Electric vehicles (EVs) are an increasingly common part of our lives, and based on current predictions, the number of EVs on the road is going to continue going up. This means demand for charging stations will keep rising as well. As with any new, human-centric technology, accessibility is an essential concern. Charging stations present a… Continue reading Digital accessibility needs for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations
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Technology Myths and Urban Legends
Summary: When users don’t clearly understand how systems function, they develop unique (and often incorrect) theories to explain their experiences. In user research, we often hear people describe how they think technology works. Sometimes, those theories are accurate, but most often, they are not. Through the many user interviews, field studies, and user testing sessions… Continue reading Technology Myths and Urban Legends
The Proliferation and Problem of the ✨ Sparkles ✨ Icon
Summary: The sparkles icon has become increasingly prevalent in user interfaces, particularly in association with AI-driven features, but it suffers from ambiguity and lacks a standardized meaning. This article features content from the book Digital Icons That Work: A Comprehensive Guide to Enhancing User Experience with Effective Iconography by Kate Kaplan (with a contributing chapter on icon… Continue reading The Proliferation and Problem of the ✨ Sparkles ✨ Icon
Visual Design: Glossary
Summary: Use this glossary to quickly clarify key terms and concepts related to visual design. Visual design requires knowledge and understanding of many jargon terms. Use this glossary as a reference as you delve into visual and user interface design. Jump to a definition in the table or review the complete glossary. Aesthetic-Usability Effect Users’… Continue reading Visual Design: Glossary
7 Tips for Memorable and Easy-to-Understand Imagery
Summary: A few relevant, high-quality visuals placed next to associated text can boost users’ comprehension of your content and its memorability. When implemented strategically, visuals can enhance users’ ability to understand and remember products. Here are seven best practices for memorable visuals. #1 Choose or Create Relevant Visuals Visuals exist alongside other content, and users… Continue reading 7 Tips for Memorable and Easy-to-Understand Imagery
The rise of Generative AI-driven design patterns
[unable to retrieve full-text content] How Generative AI advances are helping shape the future of feature design, from enhancing content interaction to more informed decision-making Order among chaos (Credit: Dall-E) The ChatGPT revolution has been unfolding for over a year now. While the specific chatbot may not represent a seismic technical shift, the profound change in… Continue reading The rise of Generative AI-driven design patterns
Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Battle of the Websites
We studied 11 of the most popular sections and compared their usability, user experience, appearance, and functionality. If the section was better, a goal was scored for the winning team. In case of a draw, a goal was added to both clubs. Let the battle begin! Home page Both websites start with an almost full-screen… Continue reading Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Battle of the Websites
12 Figma tips to work more efficiently
We all know Figma makes regular updates to their features that can be new and awesome, like previewing typography, or it can be a modification that may change an established workflow, like the infamous local variables. So as someone who uses Figma almost every work day, minus some meeting-heavy days, learning to apply new features… Continue reading 12 Figma tips to work more efficiently
The influence of mobile technology on user cognition and memory
Mobile technology is a part of our daily life more than ever before. Such technology can be a bless to our productivity but also make our brain a bit of a lazy thing. I wrote this article for my Interaction Design post-graduate course. I wanted to share with people some of the things I discovered and… Continue reading The influence of mobile technology on user cognition and memory
Digital Accessibility As A Self-Evident Right: How US Federal Government Agencies Can Improve Digital Services
The Federal government of the United States was founded on a set of key principles. While there have been amendments and additions to these principles throughout history, it can still be said that three foundational principles are unwavering: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Monumental, persistent efforts are needed to ensure that these core… Continue reading Digital Accessibility As A Self-Evident Right: How US Federal Government Agencies Can Improve Digital Services
I sent an email, but nobody read it. So I sent out an invite.
When it comes to group dynamics, there are two key factors that play a crucial role: task-oriented and maintenance-oriented behaviors. As you plan your team’s agenda, consider how these factors influence the dynamics and productivity of the group. midjourney 2023 / prompt: Google calendar full of meetings “Not another meeting…” or “this could have been an email…”… Continue reading I sent an email, but nobody read it. So I sent out an invite.
