Kathryn Grayson Nanz
UI Designer & Front-end Developer
Asheville, North Carolina, United States
In 2013, I graduated with a BFA and took my first job as a Junior Graphic Designer at a small, boutique ad agency. While there, my Creative Director warned me to never let anyone find out I could code, because if I did I'd be stuck doing it forever. I ignored his warning; it turns out he was completely right, but I've never been happier.
I currently work as a developer advocate on a wonderful team where I help people build web applications in React, design and maintain their UI component libraries, and desperately attempt to stop back-end devs from writing any more CSS.
Links
Awards
Area of Expertise
Topics
Case Study: Creating a Component Library in React JS
Building a component library from scratch may feel intimidating, but if you’re willing to put in the upfront time & effort, it pays off in spades.
Over the last year and a half, I’ve been the lead on a project to create and implement a robust Component Library. Our Component Library been a hugely beneficial effort that’s made our suite of React web applications more cohesive, more accessible, and more beautiful. The other (less-frontend-inclined) developers enjoy being able to build without having to worry about UI design decisions or touch any CSS. This talk will address each step of our process from a front-end development & design perspective, as well as some of the things we would have done differently had we known better.
Learn Enough Design to be Dangerous
I hear lots of developers say "Oh, I could never be a designer; I just don't have the eye" – and I'm here to tell you that's BS. Design is a skill that can be learned, just like anything else! A designer's full responsibilities are complex and multifaceted; this talk won't teach you everything you need to know to get a design job. However, it WILL go over design basics in a straightforward way, for developers who want to create UIs that don't look terrible.
Ditch the Media Queries: Modern CSS Replacements for Better Responsive Code
In Ye Olden Days of Webbe Development, device-based breakpoints were the standard…then, best practices shifted to content-based breakpoints. Now, breakpoints are sooo 2010; the era of fluid design is here! Dive into the new CSS that empowers us to write responsive code – without the media queries.
Getting Started with Accessibility in React
Many of us have heard the accessibility basics: use semantic HTML, include alt text, test with a screen reader, etc. However, when we're dealing with React – and JSX specifically – there are a few extra things we need to keep in mind. In this session, we'll discuss the React-specific adjustments we need to make in order to build accessible applications.
Usability Testing Without a UX Specialist
Ask nearly anyone about the process of developing software, and somewhere in the answer they’ll (hopefully) mention the users. User research, user testing, user feedback – the end user is at the heart of everything that we build. However, for many companies, making conversations with real users actually happen is a real challenge – especially if you don't have a UX specialist on your team! If this is all sounding familiar to you, then I have a recommendation: take it into your own hands. In this session, we'll talk through setting up a basic user testing program and growing it, so you – the developer – can feel empowered to start usability testing for your own product!
dev up 2024 Sessionize Event Upcoming
KCDC 2024 Sessionize Event Upcoming
Stir Trek 2024 Sessionize Event Upcoming
DevReach 2023 Sessionize Event
dev up 2023 Sessionize Event
KCDC 2023 Sessionize Event
Stir Trek 2023 Sessionize Event
Connectaha 2023 Sessionize Event
WeAreDevelopers Live 2023 (Season 5) Sessionize Event
Code PaLOUsa 2022 Sessionize Event
KCDC 2022 Sessionize Event
dev up 2022 Sessionize Event
CodeStock 2022 Sessionize Event
Festive Tech Calendar 2021 Sessionize Event
Kathryn Grayson Nanz
UI Designer & Front-end Developer
Asheville, North Carolina, United States
Links
Please note that Sessionize is not responsible for the accuracy or validity of the data provided by speakers. If you suspect this profile to be fake or spam, please let us know.
Jump to top