Technology

Article — 12 April 2016 — 1,173 words

Why your emojis are getting lost in translation and what you can do about it

Design — Digital

You’ve probably been using some emojis wrongly without realising it.

Article — 7 March 2016 — 1,467 words

Web developers need to shape up and declare war on webpage obesity

Digital — Web

As an industry, web professionals have failed their users. It’s time to stop building bloated and inaccessible pages.

Article — 4 March 2016 — 1,013 words

Implementing Accelerated Mobile Pages for WordPress

Digital — Web

I was bracing myself for a difficult experience. Instead, I found myself amazed at how easy it is to make your WordPress site compatible with AMP.

Article — 3 March 2016 — 1,051 words

What the Accelerated Mobile Pages project tells us about the sorry state of web publishing

Digital — Web

The web is in a bad state of health right now. Web publishers and developers can blame themselves.

Article — 27 February 2016 — 1,217 words

6 lessons I learned while moving to WordPress multisite

Web

I didn’t think moving to WordPress multisite was going to be easy, and sure enough I hit some bumps along the way. Here are six big lessons I learned.

Article — 27 January 2016 — 179 words

Why it is always worth considering the simplest solution — even if you are Google

Digital — Technology

A couple of separate stories about Google today remind us that simpler is often better.

Article — 20 January 2016 — 1,074 words

Why hamburger menus can be good for you as part of a healthy balanced diet

Design — Digital — User experience — Web

There is an interesting debate in the design community right now about the hamburger menu. Given two extremes of opinion, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Article — 8 October 2015 — 666 words

Waterstones’ decision to stop selling the Kindle says more about shops than e-readers

Digital — Technology

Waterstones say their sales of Kindles are pitiful. But why did they ever expect to sell lots of them in the first place?

Article — 24 September 2015 — 910 words

Web design should be boring

Design — Digital — User experience — Web

The web is a less creative place than it was 20 years ago. Good.

Article — 1 June 2015 — 561 words

Moving on

Web — Work

Today I have started a new job. After over five years, I have left the University of St Andrews. I am now the web manager at SRUC in Edinburgh.

Article — 14 March 2015 — 762 words

Improve the user experience of Formula 1 live timing with this one small tweak

Design — Digital — Formula 1 — User experience — Web

The new Formula1.com has brought great new live timing functionality. But the user experience could be improved. Find out how you can improve it yourself in time for the Australian Grand Prix.

Article — 10 March 2015 — 1,935 words

Hands on with the Moto 360 Android smartwatch

Technology

I was surprised by the ways the Moto 360 disappointed me. But I am still glad I bought this smartwatch. Will others be so forgiving?