Fluid Space Calculator | Utopia
Type and space are linked, so if you’re going to have a fluid type calculator, it makes sense to have a fluid space calculator too. More great work from Trys and James!
Workplace topology | Clearleft
The hits keep on comin’ from Clearleft. This time, it’s Danielle with an absolutely brilliant and thoughtful piece on the perils of gaps and overlaps in pattern libraries, design systems and organisations.
This is such a revealing lens to view these things through! Once you’re introduced to it, it’s hard to “un-see” problems in terms of gaps and overlaps in categorisation. And even once the problems are visible, you still need to solve them in the right way:
Recognising the gaps and overlaps is only half the battle. If we apply tools to a people problem, we will only end up moving the problem somewhere else.
Some issues can be solved with better tools or better processes. In most of our workplaces, we tend to reach for tools and processes by default, because they feel easier to implement. But as often as not, it’s not a technology problem. It’s a people problem. And the solution actually involves communication skills, or effective dialogue.
That last part dovetails nicely with Jerlyn’s equally great piece.
Related links
Information Architecture First Principles | Jorge Arango
- People only understand things relative to things they already understand
- People only understand things in context
- People rely on patterns and consistency
- People seek to minimize cognitive load
- People have varying levels of expertise and familiarity
- People are goal-oriented
- People often don’t know what they’re looking for
- Information is more useful when it’s actionable
Cole Peters — An Introduction to Constraint Based Design Systems
Design systems as codified constraints.
Towards Growing Peaches Online - by Claire L. Evans
A beautiful meditation on Christopher Alexander by Claire L. Evans.
Pitfalls of Card UIs - daverupert.com
I’m going through a pattern library right now, and this rings true:
I’m of the opinion that all cards in a Card UI are destined to become baby webpages. Just like modals. Baby hero units with baby titles and baby body text and baby dropdown menu of actions and baby call to action bars, etc.
In some ways this outcome is the opposite of what you were intending. You wanted a Card UI where everything was simple and uniform, but what you end up with is a CSS gallery website filled with baby websites.
Related posts
Designing the Patterns Day site
A design exercise for the Clearleft UI designers.
Coding for America
Fuck yeah!
Accessibility is systemic
The difference between inclusive design and accessibility.
Declarative design systems
Is your design system really a system …or is it more like a collection of components?
More UX London speaker updates
Aleks Melnikova, Stephanie Marsh, Kat Zhou, Sarah Winters, and Adekunle Oduye.