UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week

October//26//2018

Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!

1.https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2018/10/mobile-app-retention-rate/
Mobile App Retention Rate. A great article from Smashing Magazine, shedding attention and focus on mobile apps and their retention rates (factors that may decrease those rates, that is). The article focuses on such items as ineffective onboarding processes, navigation that isn’t sufficiently clear and is overwhelming in its complexity, and even incomplete experiences (or flows that aren’t fully flushed out). Highlight of the article includes:

“To calculate a good retention rate for your mobile app, be sure to take into account the frequency of logins you expect users to make. Some apps realistically should see daily logins, especially for gaming, dating, and social networking. Others, though, may only need weekly logins, like for ride-sharing apps, Google Authenticator or local business apps. When calculating the retention rate for anticipated daily usage, you should run the calculation for at least a week, if not more. For weekly or monthly usage, adjust your calculation accordingly.”

2.https://uxplanet.org/ux-design-practices-how-to-make-web-interface-scannable-2010125c710e
Scannable Interfaces. Excellent article from Tubik Studio, on lessons of how to make a web product more scannable (or quickly understandable and readable). The article includes tips from navigation, through visual hierarchy and imagery & illustration usage. Highlight of the article includes:

“Applied to a page or screen, the verb “scan” means to glance at/over or read hastily. So, scannability is the way to present the content and navigation elements as the layout that can be scanned easily. Interacting with a website, especially the first time, users quickly look through the content to analyze whether it’s what they need. Any piece of the content may become a hook in this process: words, sentences, images, or animations.”

3.https://www.nngroup.com/articles/microinteractions/
Microinteractions. Another relevant article hailing from the Nielsen Norman Group focused on the concept of Microinteractions. The article sheds light on what these are, and how they can provide a richer and more rewarding experience for the user. This type of technique can also enable a more effective branding positioning. Highlight:

“Microinteractions are trigger-feedback pairs in which (1) the trigger can be a user action or an alteration in the system’s state; (2) the feedback is a narrowly targeted response to the trigger and is communicated through small, highly contextual (usually visual) changes in the user interface.
Microinteractions provide visual feedback of the system status or help users to prevent errors. Additionally, microinteractions can enrich your product by communicating brand, which thereby encourages users to select your product over your competitors. In sum, these little details can transform a good product into a great product, and disengaged user into an engaged user.”