Frederick O'Brien

1 month ago | smashingmagazine.com | Frederick O’Brien |Frederick O'Brien

15 min readBest Practices,Inspiration,Mental Health,Web DesignShare on Twitter, LinkedInRoad-tripping along the line between engineering and spirituality, Robert M. Pirsig’s musings on the arts, sciences, and Quality ring as true now as they ever have. I think we, as engineers and designers, have a lot to gain by stepping outside of our worlds. That’s why in previous pieces I’ve been drawn towards architecture, newspapers, and the occasional polymath.

Feb 15, 2025 | theguardian.com | Frederick O'Brien

Britain’s big energy providers have paid more than £20m in compensation to customers for billing mistakes over the past five years, analysis by Guardian Money has found, with British Gas paying out more than a fifth of the total. We analysed cases handled by the Energy Ombudsman, the service which steps in if a customer and energy company are unable to resolve a complaint within eight weeks of it being made.

Jan 28, 2025 | smashingmagazine.com | Frederick O’Brien |Frederick O'Brien

7 min readFrameworks,Coding,Tools,TechniquesShare on Twitter, LinkedInAfter months of anticipation, debate, and even a bit of apprehension, Svelte 5 arrived earlier this year. Frederick O’Brien caught up with its creator, Rich Harris, to talk about the path that brought him and his team here and what lies ahead. Svelte occupies a curious space within the web development world.

Jan 17, 2025 | smashingmagazine.com | Frederick O’Brien |Frederick O'Brien

6 min readCareer,Opinion Column,Workflow,InspirationShare on Twitter, LinkedInA once-revered perk of some tech workplaces, the status of ‘side project time’ seems to have slipped in recent years. Frederick O’Brien believes it deserves a comeback. There seemed to be a hot minute when the tech industry understood the value of idle tinkering and made a point of providing ‘side project time’ as an explicit working perk.

Sep 23, 2024 | smashingmagazine.com | Frederick O’Brien |Frederick O'Brien

7 min readData Visualization,Research,ToolsShare on Twitter, LinkedInIn this age of endless newfangled organizational tools, the spreadsheet holds firm. Frederick O’Brien explains how, from engineering to design, they can still provide a rock-solid foundation for your work. Part of me can’t believe I’m writing this article. Applying the insights of Leonardo da Vinci or Saul Bass to web design is more my groove, but sometimes you simply have to write about spreadsheets. You have to advocate for them.