
User testing is a crucial tool for gathering feedback on a product, but it's not enough to truly understand and improve user engagement. For the past [13 years](/articles/frontend-developer-decade-projects-evolution), I have been building multi-language platforms for international brands and for a wide variety of users. Even in a space that constantly changes, where users have evolving needs, it's important to also acknowledge the role that experience plays in understanding them.

![](/images/articles/beyond-user-testing-leveraging-frontend-experience/table-computers.jpg 'Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@marvelous?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Marvin Meyer</a> on Unsplash')

Being a Front-End Developer gave me and all my colleagues around the world a unique perspective on user experience. We understand how small design decisions can have a big impact on the user experience, and we have a deep understanding of how users interact with products. By leveraging our experience in front-end development, we can help create products that are not only effective but also enjoyable to use, leading to increased user satisfaction and loyalty.

## The limits of user testing

User testing is a critical component of product development that can help identify usability issues and gather feedback from real users. By testing products with representative users, product teams can gain valuable insights in how users interact with their interfaces and what their pain points are. Whatever you use services like [User Testing](https://www.usertesting.com/), or your own user testing directly with regular users, user testing also possess some limits that can't be overlooked.

For example, users may not always be able to articulate their needs and preferences accurately, or identify more obvious usability issues that sometimes are more subtle or hidden. User testing is also typically conducted in a controlled environment, which may not always accurately reflect real-wold usage scenarios.

What about people that don't use technology in a daily basis?

Usually user testing is done by a certain user group or demographics and don't include 100% of all users. From my point of view, user testing can't be really complete without testing with people with disabilities. For people with experience in doing accessibility testing with real users, I'm sure you will agree that.

## User testing can lead to success or failure

Through Internet history, user testing had lead to create successful products:

- Slack (which I daily use) is a popular communication tool. During its development, Slack's team conducted user testing to identify usability issues and gather feedback from its target users. This feedback helped them make improvements to the platform, resulting in a product that was easier to use and more engaging for its users.
- Dropbox is a cloud storage platform that allows users to store, share, and collaborate on files. Dropbox's team used user testing to identify pain points and improve the user experience, resulting in a product that was more intuitive and engaging for its users.
- And a lot more…!

But user testing can also fail to uncover critical usability issues which can contribute to the failure of some projects:

- Google Wave was a communication and collaboration platform that was introduced in 2009. User testing suggested that users would appreciate the platform's advanced features and integration with other Google products, but when it was released to the market, [users found the platform confusing and difficult to use](https://www.taskade.com/blog/google-wave-history/), leading to low adoption rates and eventually the discontinuation of the product in January 2018.
- The Amazon Fire Phone was a smartphone introduced by Amazon in 2014. User testing suggested that users would appreciate the phone's unique features, such as the dynamic perspective display, but when it was released to the market, [users found the phone overpriced and underwhelming](https://maestrolearning.com/blogs/amazon-fire-phone/), leading to poor sales and eventually the discontinuation of the product. The lack of empathy towards the users needs was also part of the reasons why it failed.
- Twitter timeline algorithm: In 2016, Twitter also faced public outrage when they introduced an algorithm-based timeline, which did not align with users' preferences for a chronological timeline that allowed them to see real-time tweets in ascending order.

Building a successful project is not an easy task, a lot of factors can influence the success or the failure of a new product. Nowadays, users have different needs. Users switch faster to competitor then before, we have daily examples of that.

User testing is one tool in companies belt that should be used as often as possible, but shouldn't be the only one.

## Leveraging Front-End experience

Front-End Developers (FED) are not just coders. Usually seen as the ones that "just" integrate designs into HTML, CSS and JavaScript, their [t-shape personalities](https://infinum.com/blog/t-shaped-developers/) is often times overlooked (not all FES have t-shape skills though).

A FED can play a critical role in creating engaging user experiences.

## Collaboration and communication for better user engagement

As I said in [my previous article](/articles/frontend-designer-collaboration-strategies) about Front-End Developers, Web and UX/UI Designers collaboration, collaboration and communication is key in building a successful product.

This collaborative approach allows different perspectives to merge and create a more holistic vision of the product. As Front-End Developers, we have the unique position of working at the intersection of design and technology. We are often the ones who bring the designers' visions to life while ensuring that the product remains functional and user-friendly.

