The Big Web Show

Michael Simmons, designer and CEO of Flexibits (makers of Fantastical and Cardhop) is Jeffrey Zeldman’s guest. Designing “professional but not professional boring” experiences. Usefulness versus “garnish.” How animation can convey brand values. Creating experiences instead of feature sets. Instagram vs Snapchat. “The car that sells itself” and marketing by letting the product speak for itself. Links for this episode:Flexibits | Fantastical 2 for Mac | Meet your Mac's new calendar.Flexibits | Cardhop for Mac | The contacts app you'll actually want to use.Cardhop on the Mac App StoreOld Honda Commercial from the late 80's - YouTubeBrought to you by: ZipRecrutier (Visit the link to post jobs on ZipRecruiter for FREE). HelloFresh (For $30 off your first week of HelloFresh, visit HelloFresh.com and enter BWS30). Videoblocks (Go to Videoblocks.com/bigwebshow to get all the stock footage, audio, and images you can imagine for just $149). Squarespace (Visit Squarespace.com to get a free trial and use

Host Jeffrey Zeldman interviews Bram Stein, Typekit’s director of web fonts and author of the Webfont Handbook (A Book Apart, 2017). The two designers discuss creating great font stacks, optimizing web font performance, FOUT versus FOIT, the horror of fallback fonts, and new technology including variable fonts and font-display: FOUT or FOIT. Links for this episode:Bram Stein (@bramstein) | TwitterIndra Kupferschmid (@kupfers) | TwitterA Book Apart, Webfont HandbookVariable Fonts for Responsive Design · An A List Apart Blog PostFonts In Use – Type at work in the real world.Font Face Observer — fast and simple web font loadingTypographicaAlphabettesThe Typekit Blog | Variable fonts, a new kind of font for flexible designIntroducing OpenType Variable Fonts – John Hudson – Mediumfont-display - CSS | MDNBrought to you by: ZipRecrutier (Visit the link to post jobs on ZipRecruiter for FREE). HelloFresh (For $30 off your first week of HelloFresh, visit HelloFresh.com and enter BWS30). Videoblocks (Go to Videoblocks.

Ben Jackson, founder & principal of Brooklyn advising firm For the Win, and creator of the open-source onboarding app Aloha, is Jeffrey Zeldman’s guest. Ben and Jeffrey discuss service design, the opportunity cost of bad onboarding experiences, the 4Cs of good onboarding (compliance, clarity, culture, and community), the Aloha chatbot and how it fits into the broader trend of HR tech consumerization, and more. Programming since 1992, Ben is a designer, engineer, editor, and entrepreneur, a past director of Mobile for VICE Media, past mobile lead for Longform, and past iOS lead for The New York Times. He has written and edited bylines for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and VICE; spoken at SXSW, Ignite NY, and Social Media Week; and volunteers on the curriculum Advisory Board, Coalition for Queens. Links for this episode:For the Win: Design-first Employee Onboarding in New Yorkdesign-first on boarding that takes the pain out of hiring Aloha! Automated Onboarding for Slack Teamsan on boarding bot for busy a

Rachel Nabors, author of Animation at Work (A Book Apart, 2017) stops by The Big Web Show to discuss how animation can help ease cognitive load in UX; creating the illusion of life; developing data to make the case for animation; pattern libraries; prototyping; and the link between animation and music. Rachel Nabors has been an award-winning cartoonist and graphic novelist, who parlayed her storytelling skills into a web design and development career. She has done projects with Mozilla, been an invited expert to the W3C, and currently works at Microsoft. Rachel tends the web animation community via the Animation at Work Slack and her web animation newsletter. Links for this episode:Rachel Nabors: Award-winning cartoonist turned digital storyteller. - Rachel Nabors, award-winning cartoonist turned digital storyteller.Rachel Nabors (@rachelnabors) | TwitterA Book Apart, Animation at WorkInvite userWeb Animation WeeklyLightning Design SystemRachel Nabors - WikiwandBarba.jsDevTools ChallengerDesigning Safer Web

