
Before we even realise it, our brains are constantly scanning the information on the screen in front of us. It's recommended practice to place the most crucial action last on small windows.

So, bottom and right, is the best position as human eyes scan content from left to right following the Z pattern! Right position ensures users will follow a simpler path in order to find the primary button as it is shown in the picture.

On the other hand, on larger browser windows and especially if users have to scroll down, the primary button should be placed directly beneath the final paragraph of text on the left!


Position primary buttons to the right in modals


So you have to deal with a task that seems boring and dull and you keep pushing and pushing it till the very end of the milestone. In the end, you feel bad about your performance and you give in.

This is a typical occasion since we might have to deal with things that we don't consider cool and shiny from time to time throughout our careers. You know what? This is normal.

What is the solution? Break the task into small tangible steps so you make progress, ask for a pair programming session so you get some motivation from a teammate, and in general, don't let it take you down.

Procrastination is something that happens to all of us so you need to find ways to fight it.


Fight procrastination


In a remote working environment where written communication is the primary way of collaboration, intentional writing is an extremely efficient way of exchanging information.

On the one hand, we reduce the noise in our messages but on the other hand, our words are wisely picked so they have greater meaning and value to the receivers.

This good habit helps our teammates to grasp fast what is really going on so they can act accordingly.

Intentional writing is not an easy skill, but it is an important one when we are talking about highly effective remote teams.


Intentional writing is the key


We should ensure that the products we ship will be usable and accessible by as many people as possible.

This includes catering to the needs of people with disabilities, as well as understanding how different environments or situational factors might impact the user experience.

Things like color contrast, font size, layout responsiveness, gestures simplicity, multi-modal data entry are just some key principles we should take care of.


Accessibility is critical to good UX


Creating solid documentation for the applications we build is not an optional thing to do.

Through it, we ensure the continuity of the project and the maintainability of the codebase itself while the value and the quality of the deliverables increase hugely.

That said, engineering teams should take seriously the documentation process of an application to guarantee its longevity and extendability in the near future.


Documenting is an important part of engineering


Remote working is great but it can cause you problems if you find yourself moving or disconnecting rarely throughout the day.

Sitting on a chair for hours can become a nightmare for your body’s posture or even your mental well-being.

Taking regular breaks or even standing up for a couple of minutes every now and then can be extremely beneficial for your health and your mindfulness.

Techniques like Pomodoro can assist you so that you switch consistently between focus and break time.


Take regular breaks


Frankly, nobody cares about the framework or the stack or the programming language behind an application.

Everyone though cares about the problem it solves.

UX makes technology usage easy.

It helps us ship efficient solutions that tackle actual users’ problems.


UX design humanizes technology


DevOps is an Agile approach that helps modern tech teams ship value in an efficient way.

It is cross-functional by its nature (Development + Operations) facilitating greater collaboration.

This means, that it connects engineers and operations in a better and more transparent way that results in successful products.

That said, the gain of DevOps is frequent, streamlined, and high-quality software releases.


DevOps is a culture


We are used to talking about remote working, but we rarely talk about the elephant in the room, which is remote management.

Remote management plays a huge role in the equation, if not the most critical one.

Organizations have to invest, hire experienced executives with the right mindset, and create more attractive workplaces in order to land talent from all over the world.

That said, organizations are forced to redefine themselves hugely if they want to stay competitive in the post-covid era.

After all, remote working is here to stay for good.


Successful remote working means successful remote management


We make a huge mistake if we believe that UX is just a procedure that takes place before actual development begins.

On the contrary, UX actually never ends.

Apart from the obvious impact on product design, UX has a huge business impact too.

UX can shape organizations and teach them how to evaluate decisions, listen to the market, and re-iterate accordingly all way long.


UX is not a step of the process, it is the process itself


Code reviews speak volumes about the team’s health and collaboration.

Through them, the team ensures that best practices are applied and that the definition of done criteria are met.

These are classless so that all engineers, no matter their seniority level can participate and share thoughts, question things and make proposals.

