All of This Has Happened Before Change is difficult. If knowing best practices were enough, the web — and the world — would be devoid of problems. So how do we avoid repeating the mistakes we’ve already made? Bringing about change within an organization (or an industry) can be challenging, whether they are your client or your employer, yet we all strive to do this on a daily basis. Dan explores life on both sides of that coin, offering suggestions on how we can recognize and avoid the paths that lead us where we’ve already been, and continue to improve what we design and build.

1. All of This
Has Happened
Before…
Dan Rubin / @danrubin
DIBI 2012, Newcastle upon Tyne, The North

2. Prelude
We Begin
With a Rant

3. We don’t try
hard enough.

4. Why isn’t
everyone
using CSS3?

5. Too many
excuses, not
enough do.

6. Compromise
is a convenient
excuse.

7. Constraints
are good...

8. ...but not as an
excuse to set
lesser goals.

9. Doing things
the “old way”,

10. Resistance to
change,

11. and dangerous
words like:

12. “But”

13. “Should”

14. “Just”

15. Not affording
enough time.

16. Are we
doomed to
repeat our
mistakes?

17. Act I
We’ve Seen
This Before

18. Web
Standards

19. People still
fight the idea.

20. Accessibility

21. Is treated
as a pariah.

22. Usability

23. Seriously?

24. Seemingly
logical things
to do.

25. Why?

26. It’s all down to
how we think.

27. De Bono’s
Six Thinking
Hats

29. White Red
Black Yellow
Green Blue

30. Focus on
changing the
thought
process.

31. End of Act I

32. Act II
Defining
Failure

33. Why do we
view mistakes
as bad things?

34. fail·ure
1. Lack of success
2. The omission of expected
or required action
3. The action or state of not
functioning

35. Language
defines how
we perceive
the world.

36. Fail vs. Experiment

37. Mistake vs. Try

38. Failure comes
from trying.

39. How do you
define failure?

40. Personal
Experience

41. End of Act II

42. Act III
Some
Suggestions

43. This first one
is important:

44. It’s our
responsibility to
know our job
better than our
clients do.

45. It’s our
responsibility to
know our job
better than our
bosses do.

46. Use R&D
to enable
experiments.

47. Use mini-
projects as
case studies.

48. Let people fill
in the blanks.

49. Not every
problem can
be solved.

50. Find every
opportunity
to improve
something.

51. Your mission:
Try one thing
this week.

54. Thank you!
@danrubin / danrubin.is
webgraph.com