com.abtinbidgoli~UX/UI Developer

Going Cold Turkey: Phone Addiction & Detox

Abtin Bidgoli
2 January 2024
7 minute read

I accepted my phone addiction as something that automatically comes along with having a phone, like a charger, or anxiety. But it wasn’t until recently that my symptoms became too bad to ignore. My brain had become so foggy that I thought Dogecoin was an investment. Yes, I gambled in Dogecoin, then quickly reallocated to Bitcoin, Ethereum & Litecoin.

At first I didn’t know what the source of this hazy feeling was. Was I depressed? Can you just one day wake up with a new foggy personality? It wasn’t until my daily screen time caught my eye that I made the connection: I had gone a week spending an average of six hours a day on my phone. I truly can’t imagine a universe where God doesn’t regret putting me on this earth, considering this information.

Publishes 2 January 2024

5 Stages in the Design Thinking Process

Abtin Bidgoli
2 December 2023
6 minute read

Design Thinking is a design methodology that provides a solution-based approach to solving problems. It’s extremely useful in tackling complex problems that are ill-defined or unknown, by understanding the human needs involved, by re-framing the problem in human-centric ways, by creating many ideas in brainstorming sessions, & by adopting a hands-on approach in prototyping & testing.

Understanding these five stages of Design Thinking will empower anyone to apply the Design Thinking methods in order to solve complex problems that occur around us ~ in our companies, in our countries, & even on the scale of our planet.

Publishes 2 December 2023

Technologies I’ve Decided To Focus On

Abtin Bidgoli
2 November 2023
7 minute read

I’ve decided to specialize in a few technologies which I believe are the best tool for their respective jobs. Or will be in the future hopefully.

These are a higher level of abstraction, for apps that fit within their constraints. 80% of development is accidental complexity: details that you shouldn’t have to worry about. One sign of accidental complexity is businesspeople asking why it’s taking so long.

Publishes 2 November 2023

Page Experience & Core Web Vitals

Abtin Bidgoli
2 October 2023
4 minute read

The Speed Report in the Google Search Console (recently renamed “Core Web Vitals”) is offering two new performance metrics: Cumulative Layout Shift & Largest Contentful Paint additionally to the First Input Delay. Core Web Vitals have also been deployed in tools such as Page Speed Insights or Lighthouse.

Google recently announced a major change to come: the search engine will release a new Page Experience signal for ranking in 2021, based on Core Web Vitals, with detailed objectives to comply with. Let’s discover about Core Web Vitals and the details of the Google’s announcement.

Publishes 2 October 2023

1996: Flash & CSS Bring Design to the Web

Abtin Bidgoli
2 September 2023
6 minute read

After the birth of web apps in 1993 with CGI scripts, followed by startups like Yahoo using Perl code to create dynamic websites in 1994, & then client-side interactivity arriving in 1995 with Netscape’s JavaScript, the web was evolving fast into a full-stack programming platform. During the same time period, there were experiments happening on the presentation side of the web; what eventually became known as web design.

Even though web programmers had their differences (JavaBeans or ActiveX?), web design in the 1990s became a much more deeply divided occupation. There were two stylistically opposed approaches to web design, epitomized by two distinct ~ & utterly different ~ technologies, both of which debuted in 1996.

Publishes 2 September 2023

1997: The Year of DHTML

Abtin Bidgoli
2 August 2023
5 minute read

Albeit 1997 was a year of growth for JavaScript. However, it was also a year in which its limitations were recognized & a new term was coined that both embraced & extended JavaScript.

DHTML, or Dynamic HTML, was essentially a combination of HTML, JavaScript, the newly released CSS standard, & an emerging web programming model called the DOM (Document Object Model). That said, the precise definition of DHTML depended on which browser company you spoke to: Netscape or Microsoft.

Publishes 2 August 2023

Calculating Hours, Client Factors

Abtin Bidgoli
2 July 2023
5 minute read

Pricing for services is one of the vital realms where creative professionals do not often possess significant skill. & this is a shame because price estimation skill is often directly tied to a developer's ability to keep clients happy & derive a sense of satisfaction from the work; important stuff.