Because of all these, code reviews bring engineers closer, push them to grow even more, and help them collaborate in an efficient and healthy way with each other.


Enforce classless code reviews


Retrospective meetings are extremely important for the team’s health.

These are recurring meetings where the team members can speak their minds, highlight problems, propose alternatives and come up with efficient solutions.

Discussing common issues in an open-minded and transparent way is very helpful and helps the team members to get closer.

C-level executives and managers, better keep out of such meetings if you really trust your people and you want to see meaningful results.


Run efficient retrospectives


Fitts’s Law is one of the most important and fundamental design laws we frequently ignore.\
\
It describes how long a user takes to hit a target in a graphical user interface (GUI) as a function of size and distance.\
\
Understanding this law helps us design better buttons, forms, lists, and other interactive elements.\
\
Example: Buttons to complete an action should be close to the active elements\
\
Adjusting elements’ size and distance helps the end user to interact faster with the application.


Keep the interactions cost low


Whenever you feel stuck or overwhelmed ask for help! Don’t hang around aimlessly.

Do your best, do some research, and if you hit a wall, ask around. Ask your teammates. Ask in the channels. Don’t let it take you down!

Asking for support is a healthy attitude that pays off.

After all, the team is responsible for a deliverable, not individuals.


Build a healthy environment where asking for support is welcomed


Running 1-1s regularly is a great way to stay in touch with our people.

Especially in a remote-first environment where there is no physical contact, we need to find ways to run meaningful discussions every now and then.

These meetings help us to build a stronger bond and discuss matters that concern us and cannot be shared in public channels.

After all, it is very important to prove to our people that we listen to them and take their personal will and goals seriously, and 1-1s play a vital role in this effort.


Catch up with your people regularly


Simplicity is underrated when it comes to designing modern products.

The User Experience of an application should be as simple as possible so that users can navigate from A to B without second thoughts.

In order to achieve so, we have to ditch a bunch of bells and whistles so we keep the absolutely meaningful elements and features in the viewport of the end-user.

Stick to the core business goal and get rid of anything distractive if you want to help your customers do their job using your product.


Prioritize your workload on a daily basis to avoid burnout


Remote working is outstanding and helps us maintain a great work-life balance.

On the other hand, remote working mostly means working alone for a long period of time day in and day out.

Loneliness is a bad thing and can lead to depression sooner than we can imagine.

That said, it is important to take care of this side-effect of remote working to prevent ourselves from ugly burnout.


Burnout is lurking, so beware


The Discovery phase is extremely helpful so we define some core business goals and set the foundations of an application upfront.

Together with the business stakeholders, we can analyze the personas that are going to use the application we will build and then prepare the user stories we need to implement.

Having always the end-user in mind will help us to spot flaws in the users’ journey early enough so we can pivot accordingly before the actual development starts.


Start new projects with a Discovery phase


Code coverage is a great way to check whether an application is covered with tests in the first place.

On the other hand, this percentage might lead us to a false positive belief since it doesn’t tell us much about the quality of our test suite.

Do we test the most critical user journeys using integration tests?

If we don’t do so, then a high code coverage percentage is a highly misleading indicator.


Code coverage percentage does not reflect the quality of the tests


One of the biggest perks of remote working is the flexibility that comes with it.

Being able to work from anywhere inevitably leads to that I can have flexible working hours too.

Setting a proper framework with regular standups, planning, review, and retrospective meetings helps remote people to arrange their schedules accordingly while staying focused on the outcome of their work and their team’s goals.

Just avoid overdoing it with calls.


Remote means flexible


UX designers should not assume that people that will use the application think and act like them.

Using friends and family or even worse putting ourselves in the shoes of the end-user to test the result of our work is like shooting our leg.

This is a psychological effect named false consensus, and UX experts should avoid it.

Testing with real users through proper usability testing is the only way to ship the right products for the right target group


Overcome the false-consensus bias


Agile enforces us to work in an incremental way. Splitting the workload that way is great as long as we don’t make random decisions down the road.

