Future of Web Design London

Future Of Web Design London

The Brewery - 14th May 2012 - 16th May 2012

Hashtag #fowd

Convince Your Boss (.pdf)

We’re committed to bringing you the best speakers in the industry – presenting on the hottest, most relevant topics and technologies. See the schedule below for days, tracks, and topics. The full conference schedule is still being finalized, so please do check back soon for updates.

  • Monday Workshops

    • 09:00 – 17:30

      Running A Successful Web Design Business Paul Boag

      We like to think that being a successful independent web designer is about creating great websites. Its not. Running your own business is about a lot more than having the right professional skills. Paul’s workshop will reveal the hidden secrets to building a successful, profitable web design business.

      What you'll learn:

      • How to create a proactive marketing strategy that doesn't rely on work just coming through the door.
      • How to nail the sales process including outstanding proposals and killer pitches.
      • Better ways to build a long term relationship with your clients.
      • The importance of achieving a healthy work/life balance and how to make it happen.
      • How to work less hours and yet achieve more.
    • 09:00 – 17:30

      Rock Solid Responsive UX Deliverables Steve Fisher

      UX Design for the web is a hot topic, but we find it too hard to pin down so we just touch the surface and don't explore the why of user experience. As it is becoming something of a de-facto standard it is in our best interest as interactive designers to understand the discipline. No longer something that has to always be hugely complex and costly, we'll cover the back-to-basics approach to UX design in this workshop and how to practically dispatch a rock solid responsive web design UX deliverables package.

      What you'll learn:

      • How to communicate and develop a UX Vision
      • How to develop your own UX process that will work across all projects
      • How to communicate a UX strategy to the client
      • How to properly use UX patterns and when to use them
      • Producing a responsive UX Style guide that will get used
    • 09:00 – 17:30

      Designing For Touch Josh Clark

      Handheld apps that work by touch require you to design not only how your pixels look, but how they *feel* in the hand. This workshop explores the ergonomic challenges and interface opportunities for designing mobile touchscreen apps and websites. Learn how fingers and thumbs turn desktop conventions on their head and require you to leave behind familiar design patterns. The workshop presents nitty-gritty "rule of thumb" design techniques that together form a framework for crafting finger-friendly interface metaphors, affordances, and gestures for a new generation of mobile apps that inform and delight.

      What you'll learn:

      • Discover the ergonomic demands of designing for touch.
      • Devise interface metaphors that invite touch.
      • Design gesture interactions, and learn techniques to help people discover unfamiliar gestures on their own.
      • Learn why buttons are a hack and how to design interfaces without traditional UI controls.
      • Explore the psychology behind screen rotation and the opportunities and pitfalls it creates.
    • 09:00 – 17:30

      Good Ideas Grow on Papers The Web Standardistas

      At the heart of every great design lies a great idea, but where does these great ideas come from?

      As designers, we can learn to innovate, to find inspiration and generate ideas through creative techniques, that all have one thing in common: they originate away from the computer. In this hands-on workshop, delivered in the tried and tested Standardistas' style®, we look back at the generations of designers that didn't spend their days in front of a computer, instead plying their craft using a wealth of analogue tools: pen and paper, scalpels, ink and even typewriters.

      We explore a number of questions, including: How do you get ideas in the first place? How do you capture these ideas and turn them into real, tangible designs, and how do you create original designs that that aren't mere carbon-copies of the most recent (1% noise) design trends.

      By re-learning how to generate ideas and creative concepts without the aid of a computer, we can develop a richer and more varied visual grammar, based on the timeless design principles of pre-personal computer yore.

      Armed with some fundamental design principles and an abundance of tools – which naturally includes the Standardistas' 'Bag of Awesome™' (containing a veritable cornucopia of material) – we show the aspiring analogue designer a range of methods for breaking out of the stranglehold of the often clichéd digital world.

      What you'll learn:

      • A Plethora of Tips to Move From Idea to Execution
      • Five Idea Generation Techniques to Unlock Awesome Sauce™
      • How to Think Through Paper
      • Master the Art of Using Typewriters, Scissors and Glue

  • Tuesday Conference Day 1

    Track One

    • 08:00 – 09:00

      Registration

      Come and pick up your passes.