So in this article I want to examine some of the common but not oft-cited factors that affect project hours’ calculations & how these factors affect our pricing considerations, all in an effort to help developers avoid pricing mistakes.

Publishes 2 July 2023

Developing an Intentional Life

Abtin Bidgoli
2 June 2023
7 minute read

With deepest gratitude to my parents, Reza “Ray” & Nazila, & to my brother Arian, who together showed me the hidden language of love. It has made all the difference.

If I am deceiving you, though, I am deceiving myself first of all. These are the stories I tell myself. This is the story of how I went down the wrong path, & managed to find my way back before it was too late thanks to my loved ones.

Publishes 2 June 2023

Starting your Digital Transformation Journey

Abtin Bidgoli
2 May 2023
15 minute read

Getting started on a project is often the hardest part. When the project is as substantial as enterprise digital transformation, the first step can feel crushing.

Two of the founders, Meighan Newhouse & Amir Azarbad, sat down to discuss getting transformations off the ground. Note: This conversation took place in early 2020 prior to the pandemic.

Publishes 2 May 2023

A Case Study in Design Operations

Abtin Bidgoli
2 April 2023
5 minute read

Create a team mission statement collaboratively with your team. Make sure everybody understands what a mission statement is & abstract the core purpose & value of your team by identifying themes in stories of value about your team.

This article provides a practical, step-by-step guide for creating a mission statement using collaborative activities that lead teams through understanding what a mission is, defining the unique value of the team & capturing that value in a memorable, succinct statement.

Publishes 2 April 2023

Tang-e Vashi: Alborz range in Iran

Abtin Bidgoli
2 March 2023
10 minute read

Summertime has always been synonymous with relaxation, adventurous trips & in this regard, Tehran & its surroundings do not disappoint. A few kilometers east of Tehran province, there is a recreational summer spot with plenty of natural attractions such as freshwater lakes, spas & roaring rivers. Situated near the village Jalizjand on the road to Firouzkuh, Tang-e Vashi (or Tangeh Savashi) is a place with tourist attractions.

Its pleasant climate draws a huge crowd of passengers & tourists in the summers. In the Mazandarani language spoken by the locals, Vashi means grass. One of the most attractive parts of one’s trip to the gorge is perhaps passing a river which is located in the middle of a stone valley. This place includes two gorges. At the end of the second gorge, there is a waterfall as high as 15 meters where you can dive into to enjoy a natural shower!

Publishes 2 March 2023

SEC & Crypto: Conversations with Friends

Abtin Bidgoli
2 February 2023
5 minute read

The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission is a large independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market manipulation.

The Biden administration is taking a more hands-on approach to the highly volatile, little understood, & barely regulated cryptocurrency industry. Cryptocurrencies are decentralized digital currencies secured by blockchain technology. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin & other cryptocurrencies have become almost as accessible as government-issued currency in recent years, but the government offers few consumer protections for them.

Publishes 2 February 2023

Gonzo Journalism: Decadent & Depraved

Abtin Bidgoli
2 January 2023
8 minute read

When I think back on first reading Thompson's Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream, it's the fevered moments of paranoia & debauchery tripping off the page like some kind of drug-induced sweat that I remember best. What I don't remember is the winner of the Mint 400 Desert Race that was held in Las Vegas during March of 1971, but that was the original 250 word photo caption assignment that Thompson was hired to cover by Sports Illustrated during his time in Las Vegas.

Having said that, Thompson instead delivered a vicious commentary on the American Dream with himself right smack dab in the middle. The unique blend of autobiographical incidents with pure fiction as a form of journalism is called Gonzo Journalism. While in the Air Force, Thompson taught himself the basic principles of journalism: truth, accuracy, impartiality, accountability & the ever-important who, what, when, where & why.

Publishes 2 January 2023

Program Hopping & the Dangers of Knowledge Seeking

Abtin Bidgoli
2 December 2022
5 minute read

I devour books & blog posts, chasing the perfect method, the perfect system. I try a new thing for a week or two ~ excited to change my life ~ for good this time. Then I devour more books & blog posts.

It would take an old-school Olympic lifting coach, a state record, & 24 unwanted pounds of fat gain before I really learned what was going on. This is the story I coyly tell myself of how I came to realize my addiction, & how I’m crawling my way out of it, one boring fundamental at a time.