Moving into steps without following a proper architectural plan is going to bite us sooner or later.

Avoid starting any implementation without having a solid design document in place.


Do not forget to design first and implement afterward


Bringing remote teams together every now and then is very important for their morale.

Through such events, team bonding is getting stronger and people are given the opportunity to build even more qualitative relationships with each other.

After all, humans are social beings so periodical physical meetings are really important to their well-being.


Physical meetings are critical in a remote-first environment


UX is all about delivering something useful.

UI is all about delivering something beautiful.

Imagine a digital product as a cake.

What you first see is the icing, the shape, the decoration, and that’s the UI. It’s the presentation.

The inside of the cake is the UX. It’s the cake itself, how it tastes. It’s the core of the experience.

A cake would look naked without the icing (UI), and the icing has no purpose without the cake (UX).

The right combination of UX and UI leads to success!


UI and UX always go hand in hand, but what differentiates the two?


The more complex problems we try to solve through technology, the more complex applications we build.

Complex applications require people with various skills or even various teams of specialized people to get involved.

Engineers should be able to collaborate and communicate with peers and business stakeholders to design and develop such applications.

That said, sharpening people skills seems more important than ever before.


The myth of the lone wolf software engineer is dead


Remote working might reduce office costs, but on the other hand, the demand for various collaboration tools increases so that these people can do the job in an optimal way.

Remote professionals need the right tools to communicate and collaborate, share notes and sensitive credentials, arrange meetings and video calls, submit a request to go on vacations, and so on.

Such tools and services might have been considered nice-to-have ones some years ago, but now they are absolutely must-have ones so that a remote team can function smoothly.


Equip your people with the right tools


Mobile browsers usage is way above 50%, so we should consider this when designing web applications.

Analyzing the users’ journey in terms of mobile browsers first or even providing a totally different experience compared with the desktop version is the way to go nowadays.


Mobile comes first


A tested application means that we ship an application that is solid and functional.

A testable application means we ship an application that can be tested, extended, and maintained easily.

If we don’t write tests from the very start, then we miss the opportunity to structure our code in a way it can easily get tested and extended in the near future.

Such an approach reduces the value of the delivered codebase and opens the door for technical debt.


Stop leaving tests for the end


Our people are the most valuable asset of our organization, so if we stop investing in them is like shooting our leg.

Devote adequate time and resources to help them evolve and develop their skillset.

After all, the level of our organization derives from the quality of our people 💯.


Invest in your people


In modern web applications, it is common to present a great volume of data using tables and then let the users filter and sort data or even use a pagination menu to navigate across them.

What happens when the users refresh the page accidentally or even when they move to another page on purpose and then return back? Does the table’s state reset every time? ♻️😱

This is an awful user experience.

Help the end-users land in the same UI state by using the browser history properly 🎯😉


Make the browser’s history your ally


Stop ignoring technical debt and start treating it with respect.

Create stories with a refactoring goal in mind 🧠♻️, put them into the backlog , and prioritize them accordingly 😉


Treat technical debt with respect


Provide adequate time for your colleagues so that they can get prepared for an important meeting in an asynchronous way.

Running repeating low-value video calls to prepare for the “big” meeting is killing your team’s productivity 😬


Start favoring emails over video calls


Avoid grouping validation error messages!!

Keep the error messages next to the appropriate input field so that users know exactly which fields need their attention and why 😉


Avoid grouping validation error messages


Keep engineers and business stakeholders as close as possible!!

Separating engineering and business teams can lead to uncertain results.

Bring these 2 worlds together, to minimize risk and ship solutions that solve actual problems 🏆


Keep engineers and business stakeholders as close as possible


Always start a video call with a predefined agenda 🎯

Video calls without a proper agenda in place tend to become brainstorming meetings leading to a huge waste of time.

Don’t hesitate to cancel a video call when there are no concrete topics to discuss 😉


Always start a video call with a predefined agenda


Providing sensitive information can accidentally lead to a huge security hole.

