AEA Chicago 2009: My Top 5

Going to An Event Apart Chicago was an unbelievable experience for me. Here's the top 5 things that I came away with (some new, some reminders, some calls to action), as well as links to all of my session notes.

Top 5 for Me

1. Lorem ipsum, you are dead to me. No, really. Kristina Halvorson will hunt me down.
   • Using placeholder text centers the design on the visual rather than the content and reduces the content to mere copy--little more than random text (as far as the design is concerned).
2. Content is king. Also, queen.
   • The content is why people are on the site, not the design (though a bad design can turn them away). Be strategic about content, define a maintenance plan.
   • Central focus on content is also a prerequisite to truly embracing progressive enhancement. If the design is the main thing, of course I'll want it pixel-perfect. If the content is the main thing, it just needs to look good in each browser (based on each browser's capabilities).
3. I don't need massive resources to focus on UX. I should just do it.
• UX is a mindset, and is scalable from the smallest orgs to the largest. I can do things like making feedback easy, being responsive, and 
4. { -webkit-moz-o-properties:awesome; }
   • New CSS3 properties are great and browser support is getting better. As long as I don't forget the *ahem* other browsers, I can go ahead and use them. 
   • Using new properties with progressive enhancement will the site look better, speed up my development timeline, and remind me what's important--the content.
5. Forms suck.
   • To a user, forms are an obstacle, not a tool.
   • Focus on making the form easy to use and creating a quick, easy vertical scan line. Also, I need to stop center-aligning the submit button and make it stand out from the reset button (if I use one).

My Session Notes

1. A Site Redesign
2. Thinking Small
3. Content First
4. Concept Models: A Tool for Planning Websites
5. DIY UX: Give Your Users an Upgrade
6. Walls Come Tumbling Down
7. JavaScript Will Save Us All
8. Using CSS3 Today with eCSStender
9. Building Stuff Fast–And Getting It Approved
10. Web Form Design in Action
11. Designing Virtual Realism
12. Progressive Enrichment With CSS3

AEA Chicago 2009: Progressive Enrichment With CSS3

Dan Cederholm finished out An Event Apart Chicago 2009 with a demonstration of some advanced CSS3 techniques.

AEA Chicago 2009: Designing Virtual Realism

Session 11 of An Event Apart Chicago 2009 was Dan Rubin's discussion of virtual realism and relating web design to product design.

AEA Chicago 2009: Web Form Design in Action

Making web forms easier for the user was the subject of Session 10 of An Event Apart Chicago 2009, presented by Luke Wroblewski.

AEA Chicago 2009: Building Stuff Fast–And Getting It Approved

Simon Willison talked about how some ways to speed up the development timeline in Session 9 of An Event Apart Chicago 2009

AEA Chicago 2009: Using CSS3 Today with eCSStender

In Session 8 of An Event Apart Chicago 2009, Aaron Gustafson demonstrated the eCSStender JavaScript library.

AEA Chicago 2009: JavaScript Will Save Us All

Day 2 and Session 7 of An Event Apart Chicago 2009 was Eric Meyer demonstrating how important JavaScript has become and will be.

AEA Chicago 2009: Walls Come Tumbling Down

Andy Clarke finished out Day 1 of An Event Apart Chicago 2009 with his talk on improving the process of web design--getting things done more efficiently.

AEA Chicago 2009: DIY UX: Give Your Users an Upgrade

An Event Apart Chicago 2009 Session 5 was on simple things anyone can to to improve their user's experience on their site, presented by Whitney Hess.

AEA Chicago 2009: Concept Models: A Tool for Planning Websites

Concept models, a way of visualizing abstract concepts, was the subject of Dan Brown's Session 4 of An Event Apart Chicago 2009 with Dan Brown.

AEA Chicago 2009: Content First

An Event Apart Chicago 2009 Session 3 was Kristina Halvorson, talking about content, content, content.

AEA Chicago 2009: Thinking Small

Session 2 of An Event Apart Chicago 2009 was Jason Santa Maria talking about small things that can make a big difference in a design.

AEA Chicago 2009: A Site Redesign

Jeffrey Zeldman presented the first session of An Event Apart Chicago 2009, discussing the process of redesigning a website and demonstrating the process of redesigning his own site and the An Event Apart website.

Basic CSS Page Layout

For my second post, I'll build on my basic HTML page structure and give the page a basic layout. This post won't go into detail for more complex things like navigation bars, etc.; I'll limit it to creating the basic "boxes" where the content will be dumped.

Basic HTML Page Structure

So, for my first post, I thought I'd start with the basics--how I lay out my basic HTML page.