Publishes 2 December 2022

Peace through Diplomacy during these Unprecedented Times

Abtin Bidgoli
2 November 2022
5 minute read

It sounds paradoxical & absurd to think that some of us might need to find something to worry about in order to recover our equilibrium. Worry is, after all, something we should rightly hate to have to suffer & should engage with only when absolutely necessary.

Yet, some of us do start to feel distinctly nervous when things around us settle down & pervasive stillness descends. We start to feel anxiety about the future precisely when ~ & in a sense because ~ there is nothing especially awful on the horizon. We wake up in the middle of a quiet night, filled with an unnamable dread. We may pick up our phones in the hope that they will deliver a requisite shock of anxiety: we scan the news for alarming stories; we look out for aggressive or problem-laden emails. Normally, we quickly hit on something to return us to a more familiar panicked mode.

Publishes 2 November 2022

Environ~Mental Mom: The Absence of Actively Listening

Abtin Bidgoli
2 October 2022
10 minute read

My mother thinks she's an overzealous mom. I know what you’re thinking: What a swell gal, How nice of her. It sure was nice for the rest of the world, but it certainly wasn’t nice for me growing up. Having said that, these are first world problems, I can't complain.

Meanwhile at home, she was an absolute dictator. Everything that wasn’t done in her efficient way was scrutinized. That’s generous of me; truthfully, everything was scrutinized by both my parents. But the philanthropic scrutiny was always the most passionate agenda & thus the most frightening premise.

Publishes 2 October 2022

Breaking Points: On Afghanistan, the Revolving Door, & Media Failure to Disclose Contracting Ties of Guests

Abtin Bidgoli
2 September 2022
6 minute read

Discussing the forever war & the prospects for a third party with old friends Krystal Ball & Saagar Enjeti.

Krystal Ball & Saagar Enjeti’s Breaking Points is a lot like what TV news would look like if the top dozen or so noxious propaganda imperatives were removed from the broadcast equation. They do a great job of focusing on underlying issues ignored by the usual suspects.

Publishes 2 September 2022

Get Nu'd, Vaccine Success, Media Misery: Is Good News Taboo in the Trump Age?

Abtin Bidgoli
2 August 2022
8 minute read

Get Nu'd, in alignment with continuing efforts To develop ethical leaders... we offer our proprietary Leadership Ethics Achievement Development Program as a tool to assist in both gaining the knowledge & developing the skills & abilities needed to be an effective & ethical leader for life.

Even in a moment of national triumph, Americans are a fellowship of the miserable, stuck in a bitter blame war. Why the pandemic of the unvaccinated proves it's time to end the jihad.

Publishes 2 August 2022

Ali Abdaal's Ultimate Guide to Investing in Stocks

Abtin Bidgoli
2 July 2022
24 minute read

Right, so let's say you want to get started with this investing thing. You might have a bit of money saved. It's probably not enough for a house, but you reckon I should probably invest this in something. Maybe you've heard on the news about Tesla or Costco or Amazon & how, if you'd invested 10 years ago in Tesla then you'd be a millionaire by now or things like that.

If you try & look into this, you get all these acronyms being thrown around like Roth IRAs & 401Ks in America or like ISAs or LISAs in the UK. On top of that, there is the anxiety that we all have that I know investing is risky & I don't want to lose all of my money. So in light of all of that, this is the ultimate guide on how to get started with investing. It is the article I wish I would have had five years ago when I first started investing in stocks & shares. We're gonna cover this by thinking about investing in 12 different byte size steps.

Publishes 2 July 2022

Simple Steps to Get Out of Poverty

Abtin Bidgoli
2 June 2022
10 minute read

Have you ever heard the phrase, the rich keep getting richer & the poor are getting poorer? Well, it's not just a phrase unfortunately it's the truth. Despite the fact that millions of people are leaving poverty behind & even becoming millionaires. Most people will never make it, having said that in 2020, America's 614 billionaires net worth exceeded 3 trillion dollars.

The stimulus bill that supposed to help your average folk ended up helping the billionaires the most. At the end of the day, most people spent that money either on their basic needs or purchased some gadgets on amazon. I guess Bezos was the ultimate beneficiary of the stimulus bill. Even though he has stepped down as the CEO of Amazon, he is still the biggest individual shareholder.

