READING TIME: APPROX. 2 MINUTES
Beyond Tellerrand is a two-day event focused on design, UX, and front-end development—or, more broadly, inspiration, creativity, and innovation. Developers and designers from all over the world gathered in Berlin in early November to learn from young rebels and web veterans alike and to broaden their horizons through interactions with people who have nothing to do with the internet.
Unlike many other conferences, this one has only one track, which saves attendees from having to make a choice. The individual speakers were carefully selected and all offered a high level of both information and entertainment. Of the thirteen talks in total, five in particular stuck with me. Jake Archibald, who works as a Developer Advocate for Google Chrome, discussed numerous simple ways to optimize load times in his talk titled “Modern Progressive Enhancement.” Among other things, he recommended asynchronously loading scripts, using the Service Worker script, and avoiding web fonts as a requirement for initial rendering. Brad Frost discussed how style guide best practices aren’t limited to design alone, but can—and should—also encompass the website’s language and coding style. He also recommended breaking down the design into the smallest possible building blocks that can be assembled into larger compositions. This makes it easy to avoid design faux pas such as inconsistent button designs.
Two talks focused on the Physical Web and its impact on future human-Internet interaction. In “Building the Physical Web Together,” Scott Jenson described the various potential applications of beacons—ranging from beverage vending machines and parking meters to dog collars—and clearly distinguished the Physical Web from QR codes and the Internet of Things. In her talk“How to Win at Mobile Accessibility,” Marcy Sutton explained the requirements that accessibility places on the mobile internet. From supporting screen readers to the proper use of HTML semantics to the appropriate size of buttons (“Optimize for fat fingers!”), Sutton presented a series of hurdles that illustrate that accessibility still has a long way to go. A true highlight—and one completely unrelated to the topic of the web—was Chip Kidd’s talk. Under the title “! or ?” (meaning “Clarity or Mystery”), he explored how much mystery design can tolerate without becoming unclear, and how excessive clarity can actually harm design. He also vividly demonstrated that you come closest to solving a problem once you have fully understood it.
But it wasn’t just the talks that were highlights. The venue at the Admiralspalast, with its elaborate lighting design, underscored the pleasant atmosphere. The warm-up event at Microsoft’s Digital Eatery, the numerous breaks, and the social event provided a great setting for exciting conversations and new connections. However, the conference’s most talked-about feature was likely the “sketchnotes in music” byDJ Tobi Lessnow, who transformed recordings of the individual speakers into music during the breaks between talks.
All in all, I thought the conference was a success, and I’d be thrilled to have the chance to explore what lies beyond the horizon once again.