Front-end development is about more than just making things look good. It's about creating a seamless and intuitive interface that guides users through a product. Every button, every transition, every piece of interactive content is a chance to engage users and keep them invested in the product.

## The Benefits of Leveraging Front-End Experience

Front-end developers have a deep understanding of user behavior, as they are responsible for creating the interactive elements that users engage with. They can use this knowledge to create more engaging user interfaces and to guide user testing to focus on areas of the product that are most likely to affect user engagement.

Beyond just implementing designs, a seasoned FED can provide insights and suggest improvements to the UX/UI designs based on their knowledge of what is technically feasible and what would create a smoother user journey. They can spot potential pitfalls in the designs that might be overlooked during user testing.

For example, a developer might notice that a particular design element could cause issues on certain devices or browsers. They might also suggest an alternative way of implementing a feature that enhances the user's experience. I have been advocating about accessibility for years now. Last year, I became [CPACC certified](https://www.accessibilityassociation.org/s/certified-professional) and I continue to advocate for accessibility in my daily work. Not everyone understand what web accessibility is and how it impacts users. It takes time and effort to educate people about it.

## The Future of User Engagement

As technology advances, users' expectations also rise. They demand faster, smoother, and more intuitive interfaces. User testing will always be a vital tool for gathering feedback, but to meet these evolving demands, we need to go beyond testing.

Incorporating the front-end developer's expertise into the design process and user testing can help create a product that not only meets the users' needs but also provides an engaging and satisfying experience.

We must continue to push the boundaries, experiment with new technologies, and constantly seek ways to better understand and improve user engagement. Only by doing this can we hope to create products that users will love to use.

Front-End Developers bring a valuable perspective to the product development process. Let's use it to its fullest potential to create engaging, user-friendly products. After all, the success of any product lies in the satisfaction of its users.

---

At the end, user engagement is not just about the single experience of a product but the entire journey. It's about creating an engaging, intuitive, and satisfying journey that users want to return to again and again. And Front-End Developers play a crucial role in crafting this journey.

Remember, user testing is a part of the journey, not the destination. We must use all the tools at our disposal, and that includes leveraging the front-end development experience to truly understand and improve user engagement.

Let's continue to build with the user in mind, always striving to enhance their journey, their experience, and ultimately, their engagement.



Over 10 years of experience shows: collaboration between frontend developers and designers is key. Let's value insights from both for digital success!

Why Frontend Experience Matters More Than Just User Testing


The web has changed so much in the past 10 years. Technology has enabled new usages, new ways of communication, new ways of seeing the world. Web Design trends are also constantly changing, every year we see new trends that sometimes stick for few years, sometimes they don’t. The same happened in web development: we’ve seen new JavaScript frameworks, new ways to build components, new ways to code CSS, using pre or post-processors. The list is almost infinite. But something that has not changed is the need for collaboration between people working on the same web project.

![](/images/articles/how-front-end-developers-web-and-ux-ui-designers-could-better-collaborate-together/featured.jpeg 'Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@joshcala?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Josh Calabrese</a> on Unsplash')

As a Front-End Developer, I had the chance to work with numerous Web Designers and UX/UI designers over my career. No matter if I was in Brazil, France, Mauritius or Canada, **I have observed the same challenges over and over again**. And one unique solution doesn’t always apply to similar situations. You need to find what works best for you.

In this article, I want to share some topics I believe should be discussed. From my point of view, we, as web professionals want the same thing: **build accessible and performant products that will provide the best user experience possible**.

If you want your product to work, to get revenues, then you should start with the above goal first, not the other way around.

But let’s start with some definitions.

## What is a Web Designer?

![](/images/articles/how-front-end-developers-web-and-ux-ui-designers-could-better-collaborate-together/photoshop-design-desk.jpeg 'Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@easiblu?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Eftakher Alam</a> on Unsplash')

A lot of people could probably define what is a Web Designer better than I. But from my perspective, as a Front-End Developer, a **Web Designer is someone with extensive skills in design that understands the constraints and the possibilities given by the web**. I’ve seen a lot of really good “designers” but who were not always able to fully understand the “web” part of their title. Designing for the web is far from being straightforward. Be familiar with how to use [Sketch](https://www.sketch.com/) or [Figma](https://www.figma.com/) is surely part of being a Web Designer, but it’s unfortunately not enough. And honestly, for me it’s totally fine: you learn as you progress.

