Today, we launched the new Pattern Tap with code patterns. Since acquiring the site last year, we've been adding new patterns to the library everyday and learning from how people use it. It's exciting to expand on Matthew Smith's vision and introduce code patterns to the library. It's an amazing resource.
Introducing Code Patterns
The new code patterns will help product designers use Foundation more effectively in their workflow. The code patterns are great for prototyping and building responsive websites. The introduction of code patterns came as an evolution of the success of our templates on Foundation, an add-on page that quickly became one of the most popular pages within ZURB's network. We're excited about the possibilities and look forward to evolving the site.
The new Pattern Tap fits nicely into our Expo, a resource for product designers to learn, practice and get inspired. This is just one step in our effort to build an awesome education service. We've got a lot of pieces in front of us to refine, but we're up for the task of making the Expo amazing.
Patterns, Expo and ZURB, Oh My!
We recently released the new ZURB.com. It paints a better picture of our evolving business and how we help our customers. As a service-based business, we've been working hard to provide valuable tools, open-source software and training to help our customers we work with get better at people-focused product design. It's a monumental effort for a small team of 25 who are helping the entire globe, but we're nimble, passionate and ambitious.
The Expo is the newest addition to ZURB. It's been evolving over the last four years and it's taken a form that our fans and customers can now appreciate. Product design education has been lacking and we intend to push the boundaries to help companies and students of design grow. The internet needs bright minds to shape its future and ZURB wants to lead this charge.
Building Our Company, ZURB
So what's the thinking behind this effort? Why not just provide consulting services?
It's no longer possible to be successful providing product design services online without thinking about the evolving needs of our customers. Things move too quickly online. Too many devices. Too many variables. Delivering a finished "design" or "UX specs" to a client isn't realistic as the work needs to continually evolve based on customer insights and analytics. Staying stuck in the mindset of a traditional design-services business won't work anymore.
What this means for ZURB:
- We have the opportunity to provide top notch product design services on top of our Foundation framework — while also continuing to support our customers in a touch-and-go relationship, where we can prototype for them using our framework. And with a framework that millions of users interface with, it's a solid bet.
- We can work through prototyping ideas with Solidify, iterate quickly, test those ideas and teach our customers to prototype long after we've engaged with them on a project. When clients come back, we can re-engage at a higher level. Our clients now have access to the same specialized tools we use. Our product design suite continues to get better every day.
- In the process of working through a project, customers will eventually need to hire employees to own our work that we've completed together. And that often involves teaching existing employees ways to solve the same problems we run into every day or helping them connect with our like-minded audience of product designers.
We're approaching our services as more than a one-shot deal, where we continue to work with our customers in an evolving way. We can also help others that aren't always a fit for our services. It's awesome to think about all the possibilities of helping our customers get better at product design!
Pattern Tap is a Great Design Tool
With the updated version of Pattern Tap, it's another tool in our larger toolbox to help designers learn how to build websites and products. It's our hope that designers will continue to use it, like our other tools, as a resource as they grow their skills. If you've got feedback or ideas on making Pattern Tap better, reach out to us at patterntap@zurb.com!
Bryan Zmijewski
Leading the charge at ZURB since 1998
Our fearless leader has been driving progressive design at ZURB since 1998. That makes him quite the instigator around the offices, consistently challenging both the team and our customers to strive to always do better and better.
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Follow him at @bryanzmijewski
