2019 Archive

Despite the prevalent mythology of the lone creative genius, many of the most innovative contributions spring from the creative chemistry of a group and the blending of everyone’s ideas and concepts. How can we best leverage this collective wisdom to generate creative synergy and co-create? Let’s look at the process of recognizing and removing our personal creative blocks, connecting and communicating with others, combining ideas using play, and constructing a collaborative environment to discover effective methods for tapping into a group’s creative brilliance. Through these steps, you’ll learn to capitalize on the super-linearity of creativity to embrace and leverage diversity to create better together.

Despite the prevalent mythology of the lone creative genius, many of the most innovative contributions spring from the creative chemistry of a group and the blending of everyone’s ideas and concepts. How can we best leverage this collective wisdom to generate creative synergy and co-create? Let’s look at the process of recognizing and removing our personal creative blocks, connecting and communicating with others, combining ideas using play, and constructing a collaborative environment to discover effective methods for tapping into a group’s creative brilliance. Through these steps, you’ll learn to capitalize on the super-linearity of creativity to embrace and leverage diversity to create better together.

Talk previously called ”Graphic Design Systems”.

In this talk, design duo Rune Madsen and Martin Bravo will talk about their work in the intersection of graphic design and programming languages. The talk will focus on key concepts from Madsen’s book Programming Design Systems and how these same ideas influence their work when developing design systems for digital products, dynamic identities, or custom design tools.

Talk previously called ”Graphic Design Systems”.

In this talk, design duo Rune Madsen and Martin Bravo will talk about their work in the intersection of graphic design and programming languages. The talk will focus on key concepts from Madsen’s book Programming Design Systems and how these same ideas influence their work when developing design systems for digital products, dynamic identities, or custom design tools.

Oh, the horror! Hot garbage has taken over the web. Carousel Carol, Type-Ahead Tommy, Shallow Dom, Wastin' JSON...the gang's all here. We'll turn the "bad accessibility" dial up to 11 in order to feel the pain that users with disabilities experience on a regular basis. Some of the patterns in this talk will be directly inspired from real life instances–because we can't even make this stuff up. By facing our miserable fears and burning everything to the ground, we'll be reborn and better equipped to create truly successful user interfaces.

Oh, the horror! Hot garbage has taken over the web. Carousel Carol, Type-Ahead Tommy, Shallow Dom, Wastin' JSON...the gang's all here. We'll turn the "bad accessibility" dial up to 11 in order to feel the pain that users with disabilities experience on a regular basis. Some of the patterns in this talk will be directly inspired from real life instances–because we can't even make this stuff up. By facing our miserable fears and burning everything to the ground, we'll be reborn and better equipped to create truly successful user interfaces.

Catered.

When your type and color say one thing, but your use of animation says another, things can get confusing. Defining how your brand should express itself in motion gives you the “why” of your UI animation efforts, and establishes a concrete way to ensure your UI animations share a common thread both with each other, and with the rest of your design efforts.

In this session, Val will show you how to harness the design details of UI animation to reinforce your intended design messaging. By using every tool at our disposal, we can create more expressive products that feel cohesive across all of today's diverse contexts.

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When your type and color say one thing, but your use of animation says another, things can get confusing. Defining how your brand should express itself in motion gives you the “why” of your UI animation efforts, and establishes a concrete way to ensure your UI animations share a common thread both with each other, and with the rest of your design efforts.

In this session, Val will show you how to harness the design details of UI animation to reinforce your intended design messaging. By using every tool at our disposal, we can create more expressive products that feel cohesive across all of today's diverse contexts.

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A journey through our collaboration model within Gap inc that helped build Stitch Design System.

A journey through our collaboration model within Gap inc that helped build Stitch Design System.

These days, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. The tech industry is facing a veritable raft of ethical, moral, and political crises. Automation and industrialization are reshaping our world. And sitting in the middle of all that? You and me. We’re digital designers, we’re developers, we’re product owners. But each day, our work is changing — more quickly than it ever has before.

Here’s the question we have to ask ourselves: what do we want that change to be? In this talk, we’ll look at some of the challenges facing our industry, and ask ourselves: what kind of work do we want to do?

These days, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. The tech industry is facing a veritable raft of ethical, moral, and political crises. Automation and industrialization are reshaping our world. And sitting in the middle of all that? You and me. We’re digital designers, we’re developers, we’re product owners. But each day, our work is changing — more quickly than it ever has before.

