YouTube has a new look. And it’s called Cosmic Panda.

YouTube is field testing a fresh look to their entire site. With a much cleaner UI, letterboxed videos, new playlist views and and much more elegant experience, I’ve got to say that I really like it. 

If you want to try it, just go to http://youtube.com/cosmicpanda. 

If you decide that you don’t like it or don’t want to switch just yet, you can always go back. 

OMG Text

9-bits:

Excellent Compass extension from Jared Hardy that provides some fun text effects using text-shadow.

Really awesome text effects. Love the examples! 

Source: 9-bits
I’m really excited for the upcoming release of Squarespace V6. There’s not a ton of information available about it but it looks like it’s going to be much easier to manage large sites and big pages. I’ve been bugging them on Twitter to get their beta going but still no word. 

I’m really excited for the upcoming release of Squarespace V6. There’s not a ton of information available about it but it looks like it’s going to be much easier to manage large sites and big pages. I’ve been bugging them on Twitter to get their beta going but still no word. 

How do I know you won’t bill me for extra hours?

clientsfromhell:

Client: “Whats your fees to do this template?”

Me: “$40 per hour.”

Client: “Thats steep. How do I know you won’t bill me for extra hours.”

Me: “If you want to be sure you can come and watch.”

Client: “No wiseguy, give me a call whenever you start working on it and whenever you take breaks. I will keep count of the hours.”

Source: clientsfromhell
There’s something about MailChimp’s site that is stunning. The layout, typography, effects. All really awesome.

There’s something about MailChimp’s site that is stunning. The layout, typography, effects. All really awesome.

Kill The Settings, Build Opinionated Software

An excellent article by Mike Rundle about building software the way YOU want it to work. 

Your app has too many settings, too many things to tweak. API endpoints? Colors of the rainbow? 100 different fonts and font sizes? Temperature in Kelvin? Switch the app to use Esperanto?
Kill the settings, kill them all.

Source: flyosity.com

Drop Down Menus

I can’t even begin to describe the amount of forms I’ve filled out on websites. Whether I’m registering for something, buying something online, etc. I’ve done it thousands upon thousands of times. 

But here’s something I hate. When it comes time to select what country you live in, I absolutely despise having to scroll all the way down to the bottom of a list of ridiculously obscure countries to find United States. 

I’m not saying that U.S should always be on the top (well, for most sites - I kind of am saying that) but it should at least have like a “top five most selected” list. Some sites do this and I just think it’s a nice usability touch that other sites should think about. 

This is such an inventive and really simple website design. Rolling over any of the words totally changes the way you see the page. It’s cool, check it out.

This is such an inventive and really simple website design. Rolling over any of the words totally changes the way you see the page. It’s cool, check it out.

Admin

When I go on a website for the first time one of the first things I do is type things like “/wp-admin” or “/administrator” or “/admin” to see what platform the website is using.

More often than not, I strike gold with “/wp-admin”. Gotta love Wordpress.

Don’t judge me.