2017 - Visual Identity

Better UX Through Microinteractions aside

When designing a product, there are many ways to improve the user experience, including defining personas, well-structured information architecture, and thoughtfully written content. But after this high-level structure is set, creating delight for a user comes in the smaller interaction design details. These details, known as microinteractions, are individual moments in the product designed to accomplish a single task while enhancing the natural product flow. Swiping up to refresh data, liking content, or changing a setting are all microinteractions. They can also include simple UI animations—for example, the way a menu slides in when tapped, or a card glides off the screen when swiped. Often microinteractions aren’t even consciously noticed by the user, but their subtle details make the product ...

Customer Journey Maps – What They Are and How to Build One aside

When a customer uses a company’s products and services to achieve a goal or need, they are going on a journey from point A to point Z. A customer journey map charts the path a user takes from the beginning of this journey to the satisfaction of that need. “Mapping out the customer journey is an effective way to understand what turns a viewer into a long-term, loyal customer.” – Kofi Senaya, Director of Product at Clearbridge Mobile Understanding a user’s needs is the bedrock of great design. User experience and product designers draw upon a range of tools and methods for uncovering the needs of their users and designing a product that meets those needs. The customer journey map is one such ...

How to Design an Effective Landing Page aside

Landing pages can be described as one-page websites that push the visitor toward a single action. This focus on a single purpose is the primary feature that makes landing pages different from other websites. Their primary goal is to generate leads which are often linked with email and social media campaigns and to convert those leads into buyers and subscribers. The process of converting visitors into leads and buyers is usually accomplished by call-to-action buttons and lead generation forms. “A landing page is any webpage on which an Internet visitor first arrives on their way to an important action that you want them to take on your site” – Tim Ash, Landing Page Optimization Landing pages originated in response to the ...

How to Build an Effective Design Framework aside

If you’ve been in the design world for a while, you’ve probably heard these terms: design framework, UI framework, UI kit, or pattern library. They all refer to the same thing—a system of design standards, templates, UI patterns, and components that are used throughout a product and serve its design language. If you haven’t created a design framework before, starting one can feel overwhelming and seem time-consuming, but it will speed up your design work and make it more efficient overall. Let’s outline the main issues a design framework solves, why you need one, and the components you will need to create when building one. You will find a free downloadable Sketch UI framework later in the article that allows you to create ...

Great Questions Lead to Great Design – A Guide to the Design Thinking Process aside

Great designers help teams and stakeholders make better decisions by using questions to identify opportunities, reveal underlying needs, and understand user context. James Dyson, having been inspired by a centrifuge used to separate paint particles from the air, came up with the world’s first bagless vacuum cleaner in 1983 after famously going through 5,127 prototypes—the epitome of design thinking. He must have asked a lot of questions along the way… Designers face tough problems every day—problems that require them to find design solutions that deal with business and technical constraints while also addressing user needs. At the same time, the urge to find solutions quickly shouldn’t preclude designers from thoroughly understanding the heart of the problem, as well as the user context, from ...

Dashboard Design – Considerations and Best Practices aside

Dashboards are a unique and powerful way to present data-based intelligence using data visualization techniques that display relevant, actionable data as well as track stats and key performance indicators (KPIs). Dashboards should present this data in a quick, easy-to-scan format with the most relevant information understandable at a glance. The term was born from the traditional automobile dashboard, and they have evolved to serve the same function in the digital world. In his book, Stephen Few put it best: “A dashboard is a visual display of the most important information needed to achieve one or more objectives; consolidated and arranged on a single screen so the information can be monitored at a glance.” Mobile dashboard design by Mason Yarnell for Mixpanel In this ...

New Realities: VR, AR, MR, and the Future of Design aside

Advances in artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality mean fresh design opportunities for designers. The digital and technological landscape is constantly changing, and in many ways accelerating. Designers tasked to come up with innovative ideas have to keep track of what is trending and where the creative opportunities are. Recognizing the changes that are occurring in the industry will help designers design smarter and make more informed creative decisions. Bell curve graphic of the technology adoption life cycle In the technology adoption life cycle, “Innovators” are the smallest group, yet the most successful. They are followed by “Early Adopters,” then “Early Majority,” and later, “The Majority,” or everyone else. As innovators, great designers usually fall into the “Early Adopters” category—big risk ...

Think S.M.A.R.T. When Defining Business Goals for Your Next UX Project aside

Clear business goals mean a precise and efficient execution. The S.M.A.R.T. Framework (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time-Based)  can be a key to your design success. Many UX designers think their primary goal is to create a delightful user experience or a sleek design. But that shouldn’t be the main focus. Designers need to think beyond mere pixels. They should adopt a business perspective, think strategically, consider the primary objectives, and design towards both users and business goals. While reading a client’s brief, we often find that the business goals and the requirements are not clearly formulated. Either we get Clients from Hell, suffer a lack of communication, or are faced with unrealistic and unclear expectations. We hear vague requests, like, ...

What is UX Design? Common Misconceptions and UX Myths aside

Even after all these years, it seems like “UX” is still a buzzword at many companies—“We don’t just need a designer,” the VP of Product declares, “We need a UX Designer!” An audible gasp is heard in the room; everyone in the meeting nods in agreement while surreptitiously Googling “What is UX design?” and “What does a UX designer do?” By now, most people know that UX stands for user experience. But knowing what it stands for is not the same as really understanding the details that make it up and make it work. In fact, most people would have a hard time explaining what designing for a user experience means, or what a UX designer actually does. UX—in short—is all aspects of a system (website, app, product, ...

TV UI Design: Working with White Space aside

Designing for TV requires a comprehensive, disciplined understanding of UX principles. One of the elements that is a constant concern when designing for TV is the use of white space in design. There are too many TV apps on the market that don’t know how to (or consciously choose not to) properly harness white space. The result is cluttered eyesores that actively undermine business objectives. Here is an explanation of what white space is and how using it in your TV app is best for business. First and Foremost… What is white space? White space is an unoccupied piece of real estate with zero text or graphics layered on top. This is important to note because a background graphic image can be ...

Yearly Archives2017