Clearleft’s Andy Budd and host Zeldman discuss the changing role design agencies must play to remain relevant; the rise of in-house design; working with pattern libraries (since 2008!); whether the “golden age” of web design and blogging is over; and much more. Andy Budd has been blogging about design and technology since 2003. He was one of the leading lights of the web standards movement and his book, CSS Mastery, sold over 60,000 copies and has been translated into a dozen languages. Andy is a founding partner at UX design consultancy Clearleft; the curator of dConstruct, one of the UK’s most popular design conferences; and the force behind UX London, the UK’s first dedicated usability, IA, and UX design event. Links for this episode:Homepage | ClearleftCSS Mastery: Amazon.co.uk: Andy Budd, Emil Björklund: 9781430258636: BooksAndy Budd: BlogographyAndy Budd (@andybudd) | TwitterBrought to you by: ZipRecrutier (Visit the link to post jobs on ZipRecruiter for FREE). BlueApron (Check out this week’s menu an

As designers, we create human-centered interactions and experiences. Empathetic purpose drives our every decision. This same mentality, turned inward, forms the cornerstone of something amazing: a creative culture. Jeffrey Zeldman interviews designer, creative director, iconist, and author Justin Dauer (@pseudoroom) about his new book, Cultivating a Creative Culture—now available everywhere. Links for this episode:Cultivating a Creative CultureAmazon: Cultivating a Creative CultureiTunes: Cultivating a Creative Culture@theculturebook on TwitterJustin Dauer on Twitter: @pseudoroomPseudoroom.comMedium: Creative Culture@pseudoroom on InstagramThe Creative Culture PodcastBrought to you by: ZipRecrutier (Visit the link to post jobs on ZipRecruiter for FREE). User Interviews (Find participants for user research studies today! Visit userinterviews.com/bigwebshow and they will waive the sourcing fee for your first 5 interviews). SendPro from Pitney Bowes (Visit pb.com/bigwebshow to learn more, and when you sign up y

Illustrator, designer, and author Geri Coady (@hellogeri) is @zeldman’s guest. The two designers discuss blogging, learning graphic design, transitioning to web design, color accessibility tips and strategies, book writing, and the upcoming travel blog, Geri Draws Japan. Links for this episode:Geri Coady | Canadian Designer & Illustrator in Nottingham, UKA Book Apart, Color Accessibility WorkflowsResponsive Web Design · An A List Apart ArticleGeri Coady on Twitter: @hellogeriBrought to you by: ZipRecrutier (Visit the link to post jobs on ZipRecruiter for FREE). User Interviews (Find participants for user research studies today! Visit userinterviews.com/bigwebshow and they will waive the sourcing fee for your first 5 interviews). SendPro from Pitney Bowes (Visit pb.com/bigwebshow to learn more, and when you sign up you’ll get SendPro FREE for 90 days, you’ll get a free 10-pound scale, and when your free trial is over, you’ll get SendPro for only $5 a month).

Nick Disabato (@nickd) and @zeldman discuss heat maps, conversion rates, design specialization, writing for the web, Jakob Nielsen, and the early days of blogging in Episode #159 of The Big Web Show – “everything web that matters.” Links for this episode:NickD.org : BioDraftNickD.orgNick Disabato on Twitter: @nickdBrought to you by: ZipRecrutier (Visit the link to post jobs on ZipRecruiter for FREE). Hotjar (By visiting hotjar.com/bigwebshow you will get a 30 day (extended) free Business trial of Hotjar and all its functionality). User Interviews (Find participants for user research studies today! Visit userinterviews.com/bigwebshow and they will waive the sourcing fee for your first 5 interviews). BlueApron (Check out this week’s menu and get your first three meals FREE—with FREE SHIPPING—by going to BlueApron.com/bigwebshow.

Internet veterans Jim @Coudal & Jeffrey @Zeldman on the death of blogging, the birth of Field Notes, the virtues of a subscription model, and much more. Begins in tears, ends in triumph. One of the most fun (and most inspiring) episodes ever. Links for this episode:Memo Books, Notebooks, Journals & Planners | Field NotesCoudal PartnersCoudal Partners Film & Video ArchivesCoudal Partners' Layer Tennis Presented by Adobe Creative CloudBrought to you by: Hotjar (By visiting hotjar.com/bigwebshow you will get a 30 day (extended) free Business trial of Hotjar and all its functionality). BlueApron (Check out this week’s menu and get your first three meals FREE—with FREE SHIPPING—by going to BlueApron.com/bigwebshow.

