Designers have complained for decades that engineers ship the wrong thing. The fix isn't better handoffs or AI tools; it's design-minded engineering.
Wrote up what that means, why it matters more in the AI era, and the framework I've used across AKQA, Volvo, and Canva:
https://denodell.com/blog/the-design-minded-engineer?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=design_minded_engineer_post
The first reviews of my new book on software performance engineering are coming in:
⭐ "A manifesto against enshittification."
⭐ "The most principled engineering book I've read in a long time."
⭐ "The best chapters in this book are worth a whole book."
And it's now 50% off with code “MLOdell” until 26 March: https://hubs.la/Q044cvlc0
You can prevent most software performance problems if you recognize their predictable patterns. Performance Engineering in Practice introduces author Den Odell’s Fast by Default model that replaces the slow fix-it-later path with a unique framework to build in performance from the start. Den Odell’s System Paths framework provides a universal diagnostic language for performance that works across any platform or stack to keep your systems fast even as your codebase, team, and user base grow. You’ll work through hands-on examples like slow internal dashboards and cascading problems from a degraded API. Effective profiling tools, shared dashboards, CI budgets, and design reviews all ensure your performance goals are user-centered and your team is aligned and accountable.
I'm excited to share that my new book, Performance Engineering in Practice, is now available through Manning's Early Access Program! 🎉
For 25 years I've seen the same pattern: performance problems surface after users complain, teams panic, patch, and repeat. I call it the Performance Decay Cycle.
This book is the practical guide to breaking that cycle. First 5 chapters available now with 50% off at launch 🚀
https://hubs.la/Q044cvlc0
The first Mac OS fitted in a 64kB ROM. That hard limit didn't hold back innovation, it demanded it.
The engineers who worked within those limits knew their platform completely. We've lost some of that thinking, the knowledge of our foundations.
I wrote more here:
https://denodell.com/blog/constraints-and-the-lost-art-of-optimization?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=constraints_post
I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be a respectful web engineer.
When someone visits a site, the browser gives us one main thread to run our JavaScript and respond to their interactions.
If our code runs too long, the browser stops listening to them. That’s what jank really is.
We’re only borrowing the main thread from the user. We should treat it with respect.
Web Performance Calendar day #4 when @denodell shows us how to adopt a fast-by-default mindset to escape the vicious cycle of ship-complain-panic-patch.
After a decade of React dominance, we've forgotten: frameworks run inside the web, not the other way around.
New post on breaking free from framework lock-in. Not by abandoning React, but by building platform-first apps that could outlast any framework.
Key ideas:
- Framework success creates institutional gravity
- Platform-first practices make apps framework-agnostic
- How to build apps that could survive any framework migration
@kubikpixel @denodell This is timely advice! Finally getting a chance to dive into web a11y for the first time in my ~12-year career, because it's the first time a company has prioritized it. Per another of your articles, it's thanks to the EU!
Semantic solutions like this will be a HUGE boon to getting up to WCAG snuff. Coincidentally, lots of risk calculations in our app, too!
Good reminder that the `<output>` HTML element exists.
stoyan
GrandTheftUrkel
Fynn Ellie Be