Such a wonderful little essay by Frank Chimero on the "essence" of screens, digital interaction, and web design. I have to highlight just a small part (almost tangentially related to his main essay) because it hit so close to home for me:
A designer's work is not only about how the things look, but also their behaviors in response to interaction, and the adjustments they make between their fixed states. In fact, designing the way elements adapt and morph in the in-between moments is half of your work as a designer. You're crafting the interstitials.
"The interstitials". Such a great phrase.
As a tester, I frequently find fault in code implementations of design, but the most frustrating experiences are when I discover defects in the design itself, a plan that did not account for both state and transition, stock and flow, the intermediaries and the interstitials. Being able to reason about user interactions and movement within an experience rather than in screenshots and mockups is the most important skill I see in design today.