ProPublica (@ProPublica) design director David Sleight (@stuntbox) is Jeffrey Zeldman’s guest. How do publications brand themselves when a platform removes their fonts, art, and layout? What is “journalism in the public interest” and how does it differ from traditional reporting? What is bespoke web design and how does it work at ProPublica? What’s next for the ProPublica platform? How do newspapers retain readers in the age of AMP? ProPublica (“Journalism in the Public Interest”) was a recipient of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting, and a 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting. David is a publication designer and web geek, formerly at BusinessWeek, Pearson Ed, and consulting land. Links for this episode:David Sleight (@stuntbox) | TwitterProPublicaMinority Neighborhoods Pay Higher Car Insurance Premiums Than White Areas With the Same Risk - ProPublicaTrigger Warning An Unbelievable Story of Rape - ProPublicaProPublica, New York Daily Ne

Dan Brown is a web designer who specializes in IA, design research, and leading teams. He's written three books: Practical Design Discovery (2017), Designing Together (2013), and Communicating Design (2011), and created a card game, Surviving Design Projects, to help designers practice conflict resolution. Dan and his business partner Nathan Curtis co-founded DC-based UX design firm EightShapes in 2006. What is discovery and why is it important to design? What’s the difference between Discovery and UX Strategy? or Research? How can you sell Discovery to organizations and people who are afraid of it? How has design changed since you got started in the 1990s? Links for this episode:Dan Brown on TwitterEightShapes.comDan Brown on MediumGreenOnions.com/booksDan Brown - EightShapesGreenOnions.comBrought to you by: BlueApron (Check out this week’s menu and get your first three meals FREE—with FREE SHIPPING—by going to BlueApron.com/bigwebshow. FreshBooks (To claim your month long unrestricted free trial, go to Fr

CSS Grid Layout is in Firefox and Chrome, and coming to Safari. Jeffrey Zeldman talks about the new spec with one of its foremost advocates, Rachel Andrew – a web developer, writer, and public speaker from Bristol, UK. Rachel is a member of the CSS Working Group, a Google Developer Expert, the co-founder of the Perch CMS, the publisher of CSS Layout News (a weekly collection of tutorials, news, and information on all things CSS layout), and the author or co-author of countless articles and 30 books, including Get Ready for CSS Grid Layout, A Pocket Guide to CSS Modules, The Profitable Side Project Handbook, and HTML 5 For Web Designers, 2nd Edition. Links for this episode:this is rachelandrew.co.uk - the website of web developer, writer and public speaker Rachel AndrewRachel Andrew (@rachelandrew) | TwitterCSS Grid Guides on MDNA Book Apart, Get Ready for CSS Grid LayoutCSS Layout NewsPublished books authored and co-authored by Rachel AndrewPerch - The really little content management system (CMS)CSS Grid lan

Have front-end and UX separated as practices? Is the time of the designer/coder over? The great Jen Simmons (Mozilla, CSS Grid, Layout Land) is Jeffrey Zeldman's guest in a sharply focused episode of The Big Web Show. Links for this episode:Twitter: @jensimmonsJenSimmons.comLayout LandMozilla: Internet Health Learn CSS GridTheWebAhead.netMeetup.com: CSS-Layout-Club EventBrought to you by: BlueApron (Check out this week’s menu and get your first three meals FREE—with FREE SHIPPING—by going to BlueApron.com/bigwebshow. FreshBooks (To claim your month long unrestricted free trial, go to FreshBooks.com/bigwebshow and enter BIG WEB SHOW in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section). Wix (Just go to Wix.com and create your stunning website today.)

Jeffrey Zeldman (@zeldman) interviews designer/entrepreneur/author Jaimee Newberry (@jaimeejaimee), co-founder of Picture This Clothing, Tiny Challenges, and WWDC Girls. Launching a company that goes viral; applying design principles to your life; “it’s not about what’s next, it’s about what’s important;” coping with burnout; the psychology of change; “we’ve accidentally spent $20 on marketing;” and more. Links for this episode:Picture This Clothing - Wear your Imagination!jaimee newberry (@jaimeejaimee) • Instagram photos and videosSPEAKING — @jaimeejaimee#tinychallengesWWDCGIRLS (@wwdcgirls) | TwitterMade by MartianCraft.Brought to you by: Incapsula (Just visit Incapsula.com/BigWebShow and enter the code BIGWEBSHOW to get one month free). FreshBooks (To claim your month long unrestricted free trial, go to FreshBooks.com/bigwebshow and enter BIG WEB SHOW in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section). Wix (Just go to Wix.com and create your stunning website today.)

