catehstn’s avatarcatehstn’s Twitter Archive—№ 37,485

                                      1. Next up wiredferret at #leaddev talking about the 7 righteous fights - so excited!
                                    1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                      Technical writer - master at assembling technical clues into a narrative whole. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                  1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                    Persistent problems. We have things that we prefer to work on, stages of companies we prefer to work with. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                  We get stuck in ruts where we are do the same things over & over again, don't see the emergent consequences. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                              1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                If accumulating techncial debt, accumulating compound interest. If don't fix now, later more expensive. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                            1. …in reply to @catehstn
                              Removed i18n to ship. Couldn't just translate it. Took 5 days to re-hand-code the UI. +2 weeks to fix. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                          1. …in reply to @catehstn
                            "You cannot fix it later." - user has very firm ideas about where their cheese is. Will resent moving it. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                        1. …in reply to @catehstn
                          1. Localization. 2. Security. 3. Extensibility. 4. Documentation. 5. Affordance. 6. Acceptance. 7. Accessibility. wiredferret #7fights
                      1. …in reply to @catehstn
                        "Localisation is what tells your user that they belong here." wiredferret #leaddev #7fights (love this!)
                    1. …in reply to @catehstn
                      Don't hardcode UI elements. No words in logos/images. "Translators who can do graphics are super expensive." wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                  1. …in reply to @catehstn
                    Bake in extended character support. Human disrepect issue not to be able to use your own name wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                1. …in reply to @catehstn
                  "If humans are using emojis as names, support emoji." wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
              1. …in reply to @catehstn
                In the early stage, nobody cares. Later stop everything and fix it, deal with optics of getting that wrong. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
            1. …in reply to @catehstn
              Security is neither cheap nor easy, alternative is worse. Do common best practises super early on. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
          1. …in reply to @catehstn
            If a human deletes their account, don't just flip a bit and retain all their data. How does your data die? wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
        1. …in reply to @catehstn
          The more data you keep the more threat surface you have. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
      1. …in reply to @catehstn
        Don't roll your own auth. You are not going to do better, you will make a monkey jesus. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
    1. …in reply to @catehstn
      Stop using the word "secure", imagine there are a pack of rabid lawyers after you. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
  1. …in reply to @catehstn
    Extensibility: what makes you sure API is going to be internal forever? If not writing APIs, why aren't you? wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
    1. …in reply to @catehstn
      Documentation. Documentation is not state secrets. It's subtle self-promotion. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
      1. …in reply to @catehstn
        People want to see documentation before they buy, do not want to get a sales call. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
        1. …in reply to @catehstn
          "Stop hiding your documentation places where people can't get it." wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
          1. …in reply to @catehstn
            Developer onboarding. Want to onboard as fast as possible, but making your existing developers do that work. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
            1. …in reply to @catehstn
              Take the time to write down the developer onboarding documentation. You will save money. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
              1. …in reply to @catehstn
                What happens if your one build engineers wins the lottery or leaves the country? Can you cut a build? wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                1. …in reply to @catehstn
                  "Secretive build engineers are bad build engineers." wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                  1. …in reply to @catehstn
                    "Release notes are you most important documents." wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                    1. …in reply to @catehstn
                      Affordance. The subtle clues that tell us how we use something. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                      1. …in reply to @catehstn
                        USBs have bad affordance, this is why it takes 3 times to stick them in properly. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                        1. …in reply to @catehstn
                          "Just because that's somewhere you think that users should go, that doesn't mean that's where users want it." wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                          1. …in reply to @catehstn
                            Everything works when you are a developer and you have full permissions. What if you don't? wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                            1. …in reply to @catehstn
                              Acceptance. Find people who are users. Not marketing because don't seem technical. They are. You're wrong. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                              1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                Find user. Have them do what do every day. Say nothing. Don't say "that's not how it works", works for them. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                  "If you can't hire an expert, become a student." wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                  1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                    People don't want to be using software, they want to be refining their pictures, or talking to their friends. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                    1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                      "Software is a tool, not a friend." wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                      1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                        A11y is a tool, & we are all going to need it. Obviously you should hire an a11y expert. Obviously you won't. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                        1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                          Have you looked at your thing on a non-retina screen? wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                          1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                            8% of men are colorblind. Almost none of that 8% go into UX development. This is a shame. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                            1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                              Screen readers. Descriptive links. Try hiding your mouse for a week: how miserable is it to use your product? wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                              1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                                Not everyone has the same access to internet. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                                1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                                  "Letting your servers touch the internet is like letting them lick dirty toilets." wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                                  1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                                    "Think about how it's going to work if you don't have internet." Lot of world does not have good internet. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                                    1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                                      Age is coming for you. If you won't do it for other people, consider doing it for your future self. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                                      1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                                        I think wiredferret just told us we are all going to die. I feel very mortal now. #leaddev #7fights
                                                        1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                                          Can't have all 7 fights at once. You will burn out, and piss off your boss. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                                          1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                                            Write a coding style guide and follow it. Host brown bag lunches to learn. Pair program for best practises. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                                            1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                                              Ask how much this will cost later. "Money is the root of all business decisions." wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                                              1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                                                Have a team that looks like your users. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                                                1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                                                  TL;DR: "Don't build in compounding technical debt that you could trivially avoid." wiredferret #leaddev #7fights
                                                                  1. …in reply to @catehstn
                                                                    Avoid making future self angry. I love that I got credited for past-cate trying to kill future-cate here. wiredferret #leaddev #7fights