John C.’s Post

Hey everyone! I'm excited to share my first Medium article with you all. In this piece, I dive into the importance of developing a UI library specifically for the defense industry. This topic touches on the unique challenges and opportunities we face when building software that meets both user and industry-specific needs. I hope my insights will spark some thought-provoking discussions around the intersection of UI development and defense technology. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/dRQU9mvi Would love to hear your thoughts and feedback! #UIDevelopment #DefenseIndustry #TechInnovation #SoftwareEngineering

Good design goes beyond mere aesthetics – it's about crafting a user experience that is intuitive, functional, and enjoyable. In the realm of software development, this means creating interfaces that users can navigate effortlessly and ensuring that the underlying architecture is robust and scalable. At Plugin Pro, we understand the importance of good design in creating impactful software solutions. . . . . #GoodDesign #UserExperience #SoftwareDevelopment #UIUX #PluginPro #IntuitiveDesign #FunctionalUX #RobustArchitecture #ScalableSoftware #CraftingExperience #Aesthetics #EffortlessNavigation #ImpactfulSolutions #InnovativeDesign #DesignThinking #TechTrends #DigitalSolutions #UXDesigners #CreativeTech #SoftwareEngineering #UserCentricDesign #UIPatterns #DesignInnovation #TechSavvy

You can't create a design system in a week... TL;DR: "Don’t put crap in the design system." - Josh Clark (from Brad Frost's article 'don’t put crap in the design system') I've been seeing a lot of posts claiming to have the ultimate answer or plugins that can churn out a design system in 10 minutes. Let's be real — this is nonsense. Most of these claims confuse a true design system with just component libraries in Figma. A true design system is much more than a set of components. It is about a consistent approach, standards and guidelines that ensure the coherence of your entire project. This includes standardized UI solutions, accessibility and spelling guidelines, as well as patterns, such as which notification or error status should be used in which situation, and much more. It is also deeply connected to your codebase to ensure that design and development work hand in hand. Automated tools often throw in a bunch of unnecessary stuff you'll never use. Worse, if you redesign, you're stuck carrying this junk along with you. Brad Frost's article 'don’t put crap in the design system' (https://lnkd.in/dphVdU9k) dives deeper into this issue. Don't fall for quick fixes. Building a solid design system takes time, thought, and effort - and, most likely, research. #DesignSystems #Architecture #Process #Workflow #Recipes #UX #UserExperience

💩💩 Don't Put Crap In The Design System 💩💩https://lnkd.in/ei-ubFsA It's one of my favorite Josh Clark lines that cuts through the noise of a conversation. What is crap? Crap is rushed work, low-quality work, shortcuts, experiments, first drafts, one-offs, and other unvetted/untested/unverified work. Let’s be clear: crap is inevitable and is produced for reasons both unfortunate and understandable. But while crap is an unavoidable part of product design and development, it has no place in a design system. A design system is critical frontend infrastructure, therefore it needs to be sturdy, reliable, and dependable. Design systems contain boring, tried-and-true, vetted, high-quality solutions to common problems encountered at an organization. When consuming teams encounter crap when working with the design system, trust is broken and the integrity of the system erodes. Those experiences can very much impact the long-term success of the system. For those reasons, a design system needs to be protected from crap. So how should we deal with crap? - Slow down (easier said than done!) - Establish a layered UI ecosystem (https://lnkd.in/eKm7ysDi) - Recognize the design system and products move at their own pace (https://lnkd.in/d7BVsrAy) - Create a recipes layer in the ecosystem (https://lnkd.in/dAcUGprA) - Formalize a governance process and prioritize conversation and communication (https://lnkd.in/eeSRU2t) - Always use branching in your workflow Crap is inevitable, but implementing these tactics can help organizations manage it in a controlled and thoughtful way. At Big Medium, we help teams deal with crap all the time, so if your organization could use some help, get in touch! https://lnkd.in/gk3JpKbN #designsystems #crap #process #governance #uidesign #uxdesign #

Learn Design Tokens & UI Components with Nathan Curtis (https://lnkd.in/d-mgC7aD) Upcoming online training: Design Token and UI Component Architecture with Nathan Curtis  🗓️ Nov 18+19 2024 Online What's included: 📚 2x 4hours live workshop 🟢 Live Q&A with Nathan Curtis 📼 All recordings to rewatch anytime 🏆 Certificate of attendance This workshop exposes you to essential foundations of design system architecture — the kinds of naming, composition, configuration and process challenges involved — to equip you with techniques and activities to make, spread, and maintain a system yourself. What you will learn: Over two days, we’ll participate in presentations, collaborative activities, and in-depth discussions of design tokens and UI components. Day 1: Design tokens • Set a scope for your system’s visual foundation • Capture and name tokens for color, text, space, shape and size • Grow from generic and semantic into component-specific tokens • Tackle complicated challenges of composite tokens and theming • Plan an approach to start or refactor a token taxonomy Day 2: UI components • Organize a catalog, including naming, metadata and namespacing  • Establish a component anatomy of default, required, and varying elements • Architect prop configurations, including types, options and other models • Compose and arrange elements inside components • Balance flexibility and configurability in higher-order components Become a leading Design System expert - few spots left. 🔗 Link: https://lnkd.in/d-mgC7aD #uxdesign #ui #designsystems

