Lab
AI tools, creative workflows, developer deep-dives, and behind-the-scenes from RAXXO Studios.
325 articles
The Micro-Interactions I Add Last That Make a UI Feel Fast
Optimistic UI updates before the server confirms feel instant to users 150ms is my default transition duration for hover and press states Skeleton screens beat spinners because they show layout, not just waiting Focus rings and press feedback make an...
Read articleThe Solo Studio Stack: What I Pay For and What I Self-Host
Subscriptions I keep pay back 5-10 hours weekly, self-host handles predictable batch work My line: pay when downtime hurts, self-host when the job runs unattended...
The Blog Post Structure I Use So Readers Actually Finish
Hook in five seconds or readers leave One idea per H2, scannable sub-points Cut any paragraph that repeats the heading A close that earns the...
Debugging a Production Bug I Cannot Reproduce Locally
Reconstruct the timeline from prod logs before touching code Bisect by deploy to find the exact commit that broke Add targeted instrumentation, test one hypothesis...
The 5 Metrics I Check Weekly and the Ones I Ignore
Weekly review runs under 10 minutes with 5 tracked numbers I track repeat buyers, not raw traffic or follower counts Email replies beat likes as...
Shopify Theme Sections I Rebuild on Every Store
Four sections (hero, proof band, FAQ, CTA) I copy into every Shopify store Schema blocks a non-dev can drag without breaking layout Every text field...
Accessible Color Contrast Without Killing the Brand
I keep a dark UI with a bright accent WCAG-AA readable at 4.5:1 Shift lightness not hue to fix failing text Two documented exceptions: decorative...
Feature Flags Without a Vendor: The Minimal Setup I Ship
Boolean flags in env vars cover 80% of what vendors sell Gradual rollout by hashing user IDs into 100 buckets Instant rollback in under 60...
The CSS color-mix Patterns I Use Across Every RAXXO Theme
One brand variable feeds hover, disabled, surface, and text colors 5 color-mix patterns replaced a 40-line hand-curated palette Accessible text picks itself from the background...
Local-First Architecture for Solo Apps When CRDTs Help and When They Hurt
Local-first cut my note app's perceived latency to zero across 3 devices Yjs and Automerge solve sync conflicts you may not actually have ElectricSQL saved...
Shopify Metafields Done Right Three Patterns From Production
Typed metafield definitions catch bad data before it reaches your theme List-of-references replaces fragile comma-separated strings for product relations One idempotent resync script beats hand-editing...
Pricing a Digital Product as a Solo Studio
Three-question framework: floor, ceiling, anchor before any product ships First three products were priced 40% too low, all three The anchor question fixed pricing faster...