UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
February//16//2018
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2018/02/comprehensive-guide-to-mobile-app-design/
A Detailed Guide to Mobile App Design. Excellent article from Smashing Magazine which highlights interesting tidbits and guidelines for mobile app design. Everything from performance considerations to offline experiences, all these items are broached and detailed in this comprehensive article. Highlight of the article includes:
“If a task contains a lot of steps and actions required from the user’s side, it’s better to divide such tasks into a number of subtasks. This principle is extremely important in mobile design because you don’t want to create too much complexity for the user at one time. One good example is a step-by-step checkout flow in an e-commerce app, where the designer breaks down a complex checkout task into bite-sized chunks, each requiring user action.”
2.https://blog.marvelapp.com/what-is-design-strategy/
What is Design Strategy. Interesting article from the Marvel blog, which focuses on the underlying importance of Design marrying it’s solution driven approaches with business and market goals. A bit like an article I’ve written on this subject matter, the focus is really on the Design practice and Design professionals to have a holistic and broader view of the canvas, in order to provide direction that is consistent with a multitude of interests and goals. Highlight of the article includes:
“If you expect to be included in the high level conversations going on in the business, especially being able to dictate how something is designed without the client or management playing “creative director,” you need to become fairly good at speaking the language of business. You need to show them that you understand what the metrics and mechanics working behind the design are and how your work will impact that. I have really good resources below on this, but you must learn the lingo before you can tango with the big bosses.”
3.http://justuxdesign.com/blog/5-ideas-for-user-research-when-you-can-t-talk-to-users?ref=webdesignernews.com
Ideas to Overcome No Usability Testing. Insightful article from JustUXDesign, focused on suggestions of how to overcome the impossibility of doing usability testing when designing/conceiving a product solution. These ideas are pertinent, since they give effective alternatives when the design group/professional is face with shortage of means to be successful in devising a product solution. Highlight:
“Like forums, user reviews can be a great source of insight. This is especially true if you’re designing an app or digital service. For these types of projects, the reviews section of the App Store should your first stop. The people who are willing to write reviews of your work (positive or negative) are among your most important users. They’re the most emotionally invested in your product. They’re dedicated enough to commit time writing the review. Pay close attention to how they feel, and any issues they have. The nature of a review means they’ll be quite specific about what they like, and what they don’t. You might identify some granular usability issues or bugs.”
