The Drunken UX Podcast

By Michael Fienen and Aaron Hill

What's The Drunken UX Podcast about?

Aaron Hill and Michael Fienen discuss web development, user experience, accessibility, and more - all while having a (hopefully) nice drink and trying to help listeners build a better web for the future.

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The Drunken UX Podcast episodes:

11.21.2022
#121: Accommodating Neurodivergent Hires in Tech
This week, Aaron sits down for a solo talk with the audience about his challenges being neuredivergent in the field of web development, and how that affects his work, along with what you can do...
08.01.2022
#120: Getting Started with Google Tag Manager
Michael’s solo this week, and taking the opportunity to dive into a subject he’s very passionate about: The value of Google Tag Manager. GTM is a tool that can simplify a lot of things in...
07.18.2022
#119: Tips For Effective Footer UX
Too often, footers get the short end of the UX design stick. It’s the afterthought, the thing at the bottom of the page, the place where useless items go to die. But it doesn’t have...
07.04.2022
#118: Skills For Your First Front End Job
In the field of web development, there’s so much to know, it can be daunting for those trying to break into their career at a company. In this episode, Michael and Aaron explore which skills...
06.20.2022
#117: R.I.P. IE, WordPress 6 Features, and CSS Tips
Need some bite sized conversations today? Let Michael and Aaron help with some discussion on the end of Internet Explorer, looking at WordPress 6 features, and some great CSS tips! It’s a great blend of...
06.06.2022
#116: Coding Pop Quiz Part 3 (Back to JS)
In this episode, Michael and Aaron finish up taking their tests by comparing notes on some additional JavaScript challenges. Are two heads better than one? What sneaky tricks will derail them? Jump in and answer...
05.23.2022
#115: Coding Pop Quiz Part 2 (Ruby)
Turnabout is only fair play when it comes to testing our knowledge. Last week, Aaron was faced with some difficult JavaScript questions. This week, Michael takes on the hot seat with a whole batch of...
05.09.2022
#114: Coding Pop Quiz Part 1 (JavaScript)
Finals have arrived here at Drunken UX, and it’s time to take the test. Aaron is in the hot seat as we look at questions related to tricky JavaScript behavior. It’s a great way to...
05.02.2022
Build Process #9: Ben Reynolds
Aaron talks with friend and former coworker Ben Reynolds, a fellow Ruby on Rails dev and Rust enthusiast. They talk about Ben’s background in music, working for a call center, and his atypical journey into...
04.25.2022
#113: Using Shannon-Weaver in Web Strategy
With Aaron out of town, Michael takes the microphone solo to dive into why the Shannon-Weaver Model makes a great foundation to launch your design strategy. By putting people at the center of your process,...
04.11.2022
#112: Web Locks, “Programming” in HTML, and Wes Bos’s JavaScript Reference
Aaron and Michael sit down for a web round up of topics. First,Safari 15.4 solifies the Web Locks API as a standard you can now use cross-browser, we debate whether or not HTML is “programming,”...
03.28.2022
#111: What Did the DOJ Just Say About Accessibility
The US Department of Justice just released guidelines to take a firmer, clearer stance on your responsibility to comply with ADA requirements when it comes to accessibility requirements in web development. But… what does that...
03.14.2022
#110: Raising the Curtain on JavaScript Performance
Despite the growing abundance of bandwidth and computing power available from desktops to cell phones, putting attention on the performance of the code you write is still a worthwhile skill to cultivate that will help...
03.07.2022
Build Process #8: Lydia Winters
Build Process returns for 2022 with an interview with front end developer Lydia Winters from Limelight Marketing. Lydia is a relatively new developer with a passion for design who’s working on her master’s degree in...
02.28.2022
#109: Get Accessibility Moving with prefers-reduced-motion
Movement on web pages can cause users an assortment of issues for a wide array of reasons. Slowly, we’re adding controls to operating systems and browser so that users can define their preferences for issues...
02.14.2022
#108: Using DevTools Like a Boss
As a web developer, no tool may ever prove to be quite as useful as DevTools is. It’s complex, powerful, and reveals a wealth of information about pages you’re working on. The problem is, learning...
01.31.2022
#107: Building Michael’s First Ruby Application
In this special episode, Aaron takes the driver seat to teach Michael a new skill: creating an application using Ruby on Rails. They start from scratch, and walk through the basic steps and scaffolding to...
01.17.2022
#106: Understanding Everything About the Box Model
The Box Model is a fundamental component of everything we do in building a layout for a website. Yet, you may not know all the idiosyncrasies or particulars that underpin how it affects rendering of...
01.03.2022
#105: The Beginner’s Guide to CSS BEM
Successfully implementing a design for a large site in CSS can be a challenge in the best of circumstances. It can be downright hard if you need to spread the work across multiple developers of...
12.20.2021
#104: Season 4 Naughty or Nice List Finale
After 25 more episodes, we’ve arrived at the end of season 4! Michael and Aaron are doing their best Santa impersonation this week and are breaking out their lists of who’s been naughty, and who’s...
12.06.2021
#103: Reviewing The State of UX in 2022
UX Collective recently published their report looking ahead to The State of UX in 2022. We’ve pulled up their notes and go over their predictions and observations, tossing in some of our own to sweeten...
11.22.2021
#102: What is GraphQL All About? w/ special guest Justin Bahl
APIs can be confusing. Conventions like RESTful services have been a staple of the industry, but they suffer from a lack of tools that can better solve modern development challenges. Jason Bahl joins us this...
11.08.2021
#101: Design Advice for Developers
If you’re a developer that’s ever been pressed to complete a project on your own, or with a small team, you’ll know the anxiety that comes with making design decisions for a project that doesn’t...
10.25.2021
#100: Past, Present, and Future of 100 Episodes
It’s Milestone Monday! After nearly four years, we’re celebrating one hundred episodes! With that, we felt like it was time to update you on projects, and make some announcements, like our Patreon! We also look...
10.11.2021
#99: How Kind Design Will Shape the Web