Probably, from my point of view, a Web Designers shouldn’t just rely on his knowledge and put pressure on himself to know everything about the web. That’s where a Front-End Developer can come into play. Front-End Developers are the ones that spend their time on the web, scrolling, studying code, finding new ways of building components… They are the perfect buddies of Web Designers, and both should be pairing regularly.

## What is a UX/UI Designer?

![](/images/articles/how-front-end-developers-web-and-ux-ui-designers-could-better-collaborate-together/wireframe-design-table.jpeg 'Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@kellysikkema?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Kelly Sikkema</a> on Unsplash')

**A UX/UI Designer is someone where focus lays on users**. Nothing should be more important than the user, the person, the human. A UX Designer needs to spend a lot of his time doing researches. I’ve always considered that a good UX/UI Designer should be passionate about people, what they want, how they want things… Of course, you also have the word “designer” in the title, because in the context we are talking about, a UX/UI Designer has the task to understand the user and also know what works the best in terms of UI. Something that works for a website dedicate to moms may not work for a website which main users are teens.

> I’ve always considered that a good UX/UI Designer should be passionate about people, what they want, how they want things.

But he is not the only one who has developed an understanding of what users prefer and are used to when they browse the Internet. When a Front-End Developer wants to create a piece of code, a component, he usually dives into his structured memory of patterns. When someone says “button”, it triggers in his brain all the times (thousands of) he clicked on a button, but also snippets of CSS code that can be used to create a button or the long hours he spent analyzing CSS framework documentation…

Front-End Developers can be a huge asset for any UX/UI Designer because they’ve learned so much about the web and usual patterns from a different perspective.

## What is a Front-End Developer?

![](/images/articles/how-front-end-developers-web-and-ux-ui-designers-could-better-collaborate-together/computer-windows-white-table.jpeg 'Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@nublson?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Nubelson Fernandes</a> on Unsplash')

I know a lot of people that could potentially disagree with my definition. For me, a **Front-End Developer is a builder, someone that loves building web content using a combination of multiple skills**. Because a Front-End Developer is not just a coder. To be a Front-End Developer you need to learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript but these are just the basics. You need to understand how to make a [website accessible](https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/), how to use CSS to create an amazing layout, how to translate a design file to CSS, how to keep your application performant, how to build a [UI/pattern library](/articles/front-end-checklist-just-tool-everything-depends-on-you)… the list is long but I'm sure you get my point.

A Front-End Developer is the backbone of any web content. Without a Front-End Developer, the website couldn’t be created (even if you use a no-code generator, a Front-End Developer had to create the UI).

Does that mean that a Front-End Developer is more important than other people in their team? Absolutely not, but his role requires him to **be a facilitator, to understand what he can provide for the rest of his team**.

## A Web Designer, UX/UI and Front-End Dev enter together in a bar…

Now that we have a better idea of what these roles represent, how do we make them work together in a way that they feel empowered and enjoying the collaboration?

### It’s about mindset

Any athlete will tell you that mindset is everything to achieve their goals, to win championships, to perform better. This is not that different when it’s about working as a team. Everyone’s mindset is important within a team. But it’s something that the group itself doesn’t have any control. Only individuals can decide to have an open mind, a true relationship with the other member of the team, visualize solutions instead of problems…

We often forget that we all have a common goal. Sure, we can also have multiple goals for ourselves but if you are part of a team, it’s only to achieve a common goal.

Differences are what make this specific group worth existing. EVERYONE has a role to play in any team.

### It’s about culture

But it’s not only about individual mindsets. A team with a Web Designer, UX/UI and developers are usually part of a corporation. All over the world, [numerous companies understand and value their culture](https://hbr.org/2020/01/how-corporate-cultures-differ-around-the-world). This is an essential part to guide employees towards common goals and achieve specific tasks.

If companies provide the tools and the support to create trust and equality between the members of a team, then it makes it easier for people to collaborate together and learn from each other.

### It’s about ego

Aaah the ego! Some people say that a bad reputation can hurt any company, I believe ego can hurt sometimes even more. The ego is one of the biggest enemies of any company, team or leadership group. I had the displeasure to work with 1–2 people during my career with a pretty big ego.

I will always feel the pain these people have caused, it’s important to make peace with any related event but also with them. After all, we are all humans.

Ego shouldn’t exist in a team. Period.

### It’s about collaboration

Collaboration is knowing that people are better than you in certain areas. It’s knowing that you can learn from them. It’s knowing that you can also give something to them. Collaboration is finding the balance and putting everything and everyone at the center of the group.

