Top 4 Takeaways from WordCamp Minneapolis 2015
Keeping up with everything happening with the web can be a daunting task sometimes; everything is changing daily, even hourly. To help me stay up-to-date and get inspired, I went to WordCamp Minneapolis 2015. For those that don’t know what WordCamp is, it’s an informal community-organized conference that focuses on everything WordPress. These camps are for new and casual users all the way up to hardcore developers and they’re held all over the world. If you’ve never been to a WordCamp before I highly recommend you go; they’re amazing, and packed full with so much information and great people it’s unreal. I learned a lot, but here are the top 4 things that influenced me the most from WordCamp Minneapolis.
- Content is the user experience. It drives design. If you don’t have content (copy, images, etc.) before you start designing, it will lead to higher budgets and out of control schedules.
- Consistency is key. Keep people oriented in the space of the website by using indicators like color, tool tips, lingering menus, etc. Stay consistent in your visuals and in site functionality, this makes it easier on the user to use the site.
- Minimize visual noise. Empower your user to make decisions, but don’t overload them with information or make it difficult to find information. Try and design for scanning so users get more information but with fewer clicks.
- Lean design. Don’t get stuck on what you need to build, instead, keep in mind what needs to be accomplished with the design. And get to a point in your design when it’s good enough to show it to someone and get their opinion. Then go on from there with revisions and tweaks.
I could write all day about everything I learned, but I think a better way for you to get a taste of WordCamp is to see it. You don’t have to go to one to see it though; these conferences are recorded and put up online for everyone to see and learn from. So, head on over to WordPress.TV to see them all, or if you just want to check out the Minneapolis WordCamp videos you can do that too. Either way, keep learning.