The time has come for us to unleash upon the world the concept of Kind Design. Over the last four seasons, we’ve reinforced a consistent message of crafting considerate solutions for your users, solutions that...
09.27.2021
#98: How Atlas Content Modeler Carries WordPress on its Back w/ special guest Kellen Mace
Building a site using a headless WordPress approach is a strategy with growing appeal in all kinds of organizations. While we have the tools available to do it, the approach right now can feel daunting,...
09.13.2021
#97: Demystifying Web Vitals and PageSpeed w/ special guest Erik Runyon
Web Vitals are increasingly important to how your website ranks in search results, and you can learn a lot about how users perceive your site by studying them. Gone are the days where simply having...
08.30.2021
#96: Content Strategy Advice for Devs and Designers w/ special guest Sarah Maxell Crosby
It doesn’t matter if all your work takes place in code or Figma, what you produce depends on content, and content depends on you. There are lots of small ways success is influenced over time...
08.16.2021
#95: Advice for Your First WordPress Theme w/ Michelle Schulp
A lot goes into creating a robust WordPress theme. So much, that it can be daunting when you decide to tackle your theme project. But, while theme development can be an expansive topic to learn,...
08.02.2021
#94: Tech Debt, Sliders, and Funky Browser Features
Today we have fun with three bite-sized topics to get you through your day. First, we look at how we define different types of technical debt. Then we look into Michael’s second least favorite topic...
07.19.2021
#93: Accessibility Overlays and Calculating CSS Specificity
We’re tackling two topics this week to spice things up a little bit. We open by looking at the controversy that was stirred up after AccessiBe responded to comments on Twitter about the challenges their...
07.05.2021
#92: What Should We Do About Link Rot?
People are good at creating content. Like, really good. We create… a lot of it. What we’re less good at is maintaining that content over time. One symptom of that problem is the slow decay...
06.21.2021
#91: Running Tests Using Cypress.io w/ Jessica Sachs
Slow down to speed up. It’s an important mantra that, at times, might feel daunting to put into practice. But learning how to use tools to test your web development can lead to better, more...
06.07.2021
#90: What’s Behind Inclusive Design from UX@UW
Recently, Michael and Aaron were invited to speak to students taking part in the UX@UW user experience hackathon. The presentation, on how usability and accessibility create the foundation for inclusive design, was recorded and is...
05.24.2021
#89: Building Static Sites Using Eleventy w/ Stephanie Eckles
Looking for an easy entry point to create your first static site? Eleventy might be the right tool for that project. With a low barrier to entry and a lot of support out of the...
05.10.2021
#88: Understanding the Value of UX Research w/ Varun Murugesan
Do you make data driven decisions? Most web developers build websites with a combination of instinct, and relying on conventions established by other researchers. But truly proprietary, 1st party research on your sites and tools...
04.26.2021
#87: Musings on CMS Diversity, Intrinsic Typography, and CSS Accessibility
We made the questionable move to give Michael the reigns solo this week, but luckily, he came up with a selection of topics to go over that’ll ensure a little something for everyone. He dives...
04.12.2021
#86: We’re Stuck On Sticky Headers
Most UI choices you can make have differing amounts of good and bad considerations to weigh. Does the advantage tradeoff outweigh the disadvantages? The technique of sticking header navigation to the top of the browser...
03.29.2021
#85: Better Development Through Effective Code Reviews
This week we’re chatting about the importance of a far too often overlooked step in the development process: code review. It’s easy to write off the review process, especially if you don’t work in a...
03.15.2021
#84: Answering WebDev Questions from Reddit
It’s Q&A Day in the Drunken UX studio, and this week we’re taking a trip over to r/WebDev to see what people are needing help with. We picked a few of our favorite questions to...
03.01.2021
#83: Get Your JavaScript Ready for ES2021
We’re just about four months away from the release of ES2021, the latest annual update to the ECMAScript standard, and it will bring with it quite a few quality of life improvements for JavaScript. This...
02.15.2021
#82: Strategies for Avoiding and Coping with Burnout
Even the best of us find moments where our work no longer brings us joy or excites us. It’s when that work starts to feel like an anchor around our neck that we need to...
02.01.2021
#81: Getting Your <head> On Straight
If there’s one part of a website that suffers from the consequences of cargo cult coding more than others, it may well be the of a site template. Over time, we simply get used...
01.18.2021
#80: Reviewing Results of the 2020 Design Tools Survey
With so many tools vying for your attention and money, it can be tough to know what the best options are when you’re prototyping a new UI or collecting test data from users. Taylor Palmer...
01.04.2021
#79: Why Babel Belongs In Your Build /w Kurtis Rainbolt-Greene
Let’s start out 2021 with a bang, and dive into how Babel fits into your build process and tool chain. To help us out in the discussion, we’re joined by software engineer Kurtis Rainbolt-Greene to...
12.21.2020
#78: Season 3 Finale
Season 3 is ready to be in our rearview mirror, and with it, a pretty weird 2020. To play out the season 3 finale, we take some time to reflect on remote working, successes we’ve...
12.07.2020
#77: Accessibility Among Us, CSS Math, and prefers-reduced-data
Stocking stuffer topics are the order of the week as we approach Christmas! We’ve got three different subjects to dive into ahead of the season finale as we look at issues of color accessibility in...
11.23.2020
#76: UX F**k, Marry, Kill w/ special guest Tim Broadwater
Author Tim Broadwater stops in this week to go over his book, UX: FMK, with us. In it, Tim share helpful anecdotes on issues related to the user experience field to help new UXers in...
11.09.2020
#75: Back to Basics and Flaws in Fundamentals
When learning web development, it’s easy to fall into habits that “work,” but aren’t optimal. We frequently learn by example, but the context those examples come in can impact if the nuance of the solutions...
10.26.2020
#74: Roundtable Review of Web Work in 2020
This week we’re joined by HighEdWeb veterans Paul Gilzow, Nikki Massaro Kauffman, and Matt Ryan to take a look back at 2020. In this special roundtable episode, we see where they found success, what challenges...

