UI/UX Articles And Interesting Tidbits Of The Week
January//22//2021
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
Designing Effective Data Visualizations. Infographics & Data Visualizations are topics that are deeply entwined in Product Design experiences. I’ve steadily worked on this type of endeavor for 11 years now, and they’re always a challenging aspect of any product being designed, from a multitude of aspects, namely User adoption (always remembering Users satisfaction, efficiency, learnability, memorability and errors when interacting with these artifacts), Implementation & Performance variables, and of course how it marries with the overall Branding experience itself. This article is an interview with Data Visualization Designer Nadieh Bremmer, and is well worth understanding her process, focus and outputs. Highlight of the article includes:
““I try and add as much context and nice-to-haves as possible,” she explains. “I play with the colours, opacity, shapes and other effects to make the visualization more interesting, and the more invested readers can find multiple stories. Six months later, if I did it again, the same visualization would probably look very different. What drives me is how pleased I am with the end result and if it’s effective.”Depending on the amount of data to show or the complexity of the interactions, Nadieh will also use SVG, HTML5 Canvas, three.js or GSAP. She keeps things simple and tests in Firefox and Chrome straight away. “I don’t want to create dependencies for the visuals I create,” Nadieh reveals. “Making my interactions as low level as possible means the client can view it on their system and hopefully make it fit whatever tool they want. There’s no React or Vue underneath it. It’s quite minimalistic.” If the finished piece is a static image, Nadieh will export the visual she created in JavaScript either to Adobe Illustrator or increasingly to Affinity Designer to add some final touches. If it’s an interactive web-based piece, she will spend more time making the visualization fun to play with.”
2.
Building Brand Trust with Transparency. Another great article from author Suzanne Scacca, this time for WebDesignerDepot. The article focuses on an actual principle of Design, Honesty, and how that particular quality, when it permeates effectively throughout product experiences, it enables brands to build trust and retention with their clients. The article focuses on such aspects as clarity of solution, truthfulness on user reviews and social proofing, integrity when it comes to data collection, to name but a few. Well worth a read. Highlight of the article includes:
“It’s not always easy for consumers to decide what they’re going to spend their money on, what with the variety of options and distractions suggesting it might be better spent elsewhere. So, when your website provides pricing that seems too good to be true, don’t be surprised when they abandon the purchase when they discover it really is. With 49% of consumers equating transparency with honesty, you can expect unexplained discrepancies between the ticket price and the price at checkout to cause issues for your brand. When designing product-related pages on an ecommerce site, consider the best way to inform your shoppers without compromising the on-page experience.”
3.
Habits of Innovative Individuals. Again not a typical highlight of this newsletter, but one that I believe is worth reading about and reflecting upon. This article hailing from Fast Company and author Winston Ibrahim focuses on the habits and qualities Innovative individuals should have and nurture. The author highlights traits such as Clarity of Vision, Building Networks of other Professionals, Being a Source of Inspiration, Open Mindedness, to name but a few. Innovation as I’ve mentioned in one of my articles, requires diligence, self awareness, focus, flexibility and persistence, to bear fruits and ultimately rewards. Worth reflecting upon. Highlight of the article includes:
“This is an aspect of innovation that doesn’t get discussed enough. No one human can sustain the level of skill sets and personality types required to make a product or company as successful as it can possibly be. Innovation, in and of itself, is an iterative process that benefits tremendously from other people’s perspectives and expertise. In that sense, other collaborative influences are valuable assets. We have seen this firsthand within both of our companies, Hydros and Nottingham Spirk. By surrounding ourselves with people from different backgrounds, with different competencies and skill sets, we have been able to create far more differentiated products than we ever would have by ourselves.”
