making a big impact with a small web team
TRANSCRIPT
MAKING A BIG IMPACTwith a small web team
MATT [email protected]
OBLIGATORY BACKGROUND INFO
2004 2007–2011 2011–now2003
APARTMENT THERAPYSaving the world, one room at a time.
THE KITCHNInspiring cooks, nourishing homes.
12EDITORIAL+90 active contributors
7ADVERTISING
4OPERATIONS
7TECHNOLOGY
7 PEOPLE!? You call that small?
64 M monthly pageviews
25 pageviews per second
monthly unique visitors19 M
WEB TEAM SIZE COMPARISON
7
20
39
9.6M
19M
WEB TEAM SIZEMUU (UNIQUES)
16M
big small teams
big small teamsIGNORE JOB TITLES
Senior WebDesigner
Sr. Front-EndWeb Developer
Front-EndEngineer
Senior WebEngineer
Senior WebEngineer
OperationsEngineer
Chief Technology Officer
330 employees
100% flat hierarchy
http://www.valvesoftware.com/jobs/
“Traditionally at Valve, nobody has an actualtitle… [W]e all take on the role that suits thework in front of us. Everyone is a designer. Everyone can question each other’s work. Anyone can recruit someone onto his or her project.”
JOB TITLE
GENERAL WEB SKILLS
Job titles should bedescriptive, not restrictive.
NEW FEATURE ASSIGNMENTS
BACKEND FRONT-END DESIGN
BUILDING A T-SHAPED TEAM
1. TEACH EACH OTHERCode reviews / Group bug fixes / Swap jobs for a day
2. LOSE YOUR EGOGive up full control
3. TAKE OWNERSHIP OF EVERYTHINGDon’t hide behind title / Jump in and help
big small teamsDEFEND THEIR SCHEDULE
Site visitorsEditorial
AdvertisingCEOUs
STAKEHOLDERS
EFFECTS OF INTERRUPTIONS
DEFEND?
It’s about settinggood expectations.
1. DON’T REACT
2. CHANNEL SUPERNANNY
You need to put on your pajamasand brush your teeth.
Which would you like to do first, put on your PJs or brush your teeth?
I DON’T WANNA GO TO BED!
Invite a conversation.Give them a choice.
We’re in the middle of anotherproject right now. No.
That will delay our current project.Which would you rather have first?
GIMME PHOTO GALLERIES!
3. WORK IN PUBLIC
WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN
Share it with everyone.
big small teamsARE TERRIBLE ESTIMATORS
(AND THEY KNOW IT)
SKELETON CREWFewer people = less experience
SHIFTING TIDESInterruptions
UNKNOWN DANGERSBrowser bugs / Hidden complexity
SO HOW DO WE GET BETTER?
1. EXPERIENCE...but that takes time
2. MORE TIME PLANNING...can’t predict interruptions and scope changes
3. SMALLER FEATURES...we’ll get to that in a minute
Make your estimate.Then double it.
big small teamsPERFORM TASK TRIAGE
Manage tasks byassigning priority.
TASK TRIAGE
Small Task Large Task
HighImpact
LowImpact
LOW-HANGINGFRUIT
BASEMENTCLOSET
MAJORFEATURES
IN-BETWEENTASKS
big small teamsTAKE TINY BITES
PHOTO GALLERY SPEC
Captions on images
No JS required
Editable in CMS
Embed on any page
Full-screen popup
Swipeable
PROJECT ESTIMATE8 weeks
Start with theminimum viable product.
Embed on any page / No JS required
VERSION 12 weeks
+
EDIT GALLERY
++ + +
++++
Editable in CMS
VERSION 12 weeks
VERSION 22 weeks
Full-screen popup / Captions on images
This is a caption for my image!
+CLOSE
VERSION 12 weeks
VERSION 22 weeks
VERSION 32 weeks
Swipeable
a caption for my image!
+CLOSE
Look! I’m swipeab
VERSION 12 weeks
VERSION 22 weeks
VERSION 32 weeks
VERSION 42 weeks
Progressive enhancement.
WHY TAKE TINY BITES?
1. FASTER RELEASESHappy users / Happy stakeholders / Happy team
2. EASIER ESTIMATION1 large task vs. 4 small tasks
3. BECAUSE WE CANServer deploy = instant upgrade
big small teamsARE PRAGMATIC,NOT DOGMATIC
dog·mat·icinclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true
prag·mat·icdealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations
Focus on what worksinstead of what’s “right.”
RESPONSIVE LAYOUT — IMAGES
RESPONSIVE LAYOUT — IMAGES
It’s not any worse than before.We can solve that problem later.
Smaller screens must be servedsmaller images before we launch.
NAMING CONVENTIONS
PRESENTATIONAL.pull-left
.pull-right.aside
.aside-alt
SEMANTICLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec aliquam eleifend egestas. Quisque a elit neque. Pellentesque eleifend nisi placerat, porttitor mi a, venenatis
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec aliquam eleifend egestas. Quisque a elit neque. Pellentesque eleifend nisi placerat, porttitor mi a, venenatis tellus. Nullam tempor orci magna, eget fringilla turpis tristiq aliquam eleifend nec.
tellus. Nullam tempor orci magna, eget fringilla turpis tristique aliquam eleifend nec.
NAMING CONVENTIONS
PRESENTATIONAL.pull-left
.pull-right.aside
.aside-alt
SEMANTICLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec aliquam eleifend egestas. Quisque a elit neque. Pellentesque eleifend nisi placerat, porttitor mi a, venenatis
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec aliquam eleifend egestas. Quisque a elit neque. Pellentesque eleifend nisi placerat, porttitor mi a, venenatis tellus. Nullam tempor orci magna, eget fringilla turpis tristiq aliquam eleifend nec.
tellus. Nullam tempor orci magna, eget fringilla turpis tristique aliquam eleifend nec.
Either way works, as long as we agree to stay consistent.
Classes shouldn’t describe presentation! Semantic naming!
Use best practices, butonly when they’re helpful.
IGNORE JOB TITLESJob titles should be descriptive,
not restrictive.
DEFEND THEIR SCHEDULEIt’s about setting
good expectations.
ARE TERRIBLE ESTIMATORS(AND THEY KNOW IT)
Make your estimate.Then double it.
PERFORM TASK TRIAGEManage tasks byassigning priority.
TAKE TINY BITESStart with the
minimum viable product.
ARE PRAGMATIC,NOT DOGMATIC
Focus on what worksinstead of what’s “right.”
BIG SMALL TEAMS...
thanks!