Blog of Ryan Heath

Hey, I'm Ryan Heath. I design and develop things for a living and play with cameras for fun. This is where I record my thoughts on things along the way.

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What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.

Karl Lagerfeld

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Confession: I've never been to Yosemite, yet it feels like one of my favorite places on Earth. Whatever sense that makes, I'm not sure. Maybe it's the countless photography, books, videos, documentaries that have made me feel (or at least be made aware of) the experiences.

Here's something. If I were forced to come up with a 20 year photography project, it would be based around Yosemite. I would take seasonal trips every year for 20 years, and at the end of that span, I would choose the best of the best from my collected photos and make a book. Ansel Adams has already been crowned the "King of Yosemite" (not officially, but c'mon). And Alex Honnold will forever be known as the crazy dude who free solo'd El Capitan. But this 20 year project wouldn't be about competition, or making a name. It would be about experiencing nature in its finest form, at its finest place.

Now, a 20 year photography project isn't super realistic. But, I'll visit Yosemite at some point, and multiple times at that.

Until then, enjoy this little video I stumbled across showcasing why Yosemite stands out in the crowd as one of the world's most amazing places. I can't wait to go.

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I took this shot last week by peeking into the window of a cafe during after hours, hoping to capture two things: the glowing reds of the dimly lit cafe interior and off the glass, the cold blue reflection of a building that was about 150 yards away.

I love this shot because it blends two scenes into one image, all done in camera, where you can’t really tell the point of crossover. If you look toward the left, you see inside the cafe. If you look toward the right, you see a totally different scene.

Guessing this doesn’t hit home with everyone, but it’s one of my favorite shots I’ve taken in recent months. I’ve been trying to get a reflection like this… I had no idea it would be a random “Beehive Cafe” off the side of the road, but so it goes.

Keep an eye on my rph.oto Instagram account for more photos like this.

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So excited about the latest addition to my gear, the Fujifilm X-T3. It was released about 1 year ago, it just takes me forever to pull the trigger on something. Plus, Fujifilm has a different philosophy on photography and it took some time to determine if I was fully on board (spoiler: I am).

Attached is a 56mm (~85mm equivalent) f/1.2. It's, I believe, the fastest prime lens I've owned. It should be a beast in low light, fingers crossed on that!

Anyway, I'm thrilled to be able to add this gem to my bag.

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Amazing footage/short film from Peter McKinnon (as always). Worth watching if you're into photography (or just the general beauty of landscapes). Hard to believe places like this actually exist.

Also, all photos in the film were shot with an iPhone 11 Pro! That's kind of incredible in its own right.

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Essay on the benefits of speedy software, and how it affects user perception of engineering quality and overall usability

The subtitle says it all... Excellent article, and very timely, as our team is currently focusing purely on performance right now.

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Motion in a UI can be a great way to provide user feedback, while making software a little friendlier to use. Some of these animations are way overdone, of course, but there are some nuggets in there. Especially around the button interactions. Anyway, fun to browse through if you work on UI/UX.

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890+ handcrafted icons to make your webapp awesome. Vectors icons (SVG), JavaScript and font are available. Download or use with CDN.

Having a consistent icon set is a big deal in product design. I stumbled upon this one, which offers close to 900 free vector icons. Could be useful in the future.

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Designing the Big Picture

A very challenging aspect of designing something is keeping the holistic view in the forefront. It's difficult because all of the individual parts of a design nag and pull for attention. We're taught to care about the details, after all (and we should!). But that's wherein the challenge lies: caring about the details with the big picture in mind.

Ryan Singer has talked about this a lot in the past. Specifically, in relation to designing with forces. The idea is to not let the design interfere with what the design is trying to accomplish, the problems at hand. Once you define the forces involved, that becomes your checklist for how well those individual parts are solving the problems. That separation is important.

As often the case with good solutions, it seems like a very obvious and simple approach, but we don't always go about it this way.

I don't think this is something that is easily conquered, it'll be a challenge with design for as long as things are being designed. This is just one way—a pretty effective way—to mitigate the issues that can arise when the big picture hides in the background.

