Pattern Tap Code will be the destination to find code patterns that work seamlessly into your site.

Bryan explained the other day how Pattern Tap fits into the larger aspects of our educational channel, Expo, and the overall larger business. As we mentioned, we wanted to expand on what Matthew Smith originally built. However, we didn't immediately redesign the site once we took over a year ago. We only did small tweaks at first.

Why wait?

We wanted to learn. Before we could start changing things wholesale, we needed to understand how everyone used it as a resource. That way we could build upon it. Our first goal was to seed it with content and be consistent about doing so. Since we acquired the site, we've added over 750 app and web patterns to its ever-growing library.

But our second goal was born out of the success of our Foundation templates. The canned...
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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...
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Since the release of Foundation 4, we've had people asking us to update the Foundation 3 stencils to the latest version of our framework. Well, we heard you and now we present the new and improved stencil sets, now Foundation 4 ready!

When we created the stencil sets for the first time, we knew it would help us produce wireframes and mock-ups faster. This is one of the reasons we decided to update the stencils to the latest version of our framework. We also want to make sure that everyone using Foundation 4 is also able to build faster and better layouts.

What's New in This Version of the Stencils, You Ask?

Well, we added tons of goodness in this new version of the stencils!

You can find all of the elements from the previous version of the stencils plus a whole bunch of new goodies that you can use to create your awesome wireframes and mockups for your projects.

...
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We recently wrote about what your footer says about your business. You could say footers have been on our minds a lot. We've even asked ourselves, "What makes a good footer, great?" Here's what we've come up with: a good footer must provide valuable information that allows people to navigate the site, engage and re-engage visitors with quality content, and give them a means to seek help.

It's easy to design footers as an afterthought. Designers assume that visitors just blow past it anyway — and why shouldn't they? People spend 20% of their attention below the fold. Yet those that scan to the bottom will eventually hit the footer and it'd be a disservice not to use it to your advantage.

A footer is where you can connect even more with your viewers. It's an opportunity, where you can direct them to other parts of your site or where they can contact you...
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Picture this. The designer on your team has spent the last week whipping up lo-fi wireframes that highlight solutions to the user and business problems you're trying to solve. She's worked through all the interactions. Then she presents to the rest of the team. But she flounders, stumbling over her words. Everyone has a deer-in-the-headlights look on their faces. She's lost them. And it ends with the dreaded four words, "what do you think?"

The designer hasn't asked specific questions, highlighted the process or exposed weaknesses, because you didn't coach her through it. If the team comes in at the middle of the design process, they won't have anything to say. Well, except, "looks good" or "like it" or "wouldn't change a thing." Now the designer on your team is stuck. Unsure. Is it really good? Does it really work? Are there no changes to make? And if the...
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People who take our Foundation training course aren’t the only ones who come away with more knowledge than they started. Our students sometimes share their ideas with us — and we want to share one with you today.

As you might know, Foundation 4 doesn’t support Internet Explorer 8. With IE8 slipping in usage, we thought it was the right time to let it go. But one person couldn’t. Too much of site’s traffic used IE8 to just let go. After taking our Foundation class, he came up with a jury-rig that combines Foundation 4 with IE8-friendly Foundation 3.

The setup

The first step involves setting telling IE which version of Foundation to choose —3 or 4 — based on Explorer’s own version. Below is what he came up with, which looks fairly solid.

In the HTML head:

And after the close body tag:

The conditionals determine which version of Foundation IE loads. IE8 and older will...
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We're pretty excited to be hosting the first hackathon in our new Command Center. Ignition will be focused on innovating health care in the course of a weekend. And we're not the only ones who are excited.

Couldn't be more excited to hold Ignition hackathon at @zurb HQ. Gorgeous location, great people, innovation epicenter.

— Prebacked (@prebacked) April 24, 2013

Various teams will work over the span of two days to solve some of the tough problems surrounding health care. And they need designers to mentor them and give them feedback on what they come up with.

The Problems These Teams Will Face

You might be asking why we're so excited about changing healthcare? As product designers, we have the unique opportunity to provide design mentorship to teams of entrepreneurs and hackers working toward solving big, hairy, audacious goals. There are three big problems in...
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Responsive design is more than a popular facet of web development. We believe in the next few years it will be web design. In years past, people asked "why bother designing for mobile?" Soon they'll pull out their phones and wonder "is your site broken?" We adopted a mobile-first stance not only to build the best websites possible, but also to understand best practices, design patterns and the nuts-n-bolts of crafting sites in an increasingly mobile web. Now it's time to pass that experience to you.

You'll learn how to optimize sites for mobile devices and widescreen computers alike from the designers and developers behind Foundation, our mobile-oriented CSS framework. No previous experience with responsive techniques is needed, but you'll want to have a basic understanding of HTML and CSS. Each lesson is 45 minutes long with 15 minutes at the end for any...
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Data is often misunderstood. It's more than just big numbers and math problems, it's a story told through feedback. But what is data anyways? If you think about it, it's really just a way to aggregate feedback.

One way to get data is through design surveys. While gathering data is necessary, we say it's okay to forget about the math (sometimes) and let your numbers tell you a story instead. Your design and your numbers alone aren't going to sell your work, but instead it's how you tell their story. Design surveys allow us to both collect feedback at scale and construct those stories.

Improve Your Design by Surveying Your Work

If you walk around a theme park or a mall, chances are someone holding a clipboard is going to stop you and ask you a couple questions. These questions will undoubtedly range from asking how your trip to the park is to asking how many...
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Today, we came across this tweet from a ZURB fan that made us smile:

@zurb is working hard today to make the world of tomorrow a beautiful place.

— Joseph Gagliardi (@ProfessaurusG) April 24, 2013

We don't like to toot our horn too much, but it's nice to see when others recognize what we do day in and day out is all working toward building a better tomorrow. We do that through our services, our responsive framework Foundation or the training on the Expo. We want to educate and help others to use Design, with a capital "D", to make that world a reality. And as gratifying it is to read tweets like this one, it's also wonderful to see others striving to do the same thing. Which is why we're happy to announce that the awesome folks over at Moovweb are sponsoring our educational and training content.

Remix the Web

Moovweb, a software platform that transforms desktop...
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