UI/UX Articles And Interesting Tidbits Of The Week
August//7//2020
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
Password Security, Fraud Prevention, Cybersecurity. Chances are, if you work in an Organization with a considerable amount of team members, you’ve had to go through internal training pertaining to Cyber Security, Phishing scams, and all sorts of fraudulent mechanisms that can be deployed to access sensitive data. This article once again reinstates considerations to be had when it comes to Passwords, Fraudulent schemes to gather confidential data/information from users, and preventative measures to avoid falling into these traps (including, multi-factor authentication processes, password encryption, to name but a few). Well worth a read. Highlight of the article includes:
“Encryption is one of the most important security password features used today for passwords. On many systems, a default administrative account exists which is set to a simple default password. These are trivially easy to try and break into. DON’T USE DEFAULT PASSWORDS. Often, a hard-coded password is written down in code or in a configuration file. It’s quite simple for attackers to simply look up these credentials in the system once they gain basic access to a system. They then use these clear text system passwords to pivot and break into other systems. Wherever possible, encryption keys should be used to store passwords in an encrypted format. What about the keys used to encrypt the data? A general rule is you should avoid using keys because an attacker can easily obtain the key or your code, thereby rendering the encryption useless. You need to store keys securely in a key management framework, often referred to as KeyStore.”
2.
Effective Strategies to Work From Home. Another interesting article hailing from The Fast Company, courtesy of author Tiffany Ankenman (who is Head of People and Culture at Hotwire), on the topic of showcasing strategies on how to embrace working remotely. It’s an article that focuses on the actual case with Hotwire, and how this organization has embraced remote work, how that extends to topics such as Onboarding, Training, Career Paths and Empowering of team members. It’s an article filled with insight, and a perspective based on an actual Organization going through the process of defining how this process can be sustained, be productive and promote integration. Highlight of the article includes:
“Empowering your employees to take hold of their own career training while working from home also works in tandem with the inherently autonomous nature of remote work — but it requires new thinking when FaceTime isn’t possible. Because much of what we learn is in proximity to others, via observation and off-the-cuff conversations, employees must now manufacture those organic opportunities to regularly connect with coworkers when working from home. Be curious, ask questions about others’ work, and seek out stretch opportunities! Managers can do their part to encourage this behavior by conducting regular conversations on goals and professional ambitions, then finding ways to actively provide those opportunities.”
3.
Commitment Levels. Hailing from the Nielsen Norman Group, this article focuses on the pyramid of commitment that is established between users and Web driven products. The article sheds light on the different levels, which includes Baseline Relevance and Trust, Interest and Preference, Trust with Personal Information, Trust with Sensitive and Financial Information and finally, Establishing an Ongoing Relationship. It’s a very interesting look at how users contemplate the usage of products into their ecosystem, incorporating them into their habits, and how these habits once shaped, become ingrained in their routines. Highlight of the article includes:
“Much like Maslow’s pyramid of needs, we can define a pyramid of trust. In relationships (whether between two people or between a site and a user), individuals must have basic trust needs met before being able to progress to more substantial interactions. Establishing trust, whether with a stranger or with a website, is gradual: as the relationship progresses, skepticism is overcome, the comfort level increases, and new demands can be made. The relationship evolves through different stages of commitment, each built on top of the previous ones. Higher levels of commitment cannot be attained before the lower ones.”
