result in reams of functional specifications. Instead, let the code itself form the specification.\n\nAs JavaScript applications become more complex, unit testing is becoming ever more important. So embrace it, whether you prefer QUnit, or Mocha, or any of the other JavaScript testing frameworks out there. The TDD (or test-driven development) pattern is all about writing the tests first and then writing functional code to pass those tests; or, if you prefer, code that meets the specification given by the tests.\n\nSounds like a hassle at first, but once you get into the rhythm of it you should find that the time spent writing tests up front is no greater, and often significantly less, than the time you would have spent fixing bugs afterwards.\n\nIf what you\u2019re working on requires an API between client and server (usually Ajax but this can apply to any method of sending or receiving data) then spend a bit of time with the back-end developer to design the data contracts, before either of you cut any code. Work out what the API endpoints are going to be, and what the data structure you\u2019ll get back from a certain endpoint looks like. A mock JSON object documented on a wiki is enough and it can be atomic. Don\u2019t worry about planning the entire project at once, just plan enough to get on with your current tasks.\n\nDefinition in this way doesn\u2019t have to make your API immutable \u2013 change is still fine \u2013 but if you know roughly where you\u2019re heading, then not only can your team\u2019s efforts become more parallel, but you\u2019re far more likely to have an easier time making it all work. And again, you have a specification \u2013 the shape of the data \u2013 to write your JavaScript against.\n\nPutting everything together, you end up with a logical flow of development, from the specification agreed with the client (your backlog), to the specification agreed with your team (the API contract design), to the specification agreed with your code (your unit tests). Hopefully, there will be ample clues in all of this to inform your front-end library choices, because by then you should have a better picture of what you\u2019re going to need.\n\nWhat the framework?\n\nAs a JavaScript developer predominantly, these are the choices I\u2019m particularly interested in \u2013 how and why you use JavaScript libraries and frameworks, both what you expect from them and what you actually get.\n\nIf we look back at how web development, and specifically JavaScript development has progressed \u2013 from the earliest days of using lines and lines of Dreamweaver code-barf to make an image rollover effect, to today\u2019s large frameworks that handle working with the DOM, Ajax communication and visual effects all in one hit \u2013 the purpose of it is clear: to smooth over the inconsistent bumps between browsers and give a solid, reliable, predictable base on which to put our desired functionality.\n\nUnderstanding what we expect the language as a specification to do, and matching that to what we observe browsers actually doing, and then smoothing out the differences, is a big job. Since the language and the implementations are also changing as we go along, it also feels like a never-ending job. So make full use of this valuable effort. Use jQuery or YUI or anything else you\u2019re comfortable with, but it still pays to think early on about what you need your library to do and what the best choice is to meet that need.\n\nI\u2019ve come in to projects as a fixer and found, to take a recent example, that jQuery UI was being used just to provide a date picker and a modal effect. That\u2019s a lot of code weight to provide two fairly simple pieces of functionality that could easily be covered by smaller plugins. Which isn\u2019t to say that jQuery UI itself is a bad choice, but I could see that it had been included late on just to do those things, whereas a more considered approach would have been to put the library in early and use it more universally.\n\nThere are other choices, too. If you automatically throw in jQuery (or whatever your favourite main library is) to a small site with limited functionality, you might only touch a tiny fraction of its scope. In my own development I started looking at what I actually needed from a JavaScript library. For a simple project like What the Framework?, all jQuery needed to do was listen for .ready() and then perform some light DOM selection before handing over to a client-side MVC framework. So perhaps there was another way to go about this while still avoiding the cross-browser headaches.\n\nDeleting jQuery\n\nBut the jQuery pattern is compelling and familiar. And once you\u2019re comfortable with something, it\u2019s a bit of an effort to force yourself out of that comfort zone and learn. But looking back at my whole career, I realised that I\u2019ve relearned pretty much everything I do, probably several times, since I started out. So it\u2019s worth keeping in mind that learning and trying new things is how development has advanced to where it is now, and how it will keep advancing in the future.\n\nIn the end this lead me to Ender, which is billed as an NPM-style package manager for the browser, letting you search for and manage small, loosely coupled modules and their dependencies, and compile them to one file with a common API.\n\nFor What the Framework I ended up with a set of DOM tools, Underscore and Knockout, all minified into 25kb of JavaScript. This compares really well with 32kb minified for jQuery on its own, and Ender\u2019s use of the dollar variable and the jQuery-like syntax in many modules makes switching over a low-friction experience.\n\nOn more complex projects, where you\u2019re really going to use all the features of something like jQuery, but want to minimise the loading of other dependencies when you don\u2019t need them, I\u2019ve recently started looking at Jam. This uses the RequireJS pattern to compile commonly used code into a library file and then manage dependencies and bring in others on a per-page basis depending on how you need it. Again, it all comes down to thinking about what you need and using it only when you need it. And the configurability of tools like Ender or Jam allow you to be responsive to changing requirements as your project grows.\n\nThere is no right answer\n\nThat\u2019s not to say this way of working automatically makes things easier. It doesn\u2019t. On a large, long-running project or one where future functionality is unknown, it\u2019s still hard to predict and plan for everything \u2013 at least until crystal balls as a service come about. But by including strong engineering practices in your front-end, and trying to minimise technical debt, you\u2019re at least giving yourself a decent safety net to guard against the \u201ccan we just\u2026?\u201d tendencies that are a fact of life.\n\nSo, really, this is not an advocation of using a particular technology or framework, because I can\u2019t tell you what works for you or your team. But what I can tell you is that working this way round has done wonders for my productivity and enthusiasm, both for code quality and for trying out new libraries. Give it a go, you might like it!", "year": "2012", "author": "Stephen Fulljames", "author_slug": "stephenfulljames", "published": "2012-12-07T00:00:00+00:00", "url": "https://24ways.org/2012/think-first-code-later/", "topic": "process"}