Jeffrey Zeldman interviews George Hahn (georgehahn.com), writer, actor, web designer, and self-made thousandaire in hot pursuit of sartorial stealth and effective living. Writing tweets for Joan Rivers, doing a nude scene in “Sex and the City,” getting paid and finding clients as a designer, is the web still a people’s medium, leaving New York for Cleveland, web design then and now, “They’ll find out I’m a fraud and a failure,” will web ever get to retire? Links for this episode:GeorgeHahn.comGeorge Hahn FacebookGeorge Hahn TwitterGeorge Hahn InstagramGeorge Hahn YoutubeSpotify - George HahnBrought to you by: FreshBooks (To claim your month long unrestricted free trial, go to FreshBooks.com/bigwebshow and enter BIG WEB SHOW in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section). Wix (Just go to Wix.com and create your stunning website today.)

Jeffrey Zeldman interviews Craig Hockenberry (@chockenberry), web and Mac software developer for over 20 years, and author of Making Sense of Color Management (A Book Apart, 2016). Screen evolution, color profiles, writing the first color gamut media query, how Webkit queries your screen to understand how many colors you can display, the Android problem, the 10th anniversary of Twitter, the 10th anniversary of the first Twitter app, the history of the word “tweet,” computer desktop customization in the 1990s, web design then versus now, and much more. Brought to you by: Incapsula (Just visit Incapsula.com/BigWebShow and enter the code BIGWEBSHOW to get one month free). FreshBooks (To claim your month long unrestricted free trial, go to FreshBooks.com/bigwebshow and enter BIG WEB SHOW in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section). Wix (Just go to Wix.com and create your stunning website today.)

Host Jeffrey Zeldman chats with front-end developer extraordinaire Brad Frost, author of the new book Atomic Design. In a freewheeling romp through a wonderland of design and technology references, the two web pros discuss Pattern Lab and style guides, being there for the iPad launch, working with big brands, how to say no and make the client happy you said it, avoiding antipatterns, mobile versus “the real web” in 2009, dressing for success, contributing to open source projects, building a community, the early days of Brad’s career, and that new book of his. Brought to you by: Braintree (To learn more visit BraintreePayments.com/BigWebShow). Incapsula (Just visit Incapsula.com/bigwebshow and enter the code BIGWEBSHOW to get one month free).

Host @zeldman checks in with frequent guest @sazzy to discuss blogging, design, social media consulting, Britain, America, speaking, travel, and, oh, yes, that election. Brought to you by: Braintree (To learn more visit BraintreePayments.com/BigWebShow). Incapsula (Just visit Incapsula.com/bigwebshow and enter the code BIGWEBSHOW to get one month free).

Jeremy Osborn is the Academic Director of Aquent Gymnasium, an innovative MOOC for designers, developers and marketing professionals, and the author of popular books on web technology and design software, including his latest, HTML5 Digital Classroom. He and Jeffrey Zeldman discuss the rapidly changing landscape of modern web design; how to keep learning and stay inspired; remembering the human being you're designing for, and the joy of stress cases. Links for this episode:JeremyOsborn.comTwitter: Jeremy OsbornWeb Design is Hard w/ Jeffrey Zeldman and Aaron Gustafson Books by Jeremy OsbornThe GymnasiumBrought to you by: Braintree (To learn more visit BraintreePayments.com/BigWebShow).

Kate O’Neill is a tech humanist, author, keynote speaker, consultant, web design veteran, former Nashville songwriter, and the author of Pixels and Place: Connecting Human Experience Across Physical and Digital Spaces. Kate and Jeffrey Zeldman discuss Integrated Human Experience Design; the biggest opportunities for innovation, for profit, and for moving culture forward; working at Netflix; conversion optimization; Peter Drucker in the 21st century; and whether she has seen Daredevil in her adopted neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen, NYC. Links for this episode:Kate O'Neill (@kateo) | TwitterAmazon.com: Pixels and Place: Connecting Human Experience Across Physical and Digital Spaces eBook: Kate O'Neill: Kindle StoreAbout Kate O'Neill - KO InsightsKate O'Neill – Profile – Medium(9) Kate O'Neill - Consultant, Author, SpeakerBrought to you by: Braintree (To learn more visit BraintreePayments.com/BigWebShow) Soylent (Get your first case of Soylent for 50% off when you start a subscription v