React.js is a popular JavaScript library for building reusable UI components. React Native takes all the great features of React, from the one-way binding and virtual DOM to debugging tools, and applies them to mobile app development on iOS and Android.

With the React Native Universal Windows platform extension, you can now make your React Native applications run on the Universal Windows families of devices, including desktop, mobile, and Xbox, as well as Windows IoT, Surface Hub, and HoloLens.

The post Creating Universal Windows Apps With React Native appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

The element in SVG is the ultimate drawing element. It can draw anything! I’ve heard that under the hood all the other drawing elements ultimately use path anyway. The path element takes a single attribute to describe what it draws: the d attribute. The value it has is a mini syntax all to itself. It can look pretty indecipherable. It’s a ton of numbers and letters smashed together into a long string. Like anything computers, there is a reason to the rhyme. I’m no expert here, but I thought it would be fun to dig into.

Here’s an example of a medium-complexity path, I’d say:

<path d="M213.1,6.7c-32.4-14.4-73.7,0-88.1,30.6C110.6,4.9,67.5-9.5,36.9,6.7C2.8,22.9-13.4,62.4,13.5,110.9
  C33.3,145.1,67.5,170.3,125,217c59.3-46.7,93.5-71.9,111.5-106.1C263.4,64.2,247.2,22.9,213.1,6.7z"/>

We could reformat it to start making sense of it (still valid code):

The letters are commands. The numbers are passing values to those commands. All the commas are optional (they could be spaces).

For example, that first command is M. M says, in a metaphorical sense, pick up the pen and move it to the exact location 213.1, 6.7. Don’t draw anything just yet, just move the location of the Pen. So that if other commands do drawing, it now starts at this location.

M is just one of many path commands. There are 18 of them by my count.

Many (but not all of them) come in a pair. There is an UPPERCASE and a lowercase version. The UPPERCASE version is the absolute version and the lowercase is the relative version. Let’s keep using M as an example:

• M 100,100 means “Pick up the pen and move it to the exact coordinates 100,100”
• m 100,100 means “Move the Pen 100 down and 100 right from wherever you currently are.”

Many commands have that same setup. The lowercase version factors in where the “pen” currently is.

Let’s look at two absolute commands:

<path d=" M 50,50L 100,100 ” /> Pick up the pen and move it to 50,50Put down the penand draw a line to 100,100

Followed by a relative command:

<path d=" M 50,50L 100,100l 25,0 ” /> From the currentposition, move right 25

Just like the M and m commands, L and l take two numbers: either absolute or relative coordinates. There are four other commands that are essentially simpler versions of the line commands. They also draw lines, but only take one value: horizontal or vertical. When we used l 25,0 we could have used h 25 which means “from where the pen currently is, draw 25 to the right. More succinct, I suppose. It’s bigger brother H, as we could guess, means to draw to the exact horizontal coordinate 25. V and v move vertically absolutely and relatively as you’d surely guess.

Check out this Chris Nager demo in which he draws a cross in an extremely tiny amount of code, thanks to relative coordinate drawing:

See the Pen Hand drawn SVG rounded plus by Chris Nager (@chrisnager) on CodePen.

See the very last character Chris used there? Z. Z (or z, it doesn’t matter) “closes” the path. Like any other command, it’s optional. It’s a cheap n’ easy way to draw a straight line directly back to the last place the “pen” was set down (probably the last M or m command). It saves you from having to repeat that first location and using a line command to get back there.

<path d=" M 50,50L 100,100l 25,0Z ” /> Draw a linestraight back to the start

Let’s look at the commands we’ve covered so far.

M x,y	Move to the absolute coordinates x,y
m x,y	Move to the right x and down y (or left and up if negative values)
L x,y	Draw a straight line to the absolute coordinates x,y
l x,y	Draw a straight line to a point that is relatively right x and down y (or left and up if negative values)
H x	Draw a line horizontally to the exact coordinate x
h x	Draw a line horizontally relatively to the right x (or to the left if a negative value)
V y	Draw a line vertically to the exact coordinate y
v y	Draw a line vertically relatively down y (or up if a negative value)
Z (or z)	Draw a straight line back to the start of the path

So far we’ve looked at only straight lines. Path is a perfectly acceptable element and syntax for that, although it could be argued that elements like might have an even easier syntax for straight-line shapes, if slightly more limited.

