taphangum

I'm working on a book as well, but for the Frontend. I'm very curious to know more about how you marketed this?

I know it's a different niche, but is there any globally applicable advice you'd give?

A general framework that has helped me a lot in the past.

The site in general is in 'under construction' mode right now, so rest assured these issues will all be resolved by launch. We're just dedicating all of our energy towards the first version right now, so have not polished everything.

You might be spending a bit too much time on the problem here. It may be worth spending a bit more on the solution and making that clearer.

Right now it seems that its hidden within the modal underneath the copy. It should be much higher and not within a modal.

I would also try to say more with less with the problem. Again, it felt like it took a little too long to get to the point (and the point you're making is a pretty good one I might add!).

I find that with people who are more on the 'founder' end of the customer spectrum, particularly those who are tech focused, too much 'copy' and 'slow salesmanship' can be a negative. We tend to err on the side of 'just tell me and I'll figure out if its valuable' if that makes any sense.

I hope this helps?

Good luck man!

Tapha

It tries to make planning a website or mobile app as close as possible to the pen and paper experience.

It does this in a simple but (from my, and the experience of those who have tested it out) very effective and engaging way.

I share a bit more about how this is done here: https://simpleprogrammer.com/information-architecture-develo....

There's no better way to put your mind into 'listening mode' than to assume that the person in front of you might know something that you don't.

Be humble, and listening will come naturally. The rest is just getting a better memory/knowledge base for better understanding.

The advantage of Tailwind [1] is very subtle over the short term (such as not having to constantly context switch between HTML & CSS files), but dramatically impactful over the long term.

Both in terms of time-savings, as well as code quality and ability to work with others quickly.

It really is something that you must earnestly try to gain an appreciation for.

My initial reaction was the same as the authors when I first came across it. Actually using it on a real life project changed my mind.

[1] - https://planflow.dev/blog/the-main-advantage-of-tailwindcss.

I *HIGHLY* recommend it.

Some tips:

- Understand that a drawing is a low fidelity synthesis of an idea.

The first skill to get good at, is breaking down what you're trying to say into its 'essence'. The most important PARTS of it.

This comes with practice, but a good way to do it is by writing, and then editing that writing, strangely enough.

- Learn the fundamentals of design

Understanding the basics of design, such as color theory, typography and layout composition gives you a great advantage when it comes to your drawing technique. There is no secret here, you will just have to learn the basics and then practice.

- Use FAST tools

I use Figma for all of blog drawings [1]. Why? because it's online, and most importantly, it's very FAST. And fast helps me speed up my iteration (and therefore 'learning') cycles. Fast is highly underestimated when learning. Fast is a superpower.

- Use templates

If you take a look at the drawings I have on my blog, you'll notice that I use similar templates for each one. In fact they all start from the same template.

Using a template gives you the confidence to get over the 'blank page' anxiety that often derails beginners. Allowing you to build up a momentum that will KEEP you drawing. And if you keep drawing, you WILL get better.

I plan to write more about this in the next few weeks, as a blog post. If you're interested in reading it, select one of the posts on the blog [1] and add your email address at the bottom! :)

Hope this helps!

[1] - https://planflow.dev/blog

An article that talks about how to overcome this (and that many have found useful): https://planflow.dev/blog/how-to-get-better-at-css

Everything else that you build into the skill set will be built around this. So definitely worth starting with.

[1] - Kathy Sierra "Badass" https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Making-Awesome-Kathy-Sierra/dp...

It's the guardian at the gates.

People are just more willing to give their attention to things that are novel. Which is of course based on context.

It's also one of the reasons why I've taken to using drawings within my own blog posts [1]. I've seen time on site that is MUCH higher than industry benchmarks.

[1] - https://planflow.dev/blog/how-to-get-better-at-css

Maintaining this perspective of what designers are in function will probably lead to better designers (via the form of their work) overall.

Is another fantastic one.

I'm really getting into the idea that design is basically all about guidance. Mapping a goal-worthy journey for the user. Which is why we use words like 'journey' and 'story' often when describing UX issues.

Thanks for the comment and the link! Very enlightening.

I really really like this quote. Did you come up with this? Hits the nail right on the head, and is actually a key to helping developers better understand how to design effectively. Namely, to come at design from the perspective of an interface as an 'information architecture'. And how this is key to making design easy and more understandable for a engineering oriented mind.

I wrote a short article about this here: https://simpleprogrammer.com/information-architecture-develo....

It's called "How To Debug CSS"[1], if you go through my post history, you'll get a good idea of the backstory behind it.

Essentially, what I'm trying to do is help developers like you (who are like me, or at least how I was), in that I knew CSS for a long time, but never really felt like I 'got it', in the same way that I 'got' many of the other aspects of web development.

I've now gotten to a point where this is almost the complete opposite. I now feel like I have gained a certain level of mastery over CSS. And most of it had to do with a simple change of perspective.

Here's an article I wrote as sort of a subset of the book, that covers a lot more about how you can truly start to get better at CSS, as a developer: https://planflow.dev/blog/how-to-get-better-at-css.

[1] - https://gumroad.com/l/Debbg/z823cp8 (I've added a pre-order discount code to the book for those interested).