Ooochie: A Ruby Developer’s Journal

So Day 2 at Webstock was just as fab as Day 1. As promised, I put together a few of my favorites from Day 2.

Derek Featherstone - Madame Butterfly

Derek's talk was about accessibility. It was a great session, and it made me realize that accessibility is not something I really think about, but it definitely should be. One thing he said that I really liked was this: "Just because something is compliant doesn't mean it's easy to use." I think this statement applies to so much more than accessibility. We need to focus on user experience as well as standards compliance. In addition to that, Derek totally wowed me with some of the things he's working on using Ubiquity to improve accessibility.

Joshua Porter - Designing Sign Up Screens & Flows

After hearing this talk, Joshua Porter's book, Designing for the Social Web, went directly onto my wish list. He had so many valuable tips about signup processes, most notably the fact that the form is not the problem with signup - the problem is changing peoples minds about your software. While the form can certainly be an obstacle, the process is much more important. Specifically, I liked the way Josh described the three types of people you should design for: the people who already know they want to sign up, the people who want more information to make sure your product is for them, and the skeptics. It was quite interesting to think about a signup process in this 3-tiered manner.

Bruce Sterling - The Short but Glorious Life of Web 2.0, And What Comes Afterward

I'll let you read the transcript and draw your own conclusions about this one. :)

Damian Conway - Web 2.0.1.

I thought this was a great way to end Webstock. Damian Conway sent us forth with a mission to implement the "Theory of Hippocratic Web Design". He said that we can collectively change our ideals and become people who really care about those we serve. The practices for Damian's theory seem so simple, but often they get overlooked. These things should be part of how we work everyday.

• Learn and share good practices
• Do your best work
• Know your own limitations - don't pretend you're an expert in technologies that you're not.
• Work in your client's best interest - don't screw them over!
• Be professional

So by now I think I have sufficiently convinced you that Webstock contained heaps (as the kiwis say) of awesomeness. I'm so glad I went and I hope to get the chance to attend future Webstocks. Thanks to all the speakers and all the fun people that took the time to chat with me!