031: Getting Scrappy with Mat Marquis

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
Web Dev
031: Getting Scrappy with Mat Marquis
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User Defenders "Muscles McTouchdown" Mat Marquis

Mat Marquis reminds us that web design is scrappy business. He inspires us to fight for what we truly believe in. He shows us how we can take our designs and skills further by learning a little code. He motivates us to continue to hone our communication skills by writing a lot. He also encourages us to surround ourselves with people who inspire us, and make us better.

Mat Marquis is an Inclusive Web Developer at Bocoup where he makes fast, accessible and responsive websites. He’s the Chair of the Responsive Issues Community Group where he spearheaded the effort to bring native responsive image solutions to the HTML5 specification. He’s the author of A Book Apart published “JavaScript for Web Designers”. He’s a former editor at A List Apart, and member of the jQuery team. Mat is a frequent speaker at one of my favorite web conferences, An Event Apart. He’s an ex-carpenter, amateur boxer and also bakes a mean batch of croissants.

  • Secret Identity/Origin Story (7:25)
  • Biggest Superhero (15:35)
  • Second Career Choice (17:17)
  • Biggest Failure (18:55)
  • Awkward Testing Story (21:49)
  • Design Superpower (27:11)
  • Design Kryptonite (29:00)
  • Design Superhero Name (34:25)
  • Fight For Users (39:58)
  • Future Of UX Design (43:00)
  • Habit Of Success (53:54)
  • Invincible Resource (55:37)
  • Book Recommendation (59:55)
  • Best Advice (62:52)
  • Most Excited About (70:12)
  • Contact Info (71:27)

Continue reading 031: Getting Scrappy with Mat Marquis

030: Content for All with Aaron Gustafson

User Defenders podcast
Empathy
030: Content for All with Aaron Gustafson
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User Defenders "The Enhancer" Aaron Gustafson

Aaron Gustafson inspires us to build a web for all people. He encourages us to keep an open mind about perspectives that are different than our own. He motivates us to keep focused on context when it comes to the users we’re designing for. He also challenges us to plant seeds of growth in others by making ourselves available and open to new opportunities.

Aaron Gustafson is passionate about web standards and accessibility as would be expected from a former manager of the Web Standards Project. In his two decades working on the Web, he’s worked with companies such as Happy Cog, Major League Baseball, McAfee and The New York Times. He joined Microsoft as a web standards advocate to work closely with their browser team. He loves sharing his knowledge through writing. His three-part series on progressive enhancement for A List Apart is a perennial favorite and his seminal book on the subject, Adaptive Web Design, has earned him numerous accolades and honors. When he’s not writing, he’s probably on the road presenting at conferences and running workshops across the globe. He is a longtime member of Rosenfeld Media’s “experts” group and former technical editor for A List Apart. He and his wife also brokered and produced the DVD release of Drawing Flies which was also produced by Kevin Smith (of Clerks fame who also happens to be a fellow comic book nerd).

  • Secret Identity/Origin Story (3:43)
  • Biggest Superhero (10:11)
  • Second Career Choice (15:17)
  • Biggest Failure (20:48)
  • Awkward Testing Story (30:50)
  • Design Superpower (49:37)
  • Design Kryptonite (51:03)
  • Design Superhero Name (51:41)
  • Fight For Users (53:23)
  • Future Of UX Design (55:18)
  • Habit Of Success (60:20)
  • Invincible Resource (63:30)
  • Book Recommendation (66:45)
  • Best Advice (69:31)
  • Most Excited About (74:16)
  • Contact Info (79:55)

Continue reading 030: Content for All with Aaron Gustafson

021: Designing for Happiness with Drew Lepp

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
Creativity
021: Designing for Happiness with Drew Lepp
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User Defenders "Pizazz" Drew Lepp

Drew Lepp encourages us to learn the business side of technology in order to achieve greater success with our designs. She encourages us to always know why we’re doing what we’re doing, and to be able to clearly articulate why every element on the page is there. She inspires us to fight on in our work especially when we grow weary because what we’re doing can make a world of difference in the lives of many. She also motivates us to be our authentic selves and to follow our values and what we think is important.

Drew Lepp (Pizazz) is the UX Director and Co-Founder at TimeKat which is a delightful time tracking, task and project management tool. She’s runs her own UX Design consulting biz where she designs incredibly beautiful and usable digital experiences. She believes in putting her heart into everything she creates while focusing on delivering thoughtfully simple experiences that are engaging, compelling, memorable and fun. She lives almost entirely on sugary snacks.

