Details

A few weeks ago, I started work on a new design for my website. This new design was based on the theme of ensuring that my words were the main focus of any given web page. With a vague idea in my head of what I wanted my new theme to look like, I spent hours working away on the new layout, experimenting as I went. With a lot of time, I had a design ready to go that I then published on my site.

I am now in a different phase of the design stage: refinement. With my new theme live, I am starting to look again at some of the little details on my site to see what I can improve. Earlier today, for example, I replaced the yellow colour of the focus state – chosen to stand out for accessibility – with a slightly darker gold-like colour. This has the same effect of standing out, but the new colour feels less intense than the old colour while preserving an ideal contrast level.

I also replaced the RSS link in my sidebar with a page that lets you copy a link to my RSS feed. The link used to take you direclty to the RSS feed, which would be downloaded automatically by default. This is not an ideal experience. Having a page with some preamble, as well as a link to the About Feeds website that explains what feeds are and how you can use them, feels better.

In addition, I have also added support for smart quotes (the curly quotes like “”) and emdashes (“–”). I support footnotes, too. ¹

These features are all little details, but I have had fun adding each of them. I often ask myself what is next? What is the next project to work on? What is the next thing to learn? As I have been learning more about design, I recognise the time spent refining is what makes something delightful. All the little details matter.

I wonder what other little details I will notice in the future.