Guide the user without revealing sensitive information. 😬


Guide the user without revealing sensitive information


Define what is considered done!!

The "Definition of Done" is a collection of quality standards a story should meet, so it can be considered done.

Through DoD, teams establish a common language when shipping a new increment of value so everyone is on the same page ✅


Define what is considered done


Teammates need to use the same language so that everyone is on the same page constantly.

This can be achieved through an official Handbook that encloses teams' guidelines and best practices.

That way, people can focus on the essential things without worrying or making constant decisions about all these little details here and there.

The absence of an official Handbook may lead to randomness and conflicts due to personal preferences and lack of guidance. Conflicts disappoint people and nobody actually wants this.

Last but not least, the official Handbook helps new-joiners to accelerate and grasp how the team works straight ahead 😉


The absence of an official Handbook may lead to randomness and conflicts due to personal preferences and lack of guidance


Voxxed Days Athens 2022 and HelloWorld organize an amazing workshop about modern Web applications and ReactJS 😎

Design and develop a modern ReactJS application using the latest libraries offered by the ecosystem relying on a full-blown design system all the way long with Stamatis Deligiannis and Savvas Voumellis.

Benefits:

- hands-on training regarding ReactJS and TypeScript
- introduction to an extendable design system built with TailwindCSS
- presentation of modern libraries like react-query and react-router
- discussion about concurrency, ReactJS 18, and the future of ReactJS

This event will take place on the 29th of September 2022 at Mediterranean College.

Claim your free spot [here](https://voxxeddays.com/athens/2022/09/13/build-modern-web-applications-with-reactjs/)!!

CU there 🤗

Cheers!!


ReactJS workshop


Always remember to "KISS" 💋 --> Keep it Simple, Stupid 😉

Try to make things as easy as possible for the user.

If the customers call your product or service "simple", that’s very important in terms of success!


Keep it Simple, Stupid


Avoid premature over-optimization of your code!

Always remember the "Rule Of Three":

- Does code exist that looks identical?
- Does the code repeat the same knowledge and logic?
- If yes, wait until you have at least three code duplicates before you make an abstraction 😎


Avoid premature over-optimization of your code. Always remember the Rule Of Three


In a remote working environment, we must ensure everyone is on the same page at any time.

The secret ingredient is «asynchronous communication».

To accomplish this, all team members must become great writers and master «written communication».


Asynchronous communication means excellent written communication


If the form fails validation, show the users exactly which fields need their attention and why to help them continue their journey!!

Generic messages like «Invalid Inputs» or «Something is wrong» are not considered that helpful 😉


Show the users exactly which fields need their attention and why


Small and repeating iterations help a team stay focused and constantly ship value.

Such iterations force business and engineering people to work closely and minimize risk.

That way, we can move together towards our high goal while evaluating decisions all way long in order to ship something really useful in the end 😎


Take small steps and ship frequently


Using cryptic or passive-aggressive expressions and emojis most of the time will make our teammates feel anxious and uncomfortable.

Being empathetic by taking care of the way we react and express our feelings is priceless 🤗


Avoid using cryptic or passive-aggressive expressions and emojis


Blocking users and preventing them from doing their job and continuing their journey is considered a bad practice especially as the frontend world moves closer to concurrency and asynchronous rendering.

Use a spinner only where the update takes place 😉


Avoid blocking users no matter what


When you join meetings with the camera off, guess who makes the team feel awkward 😬


Try to make your teammates feel comfortable when jumping into video calls


Avoid using icons that depict obsolete technologies or visual metaphors.

In 10 years from now, nobody will know what any of these are 😬


Use icons that will matter 10 years from now


We are delighted to announce our sponsorship for [TEDxPatras 2022](https://2022.tedxpatras.com)!!

It is our duty to stay close to technology communities and support such wonderful initiatives that bring hundreds of brilliant minds together.

Go grab your ticket and don't forget to come by our booth and say hi!!

Can't wait TEDxPatras ❤️

Cheers!!


