UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
June//24//2022
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
Peak Professional Performance. Very interesting article from The Fast Company and author Holley M. Kholi-Murchison on the topic of Learning and Development (L&D), and essentially, how Organizations can shape and nurture the growth of their team members. It’s an insightful look at the author’s experience at WeTransfer, where she thoroughly researched, compiled and distilled all this data. She refers three essential pillars that really drive this support to teams and empower them to best results: individual learning and development, communal learning and development and finally organizational learning and development. It’s a fascinating and succinct read. Highlight of the article includes:
“You can’t care for your people if you don’t know what they care about. Research is the best way to get to the heart of this. Knowing how daunting and repetitive surveys can be, I wanted to take a more dialogical approach during my residency. Through cross-team community forums, ethnographic shadowing, and one-on-one conversations, we were able to investigate what L&D meant to people working across teams and how and where they needed support.”
2.
Pairing Typefaces. As always, another pertinent article hailing from the Nielsen Norman Group, this time courtesy of author Rachel Krause. The article is a detailed view on typefaces, and how different combinations can produce (or decrease) readability and ability to be parsed through in your digital product (web application or mobile app). The author refers 6 main categories of typefaces, namely Serif, Sans Serif, Slab-Serif, Script, Display, Monospaced, and while explaining what each are, then goes into details & recommendations on what and why to use some combinations on Digital products. Very insightful. Highlight of the article includes:
“Script and display typefaces bring brand personality into your site or application and set you apart from competitors. However, do not go overboard with decoration. In this case, less is more. Reserve decorative typefaces that have a lot of personality for less-utilized elements, such as headers or illustrations. Decorative typefaces are difficult to read at small sizes and should never be used for body copy. Pair a decorative typeface with a neutral serif or sans-serif typeface. If your decorative typeface has intense flourishes, it will look best when paired with a sans-serif typeface. If you’d rather pair it with a serif or slab-serif, make sure its serifs aren’t so pronounced that they compete with the decorative typeface.”
3.
A few different highlights and honorable mentions for this week’s third chapter.
Parallax Scrolling. Author Nick Babich showcases some examples of parallax scrolling that deliver somewhat unique product experiences. Highlight of the article includes:
“In fact, long scroll pages typically work better for users. The rise of mobile devices and social media’s popularization of infinite scroll made scrolling a natural interaction pattern. That’s why modern websites no longer aim to put all essential information at the top of the page (in the area previously known as “above the fold”) but rather distribute it naturally on the page to create proper scrolling behavior.”
Data Visualizations. Author Frederick O’Brien demonstrates through a series of curated Data Visualizations, the impact that these have in terms of easily communicating fairly complex data sets. The article also showcases a thorough research on the topic of Data Visualizations. Well worth the read. Highlight of the article includes:
“Data visualization carries extra weight when it has purpose — when it’s more than just something nice to look at. The magic of data visualization is that it can take complex data sets about complex topics and present them in ways that almost anyone can understand. Data visualization can tell stories no other medium can. This stream chart of refugee movement in the 20th and 21st century is a stunning example of that — packed with information yet accessible and clear.”
