One of the reasons for AngularJS’ success is its outstanding ability to be tested. The main factor that made Sébastien switch from “Well, I just launch the app and see if everything works” to “I’ve got unit tests!” was that, for the first time, he could focus on what matters and on what he enjoys in programming: creating smart algorithms and nice UIs. After having fixed it, re-updated the application and apologized to customer service, he decided to entirely rewrite this component in test-driven development style. The test file ended up being twice as long as the component file. It has been improved a lot since, especially its poor performance, but it never failed again in production. Rock-solid code.
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Low-fidelity prototypes are rough representations of concepts that help us to validate those concepts early on in the design process. Throughout this article, Laura Busche will look at some of the features that make low-fidelity prototyping a unique tool to radically improve your work and to build an environment in which users’ needs can be truly realized. This article focuses on the practice and general principles behind integrating low-fidelity prototypes in design in general, covering applications that range from graphic, web and user experience design to business and service design.
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Compared to what we can create on the computer today, the original Macintosh, with only 128 KB of memory, had limited capabilities. At the time, though, it opened up so many new possibilities. Emerging digital technology also changed typography. Some digital typefaces were updated versions of classics, while others were brand new, and there was a refreshing jolt of youthful experimentation as people moved past the limits of the rational and functional. Each of the following designers broke from tradition and changed the world of design in some way. Those who designed not only on the screen, but for the screen, ushered in a new era of digital design, mixing media and incorporating motion, sound and interactivity. Below are a few of those pioneers.
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“Crashes” and “Not working” are the most common feedback on Google Play for unstable or sluggish apps. Lousy apps. Those comments and ratings make hundreds of millions of potential downloaders skip those apps. Sounds harsh, but that’s the way it is. The most successful mobile app developers understand the importance of performance, quality and robustness across the array of mobile devices that their customers use. But you must know that an app can behave differently on a variety mobile devices, even ones running the same OS version and identical hardware components.
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If you run into technical problems in mobile, then you’ll know how annoying fixing them can be. We have all been there. But no, mobile isn’t actually dark matter, but it does require you to learn a few new things, some of which are quite confusing. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Peter-Paul Koch to create The Mobile Web Handbook, our practical new guide to dealing with front-end challenges in mobile. The book is finally ready and is now shipping worldwide!
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As designers we usually turn to different sources of inspiration. As a matter of fact, we’ve discovered the best one—desktop wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd. This post features free desktop wallpapers created by artists across the globe for October 2014. Both versions with a calendar and without a calendar can be downloaded for free. It’s time to freshen up your wallpaper! This creativity mission has been going on for six years now, and we are very thankful to all designers who have contributed and are still diligently contributing each month.
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While a good measure does improve the reading experience, it’s only one rule for good typography. Another rule is to maintain a comfortable font size. Designing on a desktop or laptop browser means that we are spending most of our time at an arm’s length from the text, and we don’t spend much time seeing how the text renders on small devices. A good font size (not too small) is readable. A good font size (not too big) promotes horizontal eye motion. A good font size with the proper line height will help your readers find what they’re looking for.
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At Typeform, David Okuniev was inspired to simplify online forms by a movie that’s decidedly a blast from the past: the 1983 film WarGames, which centers around a student who remotely logs into a research computer and, through its terminal interface, nearly sparks a nuclear war. Stripping forms down to their basics and building them back up into something better took four years of work, but that core idea guided the team all along: questions are better than lists. In this article you will find David Okuniev’s story of how he turned that idea into a product that’s helped companies of all sizes get a 55% completion rate on their forms.
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It’s easy to get lost with so many options for hosting your website. You have quite a lot to choose from! How much should you pay? Is support important to you, or are you a tinkerer who likes to do your own thing? Hopefully, reading this article will help you have a clearer picture of the different packages available, and you will be able to make a decision based on your website, requirements and budget!
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As much as we aim to design our mobile apps and websites for contextual use, testing their usability in context can be challenging. One approach to mobile testing is participatory design. A participatory design test session typically takes about an hour and has four parts. In this article, Marina Lin conducted this type of study while researching how visitors to Cars.com’s app use their mobile device while purchasing a car on a dealer’s lot.
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