UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
July//29//2022
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
The Power of Interaction Design. Another great article from author Suzanne Scacca, this time around focused on Interaction Design, an essential discipline and component of the Product Design journey. The author provides insight on some of the authors who coined thoughtful studies and considerations on it, namely Gillian Crampton Smith. The article also looks at foundational aspects of Interaction Design such as Discoverability, Signifiers, Feedback, Mappings, Consistency & familiarity, Mental Models and Constraints. It’s a very pertinent article always worth revisiting and reflecting upon, since interaction design is a fundamental pillar of Digital Product offerings. Highlight of the article includes:
“It should be perfectly clear which elements on your website are interactive. They should also be placed in areas where they’re most likely to be found. Take something like a CTA button, for instance. It’s essentially a shortcut to a relevant page and will take visitors one step closer to conversion. If they don’t easily recognize key interaction points as such this, though, it’s going to take much longer for them to reach their destination. Plus, the longer it takes for that to happen, the greater the chance that more people will drop off along the way.”
2.
Similarity of Streaming Video Apps. While not necessarily a critical view of this type of product design solution, author Chris Welch’s observational article nonetheless highlights the power of established patterns, Jakob’s Law, and also the cannibalization of solutions that Organizations do. It also springs to mind where in reality the principle of Design, “Be Innovative”, is actually applied if most of these products replicate each other, without much in terms of actually solving the users’ problems. Something to reflect upon after reading this brief article from The Verge. Highlight of the article includes:
“So we’ve clearly settled on the “right way” to do UX for video streaming apps. But that doesn’t mean all the headaches are solved. In Prime Video’s case, Amazon still lists seasons of TV shows separately. This is a major annoyance for some users, I’ve found, and it’s one that hasn’t changed or improved with the redesign. But the company is at least working to stop displaying multiple versions of the same movie based on video quality. Since the beginning of this year, Amazon has resolved the 4K / HD split for more than half of the Prime Video catalog and is currently making its way through the rest. A lot of people would also love an option to permanently filter what’s shown in all these content carousels to everything included with their Prime subscription — and nothing else. But that’s not going to help Amazon’s bottom line in regards to subscriptions and rentals / purchases, so don’t count on it. Amazon insists it’ll gather customer feedback and continue evolving the revamped Prime Video. You can’t call it original, but at least it’s inherently more usable than before.”
3.
Usability. Checking on the various topics showcased on the Interaction Design Organization website is always a worthwhile activity. And this time around, checking on Usability, there’s an opportunity to be reminded of what this term actually implies. Adding on to what the page defines, one can be reminded that the term/quality Utility, represents if a solution provides the features that are needed, while Usability focuses on how easy and pleasant to use those features are. And finally, the Usefulness of a feature is the merger of Utility and Usability. The page highlighted also focuses on aspects such as Designing for Optimum Usability, which includes Consistency of Content, Avoiding Disruptions, among many others. Well worth reading through. Highlight of the article includes:
“Usability is a measure of how well a specific user in a specific context can use a product/design to achieve a defined goal effectively, efficiently and satisfactorily. Designers usually measure a design’s usability throughout the development process — from wireframes to the final deliverable — to ensure maximum usability.”
