Web Materials

Is it really for everyone?

In theory, the web is for everyone. It should work on whatever hardware you (have to) use, and whatever browser is on it. It should also work with whatever assistive tech you use, like screen readers. In practice things are not as ideal. In this episode we discuss this from a design prespective. We talk about the fictional 80% of people that most sites are designed for. Apart from this utilitarion approach we discuss design approaches based on intent, and result based design. See the website for full audio and a complete transcript [https://webmaterials.design/posts/12-is-it-really-for-everyone/].

Should coders design?

In this episode we discuss design intention, micro decisions, whether coders stand to benefit from learning design, and how every designer should be more like Nils Binder. See the website for full audio and a complete transcript [https://webmaterials.design/posts/11-should-coders-design/].

Should we test?

As designers we use all kinds of patterns. But has anybody ever really tested these? And did we consider everybody when we did? In this episode we talk about the testing we do, about the testing we did, about assumptions. And we tell some tales about testing gone horribly wrong. See the website for full audio and a complete transcript [https://webmaterials.design/posts/10-should-we-test/].

Why do we mimic print grids?

Since the dawn of the modern web, designers have been emulating traditional graphic design layouts and grids made for print. Why do we do this, and is there a better way? See the website for full audio and a complete transcript [https://webmaterials.design/posts/09-why-do-we-mimic-print-grids/].

Can we design the invisible?

Many designers focus on the clearly visible things. But there are many parts of a website that are invisible. These parts are either neglected, or they are "designed" by developers. Real people would benefit if we paid some design attention to things like structure, error messages, and of course screen readers. See the website for full audio and a complete transcript [https://webmaterials.design/posts/08-can-we-design-the-invisible%20copy/].