    • 09:00 – 09:05

      Welcome

      An introduction to the day.

    • 09:05 – 09:45

      The Happy Generalist Brendan Dawes

      When a friend once remarked "generalists will save the world, not specialists", Brendan realised that whilst he will never save the world, he is very much a generalist. But whilst his career has seen him go from making underground breakbeat albums, to web design and now physical objects, there has always been one consistent theme that runs through out all the work – the love and joy of making. In this session, Brendan will talk about some of his core beliefs when it comes to all kinds of design and how the process of making something is just as important as the final product.

    • 09:50 – 10:30

      Client Centric Web Design Paul Boag

      As web designers we love to boast about our user centric approach to web design, but what about our clients? Most web designers resent clients, seeing them as a barrier to producing great websites. However, a website doesn't just need to meet users needs it also must meet the needs of your clients.

      Web design is not just about building websites. Its about providing a service to our clients. In this talk Paul looks at how to establish a collaborative relationship with your clients that produces websites far better than you could build in isolation.

      Lessons you will learn include:

      • Why the clients requirements are even more important than your users.
      • The benefits to you of working collaboratively with the client.
      • How to create a process that encourages collaboration.
      • Ways to educate the client enabling them to contribute value to the project.
      • How to encourage the best kind of feedback from clients.
      • What to do when you disagree with your clients.
    • 10.30 – 11.15
      Morning Break including speed networking
    • 11:15 – 11:55

      jQuery Session Speaker TBA

      Full session description and speaker info coming soon!

    • 12:00 – 12:40

      A Closer Look At Accessible Mobile App Design Robin Christopherson

      In this session, Robin will delve into iOS and Android accessibility and what accessible and inaccessible apps look like to end users. He will also discuss the options for successfully creating apps that are inclusive and easy to use – giving you the largest possible audience for your next mobile masterpiece.

    • 12:40 – 14:00
      Lunch including Uni Sessions
    • 14:25 – 15:05

      Web Typography, The Good Bits Jon Tan

      Co-founder of Fontdeck and Mapalong, and web typography aficionado, Jon Tan, takes to the stage to guide us through 40 minutes of the best of web typography.

    • 15:10 – 15:50

      Responsive Redesign: Utilising The Power of HTML5 & CSS3 Vitaly Friedman

      You know it’s time to redesign when your design is becoming your own bottleneck — incapable of reflecting your changes, values and the new direction of your enterprise. If your list of necessary UX improvements is getting longer, yet you can’t meaningfully integrate them in your current design, that’s a clear sign that something has to change. That’s exactly the issue Smashing Magazine's team faced before it decided to redesignSmashing Magazine.

      In this talk Vitaly Friedman, the founder and editor-in-chief of Smashing Magazine, provides practical insights into the responsive redesign process of Smashing Magazine's new site. The talk explains the decisions made and rejected along the way and describes how designing in the browser using only HTML5 and CSS3 is both necessary and powerful in the responsive design process.

    • 15:50 – 16:35
      Afternoon Break including Design Clinic
    • 17:00 – 17:40

      Dr Weblove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Photoshop and Love Designers Remy Sharp

      Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, developers and designers worked in harmony creating amazing web sites and applications.  Back on Earth though it's not quite the fairy tale story.

      Remy's a developer, who has worked with more than healthy handful designers over the last decade and more ("but he's so young and good looking!" we hear you cry). His session will share what worked and what didn't, tips and tricks to make life a little easier. What's simple in a design to implement and what was hard.  How he looks for risk in a project and how that's shared with the designers and client.  How do you quote and how do you get your quotes right.  When to choose an off the shelf library or when to build something bespoke.

    • 17:40 – 17:45

      Goodbye for the day

      Closing announcements.

    Track Two

    • 09:50 – 10:30

      The UX of HTML5 Joe Leech

      HTML5 offers lots of new types of interaction. These new more powerful interactions mean we have a greater set of solutions available to us. But with great power comes great responsibility. In this session Joe Leech will share his experience with user research to show just because we can use sliders & spinners doesn't mean we should. You'll learn how to use the new features of HTML5 so that you and your users get the absolute most from them.

