I had the great pleasure of delivering the closing keynote for the first EnhanceConf. I wanted to talk about voice and the future of “headless” user interfaces. Here’s what I had to say.

For the last few years I’ve been running a workshop alternately titled “Planning Adaptive Interfaces” or “Beyond Responsive”, depending on the conference. It’s been one of my favorite workshops to run for a number of reasons, but before I get into that, let me explain what it is and how it works.

On March 4th, I’ll be in London to give the closing talk at EnhanceConf, the first conference dedicated progressive enhancement. Over the last few months, I’ve been talking to the conference’s organizer, Simon McManus, quite a lot. He’s put a lot of thought into the conference and I thought it might be interesting to interview him so he could share his motivations and hopes for the event.

My iPhone fell clumsily out of my pocket when I was sitting down in the kitchen the other day. Thwack! It fell face-first onto the tile from my seated position a mere 18 inches up. Of course the screen cracked. Protective case be damned, the cracks spread across the screen like a spider web cast from razor blades.

I was crestfallen.

“Checkbox” form controls have long been a part of software. They enable users to provide a simple binary response—yes or no. On the Web, we often see them in two scenarios: confirmations and multiple choice.

I think we can all agree, link rot is a problem. A 2014 study by Harvard Law School determined that roughly 50% of the URLs referenced in U.S. Supreme Court opinions no longer work. That’s terrifying.

User experience encompasses more than just the interface. Download speed, render performance, and the cost of accessing a site are often overlooked areas when it comes to the practice of UX, but they all affect how users experience what we build on the Web.

I just got this photo from Tracey Croom, my production editor on the Second Edition of Adaptive Web Design and I wanted to share it with you. Production is almost done and I should be getting my bound copies soon. I’m so excited!

Forms exist on pretty much every site on the web in one form or another. They are the primary mechanism by which we gather information from our users.¹ Of course, before anyone can fill out a form, they need to know what it’s asking for. Labeling is key.

Between Future of Web Design in New York City and Øredev in Malmö, Sweden, I was a busy boy last week. I delivered three talks and a workshop in total and am a bit exhausted.