In which I have a new job
October 6, 2022, 1:23 pm
I've started a new job. I'm working for PUBG. Well, actually I'm working for a company called Krafton. They're a parent company that purchased PUBG. But I don't get paid by Krafton. It's all very confusing. Working for a modern game company is almost certainly going to be a confusing labyrinth of company names and organizations. But whatever it is, I work there now, and it's cool.
I work with cool people. I feel like I know what I'm doing. And I definitely don't know what I'm doing. :D I mean I do. I know how to program. I know how to code. I know how to design. And I know how to work the game of thrones a bit. But there's so much minutia that is new and different at any new job you'll get to. I'm still figuring it all out.
We had a design layout issue yesterday, and between me and two other extremely smart frontend engineers, we couldn't come up with a "simple" solution to it.
The concept is this:- A list of circle icons.
- When just enough icons for one row can be shown, show one row.
- If it is necessary to show more rows, show them as alternating even and odd count rows.
- Whenever possible avoid having a single hanging item in the last row.
It's that last item that really throws everything into issue. It changes this problem from one that's possible, to one that turned out to be very difficult / near impossible.
And this is when every engineer / designer has to be willing to make compromises. Either compromises on how much work you're willing to put in to solving a problem as an engineer, or how much outlier design goofs you're willing to allow in to a solution which allows a 95% success rate.
After sitting down and pushing some things around, a solution was come to, but it wasn't easy, small, or perfect.
See the Pen
even odd grids by Hamilton (@bronkula)
on CodePen.
Ultimately I think it is, however, an elegant solution. It solves for most of the problem, while solving entirely the spirit of the design. Sometimes this solution results in hanging last rows. But that compromise is so that the design always tries to take up as much horizontal space as it can. When it comes to responsive designs you MUST be willing to compromise and figure out what you're willing to give up to reach as close to your goal as possible. Sometimes the math just DOES NOT allow what you envisioned.