The Web Ahead

The Web Ahead episodes:

• 06.30.2016

  117: Transforming the Shapes with Eva Ferreira

  Web pages are visually and technically a pile of boxes. By default, all those boxes are rectangles and squares. But they don't have to be any longer. With CSS we can now transform those rectangles into parallelograms, rhombuses, skewed boxes,...

  
• 05.30.2016

  116: Preserving the Architecture of the Web with Stefan Tilkov

  There’s a lot of pressure these days to use a JavaScript framework to create every website. “Which one is best?” people ask, “Which one should I use?” Stefan Tilkov joins Jen Simmons to talk about the architectural style of the...

  
• 04.30.2016

  115: Predicting the future with Rachel Andrew, Eric Meyer, and Jeffrey Zeldman

  The landscape of what's possible in web page layout is changing. Jen has a theory that this change will be a big one — perhaps the biggest change to graphic design on the web in over 15 years. Rachel, Jeffrey, and...

  
• 04.04.2016

  114: Laying Out the Future with Rachel Andrew

  Everything about web page layout is changing. New CSS specifications will make it possible to do designs we've never seen before. Rachel Andrew joins Jen Simmons to talk about what's happening.

  
• 02.22.2016

  113: Standing on Turtles with Husani Oakley

  Our technology has gotten really complicated. Sometimes we get so deep into our work, we lose sight of what matters. We have hundreds of choices to make — “Which tool should we use?”; “Should we change what we are doing,...

  
• 02.11.2016

  112: Imagining the Web of Things with Stephanie Rieger and Jonas Sicking

  Talking about the Internet of Things is all the rage these days. What is it about, and why is there so much hype? Will an ecosystem of internet-connected “devices” take over our lives? What role does the web play in...

  
• 12.17.2015

  111: Going Responsive with Karen McGrane

  It’s clear. Responsive is the way to go. One website for all screen sizes, for all devices. But what does it take for a company with an pre-existing site or pre-existing way of working together to make the needed changes...

  
• 11.17.2015

  110: Understanding the Web with Jeremy Keith

  The web is being compared to "native" a lot these days, with some even declaring the web dead. But what are the strengths web? What does it do that native can't touch? What is it we are making when we...

  
• 11.03.2015

  109: Designing Products with Dustin Senos

  Designing a successful product takes more than attention to the look & feel, or the interface architecture. Great product design happens earlier in the process, when the product itself is defined and understood. With his experience as the lead designer...

  
• 10.27.2015

  108: Improving Humanity with Pamela Pavliscak

  We often focus on improving user experience — making it easier for people to use the sites and products we create. But when do we get to focus on a bigger picture? Are we making true improvements to people's lives?...

  
• 10.19.2015

  107: Being Tracked with Brett Gaylor

  We've all known for many years that the websites we use keep track of who we are and what we are doing. Lately though, it seems like things have gotten out of control. Surveillance has gotten quite sophisticated and intrusive,...

  
• 09.17.2015

  106: Focusing on Customer Top Tasks with Gerry McGovern

  As soon as you have many people chiming in on the direction of a website, you get disagreements, conflicting idea, and turf wars. What about what customers want? Gerry McGovern has developed a specific step-by-step methodology for identifying what matters...

  
• 08.29.2015

  105: Progressive Enhancement with Aaron Gustafson

  Progressive Enhancement is a core principle of the web. But these days it seems a lot of folks don't quite understand what it's about. Aaron Gustafson joins Jen Simmons to break it down, and explain why and how your website...

  
• 08.13.2015

  104: Remembering the Everyday Developer with Rachel Andrew

  An inordinate amount of attention is being paid these days to complex tools chains, JavaScript frameworks, and the assumption that the web is an application platform. Has the web actually been taken over by this one flavor of site? Aren't...

  
• 07.08.2015

  103: Animating the Web with Rachel Nabors

  How can we use animation on the web to provide information and improve the user experience? What uses should we avoid? How should we go about thinking of animation, including built-in animation experiences that are so common we don't see...

  
• 04.22.2015

  102: Understanding Apple Watch with Josh Clark

  Apple's Watch is almost here. What does it mean to design for this space? Josh Clark joins Jen Simmons to dig in.

  
• 04.07.2015

  101: Structuring Content with Eileen Webb

  For years, we've put content on websites by dumping text, images and video onto a page like it's one big blob. In the age of mobile, it's become painfully clear that really doesn't work anymore. Planning a content system of...

