I Can See The Future!

Okay, I can’t actually see the future, but I like to talk about it. This month, I'll be speaking at a couple of events about how the web industry is changing. My topic of choice is mobile UX, specifically responsive web design. It has been on my mind ever since I spoke with Ethan Marcotte at the Future of Web Design in London earlier this year.

First I’ll be in San Francisco from November 2–4th to speak at the sold-out HOW Interactive Conference. HOW has been the go-to resource for graphic designers for the last 21 years. I can still remember how inspired I was by my first issue of HOW Magazine, and I've loved every issue since. It is exciting to be one of the first to speak at their inaugural Interactive conference. I’ll be focusing on the design process, and how responsive web design is changing how we think about interactive web projects. I’ve been tackling many mobile and responsive web projects over the last while so it is wonderful to be able to share some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

The second conference I’ve been invited to speak at is The Future of Web Design in New York City from November 7–9. This is really one of the premier web conferences – one of those where you walk away feeling like you’ve been connected to the pulse of what's coming next. My topic is “The Future of Mobile UX,” which will focus on the responsive web design process again (starting to see a pattern?). Sure, there is definitely more to mobile than the responsive web approach, but I see much of the future of the web in this concept.

So why am I so excited about talking about the future of our industry, and responsive web design in particular? Think of it this way: how awesome would it be if you had one completely abstracted database of well structured content that you could push out to various user interactions (small screen, tablet, desktop, large screen, etc.)?

Ummm... totally awesome! Create once, publish everywhere!

Unfortunately, we often approach it in a backwards fashion, where we design something for one context, try to shove the content into that container (ahem... desktop), and then think about every other use case (the rest of the world!). One approach is the stuff dreams are made of, and the other is where nightmares live.

I don’t like nightmares. I’m betting you don't either.

It is an honour to be included in the line-up of speakers at both of these conferences. I’m as excited about what I’ll learn as what I’ll be able to share. If you happen to be in San Francisco or New York City while I’m there, send me a message via Twitter. I’d love to connect and talk about the future!