And no, collaboration is not something you implement once and it’s done, everything will always work perfectly. Collaboration is an equilibrist performance that could go wrong at any time. But you have to keep going because it’s so rewarding when you succeed!

## How to get your team to work together?

Before giving you some answers, I want to tell you about two of the best experiences I had during my career with Web / UX / UI Designers. If you're interested in more collaboration stories, you can also read about [how I presented my side projects across Europe](/articles/open-source-europe-conference-journey).

![](/images/articles/how-front-end-developers-web-and-ux-ui-designers-could-better-collaborate-together/whiteboard-collaboration-wireframe.jpeg 'Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@kaleidico?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Kaleidico</a> on Unsplash')

### My two best experiences with Designers

**My first best experience was in August 2014**, in Cincinnati, USA. I’ve worked for a month with Barefoot Proximity to build a new platform. [Julie Tran](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tranje/), which was leading the project in terms of design would create pieces of design, sent them to me for prototyping and we would discuss around that. What made the experience amazing was the level of exchange and collaboration.

It wasn’t just about, “Hey, here is the design”, it would be more “hey, here is the design, can you do a quick prototype to see if that works. Let me know if you see any problems that may occur for mobile, accessibility etc…”.

I was able to give my feedback based on my knowledge and experience, Julie would also push back when I would be hesitant to test a particular approach. Combining our visions, being open with each other was what made this project successful. Even with my English being pretty basic at this time, we both enjoyed our work and I kept only good memories from that collaboration.

**My second best experience was in 2015**, with [Julia Bruyneel](https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliabruyneel/), who was working in Paris as a Web/UX Designer freelancer. I was in Mauritius for a month and we had to collaborate for few weeks on new designs for an existing project.

Even with the distance, and not knowing each other before, Julia would contact me and exchange about designs she would have made. That simple communication and regular exchange were reassuring for me (was lead on that project for 3 years) but also a manifestation of maturity and professionalism from Julia. It was short but I kept good memories of that collaboration.

## Mindset, culture and processes

The **three main keys**, from my unique point of view, to have successful teams rely on mindset, culture and processes.

![](/images/articles/how-front-end-developers-web-and-ux-ui-designers-could-better-collaborate-together/mindset-culture-processes.png 'Mindset, culture and processes are the 3 keys for better collaboration')

**Mindset**: If you want to have people working together, in collaboration, using each other experience and vision, they need to have a similar mindset. I’m not saying an “identical mindset” or “same personalities”, I’m saying “similar mindset”. When everyone understands the goal of the team and is open to see each human behind his title, then you have more probabilities to have a successful team.

**Culture**: Sometimes, having a similar mindset is not possible or challenging. In that case, is the responsibility of the structure or company to influence a specific mindset. Companies can decide who should be part of the “family”. That’s why the recruitment process is important.

**Processes**: a lot of people I know, hate the word processes. For me, processes have always mean freedom. When you have a defined and clear process, you don’t have to stress or be hesitant or afraid. A process should exist to guide you in a process where people can predict what will come next. It’s reassuring to know that everyone has the same process in mind. Sometimes, when people's mindsets are not similar or the culture is lacking, processes should help people to visualize the direction they need to take.

You could take these **3 points separated or combine them to maximize your chances** to build successful teams.

## What Web / UX / UI Designers should know about Front-End Developers (letter dedicated to designers)?

> “We love the web and we love being part of the creation process! We decided to become Front-End Developers because we love building! And it’s not just about converting designs to CSS, we love understanding the why, the how of the creation.
> And we understand that this may be scary at times because why the heck a Front-End Developer will tell a designer that his design is not accessible? Or tell the designers that he is not sure, this is gonna work for the user? It’s not about competing, it’s about putting energies in sync.
> The problem sometimes is that we see patterns and code examples in our minds that we don’t always translate for other people to understand. But we’re working on that! I promise!
> We have more to share than just our “title”, we have more to give than just lines of code. We are here to help!”

## The main takeaways from this article

If you are still reading, I hope you also share some common ideas exposed in this article. I have dedicated a portion of my career to try to be a facilitator and share all the knowledge I accumulated to build awesome products.