  
• 03.18.2015

  100: Designing the Web with Jeffrey Zeldman

  For episode 100 of The Web Ahead, we have Jeffrey Zeldman, the Godfather of Web Standards (or Web Design, depending on who you ask), to talk about the past, present and future of making things for the web. We debate...

  
• 03.10.2015

  99: Implementing Responsive Images with Jason Grigsby

  It's time to start using responsive images on our websites. You specify multiple files in your image HTML. Browsers download the best one for a user's screen size or context. Improve image quality. Save bandwidth. Make sites load faster. Jason...

  
• 03.05.2015

  98: Handling Advertising with Mark Boulton

  Advertising is a major business model for the web. Yet most ads arrive from a parallel universe, an industry of CPMs, ad units, and inflexible demands. As designers and developers, how can we best work with ads on the web?...

  
• 02.27.2015

  97: Archiving The Internet with Jason Scott

  The Internet Archive is a treasure trove of digitized culture — films, software, audio, websites and more. How it it being collected, and how might the Internet Archive be our best hope for preserving the history of this era, as...

  
• 02.18.2015

  96: Reinventing the Web in Virtual Reality with Josh Carpenter and Vladimir Vukicevic

  Virtual reality technology is starting to take off. VR hardware has been steadily improving. VR films are getting a lot of attention. VR games are leveling up. But so far, virtual reality systems are closed platforms, each working with the...

  
• 02.11.2015

  95: The New Web Ahead Website with Jen Simmons

  After months of work, I've launched a new website for The Web Ahead, at thewebahead.net. Hear a saga of the agony, the ecstasy, the design and the build. How? Why? On what? A lot of geeking out about tech and...

  
• 01.30.2015

  94: Rethinking Microsoft's Browser with Rey Bango

  Microsoft announced that they will be introducing a new browser, codenamed Project Spartan. Windows 10 will ship with both IE and Project Spartan, but Spartan is the future. What is happening? How is it that the oldest popular browser is...

  
• 01.23.2015

  93: Parsing Design with Andy Budd

  The practice of web design has evolved tremendously over the last two decades — so much so it's almost hard to understand where we are at. User experience design, user interface design… so many complex pieces working together. Andy Budd...

  
• 01.15.2015

  92: Making Sense of A Mess with Abby Covert

  Sadly, a lot of websites are a mess. They're rife with inconsistencies, broken links, mangled meaning, confusion and frustration. How does this happen? How do we get out of these messes? Information architecture can help. Abby Covert joins Jen Simmons...

  
• 01.09.2015

  91: Designing for Crisis with Eric Meyer

  Too often, websites are designed with only the ideal user in mind — a typical person, in great health and sound mind, happy to be on your website doing a thing. In reality we humans exist in a variety of...

  
• 12.17.2014

  90: Engineering the Front with Claudina Sarahe

  Front-end development has changed a lot. What used to be simple text in files is now a deep stack of robust engineering tools. Is this a good change? What advantages do the power tools provide, and what might we be...

  
• 12.02.2014

  89: Responding Responsibly with Scott Jehl

  It's clear that responsive web design is the way to build a website in today's crazy world of mobile devices, but what's the best way to do so? How can you create a responsive site that's fast and snappy? Scott...

  
• 10.29.2014

  88: Staying Sane with Peter Ferko

  This week has been declared "Geek Mental Health Week" by Andy Clark. He asked us at The Web Ahead to participate, so I invited yogi Peter Ferko to talk about ways to find contentment, balance, and sanity in a world...

  
• 10.17.2014

  87: Delivering Typography with Jason Pamental

  Using real typefaces on the web creates amazing design opportunities. But how do you deliver web fonts while not messing up the rest of the experience? Jason Pamental joins Jen Simmons to talk about tips and tricks for optimizing web...

  
• 10.08.2014

  86: Componentizing the Web with Rob Dodson

  Web Components are all the rage these days — a way to create the web using chunks of code that are reusable across projects. Polymer is a polyfill for using Web Components today. Rob Dodson joins Jen Simmons to explain...

  
• 10.01.2014

  85: Relaunching The Early Web with Dan Noyes

  The web was invented at CERN 25 years ago. To mark the anniversary, the web team at CERN has been working on a number of projects, restoring the original website, recreating the first two browsers, and documenting the history of...

