Deconstructing Performance

A web site should be loaded in less than a second; we should reduce the number of server requests; keep your javascript and CSS files merge and compressed under 50 kilobytes.” – these are just a few among technical solutions and recommendations we are getting in the industry to tackle the performance issues. But there is one catch – your users don’t care about kilobytes, milliseconds and number of requests. Performance is not about Mathematics.
Performance is about Perception. Thereby user’s perception of your website’s speed is the only true performance measure.

Selling Design Systems

The battle between designer and developer has often been written about. An oversimplified conclusion to these posts would be to empathise and learn the basics of the other’s craft. This is great advice but not very practical.

Pattern Libraries (or style guides) not only help the developer implement the designer’s work more easily, they also force the designer to think about how their work is going to be used in the web.

Pattern Libraries could very well be the end of the war between the two disciplines. This talk will outline not only the why of the Pattern Library but also (and crucially) the how.

CSS and Interactive Email

Email has often been overlooked as simplistic, outdated and limited but with modern webkit based email clients accounting for over 60% of opens the possibilities have really opened up. The new age of email is a fully interactive experience based in modern CSS (with a solid fallback for Outlook).

Hacking The Visual Norm

There are so many visualization tools out there today, most with a pre-made set of charts. But trying to wrangle your data to fit (uncomfortably) into the default charts is not the right mindset. Adjust the visual to your data, not the other way around. You don't necessarily have to be a code wizard to let your creativity run free. Even with the defaults, you can become creative by using them in a different way, combining layouts or chart types to create something new, or even changing small pieces of code from existing visualization frameworks.

During this talk, Nadieh will take you through several of her data visualization projects, both from the business environment of her day job and the experiments made in her evenings. Hopefully, by the end you’ll want to step outside of your "visualization" comfort zone and create (custom) charts that best display the insights in the data.

Beyond the Toolkit: Spreading a System Across People & Products

A design system is made up of parts: visual style, UI components, code, editorial, and often more. We know how to design, build, deliver them is like any other digital product development process. And there’s the rub: your system is a product in and of itself, applied to an enterprise’s ecosystem of other products built by autonomous teams of designers and developers.

Your strategy needs answers to “What products will use it, when and to what extent?” “Who's our audience?” “Who participates and contributes?” “What groups must we align with?” “Who wants it, and — really — who doesn’t?”

We’ll explore ways to identify and prioritize how to engage your enterprise's people and products as you spread and sustain a system over time.

The Links vs Buttons Showdown

Who would win in a showdown between HTML Links and Buttons? Marcy Sutton will settle it once and for all by pitting these opponents against each other in a dream match. Battles as simple links vs. buttons when designing and developing web interfaces can have significant impacts on users, including those with disabilities. By considering the strengths of each competitor, we can be more informed about making the right choice; from lesser-known features of HTML forms to conventions in client-side routing to effective use of WAI-ARIA. Come for the showdown, leave with practical UI tips for your next project.

Conversion Rate Optimization Techniques in eCommerce

In this talk, Christian will be sharing practical insights into conversion rates optimization in eCommerce projects. You'll walk out with a bag full of actionable insights that you can apply to your projects right away to generate more revenue from every user visit.

Why You Should Build A Progressive Web App Now

There’s been a lot of discussion about how to build a progressive web app but not a lot of discussion about why businesses should invest in them. Better user experience, faster performance, more engagement—Jason Grigsby explains why progressive web apps are no-brainers for most websites.