UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
November//26//2021
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
Dealing with Rejection. Not a typical highlight of this newsletter, but an article worth devoting attention to. As Designers go through their careers and try to join certain teams or projects, chances are they’ll be met with a fair amount of rejection. What this article stirs and provides a catalyst for, is the reflection that rejection (or the fear of rejection) should never be a deterrent for someone pursuing their ambitions. As professionals in particular, and as capable individuals in general, we have an opportunity to learn from every single experience we go through, be it positive or less than affirming. Knowing who we are, what we want and generally speaking, being self aware, allows us to walk away from potentially crippling situations with the notion that while the outcome was not what was expected, there’s a lesson to be had in terms of ourselves, but also identifying what more closely aligns with our own pursuits. Highlight of the article includes:
“Perspective is the key to dealing with rejection. If you cold-call 20 potential customers a day, no is an accepted part of the process. If you ask someone for a favor and they say no (or respond by offering a partial favor), that rejection in no way reflects your overall self-worth. According to research published in Psychological Science, mentally taking a step back to focus on your overall sense of self minimizes your physiological response to rejection and stress. (Reflecting on your overall self-worth before you put your ego on the line definitely helps as well.)”
2.
Case Study: Redesigning with Security. Interesting case study documented in the Invision Design Blog, focused on the redesign of an onboarding experience for a Bank in Ireland. The article details in high level, the challenges the design team went through, including focusing on Users needs, Diverse array of expectations, Accessibility, GDPR, among other pertinent factors to be considered. While it’s a very high level article, and simultaneously a point of sale for Invision, it’s nonetheless well worth a read. Highlight of the article includes:
“For AIB, Ireland’s biggest bank, this meant completely redesigning their login system for all of their personal internet and mobile channels — which had largely remained unchanged since 1998 — and requiring users to receive a push notification on their mobile phone. While this may seem like a relatively straightforward task, there was an interesting design challenge at play. Not only did AIB’s team of designers have to create a secure login system that was as frictionless and easy-to-use as possible, so that it didn’t raise any alarms or look like fraud, but it also had to serve a user base with wildly different needs. AIB’s customers range from the tech savvy to those who have never used a mobile phone before — and all of them had to be brought through the customer journey in the exact same way. The timeline on the project was super quick, too. AIB became compliant in just seven months.”
3.
Dyslexia and Accessibility Considerations. Author John C Barstow has written and shared a really pertinent and relevant article on the topic of Dyslexia, which Smashing Magazine has generously shared on their website/platform. The article calls out attention to topics that W3C and WCAG have been advocating for quite some time, in order to make web driven products and applications more inclusive for diverse audiences. This article thoroughly documents instances where products can be enhanced via White Space inclusion, Font sizes/kerning/leading, all with examples of how that is manifested in actual CSS. Worth reading. Highlight of the article includes:
“The extra whitespace we’ve been adding makes it easier to focus on letters and words. That implies that we can be even more helpful by reducing the amount of confusing, cluttered, or potentially distracting things in our design. Best practices in web design tend to emphasize progressive enhancement and mobile-first design, which helps keep page weights down and makes web pages resilient. These practices naturally lead to a minimal default state with fewer decorations and distractions (because these would overwhelm a small screen). We can preserve this minimal state in our dyslexia-friendly mode.”
