Does your site still send password reminders via email? This should be a red flag to you, as both a user of the website and as a developer. Either your password is stored in plain text or it can be decrypted, instead of having the much stronger, more secure one-way encryption. In this article, Jamie Munro will demonstrate how to use JSON Web Tokens (JWT) to generate a URL-safe token. The JWT contains encoded information about the user and a signature that, when decoded, is validated to ensure that the token has not been tampered with. Jamie will focus on the password-reset process by securing the password-reset flow with a URL-safe token that is validated with a signature.
Read more…
You can’t afford to skip testing, because even a simple round of testing could make or break your product. Investment in user testing is just about the only way to consistently generate a rich stream of data on user behavior. Testing provides the inspiration, guidance and validation that product teams need in order to design great products. That’s why the most effective teams make testing a habit. In this article, Nick Babich will show you some tips that can be applied to different types of testing.
Read more…
A design sprint allows you to see into the future to learn in just five days what customers think about your finished product. As a UX consultant and in-house design strategist, Claire Mason has facilitated dozens upon dozens of design workshops (ranging from rapid prototyping sessions to, of course, sprints). The sprint is by far the most effective process she’s seen to drive customer-first decision making in a design thinky way.
Read more…
Middle Eastern countries require design that is suitable to their language standards, making a serious adaptation process very important. Given that most languages spoken in the Middle East are written and read from right to left, developers often face a range of problems when creating products in those languages. In this article, Robert Dodis & Yvette Mosiichuk will show you some tips which if you follow closely, you should be able to navigate the challenging waters of RTL development and deliver a functional, user-friendly result.
Read more…
Using customer journey mapping to map your campaigns can not only turn out to be a huge timesaver, but a well of insights, too. In this article, Yuri Vedenin shares his experience with CJM and how UXPressia was able to achieve a 40% open rate in their email campaign.
Read more…
With the coming of the Client Hints, Variants and Key specifications, there’s a lot to take in, and while it can be interesting to understand how the browser works under the hood, Andrew Betts shows you some simple things you can distil from it: Browsers ignore Vary for resources pushed using HTTP/2 server push, so don’t vary on anything you push. Vary is not as useful as it could be, and Key paired with Client Hints is starting to change that. Follow along with browser support to find out when you can start using them. And much more! Go forth and be variable.
Read more…
SmashingConf 2018 is all about learning new skills and making new connections. Practical sessions, new formats, new lightning talks, evening sessions and genuine, interesting conversations — with a dash of friendly networking! Taking place in London, San Francisco, Toronto. Tickets? Glad you asked!
Read more…
All artworks in this collection come in versions with and without a calendar for November 2017, so it’s up to you to decide if you want to have the month always in sight or just some distraction-free inspiration. All images can be clicked on and lead to the preview of the wallpaper, and you can feature your work in our magazine by taking part in our Desktop Wallpaper Calendars series. A big thank-you to everyone who shared their wallpapers this time around! Enjoy!
Read more…
Developing for macOS using Swift has a lot more in common with iOS development than you realize. To prove this, Marc Vandehey will walk you through building a simple screen-annotation application. Once completed, you will realize how easy it is to build applications for macOS. This app is pretty short and sweet, but you will learn a few things. By the end of this article, you will become an Apple developer. Congratulations, and happy programming!
Read more…
All webmasters should strive for improving the performance of their website, and increasing their website’s security. If you’re looking for ways to increase your website’s performance and security, Jonas Krummenacher brings you five methods that are great options. Not only are they all relatively easy to implement, but they’ll also modernize your overall stack. Some of these technologies are still in the process of being globally adopted; however, as demand increases, so will compatibility. Thankfully, there are ways to implement some of the technologies for browsers that support them, while falling back to older methods for browsers that do not.
Read more…