Modal vs separate page UX, and how to choose
Modals are interruptive by design. Four checks for deciding between a modal, a side drawer and a dedicated page, plus the tasks each one is actually good for.
Category: Design
Emotion in Flow: when delight breaks the user’s trust
Adding delight everywhere backfires. This post compares how anime handles a tonal shift against the Marvel background-gag habit, then covers Don Norman’s three levels and the microinteractions that hold a flow together.
A behavioral design strategy beats badges and progress bars
Ten years of persuasive design taught me that badges do not fix retention. This is how I use the COM-B model to work out whether a user is stuck on capability, opportunity or motivation before adding a nudge.
Styling a native select with the Customizable Select API
Chromium made the native select element styleable. This walks through appearance: base-select, the ::picker pseudo-element, sibling-index() for per-option maths, and the anchor positioning that makes a radial picker possible, without giving up keyboard support.
Modern CSS features that replaced my JavaScript hacks
A pass through the CSS landing in browsers now: random() and random-item(), clip-path folded corners, the containing-block catch in anchor positioning, and tabular-nums for WooCommerce dashboards that refuse to sit still.
Why SmashingConf Amsterdam is on my list for April 2026
SmashingConf Amsterdam runs in April 2026 at the Pathé Tuschinski. What pulled me in is the live-work format: speakers working through CSS and accessibility problems on stage instead of walking an audience through finished slides.
CSS corner-shape: bevels and scoops without clip-path
Chromium ships corner-shape, so beveled and scooped corners no longer need clip-path or SVG masks. What each value does, how it pairs with border-radius, and how to ship it behind @supports while Firefox and Safari get plain rounded corners.
A WordPress website design service instead of a DIY build
Monikka Spruyt left corporate training to start Connect Holistic Health, and handed the site build to WordPress design experts instead of learning the stack herself. Why that trade usually pays off.
Scalable z-index values without magic numbers
Magic numbers like z-index: 99999 are guesses. How I set up z-index tokens in CSS variables, pair a modal with its backdrop using calc(), and use isolation to keep a component’s layering inside the component.
Why human strategy still runs an AI-accelerated workflow
AI raised the floor on production, and that changed what designers are actually paid for. Here is where human strategy still decides the outcome, and why judgment now carries the accountability.