  
• 09.24.2014

  84: Transforming the People Problem with Paul Boag

  We are currently experiencing an utter revolution brought by digital technology. The change to a digital world is not just about switching tools or building a new website; these are giant shifts in how businesses operate, how companies are structured,...

  
• 09.17.2014

  83: Wrangling Typefaces with Jason Santa Maria

  Typography is a powerful way to immediately communicate the tone & voice of a site. But how exactly do you create great typography? Jason Santa Maria joins Jen Simmons to talk about his approaches to designing with type.

  
• 09.10.2014

  82: Paying on the Web with Manu Sporny

  This week, Apple announced Apple Pay — a new system for making payments using iOS devices. What about the web? What work is being done to make sending payments across the web much easier? Manu Sporny joins Jen Simmons to...

  
• 09.02.2014

  81: Changing the Shapes with Sara Soueidan

  So far, page layout on the web has consisted of a lot of boxes stacked on top of boxes — rectangular columns everywhere. That's about to change. New specifications, including CSS Shapes and CSS Exclusions, are about to the change...

  
• 08.26.2014

  80: The Complexity and the Humanity with Trent Walton

  Web projects have gotten very complex in the last few years, but the hardest part isn't the technology — it's the humanity. The success or failure of big projects is contingent on leadership, vision and planning. Trent Walton joins Jen...

  
• 08.18.2014

  79: Advanced Git with Tobias Günther

  Git is a powerful tool for helping developers collaborate, organize, and code at their best. But like anything powerful, Git can be confusing and overwhelming. Tobias Günther joins Jen Simmons to explain how to get through the pain points. They...

  
• 07.30.2014

  78: Offline with John Allsopp

  App cache, web storage, Index db, and others are powerful new technologies that change the nature of the web. These technologies are mature and ready-to-use, but so far, we aren't seeing them be used very much. Why? What is possible?...

  
• 07.17.2014

  77: Advanced Accessibility with Derek Featherstone

  What are some of the biggest challenges when it comes to making a website fully accessible? Keyboard access and form design can make some of the biggest differences, and present some of the biggest challenges. Derek Featherstone joins Jen Simmons...

  
• 07.03.2014

  76: Videoblogging with Jay Dedman, Ryanne Hodson and Michael Verdi

  Ten years ago, a small group started an email list to figure out how to put video on the web. They ended up starting a movement, posting videos, breaking through technical barriers, and inventing a new medium. Jay Dedman, Ryanne...

  
• 06.26.2014

  75: Creative Direction with Andy Clarke

  Has how we approach web design become too formulaic and rote? Are we missing the opportunity to truly communicate a site's purpose and meaning? What about web design have we lost, or maybe haven't yet found? How can we understand...

  
• 06.18.2014

  74: HTML Semantics with Bruce Lawson

  HTML5 brought more semantic elements to HTML. How's that going? Why should developers use semantic HTML? Bruce Lawson joins Jen Simmons to discuss HTML, semantics, accessibility, ARIA roles, microformats, microdata, RDFa, web components and more.

  
• 06.13.2014

  73: DRM with Jeremy Keith and Doug Schepers

  DRM has been long touted as the solution to piracy. Recently, a few browser makers and big media companies have pushed DRM technology into the web browser — while open web advocates have fought to prevent DRM on the web....

  
• 06.05.2014

  72: Style Guides with Anna Debenham

  Style guides, once the exclusive domain of print designers, are finding their way onto the web. Built out of HTML and CSS, such style guides are handy tools for the design process, for maintaining sites over time, and for making...

  
• 05.13.2014

  71: Web Design Education with Leslie Jensen-Inman

  What is the state of formal education for web design, and what might be coming in the future? Dr. Leslie Jensen-Inman joins Jen Simmons to talk about her research, what's she's found, and the school she's starting with Jared Spool.

  
• 05.06.2014

  70: Data Visualization with Scott Murray

  We are collecting more data now than ever, and freely sharing some datasets on the open web. Web technology provides the power for us to present complex data interactively. How can you go about a data visualization project? What...

  
• 05.01.2014

  69: WCAG and Accessibility with Luke McGrath

  Walk through the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 with Luke McGrath and Jen Simmons.

  
• 04.24.2014

  68: Customer Experience with Michael Verdi

  A revamped version of Firefox is coming, with a tour of what's new. Created by Michael Verdi & team, this tour is a case study in customer experience. What is Customer Experience design and how can it help your projects?