Here’s the question we have to ask ourselves: what do we want that change to be? In this talk, we’ll look at some of the challenges facing our industry, and ask ourselves: what kind of work do we want to do?

Separate RSVP required (invitations will be emailed).

Now that we have the tools to superpower our layouts, we can start to reimagine how we approach art direction and design on the web. By taking advantage of technologies, some new and some overlooked, we can create a progressively-enhanced design that’s powered by feature queries; one that’s localized for an increasingly global audience. In this talk drawn from her work for Slack and other properties, Mina walks through her process for enhancing design and shows how little changes lead to big design payoffs.

Now that we have the tools to superpower our layouts, we can start to reimagine how we approach art direction and design on the web. By taking advantage of technologies, some new and some overlooked, we can create a progressively-enhanced design that’s powered by feature queries; one that’s localized for an increasingly global audience. In this talk drawn from her work for Slack and other properties, Mina walks through her process for enhancing design and shows how little changes lead to big design payoffs.

Today’s design and engineering tools are poorly suited for creating or working within design systems. What would our tools look like if they treated design systems as the building material, rather than an abstract thing we gesture towards?

Today’s design and engineering tools are poorly suited for creating or working within design systems. What would our tools look like if they treated design systems as the building material, rather than an abstract thing we gesture towards?

Is your Design System mature and hard to maintain? In this talk we’ll discuss how web components can help us manage the overhead of a design system — freeing us from the dependencies we have become so accustomed to having. Come with us as we move into a leaner world and build on more primitive/fundamentals of the standardized web.

Is your Design System mature and hard to maintain? In this talk we’ll discuss how web components can help us manage the overhead of a design system — freeing us from the dependencies we have become so accustomed to having. Come with us as we move into a leaner world and build on more primitive/fundamentals of the standardized web.

Catered.

Resource Hints are a great way for developers to make their web pages faster by allowing us to be a little bit smarter than the browser. Although not a new specification—they’ve been around in some form or another for years!—are we truly getting the most out of them? And do we understand them thoroughly enough to use them most effectively? Heck, do we even know what a ‘Resource Hint’ is?! Well, by the end of this talk, we’ll all be experts.

Let’s take a look at all of the different Resource Hints we have available to us, real-world examples of how best to use them, and learn about some of the more obscure intricacies and gotchas that we need to be aware of if we want to really get the best out of them (and to make sure that we really are being smarter than the browser).

Resource Hints are a great way for developers to make their web pages faster by allowing us to be a little bit smarter than the browser. Although not a new specification—they’ve been around in some form or another for years!—are we truly getting the most out of them? And do we understand them thoroughly enough to use them most effectively? Heck, do we even know what a ‘Resource Hint’ is?! Well, by the end of this talk, we’ll all be experts.

Let’s take a look at all of the different Resource Hints we have available to us, real-world examples of how best to use them, and learn about some of the more obscure intricacies and gotchas that we need to be aware of if we want to really get the best out of them (and to make sure that we really are being smarter than the browser).

Design systems create an umbrella to to define the future of our design work. But design systems are not the biggest umbrella, so to speak—they exist under broader social, political, and infrastructural systems that affect the parameters, limitations, and variables of our system.

Investigating design systems across many verticals, we'll look to see how design systems are impacted by the systems they live within. And beyond the verticals, we'll look to see how broader systems of power and oppression influence the design systems, and ultimately, the users who use the products defined by them.

We'll look to see how to assess where our design systems live in broader ecosystems, the challenges inherent, and how to lean into the good, and resist the bad, to ensure we're serving all humans in an equitable and ethical way, maintaining safety and trust.

Design systems create an umbrella to to define the future of our design work. But design systems are not the biggest umbrella, so to speak—they exist under broader social, political, and infrastructural systems that affect the parameters, limitations, and variables of our system.

Investigating design systems across many verticals, we'll look to see how design systems are impacted by the systems they live within. And beyond the verticals, we'll look to see how broader systems of power and oppression influence the design systems, and ultimately, the users who use the products defined by them.

We'll look to see how to assess where our design systems live in broader ecosystems, the challenges inherent, and how to lean into the good, and resist the bad, to ensure we're serving all humans in an equitable and ethical way, maintaining safety and trust.

Most of the tech industry treats goals like inclusion, ethics and empathy as impossible. Here's how to get it done anyway.

Most of the tech industry treats goals like inclusion, ethics and empathy as impossible. Here's how to get it done anyway.

With food and beverages.