The superpower of path is curves! There are quite a few different types.

Remember the first bit of example code we looked at used a lot of C and c commands. Those are “Bezier Curves” and require more data do their thing.

The C command takes three points. The first two points define the location of two bezier curve handles. Perhaps that concept is familiar from a tool like the Pen tool in Adobe Illustrator:

The last of the three points is the end of the curve. The point where the curve should finish up. Here’s an illustration:

<path d=" M 25,50C 25,100150,100150,50 ” /> Bezier point #1Bezier point #2Final point

The lowercase c command is exactly the same, except all three points use relative values.

The S (or s) command is buddies with the C commands in that it only requires two points because it assumes that the first bezier point is a reflection of the last bezier point from the last S or C command.

<path d=" M 25,100C 25,150 75,150 75,100S 100,25150,75 ” /> ASSUMED!Bezier PointFinal Point

The Q command is one of the easier ones as it only requires two points. The bezier point it wants is a “Quadratic” curve control point. It’s as if both the starting and ending point share a single point for where their control handle end.

We might as well cover T at the same time. It’s buddies with Q just like S is with C. When T comes after a Q, the control point is assumed to be a reflection of the previous one, so you only need to provide the final point.

<path d=" M 25,75Q 50,15075,100T 150,150 ” /> Bezier PointFinal PointASSUMED!Final Point

The A command (no lowercase version) is probably the most complicated. Or the require the most data, at least. You give it information defining an oval’s width, height, and how that oval is rotated, along with the end point. Then a bit more information about which path along that oval you expect the path to take. From MDN:

there are two possible ellipses for the path to travel around and two different possible paths on both ellipses, giving four possible paths. The first argument is the large-arc-flag. It simply determines if the arc should be greater than or less than 180 degrees; in the end, this flag determines which direction the arc will travel around a given circle. The second argument is the sweep-flag. It determines if the arc should begin moving at negative angles or positive ones, which essentially picks which of the two circles you will travel around.

Joni Trythall’s graphic explaining A from her article on SVG paths is pretty clear:

Here’s written explanations of those curve commands.

C cX1,cY1 cX2,cY2 eX,eY	Draw a bezier curve based on two bezier control points and end at specified coordinates
c	Same with all relative values
S cX2,cY2 eX,eY	Basically a C command that assumes the first bezier control point is a reflection of the last bezier point used in the previous S or C command
s	Same with all relative values
Q cX,cY eX,eY	Draw a bezier curve based a single bezier control point and end at specified coordinates
q	Same with all relative values
T eX,eY	Basically a Q command that assumes the first bezier control point is a reflection of the last bezier point used in the previous Q or T command
t	Same with all relative values
A rX,rY rotation, arc, sweep, eX,eY	Draw an arc that is based on the curve an oval makes. First define the width and height of the oval. Then the rotation of the oval. Along with the end point, this makes two possible ovals. So the arc and sweep are either 0 or 1 and determine which oval and which path it will take.

Wanna see a bunch of examples? OK:

See the Pen Simple Path Examples by Chris Coyier (@chriscoyier) on CodePen.

If you’re looking in a recently-released Blink-based browser and you have a mouse, you’ll see some hover animations! Turns out you can set path data right in CSS now. For example…

<svg viewBox="0 0 10 10">
  <path d="M2,5 C2,8 8,8 8,5" />
</svg>

svg:hover path {
  transition: d 0.2s;
  d: path("M2,5 C2,2 8,2 8,5");
}

---

Wanna know more about SVG? It’s seriously cool I promise. I wrote a whole book on it. It’s called Practical SVG and it’s not very expensive.