What's The Drunken UX Podcast about?

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The Drunken UX Podcast episodes:

#121: Accommodating Neurodivergent Hires in Tech

#120: Getting Started with Google Tag Manager

#119: Tips For Effective Footer UX

#118: Skills For Your First Front End Job

#117: R.I.P. IE, WordPress 6 Features, and CSS Tips

#116: Coding Pop Quiz Part 3 (Back to JS)

#115: Coding Pop Quiz Part 2 (Ruby)

#114: Coding Pop Quiz Part 1 (JavaScript)

Build Process #9: Ben Reynolds

#113: Using Shannon-Weaver in Web Strategy

#112: Web Locks, “Programming” in HTML, and Wes Bos’s JavaScript Reference

#111: What Did the DOJ Just Say About Accessibility

#110: Raising the Curtain on JavaScript Performance

Build Process #8: Lydia Winters

#109: Get Accessibility Moving with prefers-reduced-motion

#108: Using DevTools Like a Boss

#107: Building Michael’s First Ruby Application

#106: Understanding Everything About the Box Model

#105: The Beginner’s Guide to CSS BEM

#104: Season 4 Naughty or Nice List Finale

#103: Reviewing The State of UX in 2022

#102: What is GraphQL All About? w/ special guest Justin Bahl

#101: Design Advice for Developers

#100: Past, Present, and Future of 100 Episodes

#99: How Kind Design Will Shape the Web

#98: How Atlas Content Modeler Carries WordPress on its Back w/ special guest Kellen Mace

#97: Demystifying Web Vitals and PageSpeed w/ special guest Erik Runyon

#96: Content Strategy Advice for Devs and Designers w/ special guest Sarah Maxell Crosby

#95: Advice for Your First WordPress Theme w/ Michelle Schulp

#94: Tech Debt, Sliders, and Funky Browser Features

#93: Accessibility Overlays and Calculating CSS Specificity

#92: What Should We Do About Link Rot?

#91: Running Tests Using Cypress.io w/ Jessica Sachs

#90: What’s Behind Inclusive Design from UX@UW

#89: Building Static Sites Using Eleventy w/ Stephanie Eckles

#88: Understanding the Value of UX Research w/ Varun Murugesan

#87: Musings on CMS Diversity, Intrinsic Typography, and CSS Accessibility

#86: We’re Stuck On Sticky Headers

#85: Better Development Through Effective Code Reviews

#84: Answering WebDev Questions from Reddit

#83: Get Your JavaScript Ready for ES2021

#82: Strategies for Avoiding and Coping with Burnout

#81: Getting Your <head> On Straight

#80: Reviewing Results of the 2020 Design Tools Survey

#79: Why Babel Belongs In Your Build /w Kurtis Rainbolt-Greene

#78: Season 3 Finale

#77: Accessibility Among Us, CSS Math, and prefers-reduced-data

#76: UX F**k, Marry, Kill w/ special guest Tim Broadwater

#75: Back to Basics and Flaws in Fundamentals

#74: Roundtable Review of Web Work in 2020