UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
December//15//2017
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.https://current.innovatemap.com/wisdom/splash-pages-at-startup-speed/
Creating Effective Splash Pages. Interesting article focused on the creation of effective splash pages. The article emphasizes different components, such as messaging and creation of anticipation, as means to drive customer interest. Highlight of the essay includes:
“Your website will evolve multiple times over the years of your digital product’s life. When you’re moving at startup speed, a website shouldn’t slow you down. Splash pages are simple to make but can still provide a lot of marketing and branding value. Whether you have your neighbor’s son code it, or you use a template from Squarespace, it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s easy to access online and easy to tweak. What’s important is that you focus on generating interest, honing your messaging, and establishing your digital product brand. By doing that, you will be in much better shape when your product launches to market.”
2.https://www.nngroup.com/articles/bad-design-suggestions/?ref=webdesignernews.com
Dealing with Bad Design Suggestions. Article hailing from Nielsen Norman Group, outlining strategies on how to deal with different types of feedback, and how to effectively make good use of different sources of input. Highlight:
“Identify both the problems and the benefits of the suggestion. Even a bad idea has some benefit — for example, using a hamburger menu for the large-screen version of a website impairs users’ ability to navigate easily. That’s a very important reason not to use it. However, a hamburger on desktop also presents a visually appealing, uncluttered header. Acknowledge both the costs and benefits to more accurately assess the trade-offs, and decide which goals can be sacrificed or accomplished through a different method.”
3.https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2017/12/designers-copyright-law-essentials/
Copyright Law for Designers. Very interesting article from Smashing Magazine, which details how intellectual property comes into play when dealing with software applications. It’s a particularly relevant article since it thoroughly analyzes what rights are attained with copyright protection. Highlight:
“Software programs consist of both “literal” and “non-literal” elements. From a legal standpoint, a program’s literal elements consist of source code and object code. Courts have defined “non-literal” elements of a computer program to include “structure, sequence, organization” (a specific language used in a 1986 U.S. court case) as well as screen displays, menu structures, and user interfaces. Both literal and non-literal elements may be protectable by copyright.”