Publishes 2 June 2022

Why NFTs are Valuable

Abtin Bidgoli
2 May 2022
8 minute read

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital assets that are provably unique, creating digital scarcity. They can't be duplicated or divided. They have many use cases, including for digital collectibles, music, artwork, & in-game tokens.

Cryptocurrencies, utility tokens, security tokens, privacy tokens… digital assets & their classifications are multiplying & evolving right alongside cryptographic & blockchain technology.

Publishes 2 May 2022

Develop Taste to Get Good

Abtin Bidgoli
2 April 2022
5 minute read

In the summer of 2021, I decided to learn photography. I didn’t know about lighting or composition or exposure. I didn’t even know what kind of photos I wanted to take. I took random snapshots of landscapes, of autos, of random wildlife photography. There was no learning, just me pressing the shutter button.

I hadn’t yet developed any taste. Albeit coding is my passion, I curb my enthusiasm playing basketball like the late greats Gigi, Black Mamba & Pistol Pete, longboarding with my Sector 9 pintail & capturing grainy photography with my 35mm Canon ~~T80~~ T70.

Publishes 2 April 2022

Got Lucky: Maximizing Exposure to Life Changing Serendipity

Abtin Bidgoli
2 March 2022
8 minute read

Unfortunately life isn't a level playing field, everyone has different strengths & weaknesses inherently, not to mention circumstances being different. Luck is the residue of due diligence, fair play & unfair advantages.

In any situation where a single event can create massive good luck, you simply need to maximize your exposure to possible good luck situations & wait for one to come along.

Publishes 2 March 2022

Boring Fundamentals: Boring is Fun

Abtin Bidgoli
2 February 2022
4 minute read

We go to incredible lengths to avoid actions that we know are good for us. For any endeavor, there are a set of basic skills needed to build a strong foundation. Even when we know they are good for us, even when we know they will advance our goals, we avoid taking the steps needed.

It really is just the boring fundamentals that make good things happen & if we can hack our brains into enjoying the boring fundamentals, then we’re well on our way to success (however we choose to define it).

Publishes 2 February 2022

Data Is More than Numbers

Abtin Bidgoli
2 January 2022
7 minute read

Low-code platforms & other end-user programming or simplified implementation don't remove the need for task analysis & other deeper UX work & thus don't guarantee great usability. But they can free up budget for better UX work.

Systematically gathered qualitative data is a dependable method of understanding what users need, why problems occur, & how to solve them. “Not everything that can be counted counts, & not everything that counts can be counted.” ~ (Attributed to) Albert Einstein

Publishes 2 January 2022

Factors in UX Maturity

Abtin Bidgoli
2 December 2021
12 minute read

Improving UX maturity requires growth & evolution across 4 high-level factors: strategy, culture, process, & outcomes.

One tool is to estimate the UX maturity: high (set up for systematic success) or low maturity (mostly fail, & ship bad design, unless you're lucky). Our UX-maturity model has 6 stages that cover processes, design, research, leadership support, & longevity of UX.

Publishes 2 Decemeber 2021

Severity Ratings for Usability Problems

Abtin Bidgoli
2 November 2021
4 minute read

Severity ratings can be used to allocate the most resources to fix the most serious problems & can also provide a rough estimate of the need for additional usability efforts.

If the severity ratings indicate that several disastrous usability problems remain in an interface, it will probably be unadvisable to release it. But one might decide to go ahead with the release of a system with several usability problems if they are all judged as being cosmetic in nature.

Ideation for Everyday Challenges

Abtin Bidgoli
2 October 2021
5 minute read

Improve your UI design solutions by considering many ideas before settling on any one of them. A solid ideation methodology broadens your idea-generation capacity. Many struggle with generating ideas because they lack time, managerial support, & a methodology for conducting effective ideation sessions.

Asynchronous remote ideation allows people to contribute ideas whenever it’s convenient to do so, but synchronous sessions lead to faster results & more team building. Groups can bias individuals & impact collaborative ideation. A focus on getting as many ideas as possible can mitigate some of the negative group effects.

