I came in the next day and was ready to get my gut test reviewed by everyone. I really can’t remember how it happened. But let me just say that I was mentally exhausted by the end of it all. It turns out that once again, I messed up. What I had put together was… Continue reading How a series of stumbles taught me to nurture my own process
Category: Design
Design is the method of putting form and content together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.
D is for Discoverability: a 15-point list to ensuring users find what they need
Darren Wilson Follow Jul 19 · 10 min read A couple of things have baffled me recently, provoking thoughts about the principle of discoverability. Firstly, Instagram. We recently joined to market UXcentric to prospective customers. To showcase visually what we do, what we like and where we are. Most people I know who use it… Continue reading D is for Discoverability: a 15-point list to ensuring users find what they need
Focus Session: defining design requirements with stakeholders
Involving stakeholders from the beginning of the design process will help you and your stakeholders to make important decisions together, as one team. Having them on board means that you have access to information that you otherwise wouldn’t have. It gives everyone involved a chance to express their point of view, before you start working… Continue reading Focus Session: defining design requirements with stakeholders
Stop blaming people: it’s a Design problem
Poor design sets people up for failure. But it’s not their failure. Quinn Keast Follow Jul 22 · 5 min read The New York Times just published a fascinating feature revealing the story playing out in the background during the Notre-Dame Cathedral fire. It’s a compelling look behind the scenes, from the moment smoke was… Continue reading Stop blaming people: it’s a Design problem
7 web typography rules
Want a flawless-looking website? Start with web typography, the secret to a killer website. Jessica Tiao Follow Jul 7, 2017 · 4 min read Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the thought of designing a website? With 100,000 different fonts and 16.8 million colors on the web, the possibilities are virtually limitless. For some people,… Continue reading 7 web typography rules
I went for an on-site design interview at Microsoft — here’s what it was like and how I prepared…
Vichita Jienjitlert Follow Jul 15 · 13 min read This is my first time trying out a diary style blog. I hope this provides more insight as to how I felt and what I was thinking throughout the whole experience. Note: I will not get into the specifics of the questions asked during the interview,… Continue reading I went for an on-site design interview at Microsoft — here’s what it was like and how I prepared…
Experience strategy needs to be oblique
If truly the goal of your organization is about profit you are most probably dealing drugs or selling insurance. But if you are not in either of these businesses, what is a true strategic vision your organization has (or should have)? And, even more importantly, what is the optimal way to have it achieved? Aga… Continue reading Experience strategy needs to be oblique
Complex user experiences
Famous philosophers of Ancient Greece Plato and Aristotle devoted their life to one goal– helping people to reach a state of what is termed as ‘Eudaemonia’. In Greek philosophy, Eudaemonia means a state of fulfillment or achieving the best conditions possible for a human being. But that’s the beauty of being human that we are… Continue reading Complex user experiences
Design Tokens, Irritating UIs, Search Microcopy — and more UX this week
Fabricio Teixeira in UX Collective Follow Jul 6 · 3 min read Fix your product goals for better human outcomes → If you lose sight of the goal and instead focus on the metrics, you’ll very quickly forget about people. Goals are the guiding force design needs to stay true to solving for real human… Continue reading Design Tokens, Irritating UIs, Search Microcopy — and more UX this week
User Experience is… providing certainty
Iain HeathBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing Jul 4 In my first story I promised that … over the course of a few stories, I’ll try and cover a few of the sciences we draw upon in our art as a creative community to create engaging experiences. And last time out I talked around how User Experience is … Product Ownership and… Continue reading User Experience is… providing certainty
The error message that frustrates us
Generally, nobody likes experiencing errors in everything. But as we are all getting more attached to digital products such as apps and websites, errors are almost inevitable. Be it a system crash, losing internet connection or wrong inputs, each of those miscarriages can simply lead us to the ‘bitter’ part of the user journey; the… Continue reading The error message that frustrates us
Designing for user environments
Matt WeinbergBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing Jun 27 Last weekend, I was lucky enough to experience the Our Happy Life exhibit at the Canadian Centre for Architecture, which explores the way affect and emotion are quantified and used as a basis on which our built environments are designed. The exhibit juxtaposes dystopian descriptions of ultimately sterile or jarring spaces… Continue reading Designing for user environments