---

The SVG `path` Syntax: An Illustrated Guide is a post from CSS-Tricks

In this tutorial, we’re going to learn how to create a realistic Kylo Ren lightsaber effect in Adobe Photoshop.

Download Adobe Photoshop.

Read More at Realistic Lightsaber Effect in Photoshop

You’ve got your website and marketing well underway. With well researched keywords, an active social media base and a constant supply of fresh content, you’re drawing in new traffic unlike ever before.

But simply reaching a potential audience isn’t enough. You need to convert your visitors into customers. With enough time and practice, you’ll almost always be able to increase traffic. The secret is learning how to convert.

Fortunately, finding the right conversion methods is easy using A/B Tests. Here’s what you need to know:

What are A/B Tests?

This is a way to better understand the needs and preferences of your audience. You run two different types of content and see which performs better. This content could be a web page, a blog post, a sales email or any other way you connect with your target audiences.

A/B testing works for companies of practically any type and size. In 2011, Google ran over 7,000 A/B tests on all sorts of subjects. They even tested over 50 different shades of blue on their call-to-action button.

How Effective are A/B Tests?

Over time, they’re very effective. But using A/B comparisons is an ongoing process. You’re always aiming for improvement.

Each A/B test will typically show about a 5% gain. That’s alright. You still have a direction to move towards. You’ll probably need to conduct about eight A/B tests before you’ll see significant change.

What Can You Test Using the A/B System?

Call-to-Action Buttons

There’s a lot of “experts” out there who insist there’s only one color you should use for your CTA buttons. The problem is, nobody agrees on what color that is.

“Red creates a sense of emergency.” “Blue creates a soothing feeling.” “Gray adds a professional touch.” None of this is really true.

The right color depends on:

• 1) Your overall website design
• 2) Whatever color is preferred by the majority of your target audience

There’s no magic way to predict what color this will be. But you can split test and find the color your audience prefers.

Images on the Landing Page

You always want to add images to your content to create landing pages that convert. Add a photo, illustration, cartoon or other image into your text every two or three paragraphs, or roughly every 300 words.

Images break up the text into easy-to-read sections. Some images, such as infographics, can add supplementary information to your text.

Use A/B testing to see what images your customer base responds to best. The two major image types are Person Based and Information Based.

A Person Based image shows someone using your product or just generally living their life. There’s more of an emotional connection than a fact-based one. An Information Based image is an illustration with facts and figures, like an Infographic.

If you’re selling a physical product, include images of people actually using it. If your product is a service, especially a virtual B2B service, you should probably use Information Based images which explain how your product works and what customers can expect.

Headlines

A/B testing is a great way to craft headlines which will resonate with your audience. You can experiment with different phrases in order to find the ultimate eye-catching headlines. This is important because you only have about five seconds to grab a reader’s interest.

Show your audience that you understand their needs. You identify with their “pain point,” the problem they currently have. Then explain how your brand is the perfect solution.

Here’s an okay headline: “The Power of Images in an SEO Campaign”

Here’s a great headline: “Using Images to Increase Customer Conversion.”

The last headline identifies the problem, which is a lack of conversions. The headline also promises a solution. Finally, the headline has an active voice.

Email Subject Lines

A well-written subject line can make the difference between an email being opened or moved directly to the junk folder. Split testing is a big help while also being easy to implement, too. Using a similar customer base, send emails with one subject line to one half and send emails with another subject line to the other. Compare the response rate and refine over time.

Generally, shorter subject lines will get more responses. I keep my character limit to between 28 and 39.

Also, follow the same rules as headlines. Identify the pain point and promise a solution. Don’t describe the solution is too much detail. After all, we want to give the reader a reason to open the email. At the same time, don’t be overly vague or generic.

Increasing customer engagement is a journey, not a destination. A/B split testing is an easy and effective way to gauge the response levels of your potential customers. I highly recommend this technique for any website.

How has A/B testing helped you? Share your tips in the comments below!

