UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
February//9//2018
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.https://css-tricks.com/best-ux-no-user-interface/?ref=webdesignernews.com
NLP and No User Interface. Interesting article on the evolution of UI, and how natural language processing is adding to the UX lexicon and discipline in general. Highlight of the article includes:
“NLP is not a substitution for all user interfaces. For instance, I wouldn’t want to text my camera to tell it to take a picture. Or scroll through photos with my voice. It is, however, a new way to think about how we design our user interfaces now that we have this powerful new form of input available.”
2.https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2018/02/why-the-hamburger-menu-should-disappear-for-good/?ref=webdesignernews.com
Removing the Hamburger Menu. Another great article from the WebDesignerDepot, focused on rethinking the functionality of the hamburger menu. The article goes into details of how the experience requires multiple drilling/investigation from the users, in order to access information. Highlight of the article includes:
“As far as desktop applications are concerned, the hamburger should have no place. Rarely is a design so lacking in screen space that a navigation overflow is required. Google is one of the main culprits, seemingly including this component simply to provide consistency across their products and between desktop and mobile devices. In reality, it’s a useless and inconvenient user experience practice, particularly when it includes primary navigation items too.”
3.https://medium.com/swlh/how-focusing-on-the-customer-not-the-competition-brought-us-over-1-million-new-signups-in-a-year-8fbcc8c01bbe
Focusing on the Customer. Great article from Medium that details a case study focused on JotForm, and how by listening to customers/users, the company managed to achieve even greater adoption and retention rates. Highlight:
“A year after I read that comment thread, here’s what we know: most people don’t actually prefer our competitors or their product style. We know this because we have the data to support it. It’s true that some people haven’t heard of us, but we had almost a million new signups in 2017 alone, and our growth shows no signs of slowing. Our customer retention rate is strong. There are certainly haters and people who don’t like our approach, and that’s fine. We’ve learned how to serve our loyal users.”
4.https://medium.com/mule-design/the-9-rules-of-design-research-1a273fdd1d3b
Design Research. Great article from Erika Hall, focusing on the importance of design research, and the rules to abide to when conducting that type of research. Some of the rules include for instance embracing messy imperfections, which comes as part of the design process. Flexibility is crucial as feedback mounts and becomes part of the iterative process. Highlight:
“Research without collaboration means that one group of people is learning and creating reports for another group to acknowledge and ignore. Knowledge leaks out of even the most well-meaning teams working like this. Collaboration without evidence means everyone has tacitly agreed whose personal preferences win. Neither of these is the most productive approach.”