One last episode and I go to bed… — a UX case study
Quentin DanglesBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing Jun 23 This week at Ironhack, we had our first solo project. We’ve been asked to create the feature of our choice for an already existing app. I opted for a time limitation for the fantastic yet time-consuming one that we all know: Netflix. “One last episode and I go to bed” We all… Continue reading One last episode and I go to bed… — a UX case study
Product page: what users want to see
Katia DickensonBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing Jun 21 The goal of any eCommerce website is sales, and an effective product page is a must in achieving that goal. While all products are very different, from physical items to various software programs and apps, there are patterns in the way users expect and want to see information about the product.… Continue reading Product page: what users want to see
“The UI commute”: the actual reason why screens are burning you out
We like to think of ourselves as productive and effective. We spend 8 hours a day working. Yes, this time might be interrupted with lunch and coffee breaks, but we are still largely working using our computers and we justify the salary we bring back home. Now, what if you did an experiment and observe… Continue reading “The UI commute”: the actual reason why screens are burning you out
Dropbox revamp, Figma plugins, scary Deepfakes — and more UX this week
[unable to retrieve full-text content] A weekly selection of design links, brought to you by your friends at the UX Collective. 10 memorable non-design films that have inspired me → Movies I have watched or re-watched recently, and key learnings from each. Sometimes the best design inspiration comes from unexpected places. Food for thought The new… Continue reading Dropbox revamp, Figma plugins, scary Deepfakes — and more UX this week
Designers, presenting is a core skill
MIND #2 Giorgio LefeberBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing Jun 12 Presenting = life (source: AV Club) In this edition of MIND, we are going to talk about one of the hardest skills in design, and that is presenting work in a good way. One of my all-time favorite gurus in the field Mike Monterio wrote a very funny but true… Continue reading Designers, presenting is a core skill
Maybe your voice assistant needn’t do it all
Voice interfaces have finally made the jump from science fictions to the realm of current technological possibilities. And it’s currently seeing a huge mass-market adoption. From the perspective of User Experience (UX) design, this is an opportunity to apply the principles of the user-centered design to shape the young technical capability. And we designers are… Continue reading Maybe your voice assistant needn’t do it all
Iconic design: what is it and how we engage with it
An introduction to iconic designs 🚗 For those who have seen Back to the Future will recognize the legendary DMC DeLorean as one of the most iconic cars in automotive and film history. In the 1985 hit movie, the DeLorean was used as Dr Emmett Brown’s plutonium-powered time machine that had to reach 88 miles per… Continue reading Iconic design: what is it and how we engage with it
Design principles are dead
I hate design principles. Sure, they can be memorable like an equation (“Less is more”¹) or incisive as an oracle’s words (“Form follows function”²), but sometimes they just sound like tautologies (“Good design is innovative”³) that won’t help gauge design decisions. The more obscure, the more they are misused as an alibi to hide behind,… Continue reading Design principles are dead
Starting in UX after 40
After more than 20 years of being at the margins of every single design trend, I found myself face to face with UX. Surprisingly, all the inadequacy that I thought I would experience soon faded away as I realized that precisely because of my age and my personal history, and for the first time in… Continue reading Starting in UX after 40
Good UX designs require three things to achieve
What makes good experience? Three concepts from Don’s principles of interaction help to define good experience: Affordance Feedback System images To understand why and how they are important we will start from the concept of experience in Peircean Semiotics. Experience is the total content of appearances of an object from user’s first-person point of views.… Continue reading Good UX designs require three things to achieve
A Medium feature to create readlists just like playlists in Spotify & Youtube — a UX concept
A little Background Story I just can’t remember a single instance where a websites full of articles and news have not asked me to choose you favorites topics or interested areas. Of course, it is right to ask that question because you are not on the website to read everything, you are there to read… Continue reading A Medium feature to create readlists just like playlists in Spotify & Youtube — a UX concept
Samsung S9 vs. iPhone X — A Usability Review
UX features where the iPhone X falls short (to an S9) The last part of the sub title above is in brackets because it is not about whether an S9 is a good phone; many other phones, most notably the LG range, also offer impressive features that have advantages over their Apple counterparts. So again, this… Continue reading Samsung S9 vs. iPhone X — A Usability Review