    • 10:30 – 11:15
      Morning Break including speed networking
    • 11:15 – 11:55

      Art Direction Across the Multi-platform Web James Fenton

      Art direction used to be about controlling the visual style or mood of a design project or brand. The art director would oversee production, signing off design and photography, ensuring consistency in the message being communicated. The web however, is changing the goal posts, handing more and more control over to users and third party delivery.

      So what role does art direction play in a world of choice and customisation? In this talk, James will discuss the role of the art direction in large web projects. Exploring the challenges in delivering consistency across multiple devices, operating systems and browsers, whilst looking at the shift from the purely visual, to communication based on content strategy, UI patterns, feedback, transitions and user experience.

    • 12:00 – 12:40

      Inform to Inspire: Perfecting Your Creative Workflow Stephanie Troeth

      We've often been taught to "go for a walk" when we are stuck for inspiration, or to let our ideas "incubate". However, there is a fine line between ruminating and thinking in a vacuum. Sharing a few practical tools in her user experience strategy toolbox, Steph will introduce some simple but powerful techniques to help you unpack the design problem you are trying to solve, and show how user research can inspire relevant ideas. Whether you're building a web or mobile app, thinking about a new product or planning a new business venture - this session will empower you with tools that you can use right away.

    • 12:40 – 14.00
      Lunch including Uni Sessions
    • 14:25 – 15:05

      Context is King Rob Borley

      With the rise of mobile we, as web designers, now have a few more things to worry about. No longer can we simply concern ourselves with browsers and screen resolutions. These are no the only things that impact how our design will be accessed. Now the physical environment in which our UX is used plays a huge role in the design process.

      Web design is not just about building websites. Its about providing relevant content and functionality to the user within the context in which they are accessing our services. In this talk Rob looks at how to understand your users context and the potential implications for the services that we provide.

      Lessons you will learn include:

      • What makes up the users context.
      • What impact this context has on how users access online services.
      • How do we discover what the users context is?
      • Do I need an app for that?
    • 15:10 – 15:50

      Creating Wonderful Web App UX Richard Shepherd

      Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, said that "in a world of infinite software choice, people gravitate towards the products with the best overall user experience."

      But how do we define, create and perfect ‘user experience’ in our web apps? In this talk we'll examine the very best web apps from around the world, analysing design trends and the latest development techniques, and taking away practical tips to help create a wonderful user experience in our own applications.We'll also discover that the choices designers and developers make every day can illicit powerful emotional responses in users. By understanding how our work affects user experience we can start to build web apps that users have a positive relationship with, turning 'great' into 'awesome' and 'usable' into 'joyful' along the way.

    • 15:50 – 16:35
      Afternoon Break including Design Clinic

  • Wednesday Conference Day 2

    Track One

    • 09:00 – 09:05

      Welcome

      An introduction to the day.

    • 09:05 – 09:45

      You Are A Channel Web Standardistas

      As web designers we have access to the tools and delivery mechanisms to not only promote our clients, but also to promote ourselves. How we use these tools strategically and the messages we convey through them can alter our web design trajectories considerably, often proving the difference between success or failure.

      You are a channel. How you choose to portray yourself matters. In our keynote we explore the philosophical and practical challenges that face the contemporary web designer, helping them to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

    • 09:50 – 10:30

      A Responsive Process Steve Fisher

      The web is not fixed width and I think we are remembering that. If our medium is fluid should our process be fixed? I prefer designing within the browser, especially when responsive design is a requirement. Fireworks and Photoshop are not flexible enough to demonstrate media queries, button and menu states, HTML5 and JavaScript behaviours, dynamic resizing of elements and navigation flow. Because the medium is fluid, I think our approach to design has to be fluid as well. A responsive process is a responsible process, matching the medium. I've been working with many companies and organizations helping them transform their process to fit a responsive workflow and I'm going to share the goods. One web to rule them all!

