2015

January 01, 2016

It’s easy to forget how much we get done over the course of a year. Sometimes it’s good to take note of what we have achieved, and think about next year.

2015 was busy. I learned a lot and published more than ever. Here are some highlights.

CSSAnimation.rocks

In January I registered the domain cssanimation.rocks, with the intention of writing a book. While that didn’t happen, I did manage to create a 4-week email course and write 15 in-depth CSS tutorials. The site has been well received, with over 500,000 views and more than 850 people taking part in the course.

Along the way I also worked with Native to get the site translated into other languages. Thanks to over a dozen kind volunteers, articles have now been translated into 10 languages.

Writing and speaking

Outside of the CSS tutorials, I managed to write two articles for Tuts+, and the opening article for 24 Ways. I’ve also finished an article that should, fingers crossed, feature in Net Magazine in a couple of months.

I was lucky enough also to be asked to speak at Defuse Dublin. It was possibly the most nerve-wracking 5-minute talk I’ve ever done but well worth doing. It’s on Youtube here. I also got to take part in a Boagworld podcast.

I also started a meetup, CodePen Dublin. We met 3 times and had some great chats about front-end development and working in Dublin.

Next Year

A problem I often face is trying to do everything at once. I’d like to try to continue to improve my focus this year, and put my energy into a small number of projects. Practicing mindfulness is something I’ve been trying recently and I think it’ll help.

I learned a lot in producing the CSS Animation course, and I’m keen to make another course or two this year and do it even better.

This year will be a huge one for UX, front-end performance (including offline design principles and making single page apps faster), and it’ll be great seeing browsers continue to improve their support of service workers and other awesome tools.

A good 2016 for me will be one in which I continue to learn, give back to the community, and find a balance between family time and working time that works for both.

Links

Articles on CSS Animation:

International CSS Animation homepages:

Elsewhere: