I just got back from Austin. Here are my notes from some fantastic panels and keynote speeches. There is a lot to get through, but hey, stick with me.
The Real Responsive Process
These guys talked about the theory behind it, why we should be doing it, and most importantly admitting that it’s okay to not completely understand it. It’s new, give yourselves a break.
Here are the speakers, you can follow them on Twitter and check out what they do in the responsive world.
http://hellofisher.com/secret.php
http://republicofquality.com/projects/interactive-style-tiles/
http://styletil.es/
http://www.samanthatoy.com/
Yesenia Perez-Cruz @yeseniaa
http://happycog.com/
http://www.cognition.happycog.com/article/one-size-fits-none
http://easy-readers.net/books/adaptive-web-design/
He mentioned this site as an alternative to Bootstrap http://foundation.zurb.com/
“Still discovering, still don’t totally know what we are doing, if I’m honest.”
“Knowing that you don’t know everything is key.”
Tina Roth Eisenberg
@swissmiss
http://www.swiss-miss.com/
Scroll down a while on that site and you can watch her keynote, I like having it on in the background while I’m working. She founded and runs these businesses:
http://www.creativemornings.com/
http://teuxdeux.com/
http://tattly.com/
http://www.studiomates.com/
She’s a pretty cool lady, it’s a Swiss thing I guess. I like how a company she founded goes on to produce more great companies, must be a pretty great feeling. E.g. Studiomates are responsible for:
http://symbolset.com/
http://editorially.com/
She said something that really stuck with me… “Stay away from people that are fond of disliking things.” I like that.
Dennis Crowley – Foursquare CEO – The Future Of Location
@dens
https://foursquare.com/
He talked about something that I have never really thought about, location visualisation. The shape of a place can be defined by check-ins. E.g. JFK airport isn’t just a dot on a map, it is a space defined by the location of people within it. Areas defined by density of people.
This is a video he showed, it illustrates the point well. https://vimeo.com/52883962
Let Conscience Be Your Guide, Moral Design.
@rjowen
http://www.convercent.com/
The things we use change us. 6 principles of moral design.
1. Moral design is restrained.
- “Good design should be as little design as possible.” Dieter Rams.
- Respect restraint and constraints.
2. Moral design improves harmony.
- Sustain and improve balance and order.
- Never solve one problem by creating others.
3. Moral design is dynamic.
- Value the imperfection that comes from crafting real things.
- We should have a healthy fear of perfection. If it is perfect, it is static.
4. Moral design requires craftsmanship.
- Good things come from good craftsmanship.
- Think about people when you are creating things for people.
- This was made for me.
5. Moral design is honest.
- Does not pretend to be something other than what it is.
- Design is a promise.
- Is it achievable?
- Will it make people better people?
6. Moral design is organic.
- Treat the user, design, brand, environment as one organism.
- What is healthy for one thing has to be healthy for all other parts.
- Nothing good can come to the brand at the expense of users.
If your values are not being practiced in tangible ways, then they are bad for you. They are meaningless.
“Do the right thing, it will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain
Here is what I got out of this crazy week. People always say things like, “music was better in the 60′s”, “this restaurant used to be good, then it got popular”, “SXSW was better before the corporations arrived.” Yeah well thats great, personally I think it’s lazy. Here are some reasons to be cheerful about where we are, right now.
- crowd-funding, see this
- collaborative workspaces
- CEO’s admitting they are still learning, and that being okay
- definitely this
One thing though, sitting in a room with 3000 people all looking at their smartphones / tablets / laptops is scary. The bright glow and glazed eyes. Hug a tree once in a while.
- Oliver
Web Comm team is thrilled to have Callie Zilk on board as our new writer/editor. We’re excited about her webby predilections and her journalism background. With a degree in journalism from Mizzou’s storied program, and stints at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Southern Poverty Law Center, she bring great experience to our group. She’s relocated to the Northwest to make sure our stories keep flowing and our prose passes AP muster. It’s a pleasure to welcome her to our team.
