Year round learning for product, design and engineering professionals

Of the Berlin Wall and the Web

This week in my ongoing years of transformation series, I looked at the start of the Web–whether you want to call that 1989, 1990 or early 1991 (all have a claim to make as I discussed). But 1989 was among the more momentous years in the 20th century due to an event which was far […]

Years of transformation: 1989? 1990? 1991? and the birth of the Web

Can you remember a milestone year, or moment. In your career? Or in the broader landscape of technology? I’ve lived through a few, and perhaps we are living though such a moment now. And that’s prompted me to look back on milestone years on the path to today’s computing. Just exactly when do we choose […]

Code Leaders returns, Sydney, October 25th

đź—˝ What are the must-have skills of a great engineering leader?🏆 How do you build a world class culture amongst engineers building digital products? That’s what Code Leaders is all about! Leading a team of engineers and product people can be daunting when it’s first thrust upon you. It’s not an easy thing to get […]

Vale Molly Holzschlag

In recent weeks I’ve been posting on landmark years in the history of personal computing–today it’s, sadly, a landmark person. Sadly, because Molly Holzschlag passed away this week. People of a certain generation associated with the Web will have vivid memories of Molly, whether from her writing, speaking, or if really privileged, knowing her in […]

Years of transformation: 1985, Desktop Publishing

Can you remember a milestone year, or moment. In your career? Or in the broader landscape of technology? I’ve lived through a few, and perhaps we are living though such a moment now. And that’s prompted me to look back on milestone years on the path to today’s computing. Typesetting and page layout had long […]

Product Design at Web Directions Summit

Design has always been a core focus at Web Directions–and 2023 is no exception. Here’s what we’ve got lined up in the Product Design track of Web Directions Summit 2023! ✏️ Microaggressions and Microaffirmations in Product Design – Laura Kerrison🔍 Dear Designer… Sincerely, the Development Team – Jo Minney🛠️ Annotating Designs for Accessibility – Sam Hobson and Claire Webber✏️ Conversational […]

Years of transformation: 1984 and the Mac

Can you remember a milestone year, or moment–in your career? Or in the broader landscape of technology? I’ve lived through a few, and perhaps we are living though such a moment now. And that’s prompted me to look back on milestone years on the path to today’s computing. Last time it was 1981, and the […]

product and growth marketing at Web Directions Summit

It might seem a little outside our usual area of focus, but let’s see how our brand new product and growth marketing track fits into the big picture of Web Directions Summit. When we started nearly 20 years ago, if you worked on the Web, you probably did just about everything yourself. From the code […]

Years of transformation: 1981, The IBM PC

Can you remember a milestone year, or moment in your career? Or in the broader landscape of technology? I’ve lived through a few, and perhaps we are living through such a moment right now (I believe so). And that’s prompted me to look back on milestone years on the path to today’s computing. I didn’t […]

Showing our design systems friends some love

In keeping with our goal of creating the most comprehensive, in-depth conference for product professionals in the world, there’s a brand new track at Web Directions Summit this year! Your own design system track Design Systems: 2 days of all things design systems, designops and design engineering, covering everything you need to build a the […]

The impact of Generative AI at Web Directions Summit

Generative AI: we believe no-one on the product team can ignore this right now–Devs, content people, product managers, UX designers, growth team. So here’s how we’ll help you get up to speed, cut through the crap, and sort out what you need to do next. These 10 Web Directions Summit sessions (amongst dozens of other […]

Upping your content game at Web Directions Summit

Content is the heart of pretty much every user experience, every app or site. So last year we started a brand new content strategy and design focussed track at Web Directions Summit, and this year we’re taking it up a notch, with these incredible sessions. đź’ˇBest Practice AI Explainability for Content Strategists | Emily Meller & Aden Rolfeđź’ˇContent […]

How and why we rebooted Web Directions Summit

Before we start, this post was prompted by the design reboot we’ve just done of the site for our upcoming Web Directions Summit–and the launch of the full, and frankly amazing, 7 track conference program, with brand new track covering product and growth marketing and design systems, alongside product design, front end engineering (two tracks […]

the UX of AI–the future isn’t going to send you an invite. It’ll crash your party

Famed science fiction writer (and straight up visionary) Arthur C Clarke (author of 2001 a Space Odyssey among many many novels and short stories, as well the originator of the idea of geo stationary communications satellites and the lunar lander) postulated three ‘laws’ (or better put ‘adages’). The third you have almost certainly heard–’Any sufficiently […]

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this was a masterfully curated event … a brilliant day that educated, entertained, and rekindled some old connections

Ash Donaldson Service & Behaviour Design Director, Tobias
Portrait of Ash Donaldson