  • Secret Identity/Origin Story (2:27)
  • Biggest Superhero (12:02)
  • Second Career Choice (14:18)
  • Biggest Failure (17:38)
  • How Do You Measure Delight? (26:04)
  • Awkward Testing Story (30:38)
  • Design Superpower (36:05)
  • Design Kryptonite (38:30)
  • Fight For Users (49:10)
  • Design Superhero Name (52:55)
  • Future Of UX Design (54:10)
  • Habit Of Success (59:55)
  • Invincible Resource (1:02:30)
  • Book Recommendation (1:04:49)
  • Best Advice (1:08:00)
  • Advice On Color Usage (1:10:20)
  • Most Excited About (1:16:25)
  • Contact Info (1:18:26)

Continue reading 021: Designing for Happiness with Drew Lepp

008: There’s a Lot of Opportunity for Those Who Are Willing to Take Some Risks with Ben Callahan

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
Leadership
008: There’s a Lot of Opportunity for Those Who Are Willing to Take Some Risks with Ben Callahan
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User Defenders "Mr. Middleman" Ben Callahan

Ben Callahan inspires us to be passionate about the interfaces we design and put ourselves in the shoes of the people who are using them to do amazing things. He shares a really interesting parallel from Jazz music to the work we do. He reminds us to make every day count by first thinking about what’s truly important and impactful for that day. He also encourages us to not be afraid to make stuff and put it out there because we’ll only get better by trying.

Ben Callahan is the president of the insanely talented and nimble web design studio Sparkbox in beautiful Dayton, Ohio. Ben is unquestionably one of today’s foremost experts on Responsive Web Design and building responsibly. He’s an active blogger and TedX speaker who has been invited to speak at pretty much any notable web design conference that exists. He’s also a family man, a fellow coffee snob, and one of the nicest, down-to-earth guys I’ve met in this industry.

LINKS
Ben’s Twitter
Ben’s Website
Ben’s Blog
Sparkbox
Codepen Redesign
[VIDEO] Ben’s TedX Talk

[RESOURCE] UIE Library
[BOOK] On The Run (A Fugitive Life In An American City)


SUBSCRIBE TO AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE NEW EPISODES
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USE YOUR SUPERPOWER OF SUPPORT
Here’s your chance to use your superpower of support. Don’t rely on telepathy alone! If you’re enjoying the show, would you take two minutes and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts? I’d also be willing to remove my cloak of invisibility from your inbox if you’d subscribe to the newsletter for superguest announcements and more, occasionally.

SUPER-CRED
Artwork by Cesar Lemus | Editing by Chris Combs | Music by Wyman Gentry

Continue reading 008: There’s a Lot of Opportunity for Those Who Are Willing to Take Some Risks with Ben Callahan

004: Use the Materials You’re Given with Christopher Schmitt

User Defenders podcast
Web Design
004: Use the Materials You're Given with Christopher Schmitt
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Christopher Schmitt "Teleject" on User Defenders: Podcast

Christopher Schmitt reminds us to use the materials that we’re given and that we can learn something from everybody if we keep an open mind. He also encourages us to share what we know through exercising our superpower of writing and we can never go wrong with practicing kindness in our field.

Christopher Schmitt is a pioneer of Web Design. He’s a member of the Web Standards Project and author of several books including the O’Reilly published CSS Cookbook. He’s the Founder of Heatvision: a Web Design and new media publishing studio. He’s also co-founder of Environments for Humans, in which he hosts well-attended online conferences such as CSS Summit and jQuery Summit.

LINKS
Christopher Schmitt’s Website
Christopher Schmitt’s Twitter
Environments For Humans
Christopher Schmitt’s Github

[RESOURCE] Evernote
[BOOK] Understanding Comics
[BOOK] The Design of Everyday Things
[BOOK] Rocket Surgery Made Easy


SUBSCRIBE TO AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE NEW EPISODES
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora | Amazon Music | RSS Feed

USE YOUR SUPERPOWER OF SUPPORT
Here’s your chance to use your superpower of support. Don’t rely on telepathy alone! If you’re enjoying the show, would you take two minutes and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts? I’d also be willing to remove my cloak of invisibility from your inbox if you’d subscribe to the newsletter for superguest announcements and more, occasionally.

SUPER-CRED
Artwork by Cesar Lemus | Editing by Chris Combs | Music by Wyman Gentry

Continue reading 004: Use the Materials You’re Given with Christopher Schmitt