- Teams composed of Web Designers, UX/UI Designers and Front-End Developers sharing a **similar mindset** have more chances of success.
- An internal culture that encourages **collaboration and equality** between professionals will always produce the best results.
- Enforcing best practices through **processes will help to make things more predictable and reassuring**.
- The ego is one of the worst enemies of teamwork. **You shouldn’t have any space for ego**.
- A Front-End Developer is just a passionate professional **who wants to be part of the creation process** and not just at the end. His integration along the project will ensure the success of any project.

---

What about your experience? How do you like to work with others? What would you like to see happening more often within your team?

If you want to see how I organize my own workspace for better collaboration, check out my article about [my ideal desk setup](/articles/multi-purpose-developer-music-electronics-setup).


Comprehensive guide to improving collaboration between Front-End Developers and UI/UX Designers. Learn practical strategies for better communication, workflow optimization, and creating successful web projects through effective teamwork.

How Front-End Developers and UI/UX Designers Can Work Better Together


I've recently spent some time working with Next.js projects. Once my projects are done, the next logical step is to deploy these apps to be accessible to the world.

I have naturally used the [Vercel platform](https://vercel.com/), which couldn't be easier to use and deploy your application with ease. Then I tried [AWS Amplify](https://aws.amazon.com/amplify/), which I particularly love but for now, requires you to use the [Serverless Framework](https://docs.amplify.aws/start/getting-started/hosting/q/integration/next) if you want to benefit from Server Side Rendering (SSR) capabilities.

Then, I remembered that Netlify has added support for Next.js, including dynamic routes, Preview Mode and more around November 2020. It was time for me to try it! But I also wanted to have a real CI/CD in place, to test my code and do more actions before deploying to Netlify. That's where Github Actions came to the rescue!

I'm going to describe in this article, all the steps you need to take to deploy your Next.js application on Netlify using Github Actions.

> The full version of the project can be [found on Github](https://github.com/thedaviddias/next-netlify-github-actions-starter).

## Create a new Next.js App and push it to Github

As always, you need to have a recent version of Node and NPM installed on your machine. I personally recommend using `NVM` since it simplifies having multiple active Node.js versions.

To create a new Next.js project, type this command in your CLI:

```bash
npx create-next-app name-of-your-app

# move into the app's root directory
cd ~/path-to-projects/name-of-your-app/
```

This will install a new application using a basic Next.js boilerplate. Don't forget to move to your app root folder before launching any next commands.

Once your Next.js project is locally created, you can create a new project on Github and push the code generated.

_(For those you are new to coding, feel free to [follow these steps](https://docs.github.com/en/github/creating-cloning-and-archiving-repositories/creating-a-new-repository) to create a new repository on Github.)_

## Setting up your Netlify project

There are 2 ways of creating a new Netlify project:

- Creating a project online [here](https://app.netlify.com/)
- Using the Netlify CLI.

Let's use the CLI this time, I'm sure you already created a new project in the past using the Netlify interface.

Let's start by installing `netlify-cli` globally:

```bash
npm install netlify-cli -g
```

Then check if the installation succeeds, confirming with this command:

```bash
netlify
```

### Netlify account authentication

Now you need to link your computer with your Netlify account. To authenticate with Netlify, you need to run this command:

```bash
netlify login
```

This will open a new tab in your browser where you'll need to "Authorize your Application" and then grant access to Netlify CLI.

In case you already logged in previously, the console will output:

```bash
Already logged in via netlify config on your machine
```

### Netlify project creation

Now that your CLI is authorized to communicate with your Netlify account, it's time to programmatically create a new project:

```bash
# create a new Netlify site using the Netlify shortcut: ntl
ntl init
```

The first question you are asked is if you want to connect this directory to an existing Netlify site or create & configure a new site. Choose **Create & configure a new site**:

![Connect to an existing directory or create and configure a new site](/images/articles/connect-existing-direction.jpeg)

Then you have to choose your **team**:

![Question about the name of the team](/images/articles/question-name-team.jpeg)

Choose the **name of your application**:

![Screenshot of the CLI asking for the name of your application](/images/articles/cli-name-application.jpeg)

After entering the name of your project, the site is created and few URLs populated the CLI which gave you access to your admin URL, the URL of your site and the Site ID. Keep the site ID aside, you will need that number later on.

For the next 3 questions (build, start and function), **insert a space**. We are not going to directly use the NPM scripts, our Github actions will later trigger each command.
![Screenshot of the CLI with the build, start and function script command suggestion](/images/articles/cli-build-start-function-script.jpeg)

Finally, automatically create a netlify.toml file, which we will edit later. If your respond no, you can still create that file manually at the root of your project.