    • 10:30 – 11:15
      Morning Break including speed networking
    • 11:15 – 11:55

      Teaching Touch Josh Clark

      Touch gestures are sweeping away buttons, menus and windows from mobile devices—and even from the next version of Windows. Find out why those familiar desktop widgets are weak replacements for manipulating content directly, and learn to craft touchscreen interfaces that effortlessly teach users new gesture vocabularies. The challenge: gestures are invisible, without the visual cues offered by buttons and menus. As your touchscreen app sheds buttons, how do people figure out how to use the damn thing? Learn to lead your audience by the hand (and fingers) with practical techniques that make invisible gestures obvious. Designer Josh Clark (author of O'Reilly books "Tapworthy" and "Best iPhone Apps") mines a variety of surprising sources for interface inspiration and design patterns. Along the way, discover the subtle power of animation, why you should be playing lots more video games, and why a toddler is your best beta tester.

    • 12:00 – 12:40

      Icon Design Session Speaker TBA

      Full session description and speaker info coming soon!

    • 12:40 – 14:00
      Lunch including Uni Sessions
    • 14:25 – 15:05

      The Future of Beautiful iOS Design Sarah Parmenter

      Lover of beautiful web design and firm FOWD favourite, we're delighted to welcome Sarah Parmenter to the stage for a session on the future of iOS design.

    • 15:10 – 15:50

      Organising Your Stylesheets With Compass & Sass Chris Epstein

      Are your stylesheets a mess? Do you find that changes to your CSS have unintended consequences? Sass & Compass give you a rich set of tools to enable you to craft maintainable stylesheets. Chris Eppstein, the creator of the Compass stylesheet authoring framework, will review a number of best practices, tips, and tricks to get your stylesheets back on track so that you can spend less time debugging and more time being awesome.

    • 15:50 – 16:35
      Afternoon Break including Design Clinic
    • 17:00 – 17:40

      Failing And Doing It Well Mark Boulton

      In 2008, Mark sat down with his wife over dinner to discuss taking on a project that could make or break his business. A project that – if it went wrong – would do it in front of half a million people. The fear of failure came down to a coin toss; risk it, or not. Mark will share his thoughts and experiences from that day and others on how failure, and not the fear of it, should be an integral part of your life. How failure will make you a better designer, a better coworker or manager, so you can help create company cultures where it's not just OK to screw up: it's expected.

    • 17:40 – 17:45

      Goodbye

      Thanks for attending and final announcements.

    Track Two

    • 09:50 – 10:30

      Why WordPress is the Framework of the Future! Jack Lenox

      WordPress is now so much more than just a blogging platform. Find out how to do some really awesome things with it and start using it as a refreshing and straightforward framework for your web projects. Packed with sample code and practical solutions, Jack will introduce some innovative and insightful ways to use Wordpress and hopefully persuade any doubters that it's the best thing since the waxy wrapping paper that stopped sliced bread going off (because sliced bread on its own isn't actually that great!)

    • 10:30 – 11:15
      Morning Break including speed networking
    • 11:15 – 11:55

      The Future of CSS3 TBC

      Full session description and speaker info coming soon!

    • 12:00 – 12:40

      Designing For A Flexible Web Laura Kalbag

      Sometimes we can obsess over the technical elements of responsive web design, trying to make up for our lack of understanding in how to design for it. I will discuss the exciting new design challenges brought about by the responsive web design revolution.

      I will use the practical experience gained from real projects, such as the Future Insights Live and Future Of Web Design websites, to explore ways to adapt design workflows for the responsive approach and create device-agnostic design systems for content. She'll also help to uncover the huge number of considerations involved in designing for a flexible web.

    • 12:40 – 14:00
      Lunch including Uni Sessions
    • 14:25 – 15:05

      The Future of CMS: A Million F*#%ing Dollar Web Project? Paul Bellows

      In this session, Paul Bellows will dive into what the CMS of the future is going to have to solve by looking at what types of problems – small, medium and astronomical – technology is going to be asked to address and how future-CMS needs to manage complexity for real people. Come and listen so that you can sound like a prophet when you talk to customers, or compile a list of reasons to make fun of Paul when we get to the future. "Robot Butlers" may or may not make his list.

    • 15:10 – 15:50

      Automating Testing Across the Multi-Platform Web James Coglan

      So you built a beautiful website... Now learn how to automate its testing across the multi-platform web!

    • 15:50 – 16:35
      Afternoon Break including Design Clinic

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