TEDxPatras 2022


We are delighted to announce our sponsorship for [Voxxed Days Athens 2022](https://voxxeddays.com/athens/)!!

Our high goal is to stay close to technology communities and support such wonderful initiatives that bring hundreds of brilliant minds together.

Go grab your ticket and don't forget to come by our booth and say hi!!

Can't wait Voxxed Days Athens ❤️

Cheers!!


Voxxed Days Athens 2022


Using old and inefficient techniques like [waterfall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model) while building modern software applications can become extremely dangerous in today's fast-paced business environment.

The main reason is that competition is enormous, things change lightning fast so businesses and IT teams need to find ways to work closely, maintain their flexibility and adapt fast.

[Extreme Programming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_programming) is a great recipe that solves these issues and helps us to build complex and useful applications while maintaining strong collaboration bonds with our customers. Let's see why.

## The problem

As an IT team, how often do you come across new requests from the customer's side that force you to refactor heavily or do things from the ground while a project runs?

As a customer, how often do you realize that you actually need something different compared with the things you asked for upfront while a project runs?

## Business needs are doomed to change

We need to realize that we tend to build even more and more complex software applications so not being able to predict everything upfront is quite possible to happen.

Actually, this is the most common one.

So the 1.000.000 dollars question is "How can we describe, estimate and foresee all these things that are not known or described in full detail yet, and might be required in the near future?"

We simply cannot!! We are not wizards that can tell the future, right?

## The solution

[Extreme Programming](http://www.extremeprogramming.org) is an approach that helps hugely to minimize this risk and bring the 2 worlds closer.

This Agile model helps us have small iterations, work side-by-side with the customers and adapt fast to their growing needs without worrying about error-prone estimations, newly introduced requirements, or last-minute changes.

With XP methodology we can provide value to our customers constantly while adapting to various requirements that were not visible or even described at first.

XP improves a software project in five essential ways:

- communication
- simplicity
- feedback
- respect
- courage

Through these principles, customers and IT people come closer, build stronger bonds, stay constantly on the same page and work for a common cause all the way long.

Let's build useful stuff together then. Cheers!!


Business and IT teams, stop arguing and start collaborating


The most valuable asset of every organization is its people. That said the hiring process plays a crucial role into finding talented people who match perfectly with the organization's culture.

Apart from that, the hiring process actually is the start of the journey, so it speaks volumes regarding the organization's ethos and values. Who wants to make a bad first impression, right?

So how do we check for perfect matches?

### Use the right tools for the job

We are using tools like [Workable](https://apply.workable.com/helloworld-pc/) to publish and manage our openings.

Platforms like [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/helloworld-pc/) and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/helloworld.gr) are used to demonstrate them to the world. 

### Curriculum Vitae scan

A CV cannot describe accurately a talented person, but it can provide some very important details about their background, their interests or even their personality.

Things that stand out:

- cover letters with a personal flavour
- involvement with open source projects
- hobbies, interests and activities outside of working hours
- social profiles
- the general feeling that the CV is prepared with ❤️

Why such an interest about social profiles, hobbies and activities?

This is because we are looking first for a human-being that can fit into our team and then for a professional who can do the job. 

### Assignment

The very next step is a short technical assignment that lasts less than one (1) hour. Through this assignment we verify that the candidate has the technical knowledge required for this position.

There are tons of online platforms out there that provide excellent tools for this job and help us to automate it as much as possible.

Things we evaluate:

- soft skills questions, so we spot matches
- ability to solve algorithms with any programming language
- deep knowledge of the technologies in question like ReactJS, HTML, CSS, RESTful APIs, MVC, OOP etc

### Interview

At this stage a thirty (30) minutes interview takes place, so we get to know each other, discuss things that are not mentioned in the CV and analyze the assignment's results.

The candidate asks things about the organization's vision and goals while we try to see whether we are a good fit and vice-versa.

It is important to have a match for both sides in order for this marriage to become a functional one.