Qualifying your clients is an important step that helps to keep you from wasting time on those suspects who will either never buy from you or be a poor fit for your business. Even worse are those suspects who will pick your brain, only to use the information you provide with another, often lower-cost, provider.

I have a consulting client who is a startup freelance Web designer. When she came to me, she said her problem was spending a lot of time drafting proposals, but not closing any deals. After we talked for a bit, it became apparent that her problem wasn’t closing, it was qualifying, or, rather, the lack of it. In her eagerness to get work, she would invest a load of time writing proposals for whoever called or emailed. Now, she’s closing more sales because she’s taking the time to properly qualify prospects and ensure they’re a good fit for her business.

Here are some questions to ask to start qualifying your prospects:

1. Do they need what you provide?

You may have found a hot prospect that appears to do a lot of Web work. But, upon further investigation, you find that the work is handled by an in-house staff. Or it could be that they’re completely satisfied with their current supplier and have no desire to change.

The point is, before you invest a significant amount of time, find out if they really are a motivated potential buyer.

2. Do you have experience in the industry?

Have you done this type of work before or will you need to invest in training, buy software or other tools? If so, will you be able to recoup those expenses? Beyond this, using your client as a guinea pig can be pretty risky. Always be up front with them and let them know your situation. If you’ve built up trust, they may be willing to work with you.

3. Can they pay for it?

Just because your prospect, or rather suspect at this point, says all is well and seems like they have some money, do what you can to ensure their ability to pay. Ask around to see if any of your associates have worked with the prospect. Did they pay on time? Were there problems, or did everything go smoothly?

It’s a good idea to open a Dunn & Bradstreet (http://www.dnb.com/) account and check your prospects’ credit ratings. D&B provides a variety of reports to help you assess your prospects’ credit worthiness and ability to pay. D&B offers a free 30-day trial with discounts on credit reports

4. Do they provide the opportunity for repeat business?

Working mostly, or exclusively, on one-off projects means you’ll need to spend a lot of time marketing and promoting your practice. Repeat business, on the other hand, is easier to sell, if it even needs to be sold. Plus, clients who offer repeat business help to ensure that a freelancer’s business has a more predicable cash flow.

5. Do they have a realistic budget? Are they hesitant to share their numbers?

Often, clients — and especially smaller clients — don’t have a clue what Web design and development costs can be or how time-intensive the process often is. Many think of it as an off-the-shelf commodity with a fixed price tag. As such, they may be hesitant or unwilling to share their numbers or thoughts about costs. The thinking is something along the lines of, “If I tell them my budget, I won’t get the best price.”

This can be a red flag indicating that the prospect doesn’t trust you. It’s your job to educate them. Toss out some numbers and see what comes back. For example, you might try something such as, “Based on what you’re describing, a site could be as little as $5000 or as much as $8,000. Is that pretty much what you had mind?”

Some prospects will tell you they have no idea what their budget is for a given project. Again, toss out a number. Their response is usually, “Wow! I wasn’t expecting it to be that much!” All of a sudden, they have a budget in mind.

6. Is there a realistic deadline for the project?

If the timeline to complete the project means you’ll need to reschedule other work or labor into the wee hours to complete it, you may want to consider passing. Taking on a rush project or one without a reasonable window can mean putting your other clients’ work on the back burner. That can result in upsetting them, missing a deadline and often both.

Rush work can also open door for errors. Beyond this, the pressure to complete a rush project can make you angry with the client, even though it’s your fault for taking agreeing to the time frame.

7. Have they worked with a Web designer? If so, who?

If the prospect has never worked with a Web designer before, that means you’ll need to educate them. Can you afford to invest the extra time needed to bring them up to speed? Novice clients are notorious for not having a clear understanding of what they’re trying to accomplish with a site, and that usually means a lot of revisions. Will you be able to bill for those revisions?