Is Poor API Design Slowing You Down? You've heard it before: "Good design is good business." But have you ever considered how the design of your APIs could be affecting your bottom line? A poorly designed API is like a maze—easy to get lost in and hard to escape from. What's At Stake? Poor API design can lead to frustrating bottlenecks, increased support requests, and ultimately, unhappy customers. It's not just a developer's problem; it's a business problem. The result? Reduced customer satisfaction and lost revenue opportunities. How APIwiz Can Elevate Your API Design 1️⃣ User-Friendly Interface: Simplify the design process with low-code solutions that everyone can understand.  2️⃣ Best Practice Templates: Avoid common design flaws with our pre-built templates. 3️⃣ Collaborative Design: Business/Product Owners and Developers can design APIs together, ensuring alignment with business goals.  4️⃣ Quick Iterations: Gather stakeholder feedback swiftly with APIwiz's API Portfolio and make necessary adjustments without going back to the drawing board. Discover how you can avoid the pitfalls of poor design. https://lnkd.in/dUEQXBc4

The look and feel of your software matters. It's the first impression users have, and it can make or break their experience. ⬇️ Our latest blog in our five-part series dives into the crucial role of design in software development. Learn how to create products users love through user-centered design, information architecture, and more below. #SoftwareDevelopment #UXDesign

Custom software solutions require an innovative, comprehensive approach. (You won't change our mind.) 🐸☕️ What do we mean by a comprehensive approach? Design + Engineering + Strategy You can't have one without the others. Individually, they may offer their own unique benefits, but together, they create unified solutions. The kind of solutions that elevate businesses and provide transformative results. Let's break it down.👇 - Strategy consists of market research, analysis, and a whole lot of planning. We have all the big ideas and creative talent of an ad agency or creative studio, except we deliver working products, not expensive presentations. Combine strategy with design, and you get purpose-driven ideas.💡 - Design includes user research, UX & UI design. We validate, design, and prototype proof-of-concepts like any "creative technology" studio, but we do it in less time and for less money. Combine design with engineering, and you get products users love. 💚 - Engineering might be what you typically think of regarding software (Architecture, Development, QA, DevSecOps.) We develop lean, stable code using all the best practices of any leading dev shop, except we focus on the user experience so people actually like using what we build. Combine engineering with strategy, and you get purpose-driven products. 📲 Here at Frogslayer, we're a cross-breed of disciplined software engineers, thoughtful experience designers, outcome-driven product strategists, and experienced business builders - which allows us to build sustainable, comprehensive software solutions for mid-market businesses. 📈 #productdesign #customsoftware #softwareengineering

Who likes predictability 📊 in software? We don't want software to act differently without context. We want to know how a system will react. We want to feel like things are connected, which leads to trust. If a system uses 🤷♂️ non-standard components, it can lead to disjointed experiences. Users feel like they are using multiple systems instead of one. One of the biggest requests I hear is "we want it to feel like one experience." Taking time to make sure your interactions, designs, and flows are 📊 predictable is crucial to user retention. 📊 Predictable software uses standard UI components and flows. There is a visual consistency, even across multiple product experiences. If your product is struggling with non-standard components or predictability reach out to evaluate your digital product using the IMPRESS․design framework. #design #uidesign #predictability

True TechValue, Real returns TechValue is above resumes, above syntax, and above tech programming skills. Know your TechValue using techworth.trueselfy.com It is all about how much you can anticipate. Anticipation plays a critical role in system design. Here's why: 1. **Future-Proofing**: Anticipating future needs and trends helps in creating systems that are scalable and adaptable. This reduces the need for frequent overhauls and extends the system's lifespan. 2. **User Experience**: By anticipating user behavior and requirements, designers can create more intuitive and user-friendly systems, enhancing overall user satisfaction. 3. **Performance Optimization**: Predicting potential bottlenecks and performance issues allows designers to implement proactive measures, ensuring smooth and efficient operation under varying loads. 4. **Risk Mitigation**: Anticipating potential risks and vulnerabilities enables designers to incorporate robust security measures and fallback mechanisms, minimizing the impact of unforeseen issues. 5. **Cost Efficiency**: Planning for future expansions and changes can help in allocating resources more effectively, reducing unnecessary expenditures and avoiding costly redesigns. Overall, anticipation allows for more resilient, flexible, and efficient systems, capable of meeting both current and future demands. #ux #uiux #systemdesign #developer #programming