UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
October//1//2021
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
User Journey Mapping. Interesting article hailing from Shaping Design/Editor X portal, focused on what User Journey Maps actually consist of, what they cover, illustrate, and the different artifacts that it can be manifested upon. It’s a very pertinent article, since User Journeys are indispensable to truly craft pertinent product solutions. They enable and illustrate the different steps and scenarios users go through in order to meet their expectations or actually get their tasks done, with all that it entails, including of course, possible friction points. The article also focuses on detailing what Empathy Maps, Experience Maps, Service Blueprint and User Story Maps actually are, and how they potentiate these solutioning exercises. Highlight of the article includes:
“An experience map visualizes a general human experience over time (like buying a home, or the stages of sleep). Experience maps serve as a baseline for understanding such experiences, and they help designers identify areas which can be improved with a product or service. An experience map is visualized in stages, much like a user journey map. It can also include information like actions, thoughts and emotions. The main difference is that the experience map is not tied to any particular user, product, or company, since its purpose is to outline a broader human experience.”
2.
Ways to Win Talent. Another interesting article from Inc. focused on retaining talent, in times of enormous flux of team resources, across a variety of organizations that exist, and not solely in Technology. Author Julia Anas highlights aspects such as Work-Life integration, Personalizing Employee Experiences, Growth Opportunities, among other reflections she details in the article. Ultimately, Organizations and their leaders have to learn to focus on what individuals of different skills and experience levels bring to the forefront, and truly understand where their value lies. Randomly placing people in positions they’re not suited for, or worse even, constantly and blatantly disregarding what team members are saying, will prove itself a costly mistake in the long run. Training people and then losing knowledge is something that is ever more costly these days. Highlight of the article includes:
“Managers aren’t the only ones who want better growth opportunities, however. In fact, the №1 reason employees say they will look for a new job in the next year is for a chance to grow professionally. Growth is key for everyone. I’ve switched jobs during the pandemic, too, and growth was a key driver in my own decision. It’s important for employees to own their career and let their managers know they’re looking for growth opportunities so their managers can support and guide employees in developing their abilities. It’s also important for managers to have those conversations with their individual team members regularly.”
3.
Understand Needs, and then Craft a Design System Accordingly. Interesting article from Eric Kim and Harpreet Sidhu, on the topic of building Design Systems that are sensical and contemplate a series of variables, even before diving into the initiative itself. As I mentioned in one of my articles, Design Systems are essentially a language which sustains all product initiatives that comprise an Organization’s existence. Therefore, understanding aspects such as Technology Stacks, Audiences, Goals, are all fundamental issues to address and clarify, even before crafting that language itself. Well worth a read. Highlight of the article includes:
“On the other hand, if you’re going to build for mobile and web, with the potential for a desktop app or wearable down the line, that adds complexity that the design system must be built around from the start. Building it to encompass mobile development as well as the totally different interactions, displays, and flows of a desktop system will ensure that the development of these different products proceeds smoothly and all under the same set of priorities, ground truths, and documentation. It’s better to prepare for more possibilities than you think you might need, so you don’t have to rebuild the system when your client wants to expand into a platform you didn’t plan for. Be ready to say “yes” instead of “maybe.””
