UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
October//13//2023
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
Increasing Trust in Consumer Technology. Hailing from the Web Designer Depot and author Louise North, this is a healthy reminder that Dark UX Patterns are still alive and kicking. Though some of these are not on par with the more documented and recognized ones (which includes: scarcity, sneaking, misdirection, social proof, urgency, obstruction and forced action), the ones that are mentioned such as “Disguised Ads”, “Roach Motel”, “Friend Spam”, “Confirmshaming”, “Price Comparison Prevention”, among a few others with some interesting choice of terminology, are worth reading through, as they all underline the same issue: manipulating users into performing actions that are not in their best interest. Worth reading through. Highlight of the article includes:
“‘Bait and Switch’ occurs when users perform an action expecting one thing to happen, but the result is something else. The most famous example is the Windows update fiasco: users clicked the x on a pop-up reminding them to upgrade to Windows 10, intending to close it. Instead, clicking the x started an automatic update.”
2.
Post Pandemic Job Market. Interesting and insightful article from Reuters, documenting how the Workforce transformed during and post pandemic. It’s an insightful analysis from Howard Schneider and Sarah Slobin, who look at the evolution of roles, scarcity of positions, evolution of salaries, to name but a few factors, in the years 2019–2022, to arrive at their findings. The article mentions trends such as The Great Resignation, which has since mutated into something else courtesy of the considerable amount of layoffs that have occurred in the Tech world since late 2022. It’s an insightful summary, worth reading and reflecting on what has changed and what can possibly lie ahead. Highlight of the article includes:
“Overall, the U.S. became an economy where a larger share of people made their living managing, organizing, and moving things around rather than making things or providing services. The pandemic impact on education, health care and food services has been well documented. Staffing shortages in nursing continue, and businesses related to food preparation and service are the one place where employment has not recovered to its pre-pandemic level. The U.S. logistics boom was well underway when the pandemic struck.”
3.
Digital Customer Experience in the Travel Industry. An interesting article from the User Testing blog on the topic of customer experiences with digital products in the Travel industry. Having personally worked and delivered 2 platforms in this particular field, I can attest to this focus on omnichannel experience as a top priority, not to mention the importance of testing (that goes without saying for any industry and for any product). I’d say other topics that are top of mind for this type of product include the quality and accuracy of data sets, showcasing the information to the user in a way that is parsable and clear, and finally removing any sort of ambiguity. It’s an article that tilts in the direction of testing and the product User Testing provides, but it’s worth being reminded that this industry in particular has a long way ahead to make experiences for users that much better. Highlight of the article includes:
“Omnichannel refers to testing a single process across multiple devices. For example, a traveler can start to book their trip on mobile and then complete the transaction on a desktop computer. That process can be tested using omnichannel testing. Multichannel testing asks participants to complete the same task multiple times while using and testing different tools each time. For example, with multichannel testing, a traveler would book their trip completely on mobile and then book a different trip on a desktop computer and other devices. That way, the entire process can be tested for each device.”
