Performance is a competitive advantage that can bring and retain customers. We can’t afford regularly spending time optimizing apps all over again. It’s costly, and complex. As a first step in coming up with a solution for any problem, we need to make the problem visible. In this article, Anton Nemtsev will help you with exactly that It’s not enough to optimize an application. You need to prevent performance from degradation, and the first step to do it is to make performance changes visible. In this article, Anton Nemtsev shows a couple of ways of showing them in the GitLab merge requests.
Read more…
Since more and more web traffic comes from mobile users, our websites need to be in the best position to serve them. The easiest thing to do would be to remove unnecessary content from the site. However, it may not always be the best solution. In this article, Suzanne Scacca proposes some ways to turn essential content into graphics to conserve space, create a more engaging UI and preserve the overall integrity of your content on mobile.
Read more…
In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about shaping our physical spaces when working from home. What can you do to take a step up from working at your kitchen table? Drew McLellan talks to workspace geek Ben Frain to find out.
Read more…
The social media company released React Native, and it quickly became the most popular framework for building mobile apps with JavaScript. In this article, based on his experience with creating a GPS and navigation application, Chafik Gharbi will show you how to create a mobile app using Expo and Firebase services such as Firestore, Firebase functions and Expo push notifications.
Read more…
A month is a long time to stay on top of things. In today’s monthly post, Iris Lješnjanin brings you an overview of everything we’ve been working on and have also enjoyed reading over the past month. Here at Smashing, we believe that is is now more important than ever to stay in touch and support each other. Behind the scenes, the team is working tirelessly on ways to keep the community connected, and oh boy do we have a lot of things in store for you! You didn’t really think we’d give up that easily, did you?
Read more…
Creating accessible images seems like a simple topic at first glance — you just need to add alt text to an image, right? But the topic is much more nuanced than some people think. In this article, Carie Fisher will review the different types of images, dive into some real-world examples of inaccessible public service announcements (PSAs), and discuss which elements matter most when critical messages need to reach everyone.
Read more…
Smashing Meets is a friendly, inclusive, online meetup for people who work on the web. We focus on front-end and UX, but cover all sorts of topics from performance to accessibility. We organize Smashing Meets together with some amazing communities from around the world. Join us for Smashing Meets — two free online meetups with speakers, activities, and plenty of chances to make new friends. Just like a real meetup, though you’ll need to bring your own pizza.
Read more…
React is a fantastic JavaScript library for building rich user interfaces. It provides a great component abstraction for organizing your interfaces into well-functioning code, but what about the look and feel of the app? There are various ways of styling React components from using stylesheets to using external styling libraries. In this article, Shedrack Akintayo will explain the cons and pros of these styling strategies, and by the end of this tutorial, you’ll know all about styling React components and how they work along with the various methods that can be used for styling these components.
Read more…
Arguing that dark patterns are unethical is not enough on its own. We will also need to make the case to clients and colleagues that they are damaging to business. That’s what Paul Boag has also written in his new Smashing book, “Click”. In this post, he will put together a compelling argument you can present to stakeholders to help them understand why dark patterns are a bad idea. However, before we do that, let’s agree on a definition of dark patterns.
Read more…
How, then, do we encourage users to act? By establishing trust with small commitments, at the right time, and in the right order. Click! explains how to do just that. Meet our new practical guide on how to build trust, increase conversion and boost business KPIs effectively — without alienating people along the way. Written by Paul Boag. Coming up in June. Jump to table of contents and get the book right away.Read more…
