I’m not one that you might call a copious note taker. I burn out quickly listening to presentations and tend to focus on note taking rather than digesting what is being said.
Rather than long notes, I go another direction. In order to help remind me of what I witnessed during the two-day event known as An Event Apart Boston 2008, I decided to run through the presentations and write-up a Twitter-sized summary of each one.
- Understandng Web Design by Jeffrey Zeldman
- Web designers are very talented people who should get more respect. Calls user centered design something else: “Empathy Web Design”.
- The Lessons of CSS Frameworks by Eric Meyer
- Eric examined nine CSS frameworks, but says they all aren’t right for you. You should make your own or adapt them to your liking.
- Good Design Ain’t Easy by Jason Santa Maria, 30
- Designers should be story telling. Talks about the history of print design and how that can bleed over to Web design.
- Web Application Hierarchy by Luke Wroblewski
- Give your users the “confidence to take actions”. Telling people visually what to do on your site is good. Learn graphic design principles.
- Design to Scale by Doug Bowman
- We respect proportions. McDonald’s scales, Starbucks sells experience, not Java. Quotes Paul Rand: “Simplicity is not the goal.”
- When Style Is The Idea by Christopher Fahey
- Quoted Paul Rand, Stewart Brand, etc. Style encourages innovation. Style sells, style happens. Fashion has a vocabulary, does Web design?
- Scent of a Web Page: Getting Users to What They Want by Jared Spool
- Five types of pages users encounter: Target Contnet, Gallery, Department, Store, Home Page. Users have a purpose when coming to your site.
- Debug/Reboot by Eric Meyer
- CSS debugging is a good way to tease out things that might be trouble. Not many people use Link Checkers. Reviews his CSS Reset rules.
- Comps and Code: Couples’ Therapy by Ethan Marcotte
- It’s okay to admit mistakes. Covers three projects and problems he encountered. Treat everyone on your team like a client and prototype!
- Principles of Unobtrusive JavaScript by ppk
- Unobtrusive JavaScript is more like a philosophy. Use JS wisely for improved accessibility and Web standards-based sites.
- Standards in the Enterprise by Kimberly Blessing
- To get Web standards into large companies, you need to follow the Circle of Standards: train, review, document, repeat. Buy our book!
- Designing the User Experience Curve by Andy Budd
- People pay for the experience of Starbucks, not for the coffee. Pay attention to detail, pay attention to your customer.
- Designing the Next Generation of Web Apps by Jeff Veen
- “We are awash in data.” Make data meaningful to your users. Another spotting of Napoleon March to Moscow infographic in a presentation.
Surprised ‘back button = button of doom” didn’t make it into Jared Spool’s summary 😉