UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
March//1//2024
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
An Accessability Toolkit. The topic of accessibility is one that is always of the utmost importance when crafting product design solutions. This article from Yichan Wang for The Smashing Magazine has an interesting angle, in the sense that lists a pretty comprehensive list of resources for anyone wanting to learn more about Accessibility. The rest of the article are interesting considerations, based on her own professional experience with clients, but I’d recommend visiting this article alone for the compilation of resources and data on Accessibility that it lists. Highlight of the article includes:
“Incorporating accessibility into web design can significantly elevate how users perceive a brand’s image. The ease of use that comes with accessibility not only reflects a brand’s commitment to inclusivity and social responsibility but also differentiates it in competitive markets. By prioritizing accessibility, brands can convey a personality that is thoughtful and inclusive, appealing to a broader, more diverse customer base.”
2.
Cost of Personalization. Interesting reflection from author Jon Yablonski on the topic of Personalization and how it has taken on new meaning with the further dissemination of Artificial Intelligence. AI has been documented to enable the following: understanding users at a scale, optimizing permutations, predicting and personalizing features, new interfaces, and identifying opportunities. AI’s ability to parse through data and recognize patterns, makes it into a formidable researcher of sorts, which also allows it to forecast trends (everything is cyclical). Therefore the interpretation of users’ behaviors ties with the concept of further enhancing personalized experiences, which is invariably what users state they want. Worth reading through. Highlight of the article includes:
“But privacy isn’t the only trade-off we make for the convenience of personalization. Platforms are now utilizing their interfaces to capture data from user interaction in order to personalize content recommendations engineered to keep users on the platform longer. TikTok’s meteoric success has been largely attributed to it’s ability to tap into the reward system of the brain through an endless stream of short videos selected specifically for each user with the net effect of keeping them in a trance-like state on the platform.”
3.
Opportunities for AI in Accessibility. Great article from Aaron Gustafson on the topic of AI and its intersection with Accessibility. It’s a fantastic reflection on how AI can possibly break down biases and inherent problematic aspects of some algorithms that have ruled some digital products and solutions thus far. It’s an in-depth reflection well worth reading through. Highlight of the article includes:
“We need to recognize that our differences matter. Our lived experiences are influenced by the intersections of the identities that we exist in. These lived experiences — with all their complexities (and joys and pain) — are valuable inputs to the software, services, and societies that we shape. Our differences need to be represented in the data that we use to train new models, and the folks who contribute that valuable information need to be compensated for sharing it with us. Inclusive data sets yield more robust models that foster more equitable outcomes.”
