UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
October//14//2022
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
Job Offer Scams. Very interesting article from Nicole Froio, courtesy of The Verge, focused on Fraudulent job offers that are on the rise, and are mostly a means to get access to applicants’ confidential data. While Ms. Froio illustrates the situation based on what happened with her (according to the context she described, she was at the time a freelance writer), it’s interesting to assess this situation as this can be an easily noticeable pattern which is also applicable for anyone who is pursuing remote job opportunities. Which for Designers also means, make sure to research the Organization you’re applying for very thoroughly, and beware of emails that are sent your way, be sure to check email addresses, urls that are sent in the body of the message, generally speaking make sure to verify everything before clicking on anything or engaging in any conversation. Well worth the read. Highlight of the article includes:
“According to the Federal Trade Commission, job scams are on the rise. In 2021, the agency received more than twice the number of job scam reports than in 2020, and in the first quarter of 2022, there were already more than 16,000 complaints filed. And it’s not just freelancers like me who are vulnerable — before the remote work boom, spotting fake opportunities that swindled workers of their money was easy: working from home with flexible hours was what made opportunities suspicious, too good to be true. But now, with more and more employers offering WFH and hybrid arrangements, how can workers tell a scam apart from a good opportunity?”
2.
Mental Models. Interesting article from Kalina Tyrkiel, focused on the clarification of the topic “Mental Models”. Amongst the principles of Interaction Design, which includes Discoverability, Signifiers, Feedback, Mental Models, Mappings, Consistency & Familiarity and Constraints, Mental Models of course focus on the expectations users have towards the product solutions they work/interact with (reinforcing once more the law of UX under the title Jakob’s Law). It’s important to understand how Mental Models impact solutions in order to best leverage the existence of patterns when devising product solutions. Highlight of the article includes:
“One of the most accessible ways for researching mental models is through session recordings. It’s a great choice to start with, especially if your resources are rather limited. Session replay tracking takes place in the background of all other website processes. It records all user activity, including mouse movements, scrolls, and clicks. This data helps you see where users tend to look for certain features. There is one significant advantage to this approach. Most of the time, the users don’t realize they’re being recorded. It’s a unique opportunity to watch their natural behavior, as they don’t feel pressured to meet the researcher’s expectations.”
3.
Gamification and Financial Literacy. While this isn’t a typical highlight of this newsletter, its content is demonstrative of how Gamification has an impact on product experiences, and how it eventually can democratize further adoption of a product/feature amongst users. Arro, which is aiming to get to market soon, operates in FinTech/credit arena, and is a combination of bringing to users the right balance of credit affordability and awareness. Interesting to read through, understand their premise and how gamification is playing a role in creating retention. Highlight of the article includes:
“To keep the cascade of content going, Arro is partnering with academic professors on both the curriculum and behavioral science. The aim is to be able to provide some expertise on how the company is introducing its brand new variable of financial literacy into the underwriting equation. Arro is still very much in the early stages — it’s preparing for a launch this month after beta testing with “a handful of different customer groups.” Duitch declined to say how many are on the waiting list, but did say that its launch partners will put the app in front of about 5 million to 6 million of its target users. It also closed on $10 million in seed funding in a round led by Crosslink Capital. It was joined by a group of investors, including Bling Capital, Bam Ventures and Global Founders Capital. The company also has $75 million in debt capital.”
