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Choose Your Adventure!

Kyle Neath
April 28, 2012
7.8k

Choose Your Adventure!

Designers can't be developers and companies who build web apps can't build desktop apps. Well, maybe in 1997 — but it's 2012. Things done changed. It's time to focus on building amazing companies full of fantastic people. Build amazing apps that people love to use. Screw false specialization, iOS shops, and mobile-only products. We're people building apps for other people to use on technofantastical devices of tomorrow.

Kyle Neath

April 28, 2012
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Transcript

  1. choose your
    adventure!
    START
    HERE
    *

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  2. 1997
    Me = 13 years old

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  5. I’m Kyle Neath
    Find me @kneath

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  6. I’m Director of Design
    I work at GitHub. It’s a tech thing.

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  7. Mostly, I discuss features
    write code
    sketch
    design

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  8. I’m ≅ Designer
    That label frustrates me.

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  9. I’m a Builder
    I build things with computers.

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  10. games
    photo-sharing
    START
    HERE
    TOOLS

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  11. Our tools are kinda shitty
    Well, historically they’ve been shitty.

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  12. THE FIGHT of the decade
    designer developer
    vs.

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  13. Pretty dumb.

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  14. Things are looking up!

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  15. AppKit UIKit

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  16. Deployment just
    isn’t a thing

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  17. Remembering my first time

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  18. The most challenging part
    of building Nightfire…

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  19. ASP 3.0
    Game concept
    SQL
    Getting the @*!¡#*; hosted

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  20. Getting the @*!¡#*; hosted
    Time spent not building the game

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  21. > Please enter cheat code...

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  22. > Please enter cheat code...
    >

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  23. > Please enter cheat code...
    >
    > Skipping Stage 1: Learn Ubuntu

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  24. > Please enter cheat code...
    >
    > Skipping Stage 1: Learn Ubuntu
    > Please continue building rad shit

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  25. Gets this

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  26.  WWDC 1997
    e way you get programmer
    productivity is not by increasing the
    lines of code per programmer per day.
    at doesn’t work.

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  27.  WWDC 1997
    e way you get programmer
    productivity is by eliminating
    lines of code you have to write.

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  28.  NeXT Philosophy
    RADNESS
    EFFORT
    EFFORT
    FRAMEWORK

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  29.  NeXT Philosophy
    RADNESS
    EFFORT
    EFFORT
    FRAMEWORK
    Manages  complexity

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  30. EFFORT
    We’re still writing code
    solving hard problems
    pushing limits

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  31. FRAMEWORK

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  32. increase your potential
    for building rad shit
    TOOLS

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  33. Spectrum of Builders
    Where do you want to apply your potential?

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  34. Network
    Ops
    Business
    Executive
    Copywriter
    Visual
    Designer
    UX
    Designer
    Sysadmin
    Assembly
    Hacker
    Kernel
    Hacker
    Mac
    Developer
    Marketer

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  35. This is your potential
    How do you want to spend it?
    Proficient
    Mastered

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  36. 1997
    I want to be a master
    Mac Developer
    Mastered

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  37. 1997
    I want to be a master
    Visual Designer
    Mastered

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  38. 1997
    I want to be a proficient
    Visual Designer
    and play around as a
    Mac Developer
    Proficient

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  39. 2012
    I want to be a master
    Visual Designer
    and a proficient
    Mac Developer
    Proficient
    Mastered
    TOOLS
    and a proficient
    Marketer!
    and learn me some
    Unix!

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  40. ?
    20..
    Proficient
    TOOLS
    What does it mean when we hit
    Double Rainbow?

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  41. increase your potential
    for building rad shit
    better companies

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  42. GitHub is a web shop
    mac shop
    java shop
    iphone shop
    windows shop
    android shop

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  43. GitHub builds good tools

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  44. GitHub hires for web
    mac
    java
    iphone
    windows
    android

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  45. Our windows developer
    Loves to work on the web api
    windows  needs  a  good  api
    the  api  needs  good  clients

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  46. Our iPhone developer
    Now works on a CoffeeScript app
    Got sick of iOS development
    everyone  needs  change
    everyone  wants  to  learn

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  47. GitHub hires really good builders
    and keeps them happy
    so they build great tools

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  52. better companies
    Closing
    thoughts

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  53. Design is a philosophy
    Not a profession.

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  54. Engineering is a philosophy
    Not a profession.

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  55. Why can’t you code?
    If the end product is well-designed software,

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  56. Why can’t you design?
    If the end product is well-designed software,

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  57. Know how to design and code
    It’s your personal responsibility

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