8. Is the prospect the final decision-maker?

Here’s a lousy situation. You work hard to build a relationship with a client contact. They’ve implied several times that it’s their project and they’re the decision maker. You’ve become an important resource and demonstrated your value. Everything appears to be moving in the right direction. When the time is right, you submit a proposal, but while meeting with the contact, they tell you they’ll need to run your proposal by their boss, committee or others.

Your heart sinks. You’ve invested time and resources wooing the wrong person. In all likelihood, you’ll need to start from the beginning with a new person or persons.

It’s human nature to want to appear to have more authority than one really has. Your contact probably wasn’t trying to pull the wool over your eyes. They just wanted to feel important. All this could have been avoided with a spin on a simple qualifying question.

Early on, ask your contact, “Who, beside yourself, will be responsible for giving approvals?” Asking in this manner provides a graceful way for your contact to save face while getting the information you need.

9. Does there appear to be a good personality fit?

You’ll be spending a lot of time with this person, and it helps if you can get along easily. Plus, people buy from people, and usually people they like. This doesn’t mean the contact needs to become one of your personal friends. That can happen, but the main thing is that your personalities gel enough to get through the project.

10. What does your gut tell you?

Gut feelings are often correct. If I had to gander a guess, I’d say it’s due to our collective, yet somewhat unconscious, experience in dealing with people. Look for all reasons why you shouldn’t work with the prospect. This may sound counterproductive, but it will keep you safer.

Qualifying prospects is as important as the project itself. Take the time needed up front to save yourself headaches on the back end. Qualifying should be an integral part of your overall process. Sure, it takes a bit on time and research, but in the end, you’ll create a stable of qualified clients you enjoy working for and with over the long haul.

90+ Bohemian Seamless Vector Patterns – only $19!

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When creating a mobile application, a developer imagines a model and the way users will use the application. One problem that developers face is that users do not always use an app the way it was envisaged by the developer.

How do users interact with the app? What do they do in the app? Do they do what the developer wants them to do? Mobile analytics help to answer these questions. Analytics allow the developer to understand what happens with the app in real life and provide an opportunity to adjust and improve the app after seeing how users actually use it. To put it simply, analytics is the study of user behavior.

The post Finding Better Mobile Analytics appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers.

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.

Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that were posted, so don’t miss out and subscribe to our newsletter and follow the site daily for all the news.

Your Text is Too Small

Site Design: Snap Inc.

UI Movement 2.0: UI Design Inspiration, Daily

Snap Inc. – The New Snapchat

Open Color: A UI Color Theme Perceptible by the Color Blind

Ethics for Designers

The 35 Most Innovative Apps of the Year

Links with Underlines as a Best Practice

Site Design: Zerofinancial.com

Should UX Designers Join the Dark Side?

Coolors : Beautiful Color Palettes

Coding Rainbow is a Gorgeous, Free Guide to Creative Software Development

Why Debranding is the Future

Concentr.me

Good Enough Design: The Value of Creativity in Digital Product Design

Meet the New Meetup

Startup Patterns: Bite-sized Startup Lessons for Busy Founders

Mailchimp: Essential Email Design Guide

Simpplr: The Modern Employee Community

Google Rebrands its Business Apps as G Suite, Launches Team Drive & Upgrades apps

What Fonts Tell us About the Global Economics of the Internet

10 Inspired Alternatives to Helvetica

Undeveloped – Domains You Never Thought were Available

Stop Talking About Accessibility. Start Talking About Inclusive Design.

Google, Facebook and Microsoft Team up to Clear the Air About AI

Want more? No problem! Keep track of top design news from around the web with Webdesigner News.

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Every week we feature a set of comics created exclusively for WDD.

The content revolves around web design, blogging and funny situations that we encounter in our daily lives as designers.

These great cartoons are created by Jerry King, an award-winning cartoonist who’s one of the most published, prolific and versatile cartoonists in the world today.

So for a few moments, take a break from your daily routine, have a laugh and enjoy these funny cartoons.

Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below as well as any related stories of your own…

Price match

No changes shock

Stocking up

Can you relate to these situations? Please share your funny stories and comments below…

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