Takeaways from #WebDesignDay

I recently attended Web Design Day in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the following are some links and notes that I took from the presentations:

  • Aaron Draplin (http://www.draplin.com/)
    As a web designer say yes more than you say no, but take as much time as you need to focus on detail, and not show subpar designs.
  • Rob Wierzbowski (http://robwierzbowski.com/)
    Always document CSS, HTML, JS, SASS code for yourself and others.
  • Jenn Downs (http://www.beparticular.com/)
    Only use automated messaging that is first relevant and useful, before being clever; don’t send anything in an automated message, social media, news updates, or HTML emails that you wouldn’t say in real life… otherwise it can be interpreted as creepy or inappropriate.
  • Sara Wachter-Boettcher (http://sarawb.com/) – Strategy and Structure for Future-Ready Content (http://amzn.to/1eZG0UK)
    Content development and strategy should be a parallel process; seeing content as ‘input’ is only ½ of the battle… content is also the output of an organization’s web presence. Web developers need to facilitate the content development and content strategy processes, and they simply can’t be end-point driven with a GSD (get shit done) attitude. Also, creating a boilerplate for them to populate is a step in the right direction, but content development and strategy should be a parallel process between SME (subject matter experts) and web developers. Web developers just need to give up, give in, and they can no longer afford to think by just “doing a thing, and getting to the next release” (or just copying into the new template), that they will have productive and sustainable content.

These are useful links and resource, so feel free to check them out: