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How To Blog Posts

Modal vs. Separate Page: UX Decision Tree
Mar 19, 2026 | 10:00 am
How to choose between modals and pages, when to avoid modals, and how to determine the right level of interruption or navigation. Brought to you by Smart Interface Design Patterns, a **friendly video course on UX** and design patterns by Vitaly.
JavaScript for Everyone: Destructuring
Mar 19, 2026 | 8:06 am

Mat Marquis and Andy Bell have released JavaScript for Everyone, an online course offered exclusively at Piccalilli. This post is an excerpt from the course taken specifically from a chapter all about JavaScript destructuring.

JavaScript for Everyone: Destructuring originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.

Anime vs. Marvel/DC: Designing Digital Products With Emotion In Flow
Mar 17, 2026 | 5:00 am
Design is about pacing and feelings as much as pixels and patterns. Alan Cohen explores Emotion in Flow and Emotion in Conflict, showing how anime like Dan Da Dan and superhero films like James Gunn’s Superman manage emotional shifts and translating those ideas into practical patterns for product design.
What’s !important #7: random(), Folded Corners, Anchored Container Queries, and More
Mar 16, 2026 | 10:06 am

For this issue of What’s !important, we have a healthy balance of old CSS that you might’ve missed and new CSS that you don’t want to miss. This includes random(), random-item(), folded corners using clip-path, backdrop-filter, font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums, the Popover API, anchored container queries, anchor positioning in general, DOOM in CSS, the customizable select element, :open, scroll-triggered animations, the toolbar element, and somehow, more.

What’s !important #7: random(), Folded Corners, Anchored Container Queries, and More originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.

4 Reasons That Make Tailwind Great for Building Layouts
Mar 16, 2026 | 9:01 am

Tailwind is really great for making layouts and there are many reasons why. Zell Liew looks at four specific examples of common use cases.

4 Reasons That Make Tailwind Great for Building Layouts originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.

Moving From Moment.js To The JS Temporal API
Mar 13, 2026 | 8:00 am
The way JavaScript handles time has evolved significantly, from the built-in `Date` API to Moment.js and now Temporal. The new standard fills gaps in the original `Date` API while addressing limitations found in Moment and other libraries. Joe Attardi shares practical “recipes” for migrating Moment-based code to the new Temporal API.
Beyond `border-radius`: What The CSS `corner-shape` Property Unlocks For Everyday UI
Mar 12, 2026 | 5:00 am
For years, developers have been hacking around the limitations of `border-radius`, using clip-path, SVG masks, and fragile workarounds just to get anything other than round corners. The new `corner-shape` property finally changes that, opening the door to beveled, scooped, and squircle corners.
Abusing Customizable Selects
Mar 11, 2026 | 8:59 am

Let’s go over a few demos using the new customizable <select> feature that may be wild, but also give us a great chance to learn new things in CSS.

Abusing Customizable Selects originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.

Building Dynamic Forms In React And Next.js
Mar 10, 2026 | 8:00 am
Some forms stay UI, while others quietly become rule engines. Here’s why these two different approaches exist and how to choose between them.
The Value of z-index
Mar 9, 2026 | 9:20 am

How we look at the stacking order of our projects, how we choose z-index values, and more importantly, the implications of those choices.

The Value of z-index originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.

Persuasive Design: Ten Years Later
Mar 9, 2026 | 6:00 am
Many product teams still lean on usability improvements and isolated behavioral tweaks to address weak activation, drop-offs, and low retention – only to see results plateau or slip into shallow gamification. Anders Toxboe updates persuasive design for today’s reality, clarifying what has actually held up over the last decade.
Human Strategy In An AI-Accelerated Workflow
Mar 6, 2026 | 2:00 am
UX design is entering a new phase, with designers shifting from makers of outputs to directors of intent. AI can now generate wireframes, prototypes, and even design systems in minutes, but UX has never been only about creating interfaces. It’s about navigating ambiguity, advocating for humans in systems optimised for efficiency, and solving their problems through thoughtful design.
The Different Ways to Select <html> in CSS
Mar 5, 2026 | 8:01 am

Sure, we can select the <html> element in CSS with, you know, a simple element selector, html. But what other (trivial and perhaps useless) ways can we do it?

The Different Ways to Select <html> in CSS originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.

Now Shipping: Accessible UX Research, A New Smashing Book By Michele Williams
Mar 3, 2026 | 9:00 am
Our newest Smashing Book, “Accessible UX Research” by Michele Williams, is finally shipping worldwide — and we couldn’t be happier! This book is about research, but you’ll also learn about assistive technology, different types of disability, and how to build accessibility into the entire design process. This thoughtful book will get you thinking about ways to make your UX research more inclusive and thorough, no matter your budget or timeline. Jump to the book details or order your copy now.
Popover API or Dialog API: Which to Choose?
Mar 2, 2026 | 9:10 am

Choosing between Popover API and Dialog API is difficult because they seem to do the same job, but they don’t! After a bit lots of research, I discovered that the Popover API and Dialog API are wildly different in terms of accessibility and we'll go over that in this article.

Popover API or Dialog API: Which to Choose? originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.