![Screenshot of the CLI asking to create a netlify.toml file](/images/articles/automatically-create-netlify-toml.jpeg)

Once you provided an answer to all the questions, your terminal should look like this:

![Screenshot of the CLI after all the questions are answered](/images/articles/cli-after-all-questions-answered.jpeg)

## Updating our Netlify project

It's now time to change some options on our Netlify project. Open directly your project on Netlify with this command:

```bash
ntl open
```

![Screenshot of the Netlify project created](/images/articles/netlify-project-created.jpeg)

You should see that our production deployment failed. You don't have to worry, this is totally normal. We need to disable our automatic build because our Github Actions will take care of it.

Go in your Settings > Build & deploy. Click on `Edit settings` and `Stop builds`. Save.

![Screenshot of the Build settings on Netlify](/images/articles/build-settings-netlify.jpeg)

Just below, go to the `Deploy contexts` section and select `None` for the Deploy previews.

![Screenshot of the Deploy context section on Netlify](/images/articles/deploy-context-section-netlify.jpeg)

Don't worry, like the build, we will create our preview URL using Github actions.

## Enable server-side rendering on Netlify

If you have been using Next.js you are aware of the capability to do the server-side rendering. But usually, you will need to configure a Node server and that's something we don't want to have to deal with. Around October 2020, the Netlify team started working on `next-on-netlify`, a utility to enable SSR in Next.js on Netlify. That's what we are going to use here.

_(In case you are not interested in Github Actions and want to use Netlify to build your project, take a look at how to use the [Next on Netlify Plugin](https://github.com/netlify/netlify-plugin-nextjs). It directly wraps your Next.js app and doesn't need as much configuration as we are going to explain.)_

Let's start by installing our utility:

```bash
npm install -D next-on-netlify
```

### Set Next.js target to serverless

We must build our Next.js app as a serverless app

```javascript:next.config.js
module.exports = {
  // Target must be serverless
  target: "serverless",
};
```

### Add a post build hook

We need to add a `postbuild` command that is automatically triggered after our `build` command finishes. `next-on-netlify` does a lot of "magic" to copy and set up our Next.js app to be correctly hosted on Netlify.

```bash:package.json
{
  "name": "next-netlify-github-actions-starter",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "private": true,
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "next dev",
    "build": "next build",
    "start": "next start",
    "postbuild": "next-on-netlify"
  },
  ...
}
```

### Configure Netlify

Remember the file that was automatically created and called `netlify.toml`? You can remove all the boilerplate and replace it with only this code (be careful in respecting the indentation):

```toml:netlify.toml
[build]
  command   = ""
  functions = "out_functions"
  publish   = "out_publish"
```

Technically, when `next-on-netlify` will run, it will take what is in these folders and host it on Netlify. **_DO NOT CHANGE_** the name of these folders as these are hardcoded into the utility.

Don't forget to add these line to your `.gitignore` file

```git:.gitignore
# Netlify build
out_*
```

You can commit your files. Let's work now on the Github Actions configuration.

## Github Actions configuration

The netlify configuration is now done, all dependencies installed, it's time to configure our Github actions which will test, build and deploy our Next.js application to Netlify. But before that, we need to set up some Github secrets that we will need in our GH Actions.

Go to your `Github project > Settings > Secrets > New repository secret`

| Actions secret name  | Comments                                                                               |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN` | [Request your token](https://app.netlify.com/user/applications#personal-access-tokens) |
| `NETLIFY_SITE_ID`    | The site to where deploy your site (get it from the API ID on your Site Settings)      |

![Screenshot of the Actions secrets page on Github](/images/articles/actions-secrets-netlify.jpeg)

