Making big changes doesn’t necessarily require big efforts — it’s just a matter of moving in the right direction. In his book User Experience Revolution and in this article, Paul shares just some of the little tricks and techniques to bring around a big UX revolution into your company — with a series of small, effective steps. This is a marathon and not a sprint. It will take time. We need to unite with others around this common aim and vision of the future. We need to work hard to raise the profile of the customer and to approach management with care.
Read more…
How can you do useful user research with social media? Social media is one of the dominant forms of interactions on the Internet. It allows researchers to tap into the recent experience of people without the formality of interviewing or user testing. Leading platforms such as Facebook and Twitter count hundreds of millions of users each month. In this article, Dave Ellender will show you how social media is a rich vein of data for user researchers.
Read more…
While functional aspect of a design is key to product success, aesthetics and visual details are equally important — particularly how they can improve those functional elements. Shadows and blur effects provide visual cues that allow users to better and more easily understand what is occurring. When carefully applied, such elements can (and should) improve a functional aspect of design. In today’s article, Nick Babich will explain how visual elements, such as shadows and blur effects, can improve the functional elements of a design.
Read more…
Sound UX principles apply to all user groups, regardless of their social status or preferences. Today, users anticipate a superior experience and have a strong understanding of the value delivered. They are focused on results and a one-button approach, expecting their orders to be addressed at the highest level of service and with maximum transparency. However, more so in the luxury field, human interaction within the digital experience is not an option, but rather an undeniably powerful tool that improves communication and increases loyalty. In this article, Yegor Tsynkevich & Vadim Slavin will present a case study and share observations on the peculiarities of the UX design of a luxury lifestyle service platform and its mobile apps.
Read more…
To make sure your users don’t delete your app after the first use, you need to successfully onboard and engage your users during those first interactions. Don’t let the user face a blank screen the first time they open an app. Invest in empty states because they aren’t a temporary or minor part of the user experience. The onboarding process is a critical step in setting up your users for success with your product. In this article, Nick Babich will provide some tips on how to approach onboarding using a simple pattern called “empty states.”
Read more…
Taking your first steps into VR as a UX or UI designer can be daunting. VR experiences range from the mundane to the wondrous, their complexity and utility varying greatly. In this article, Sam Applebee & Alex Deruette will share a process for designing VR apps that they hope you’ll use to start designing for VR yourself. You don’t need to be an expert in VR; you just need to be willing to apply your skills to a new domain. They’re building a rocketship, a joint effort by designers around the globe to boldly go where no designer has gone before. The sooner that producing VR apps make sense for companies, the sooner the whole ecosystem will blow up.
Read more…
While the concept of mobile-first began as a philosophy to help prioritize content and ensure positive, device-agnostic experiences, budgetary and scheduling constraints often result in mobile-first meaning mobile-only. According to the analytics data of Marli and Jasons’s healthcare clients, the majority of their users are still on desktop. They want to provide a positive experience for those users and for users on mobile and tablet apps and for those using mobile browsers — and even for users having an in-person experience! It is not accurate to assume that mobile is the primary experience.
Read more…
In this article, Constantine Konovalov will attempt to describe the principal solutions involved in the development of his own version of the Paris metro map. The entire process that went into the creation of this new map, took him around two and a half years to complete, and an article of that length would bore even the most committed of readers. So, In this light, he will cover only the principal graphical solutions. At the end of the report, Constantine has included a time-lapse video of the entire creation process.
Read more…
The human to computer interaction is heavily based on interacting with graphical UI elements, and color plays a critical role in this interaction. When designing a new app, it’s often difficult to decide on a color scheme that works well, as there are an infinite number of possible color combinations out there. In this article, Nick Babich will go over the most important points related to color in apps. He’ll cover traditional color scheme patterns, custom color combinations that aren’t based strictly on any one pattern, and he’ll also learn how to choose colors and contrasts for your app that support usability. If you’d like to hone your own color usage skills, you can download and test Adobe XD for free, and get started right away.
Read more…
Thinking about images in terms of their usability is important. All visual communication in your design leaves a cumulative impression on the user. Compelling images have a unique ability to inspire and engage your audience to provide useful information. Take the time to make every image in your app or site reinforce user experience. Human beings are highly visual creatures who are able to process visual information almost instantly; 90 percent of all information that we perceive and that gets transmitted to our brains is visual. In this article, Nick Babich will cover a good number of useful principles and best practices that will help you successfully integrate imagery into your designs.
Read more…
