Web pages are visually and technically a pile of boxes. By default, all those boxes are rectangles and squares. But they don't have to be any longer. With CSS we can now transform those rectangles into parallelograms, rhombuses, skewed boxes, c

116: Preserving the Architecture of the Web with Stefan Tilkov

May 30th, 2016 1h 44m

There’s a lot of pressure these days to use a JavaScript framework to create every website. “Which one is best?” people ask, “Which one should I use?” Stefan Tilkov joins Jen Simmons to talk about the architectural style of the web, and how to

115: Predicting the future with Rachel Andrew, Eric Meyer, and Jeffrey Zeldman

Apr 30th, 2016 1h 21m

The landscape of what's possible in web page layout is changing. Jen has a theory that this change will be a big one — perhaps the biggest change to graphic design on the web in over 15 years. Rachel, Jeffrey, and Eric join her to debate if tha

114: Laying Out the Future with Rachel Andrew

Apr 4th, 2016 1h 47m

Everything about web page layout is changing. New CSS specifications will make it possible to do designs we've never seen before. Rachel Andrew joins Jen Simmons to talk about what's happening.

113: Standing on Turtles with Husani Oakley

Feb 22nd, 2016 1h 23m

Our technology has gotten really complicated. Sometimes we get so deep into our work, we lose sight of what matters. We have hundreds of choices to make — “Which tool should we use?”; “Should we change what we are doing, or stick with what we’v

112: Imagining the Web of Things with Stephanie Rieger and Jonas Sicking

Feb 11th, 2016 1h 45m

Talking about the Internet of Things is all the rage these days. What is it about, and why is there so much hype? Will an ecosystem of internet-connected “devices” take over our lives? What role does the web play in all this? Stephanie Rieger j

111: Going Responsive with Karen McGrane

Dec 17th, 2015 1h 4m

It’s clear. Responsive is the way to go. One website for all screen sizes, for all devices. But what does it take for a company with an pre-existing site or pre-existing way of working together to make the needed changes to go responsive? It's

110: Understanding the Web with Jeremy Keith

Nov 17th, 2015 1h 12m

The web is being compared to "native" a lot these days, with some even declaring the web dead. But what are the strengths web? What does it do that native can't touch? What is it we are making when we are creating something of the web? Jeremy K

109: Designing Products with Dustin Senos

Nov 3rd, 2015 1h 8m

Designing a successful product takes more than attention to the look & feel, or the interface architecture. Great product design happens earlier in the process, when the product itself is defined and understood. With his experience as the lead

108: Improving Humanity with Pamela Pavliscak

Oct 27th, 2015 1h 24m

We often focus on improving user experience — making it easier for people to use the sites and products we create. But when do we get to focus on a bigger picture? Are we making true improvements to people's lives? Are they happier because they

107: Being Tracked with Brett Gaylor

Oct 19th, 2015 1h 27m

We've all known for many years that the websites we use keep track of who we are and what we are doing. Lately though, it seems like things have gotten out of control. Surveillance has gotten quite sophisticated and intrusive, and we've become

106: Focusing on Customer Top Tasks with Gerry McGovern

Sep 17th, 2015 1h 21m

As soon as you have many people chiming in on the direction of a website, you get disagreements, conflicting idea, and turf wars. What about what customers want? Gerry McGovern has developed a specific step-by-step methodology for identifying w

105: Progressive Enhancement with Aaron Gustafson

Aug 29th, 2015 1h 21m

Progressive Enhancement is a core principle of the web. But these days it seems a lot of folks don't quite understand what it's about. Aaron Gustafson joins Jen Simmons to break it down, and explain why and how your website should be built usin

104: Remembering the Everyday Developer with Rachel Andrew

Aug 13th, 2015 1h 46m

An inordinate amount of attention is being paid these days to complex tools chains, JavaScript frameworks, and the assumption that the web is an application platform. Has the web actually been taken over by this one flavor of site? Aren't we ge

103: Animating the Web with Rachel Nabors

Jul 8th, 2015 1h 30m

How can we use animation on the web to provide information and improve the user experience? What uses should we avoid? How should we go about thinking of animation, including built-in animation experiences that are so common we don't see them a

102: Understanding Apple Watch with Josh Clark

Apr 22nd, 2015 1h 26m

Apple's Watch is almost here. What does it mean to design for this space? Josh Clark joins Jen Simmons to dig in.

101: Structuring Content with Eileen Webb

Apr 7th, 2015 1h 22m

For years, we've put content on websites by dumping text, images and video onto a page like it's one big blob. In the age of mobile, it's become painfully clear that really doesn't work anymore. Planning a content system of types and fields yie

100: Designing the Web with Jeffrey Zeldman

Mar 18th, 2015 1h 27m

For episode 100 of The Web Ahead, we have Jeffrey Zeldman, the Godfather of Web Standards (or Web Design, depending on who you ask), to talk about the past, present and future of making things for the web. We debate the pros and cons of everyth

99: Implementing Responsive Images with Jason Grigsby

Mar 10th, 2015 1h 34m

It's time to start using responsive images on our websites. You specify multiple files in your image HTML. Browsers download the best one for a user's screen size or context. Improve image quality. Save bandwidth. Make sites load faster. Jason

98: Handling Advertising with Mark Boulton

Mar 5th, 2015 1h 9m

Advertising is a major business model for the web. Yet most ads arrive from a parallel universe, an industry of CPMs, ad units, and inflexible demands. As designers and developers, how can we best work with ads on the web? Mark Boulton joins Je

97: Archiving The Internet with Jason Scott

Feb 27th, 2015 1h 40m

The Internet Archive is a treasure trove of digitized culture — films, software, audio, websites and more. How it it being collected, and how might the Internet Archive be our best hope for preserving the history of this era, as we invent the w

96: Reinventing the Web in Virtual Reality with Josh Carpenter and Vladimir Vukicevic

Feb 18th, 2015 1h 6m

Virtual reality technology is starting to take off. VR hardware has been steadily improving. VR films are getting a lot of attention. VR games are leveling up. But so far, virtual reality systems are closed platforms, each working with the equi

95: The New Web Ahead Website with Jen Simmons

Feb 11th, 2015 1h 9m

After months of work, I've launched a new website for The Web Ahead, at thewebahead.net. Hear a saga of the agony, the ecstasy, the design and the build. How? Why? On what? A lot of geeking out about tech and design and some talk about future p

94: Rethinking Microsoft's Browser with Rey Bango

Jan 30th, 2015 1h 23m

Microsoft announced that they will be introducing a new browser, codenamed Project Spartan. Windows 10 will ship with both IE and Project Spartan, but Spartan is the future. What is happening? How is it that the oldest popular browser is going

93: Parsing Design with Andy Budd

Jan 23rd, 2015 1h 8m

The practice of web design has evolved tremendously over the last two decades — so much so it's almost hard to understand where we are at. User experience design, user interface design… so many complex pieces working together. Andy Budd joins J