Create a new file called `main.yml` inside `.github/workflows`. Copy-paste the following code and read the explanation of it after this snippet.

```yml:.github/workflows/main.yml
name: Main workflow

on:
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - master
      - main
    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v2

      # Cache node modules and next folder
      - name: 📬 Caching
        uses: actions/cache@v2
        with:
          path: |
            **/node_modules
            ${{ github.workspace }}/.next/cache
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-modules-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}

      - name: Use Node.js 14.x
        uses: actions/setup-node@v1
        with:
          node-version: 14.x

      - name: 🧰 Install dependencies
        run: npm run install

      - name: 📦 Build project
        run: npm run build --if-present

      # - name: 🧹 Run lint
      #   run: npm run lint

      # - name: 🐛 Run tests
      #   run: npm run test

      # Deploy to Netlify with a personalized message
      - name: 🚀 Deploy to Netlify
        id: deploy-netlify
        uses: netlify/actions/cli@master
        env:
          NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN }}
          NETLIFY_SITE_ID: ${{ secrets.NETLIFY_SITE_ID }}
        with:
          args: deploy -m 'v${{ steps.package-version.outputs.current-version}} ・ ${{ github.head_ref }}'
```

### Detailed explanation of the main workflow file

1. **_Give a name_** to your Github action
2. Choose which **_type of the event_** should trigger this action, you can use push instead of pull_request, it's up to you.
3. Specify on **_which system_** this action should be launched, I choose the latest version of Ubuntu (Linux).
4. **_Checkout your code_**
5. **_Cache your node modules_** and the .next/cache folder. When you will first run this action, it will take some time. On the second launch, the action will take the modules that exist in the cache and will then proceed way faster.
6. Specify the **_version of Node_** you want to use, in my case, I choose the most recent version of Node 14th.
7. **_Install the dependencies_** of your project.
8. **_Build your project_**. Remember that after the build, the post-build command will be launch. This is what you should see in the `build` logs in your Github Action tab:
   ![Screenshot of the build-in Github Action](/images/articles/build-in-github-action-netlify.jpeg)
9. I added lint and test commands, which I commented. You can use these to trigger ESLint, Jest (even Cypress) or any other plugin that ensures your code doesn't have any issue.
10. Finally, we trigger the Netlify deployment to deploy our Next.js app to Netlify. 🎉

![Screenshot of all Github actions](/images/articles/all-github-actions-netlify.jpeg)

You may have seen an argument passed to the Netlify deploy:

```yml:.github/workflows/main.yml
args: deploy -m 'v${{ steps.package-version.outputs.current-version}} ・ ${{ github.head_ref }}'
```

This will add a message for each Deploy Preview, a way to keep track of which PR generated which Deploy.

![Screenshot of the Deploy page on Netlify](/images/articles/deploy-netlify-preview.jpeg)

On the same deploy page, you can click on the Deploy Preview and access your app using the preview URL.

A better way would be to use another task to automatically populate your pull request with the log and preview URL. At the end of your file, add this action:

```yml:.github/workflows/main.yml
# Publish the inspect and preview link to the PR
- name: 👓 Netlify Preview URL
  uses: unsplash/comment-on-pr@master
  env:
    GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    OUTPUT: "This pull request is being automatically deployed to Netlify.\n\n🔍 Inspect: ${{ steps.deploy-netlify.outputs.NETLIFY_LOGS_URL }}\n✅ Preview: ${{ steps.deploy-netlify.outputs.NETLIFY_URL }}"
  with:
    msg: ${{ env.OUTPUT }}
    check_for_duplicate_msg: false
```

This will automatically create a comment in your PR.

![Screenshot of the PR on Github specifying the link to the logs and preview deploy URL](/images/articles/pr-github-preview-deploy-url.jpeg)

## Summary

If you are still reading this, congrats! You have succeeded in deploying a fully enabled Next.JS application to Netlify using Github Actions!

The next step for you now will be to add some linting rules and tests to ensure that you are sending to Netlify, an app that works perfectly!

Feel free to [download or fork the `next-netlify-github-actions-starter`](https://github.com/thedaviddias/next-netlify-github-actions-starter), open an issue if you find any problem or send me any suggestion to make it better!

### Sources:

- [How to Deploy Next.js Sites to Netlify](https://www.netlify.com/articles/2020/11/30/how-to-deploy-next.js-sites-to-netlify/) by Jason Lengstorf
- [Preview Mode for Next.js now fully supported on Netlify](https://www.netlify.com/articles/2020/10/27/preview-mode-for-next.js-now-fully-supported-on-netlify/) by Cassidy Williams
- [Announcing one-click install Next.js Build Plugin on Netlify](https://www.netlify.com/articles/2020/12/07/announcing-one-click-install-next.js-build-plugin-on-netlify/) by Cassidy Williams


Step-by-step guide to deploying NextJS applications on Netlify using GitHub Actions. Learn how to set up CI/CD, enable SSR, and automate your deployment workflow.

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