Headings Are Pick-Up Lines

Abtin Bidgoli
2 September 2021
3 minute read

Attractive headlines & titles are critical in making the right first impression. Concise titles that sound authentic & relevant get noticed.

People read 25% slower onscreen & they skim rather than read. Precise communication in a handful of words offers remarkable headline usability.

Social Media UX: Research Insights

Abtin Bidgoli
2 August 2021
3 minute read

Companies should experiment with interactive social media content types, include relevant calls to action in posts, & avoid posting too frequently.

Hosting a company's content & services on 3rd-party social networking sites involves both tactical risks (lower usability) & strategic risks (less user loyalty).

The Principle of Commitment, Consistency & Variability in UX

Abtin Bidgoli
2 July 2021
4 minute read

Getting users to make a small commitment & follow up on it can increase engagement with content. Consistency enhances learnability & is usually best for usability.

But if the problem you're solving is sufficiently different, then inconsistency may be better.

The Perfect Assets Every Landing Page Should Have

Abtin Bidgoli
2 June 2021
3 minute read

The first interaction that your organization has with a customer is a chance to make a great & lasting impression. More importantly, it's your first impression. That warrants a lot of your attention.

There’s 3 parts to a landing page: what’s immediately visible (loading screen), hero section header (above the fold) & what the user scrolls to (below the fold). Not blowing this impression means following a de-risked board plan.

"About Us" Section Information on Websites

Abtin Bidgoli
2 May 2021
4 minute read

Users expect About Us sections to be clear, authentic & transparent. They compare corporate content with third-party reviews to form a holistic opinion of a company before initiating business.

Whether users seek information in a B2B (business–to–business) or B2C (business–to–consumer) context, effectively explaining an organization's purpose is important for users & helps the business maintain its reputation.

Before & After: Digital Media Agency Website Revamped

Abtin Bidgoli
2 April 2021
5 minute read

Attractive headlines & titles are critical in making the right first impression. Concise titles that sound authentic & relevant get noticed. We pay back what we received from others.

Humans tend to return good deeds: use this social psychology law in user interface design to gain users’ trust & motivate engagement with your website. In this case, I helped Mateo revamp his Wix website to a Bespoke website.

com.AbtinBidgoli

com.abtinbidgoli

Bespoke Website Dev

Bespoke Web Development

Iterative User Experiences/User Interfaces

Iterative UX/UI

Prototyping Capabilities

I develop splendid & congenial user experiences that nurtures seamless interactions & delightful impressions to engage people to organizations via enthusiasm, knowledge & nuance.

You should deduce that for yourself.

I only have one agenda ~ your desire.

Bits & Bytes Abstract

Confidence

Fidelity

Respect

Honor

Confidence

Fidelity

Respect

Honor

Peace of Mind

Pursuit of Excellence

Maximize Potential

Helping Hand Initiative

6189

1

31

24

Client Success Stories

Jeff Levine

Elizabeth Moradi

Mateo Elvira

com.abtinbidgoli

Scope of Partnerships

Best Practices

1st Touchpoint

Initial Discovery Brief

2nd Touchpoint

Creative Strategy Brief

3rd Touchpoint

Intuitive Wireframing Brief

Bespoke Web Development

1 Week After 3rd Touchpoint

Information Architecture

2 Weeks After 3rd Touchpoint

Bespoke Web Development

2~4 Weeks After 3rd Touchpoint

Content Strategy & Population

Core Values

Confidence

Fidelity

Honor

Philanthropy

Respect

Transparency

Partnership Approach

Initial Discovery Brief

Creative Strategy Brief

Intuitive Wireframing Brief

Information Architecture

Bespoke Web Development

Content Strategy & Population

com.abtinbidgoli

Bespoke Web Development

Data Architecture

Wireframing

UX

UI

Research

Layout Production

Prototyping

Browser Testing

Initial Investment

Static

Dynamic

Fully Optimized

Bespoke Process

Brief

Research

Develop

User Testing

1^st Touchpoint

2^nd Touchpoint

3^rd Touchpoint

1 Week After 3^rd Touchpoint

2 Weeks After 3^rd Touchpoint

2~4 Weeks After 3^rd Touchpoint