Why Ive's way of doing personal projects is good for designers
Why Ive’s way of doing personal projects is good for designers Personal projects should be an important part of life as designers, but is mixed with the work and the realities of an in-house design team, which can be a messy process. Often, the question of fulfilment comes into play. Surprisingly, the answers to fulfilment… Continue reading Why Ive's way of doing personal projects is good for designers
How ‘collective illusions’ influence decision making
How our perceptions of the world around us and the groups we work in may be misleading This week builds on our previous post on cognitive illusions and perception errors. optical illusions help illustrate how blind we are to the cognitive heuristics we use to make sense of the world around us. What they show is… Continue reading How ‘collective illusions’ influence decision making
Setting up performance reviews for Product Designers
Take a few shortcuts with my comprehensive guide on evaluating designers Why is evaluating designers so difficult? Evaluating the performance of a product designer within a startup or agency environment is challenging. It involves a mixture of objective and subjective data that is synthesized in an attempt to gauge if someone is to be rewarded,… Continue reading Setting up performance reviews for Product Designers
5 lesser-known tips on spacing for product designers
5 lesser-known spacing tips for product designers Your BAE might not give you space but after reading this article you will definitely give your UI objects some well-deserved space :p When we start out as designers, spacing is often the most neglected aspect of the design process. Various objects are spaced based on what we, at… Continue reading 5 lesser-known tips on spacing for product designers
Patterns are good
Why should you care about them? Apple Magic Mouse Versus Logitech MX Master. Source: Tidbits A design pattern is a document that describes a common solution to a recurring design problem. According to Tibor Kunert (2009), using design patterns allows designers to quickly find solutions to problems using proven designs, rather than starting from scratch each time.… Continue reading Patterns are good
Conversational AI search: beware of smoke and mirrors
Search bots based on LLMs contain hidden dangers Photo by Julius Drost on Unsplash At the moment, conversational AI search is in a perilous place. In the midst of an AI hype boom, it’s easy to overlook the challenges and dangers inherent in the way major search companies are applying large language models to our information ecosystems.… Continue reading Conversational AI search: beware of smoke and mirrors
How people read online
Tips for accessible text. What makes a text nice to read? To know more about this, it is important to take a closer look at how people are reading. Additionally, it may be the case that someone is impaired, physically or mentally, to read a text. How does it work? Saccades, fixations, and breaks The reading process… Continue reading How people read online
Is AI going to steal your job and burn down your house?
Public and professional perceptions of artificial intelligence. Dall-E generated image “Illustration of how artificial intelligence is going to steal your job and burn down your house” TL; DR. AI is rapidly evolving, helping us make better decisions and perform various tasks and increasingly doing so autonomously. Will humans eventually be enslaved by machines that become self-aware,… Continue reading Is AI going to steal your job and burn down your house?
How playing improvised music can train the ability to synthesize in design
Improv form #1. Drawing by Alexander Pryshyvalka (Instagram) My experience with Minsk Improvisers Orchestra I was always certain that only those who are trained in understanding musical notation and playing music instrument, are allowed to create music — only these special kinds of people are eligible to be called musicians. I’m not one of this special kind… Continue reading How playing improvised music can train the ability to synthesize in design
Measuring Empathy for Accessibility
After my previous blog on the Two Pillars of Accessibility, I was asked on LinkedIn from a peer in the accessibility field how a program could measure and report the empathy pillar of an accessibility program i.e. how much does your company care about accessibility. Measuring the impact of accessibility is relatively easy — you can track… Continue reading Measuring Empathy for Accessibility
Gestalt psicology for dataviz
Understanding why specific data visualization techniques work better than others may not be so simple. Visual Pattern — Credits: Omar Flores on Unsplash We easily perceive a design that catches our attention, or elements that are out of place, but then we hardly know how to identify and evaluate them accurately, almost as if their effect acts at the… Continue reading Gestalt psicology for dataviz
2 Ways to Protect Your HTML Email Links (and Prevent SPAM)
In this tutorial we’ll describe two straightforward techniques for protecting HTML email links from being scraped by spammers. Although these techniques cannot guarantee full success, they’ll give you an extra layer of protection. Email Templates on Envato Elements Before we dive in, don’t forget that you can download unlimited email templates with your Envato Elements… Continue reading 2 Ways to Protect Your HTML Email Links (and Prevent SPAM)
WooCommerce Shortcodes Cheatsheet
WordPress added support for shortcodes around 15 years ago. You can use shortcodes to easily add complicated functionality to your website which otherwise would have required you to write a lot of code yourself. Basically, shortcodes are short text snippets whose behavior depends on some more complicated code written in the back end. While WordPress… Continue reading WooCommerce Shortcodes Cheatsheet