UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
April//15//2022
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
How Bad Reviews can Add Value. Very interesting article from The Fast Company and author Danica Lo on the topic of Bad Reviews and the added value they can produce and deliver from a client visibility and loyalty perspective. User Ratings and Reviews are a tremendous source of insights when it comes to research, and negative feedback has the power to incite questioning from brand loyalists, as well as it can prompt a deeper understanding of issues (and untapped opportunities) within the product itself. Well worth a read. Highlight of the article includes:
“After conducting 16 experiments using what researchers call “identity-relevant brands” — such as Apple, Tim Hortons, and the NFL — findings show that the further the “social proximity” of the reviewer, the more likely a negative review would increase the reader’s interest in making a purchase. The study’s authors explain that reading negative reviews of these brands “can pose a threat to a customer’s identity, prompting the customer to strengthen their relationship with the identity-relevant brand” — especially if the reviewer is demographically and geographically disparate.
“When consumers personally identify with a brand, they see facets of themselves in that brand,” Dr. Cavanaugh said. “When a reviewer leaves a disparaging comment about an identity-relevant brand, consumers feel compelled to protect the brand, and by extension themselves, by scrutinizing the source of the negative review.”
2.
Recommendations for Successful Email Marketing. Another great article from Inc. Magazine and author Greg Kimbal on the topic of Email Marketing. As the email ecosystem becomes more and more important and prevailing, these are considerations well worth spending some time analyzing and discussing. The three main issues when it comes to email bottlenecks are usually associated with: deliverability, engagement and display issues. This article states that factors such as Sender Reputation, Offsetting Scheduled Times, and actually using Weekend Times can be ways for emails to be delivered and parsed through more effectively and its content to resonate farther with the target clients. Highlight of the article includes:
“Your sender reputation is how mailbox providers measure the trustworthiness of your emails. This will influence whether your mail is delivered and placed in the inbox instead of blocked or in your recipients’ spam folders. An increase in global email volume means protecting your reputation is more crucial than ever, as you’re competing with an unprecedented number of other senders. One major detractor from a stellar sender reputation is spam trap volume. Marketers need visibility into the age and types of traps they’re hitting (pristine, recycled, or typo) and should keep an eye on trends over time. This will help diagnose and resolve issues that damage your reputation and prevent you from getting in front of your recipients.”
3.
Understanding the Metaverse. Shaping Design continues to showcase interesting topics and providing useful education on terms and trends impacting the Design world. This time around author Lilly Smith interviews Digital Scholar Janet Murray (professor at Georgia Tech), on the topic of Metaverse. The article explores what that term actually means, what does it translate into in terms of product experiences, and how does it impact Designers and their careers. Professor Murray goes into details in regards to VR and AR, and how those experiences touch upon what the Metaverse is defining itself to be. Well worth a read. Highlight of the article includes:
“There are game platforms that offer immersive possibilities, but they’re walled gardens, proprietary. Companies like Facebook (now Meta) see that if they could own a universal platform, the equivalent of one of the current smart phone platforms, that everyone would build on to make VR and AR experiences, then they would be well positioned to profit from what they see as a gold mine of direct marketing opportunities. But that assumes a lot of things that may not happen. Most importantly, it assumes people will want to spend a lot of time in an imaginary space, and that they will be willing to do so at a considerable loss of privacy and tolerance of invasive brand messaging.”
