UI/UX Articles And Interesting Tidbits Of The Week
January//29//2021
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
What is Productivity. Very interesting article from author Jon Malmberg, focused on the topic of productivity. The article details a variety of proven techniques, including The Pomodoro Effect (tasks set to a specific timeline and timeframe), Eat That Frog technique, The Eisenhower Matrix, to name but a few. It’s ultimately a helpful reminder that productivity is all about focus, flexibility and being able to prioritize what needs to be done and get accomplished. Well worth a read. Highlight of the article includes:
“A productive person doesn’t necessarily do more work, they focus their work on the right things. And If you then focus your energy on “one” right thing after the other, you’ll accomplish more, and you’re likely to achieve your goals quicker. This is, however, not just about focusing on one thing in your life period. It’s about being critical of what you choose to focus your energy on, where you have the most impact, and eliminate waste. Hone in on what matters and let go of everything else. This technique is not as simple as it may sound, but if you learn to master it, you can achieve almost anything. Learn more about how focusing on one thing can help you.”
2.
Conversion Techniques. Another great article on the topic of conversion, but this around, on testing techniques, which allows for teams to understand how conversion, or lack of, is happening and why. The article highlights techniques such as AI-powered Heatmaps, Landing Page Analyzers, User Feedback, to name but a few. All these techniques ultimately inform the Product Design teams how the solution that is on the market is being, not only perceived, but also utilized by clients and users that interact with it. Highlight of the article includes:
“Good copy can lead to great conversion rates, and it’s crucial for you to prioritize the optimization of your copy. Luckily, if you have low or no traffic, you don’t have to ask your colleagues or friends for their opinions. Instead, you can get a panel-based copy testing service like Wynter. With this type of conversion testing, you can understand how the copy on a specific page, or a specific part of a page, resonates with your intended audience. You choose the URL of the page (or take a screenshot if it’s unlaunched). Then you get to choose the audience, whether B2B or consumer, the country, age, and gender. Your selected “panel” will then review your copy and give you insights into how well it’s working.”
3.
Why is Software Creation a Lengthy Process. Great article from author Justin Etheredge, with focuses on clarifying and mapping why software driven solutions take a considerable amount of time to be produced. While the article places its emphasis on the Development process which partially sustains the Software Creation initiative, it’s worth noting such aspects as Source Control, Automated Testing, Infrastructure Automation, to name but a few, all of which the author offers some reflection upon. Highlight of the article includes:
“Back in 2000 you generally bought your platform from a single vendor such as Microsoft, Sun, or Borland and you might buy a few components, but you had your entire ecosystem from a single vendor. You were limited in what you could accomplish by what your vendor supported, but the amount of external tools and technologies you were adopting and integrating was relatively small. In order to keep up with the rapid changing technology landscape, companies started to adopt more open technologies that evolve at a rapid clip. This came with huge advantages, allowing you to accomplish feats with these tools that you could only have dreamed of previously. But switching tools frequently comes with a cost, you end up introducing a lot of accidental complexity into the process. While using a bleeding edge tool might give you performance in some areas, the newer it is, the more you’re going to feel the pain of supporting it. Also, the earlier you adopt a technology, the more pain you’ll experience as it grows and matures into a tool that is useful to a wide swath of users. Balancing the gain of leveraging a new technology with the pain that comes along with its use is something that technologists have been struggling with for a very long time.”
4.
State of Design in 2021. Hailing from Abstract, this Interactive Report provides insight on what the Design Discipline generally is at this point in time, based on research performed by that Organization’s team of professionals. It’s an interesting reflection, highlighting topics such as measuring impact, collaboration challenges, outcomes of initiatives, to name but a few. Worth reading and investigating. Highlight of the article includes:
“It’s clear that measuring and reporting on the impact of design is important, and even necessary. What’s a little less clear is how teams can achieve this. When asked how they measured and reported outcomes and impact, there were as many different answers as there were designers. Overall, it seems that design teams do try to capture both data-based and qualitative feedback.”
