Our SmashingConf Round Up | Heart Internet Blog – Focusing on all aspects of the web

We had a wonderful time at SmashingConf! It was great meeting everyone there, and we hope you had a great time as well.

Running from 15-16 March, we were at SmashingConf Oxford to not just launch the new Heart Internet, but also to learn about the newest trends in front-end development and design. With 300 attendees, 16 speakers, and a beautiful venue, SmashingConf is the event to be at for anyone who’s involved in front-end, UX, design, management, and anyone else who works on the web.

Photo of the screen on the stage at SmashingConf

The design of systems and the systems of design

The main focus this year seemed to be design systems – not just working out new software and tricks for web design and development, but also how teams and people can work together to produce complex and beautiful systems, all the way from a brand new CSS trick to organising and managing a team.

The conference started with a talk by Aarron Walter, UX Director at Mailchimp. His talk on building great design teams not only mentioned the need for talented and professional designers, but also stressed the need for respect – not just for each other, but also for your products and your customers. He stressed the need for adaptation in your workplace, and how soft skills are a million times more important than the latest hot new framework.

Alla Kholmatova then lead us on a journey through inner space, as she compared web design and development to atomic structures, focusing on how systems are more than just collecting elements together in a style guide, they’re giving those elements purpose and connections, making it easier for you, as a designer, to build websites. See her slides on Speaker Deck now.

Alla wasn’t the only speaker talking about design systems. Jina Bolton’s talk about Living Design Systems provided real-world examples of how a company can use design systems and elegantly build in design from the ground up across multiple platforms, multiple teams, and multiple products. You can see her slides on Speaker Deck or watch the video of her talk.

And the SmashingConf Mystery Speaker was Mark Boulton, talking about how to bring design systems into difficult situations, using design to enable change. He pointed out that the tiny details matter, as small degradations in systems build up over time, causing even bigger problems. And by building a sturdy design system, drawing a straight line between design and the KPIs your business requires, can give you the stability you need for serious results.

Photo of the SmashingConf audience

Context, connection, perspective, and people

But it wasn’t all about design systems. Chris Shiflett talked about how you need to understand people and how they think to make your designs work. With examples from optical illusions, decoys, dark patterns, and disruptions, he made it clear that, despite what many designers start to think – users aren’t stupid. They’re just human, and make the same decisions as you. See his slides on Speaker Deck or watch the video of his talk.

Hannah Donovan discussed how design provides not only an answer to your needs, but also your desires, and how context, connection, and perspective are vital in producing content. And content isn’t just words on a screen, everything you produce, from choosing that perfect illustration to elegantly organising an interface – that’s all content. And all content needs to have the experience around the content designed. As she says in her video:

  • Content with context is meaningless
  • Content without connection isn’t relevant
  • Content without perspective has no feeling

Photo of the Oxford Town Hall

Deep into the technical details

There were also detailed technical talks, perfect for those who are looking to hone their skills. Chris Wright focused on next-level layout, untethering components from viewports so that our layouts aren’t tied down. By focusing on flex and grid, Chris showed how to create layouts that work. See his slides on Speaker Deck or watch the video of the talk.

Patrick Hamann introduced front-end designers and developers to HTTP2 – the next protocol for the Internet. In this detailed talk, he went through the details of HTTP2 and how it affects websites, designs, and designers, with real-time examples from his work redesigning the Financial Times website. See his slides on Speaker Deck or watch the video of his talk.

And finally, in a fast and furious talk that spanned over 300 slides, Vitaly Friedman showed off some of the dirty tricks that can be pulled off in CSS and HTML – everything from changing the text that appears when an image is broken to ensuring the right text is spoken when using a text-to-speech reader. With a million different options, Vitaly’s Dirty Tricks from the Dark Corners of Front-End was overwhelming and amazing at the same time.

Photo of our Future of the Net board

Did you come see us?

At our stand, we had water bottles, notepads, and stickers available for attendees, as well as a chance to win a Raspberry Pi in our #futureofthenet competition. We’ll have more on the Future of the Net in our next post.

We had a wonderful time at SmashingConf, and if you went, we hope you said hi to us!

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