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People are time bound entities transitioning from cradle to grave. Any "solved problem" that involves human beings solves a problem whose parameters must change through time.

Bruce Sterling

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Yet another good talk from Cameron Moll.

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I spotted this graphic while reading an article about Awkward UI, and found it to be a wonderfully simple reminder (and checklist?) when designing new screens.

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Noizio is an app that will drown out the noise of the street and allow you to concentrate on the work at hand, increasing your productivity.

I've only been using this app briefly, but if you like noise while working that's not always music, this might be exactly the app. It stays out of the way, great little UI, and does what it says very well (although, keyboard shortcuts would be a welcome addition).

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Humanizing Software

User-friendly software is a goal for anyone who builds or designs it. It’s a very tough challenge. Code, best practices, and browser-restrictions all get in the way, clouding up the human-factor.

For example, let's look at user-restrictions. It’s easy, in code, to make a decision firm. Let’s say Plan A offers 5 users and Plan B offers 10 users. The logic to add a new user might go through a path like this:

if (plan == A && users.count == 5) { # too bad, you're maxed out! }

That's what the software says. Clear as day, hard and firm. There are no considerations beyond that. But what if someone needs only 6 users? Just ONE more? Is the best solution forcing them to upgrade to Plan B? Maybe it is, but I'm not so sure.

What if that same conditional could be more like:

if (plan == A && users.count == close enough) { # go for it, we want to make you happy! }

Is it better to have a happy customer with 6 users on a 5 user plan than a frustrated customer with 5 users on a 5 user plan? Forcing that customer to make a decision bumps up the chances they will leave. And if they don't leave, odds are they're hovering around the 5 user limit "making it work" to avoid the upgrade. So now they're inconvenienced by the product, and that might leave a bad taste.

I'm aware that a line has to be drawn somewhere. Allowing 20 users on "Plan A" is surely too much, but paying extra attention to the edges is an interesting thought. If this were done manually, human-to-human, a real person might say "it's no big deal, you can have one more user" in an effort to keep the person happy. Why shouldn't software do the same thing?

Generally, rules are rules, and so it’s expected (even by customers) that they live within their plan restrictions. But wow, what an opportunity to go the extra mile and make a customer that much happier!

User-restrictions are just one of many areas where we can consider being less robotic. So, yeah, humanizing software. That's what I've been thinking about lately. We'll see where it takes me.

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Early On, Let Ideas Be Cheap

A couple in their very first relationship often don’t get married; your first job out of school is likely not where you will retire; when car shopping, buying the very first car you look at probably isn’t the best approach. There are a lot of “firsts” in life that you shouldn’t get overly attached to, and ideas are no different. Let them be very simple, cheap thoughts early on.

This may seem counter-intuitive because, in design, we’re taught to really focus and hone in on a solution. Pay attention to every detail. It’s hard to hear things like that while also working fast and somewhat carefree. It doesn’t feel like they match up.

But, effort is directly related to how attached to an idea you become, and time is directly related to effort. The more effort and time you put into an idea, the harder it will be to let it go if it doesn’t work. Visualizing alternatives can unintentionally be skewed by the idea you went all-in on. So avoid all-in up front. Often enough, a simple sketch can give you the insight into whether or not it’s worth pursuing. You can scratch stuff out, make notes, and literally try anything you want.

So, a reminder: don’t run the risk of designing yourself into a box by over-dedicating to an early-stage idea. Keep the jobs-to-be-done in mind, but at first, try keeping the effort low. It free’s the mind to explore. Once you feel like the direction you want to go in has been realized, dig in a little deeper and put in the time and effort to see it through.

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Design machines

A dystopian view of an internet designed by machines, and the mushy, emotional weapons we can use to fight back.

Maybe one of the best articles I’ve ready in 2015.

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Good or familiar?

As creators we are surrounded by work that influences how we perceive our own: admired work of respected peers, work aligned with current trends, or simply well-executed instances of well-worn patterns. But the work around us has gravity, and it pulls us towards similar solutions, and clouds our ability to assess our work on the basis of its own merit.

Great post about creating something new.