### Work together period

This is the final stage during which candidates work side by side with some of our people on actual stories and tasks. This period lasts for one (1) week and in the end we evaluate all this together with the candidate.

Through this process, candidates can see what does it mean to work with us in order to eliminate the possibility of any unpleasant surprises after getting hired.

We definitely don't want to waste peoples' time, so candidates are getting paid for their precious time and efforts before getting involved in this process and not after.

Let's make it work then. Cheers!!


The hiring process is where the organization's culture begins


We are delighted to announce our sponsorship for [ECESCON 13](https://sfhmmy.gr), the biggest technological student conference in Greece!!

Our high goal is to stand by students communities in order to help young people embrace technology.

Don't miss it!!

Thank you ECESCON ❤️

Cheers!!


ECESCON 13


We are delighted to announce our sponsorship for [Voxxed Days Thessaloniki 2022](https://voxxeddays.com/thessaloniki/), the first in-person Tech event after the pandemic!!

Our high goal is to stand by local technology communities and support such brilliant initiatives.

Go grab your ticket and don't forget to come and say hi!!

Can't wait Voxxed Days Thessaloniki ❤️

Cheers!!


Voxxed Days Thessaloniki 2022


Because of our involvement in various early-stage startups, we come across some repeated patterns and common pitfalls quite frequently. That said, we decided to put together and share publicly some tips and best practices to help people with brilliant ideas turn them into useful products.

To validate fast a new idea and minimize costs, there are some critical things to consider in order to minimize time to market, reduce costs and stay focused all the way long.

### Strip down the idea and focus on its core concept

Trying to add all these bells and whistles is slowing down your progress, disorientates you, and forces you to lose focus eventually.

Stay in the course by putting all the eggs in one basket.

Stick to the core concept of your idea and try to ship it.

### Do heavy Research and Development cycles early enough

It is important to do some meaningful research and Development early enough before creating any design or writing any piece of code.

Check competition, investigate legal matters, speak with experts in the field. In general, try to spot flaws and holes in your plan.

All these will be extremely beneficial since you will end up having a very clear vision before starting the actual implementation.

Not moving forward due to various issues that might come up at this stage, might also be a great decision that will save you further efforts, money, and time.

### Avoid over-engineering

Ok, we all love technology, fancy libraries, and state-of-the-art frameworks but here we are trying to launch a new product and this is all that matters. Work smart and focused.

Sometimes a clickable prototype might be all we need to validate some patterns, demonstrate our idea, and avoid premature development cycles.

### Keep it simple

If you decide to create a Proof of Concept, then keep the technology stack simple to reduce complexity, cost, and time-to-market.

There is no need to create a complex setup with N services and User Interfaces to present your idea to the world.

Use the technologies you are familiar with and be ready to rewrite from the ground this PoC with a more complex technology stack once the idea gets validated or even throw it away if it doesn't.

### Make it solid

Simple doesn't mean sloppy or buggy.

Ensure that the core concept is bullet-proof and pretty well-tested so that early users can really use it and provide meaningful feedback.

### Validate the idea by getting honest feedback asap

Try to ship fast in the market, so you get actual feedback fast and re-iterate accordingly.

Don't be afraid to get honest feedback from actual users out there.

Even if the feedback is negative, it will help you to reshape your idea and move with a better plan ahead.

### Find a mentor

The competition out there is huge and the challenges you'll need to overcome can be tough.

Sometimes you will be forced to step out of your comfort zone a lot.

Find an experienced mentor that can stick by your side and will support and give you valuable advice throughout your journey.

### Find the right partners

The more your idea will mature the more you will need people with different skills and expertise than yours.

These might be UX experts, software engineers, architects, marketing or sales professionals, and so on.

Don't be reluctant to partner or even hire the right people that can work by your side in order to step up your game.

### Be patient

The world was not created in one day neither your idea will be.

Be patient, stay focused, and above all have fun.

Your idea is a newborn kid that is growing before your eyes.

Try to be a patient parent and enjoy the adventure.

Cheers!!


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