CategoryUI (User Interfaces)

July 1, 2021 — When writing front-end tests, you’ll find a lot of pitfalls along the way. In sum, they can lead to lousy maintainability, slow execution time, and — in the worst case — tests you cannot trust. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In this article, I will talk about common mistakes developers make, at least in my experience, and, of course, how to avoid them. Testing doesn’t need to be painful, after all. Read more…

June 18, 2021 — Voice assistants are currently the most popular use case for voice user interfaces. However, because voice assistants give feedback by talking to the user, assistants can only solve simple user tasks such as setting an alarm or playing music. In order for voice user interfaces to really break through, feedback to the user must be visual instead of auditive. Read more…

April 26, 2021 — Accessibility experts Kate Kalcevich and Mike Gifford introduce readers to “layered accessibility testing”, a practice of using a variety of tools and approaches at different stages in the digital product lifecycle to catch accessibility issues early — when it’s easier and cheaper to fix them. In this article, Kate Kalcevich & Mike Gifford will share how to “layer” accessibility testing by using a variety of tools and approaches at different stages in the digital product lifecycle to catch accessibility issues early. Taking a layered approach to testing your site for accessibility also improves the usability of your site — which in turn increases your customer base and reduces customer service inquiries. It can both make and save you money. Read more…

April 7, 2021 — Unreliable tests are a living nightmare for anyone who writes automated tests or pays attention to the results. Flaky tests have even given folks nightmares and sleepless nights. In this article, Ramona Schwering shares her experiences to help you get out of this hell or avoid getting into it. It’s important to continually hunt for flaky tests, whether by preventing them in the first place or by debugging and fixing them as soon as they occur. We need to take them seriously, because they can hint at problems in your application. Read more…

March 5, 2021 — With so many great tools available, there really shouldn’t be any excuse for not testing with users these days. It is fast, easy and cheap. But we don’t even need to limit ourselves to testing. These tools also make user research and visualization easier than ever before, making them ideal all the way from discovery through prototype to post-launch optimization. Our lives as UI designers have never been easier with a host of amazing tools at our disposal. In this article, Paul Boag wants to explore some of the hidden gems he uses to test the interfaces he is involved in creating. Read more…

February 24, 2021 — Where to put the label in a web form? In the early days, we talked about left-aligned labels versus top-aligned labels. These days we talk about floating labels. Let’s explore why they aren’t a very good idea, and what to use instead. Some people assume float labels are best because Google’s Material Design uses them. But in this case, Adam Silver recommends using conventional text fields which have the label outside the input (to tell the user what to type), and a distinct border all the way around (to make it obvious where the answer goes). Read more…

February 3, 2021 — Tooltips are powerful design patterns implemented to enhance the design experience by providing additional information precisely when users need it. The key to designing tooltips that fit seamlessly into the overall design is to plan for them early in the design process. Specifically, designing useful tooltips requires proper timing and proper implementation. In this article, Eric Olive will show you how to design tooltips that will amplify your mobile designs and explain where mobile tooltips are most effective. Read more…

January 18, 2021 — In this tutorial, Fortune Ikechi is going to show you how to use Grommet as a UI library for React applications. He’ll use Grommet as a UI library of choice to create a pricing component, this would help you have a better understanding of how to use Grommet. This tutorial will be beneficial to readers who are interested in developing responsive components in their React application using Grommet. This article requires a basic understanding of React and Styled-components. Read more…

December 11, 2020 — Software and apps often solve very complex problems for businesses and consumers in the way of sales, marketing, finances, and so on. But offering a product that solves your users’ problems isn’t enough. If the UI is just as complex as the original problem, user churn is going to be high. Today, we’re going to look at some tips for designing a simple UI regardless of your solution’s complexity. Read more…

December 8, 2020 — The 2019 Capgemini research institute’s report published after a research on the use of chat assistants showed a drastic 76% increase in customer satisfaction from organizations where chat assistants where built and incorporated into their services. But how does Dialogflow, a product from Google’s ecosystem, aid developers in building chat assistants and contribute to this quota? Read more…