UI/UX Articles And Interesting Tidbits Of The Week
January//8//2021
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
Derailing Innovation. Very pertinent article from Fast Company, focused on factors which prevent innovation from occurring. These factors include Unwillingness to Listen, Lack of Patience, Lack of Distance, Lack of Resources, Lack of Accountability, to name but a few. It’s an article worth reading since it also weaves relevant examples with the factors that it points out, including specific occurrences which happened with organizations such as HMV, Microsoft, IBM and Cisco. Worth reading and reflecting upon. Highlight of the article includes:
“Firms that have failed to listen have often failed to adapt. A case in point is the British retailer HMV. Once a paragon of cool in Britain and the power broker in the hot worlds of pop music, films, and video games, HMV experienced a spectacular fall from grace when all three of its major business lines were savaged by online competition. In a telling article explaining the demise of HMV, advertising executive Philip Beeching recounts a 2002 meeting with HMV’s management team where he detailed the three greatest threats to the company: online retailers, downloadable music, and supermarkets’ discounting.”
2.
Lisbon Startup Scene. Not a typical highlight of this newsletter, but nonetheless an article worth reading and discovering. I’m originally from Lisbon, and did my Post Degree program, and Technical certifications there. It’s a dynamic and cosmopolitan city, and so much is happening there in terms of incubation of startups and tech driven organizations. Well worth discovering a bit more about the city and the technological ecosystem which is flourishing there. Highlight of the article includes:
“VCs in the country include Portugal Ventures, Indico Capital, Faber Ventures, Armilar Venture Partners, Bynd Capital, Semapa Next, Bright Pixel, EDP Ventures and Shilling Capital Partners. While Mustard Seed is a VC, it’s fashioned as an impact fund, only investing in startups that use technology to address social and environmental challenges inside the country. Portugal is undergoing some changes. In particular, many British refugees from Brexit are relocating there (and everywhere else in Europe, but Lisbon has beaches and startup-friendly taxes). Non-EU residents are able to get a golden visa and tech entrepreneurs can get a startup visa. Meanwhile, Portuguese startups are starting to raise money internationally, so, therefore, punching out of their Portugal-shaped box.”
3.
The Potential of Augmented Reality. Interesting article hailing from the WebDesignerDepot, focused on how Augmented Reality can enhance product experiences. Having worked & designed apps based on AR in the past, I can attest how that product experience is enhanced by the relationship that can be established between the user, technology itself and the surrounding environment (the ecosystem itself). The article focuses on points such as performance, addressing the environment, user fatigue, to name but a few. As this type of experience keeps expanding, this article posits some interesting considerations worth reflecting upon. Highlight of the article includes:
“Augmented reality is becoming much more readily available on sites and apps of all shapes and sizes. Additionally, customers are accessing more ways to unlock AR’s power through everything from headsets to mobile interfaces. However, just like any new technology in the web design world, designers need to think carefully about how they will overcome the challenges in user experience that AR can present. For instance, though AR can offer more information for a customer and help them make purchasing decisions faster, there are also risks. For instance, add too many interactive features to a single website or application, and you could scare users off with too much information.”
