UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
October//25//2024
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
Following a brief break.
1.
Farewell to Foursquare. This article from author Sarah Perez for TechChrunch is focused on the closing of the Foursquare app, and in a way, an interesting reflection on the sunsetting of products that have exhausted their lifecycle. Any product goes through the 5 cycles of existence: Introduction, Growth, Maturity, Saturation and Decline, and the case of the FourSquare app, besides the many achievements that it had in its lifecycle, it is now also an example of a journey that is coming to a closure. The article doesn’t spend much time analyzing some of the drivers for this decision, but it’s worth reading the insights from its founder. Worth reading through. Highlight of the article includes:
“Still, Foursquare’s original app had been a clever way to explore cities and their offerings, as an early example of how social networks could leverage smartphones’ location capabilities to build an entirely new type of experience. Now that mass of collected data that fueled the company’s City Guide will disappear for its end users. In an email sent to users, Foursquare writes, “After many wonderful years of leaving tips and reviews around the world together, we’ve made the tough decision to say goodbye to the City Guide app …” The app itself will shutter on December 15, with the web version to soon follow, the email noted.”
2.
What Blocks Winning Product Strategies. Very arresting article from Dovetail on Product Strategies and the blockers that prevent it from being successful. Authors Cynthia MacNeill and Nina Lacy focus on three main aspects: Not enough team members talking to customers, focusing on loud problems (and not the right ones), and finally, not embracing a “day 1” mentality (meaning the flexibility and adaptability of when a product is initially launched). These chapters harness with painstaking importance what is indeed happening across many organizations. The lack of customer understanding, the refusal to address core issues (and trying to salvage instead what can be considered quick patchwork issues), and finally rigidity of processes, all of these further undermine roadmaps and the vision for growth many product/design/development teams actually have. Worth reading through. Highlight of the article includes:
“Your company’s customer data might be scattered across various departments or tools — think Salesforce, Notion, Google Docs, Zendesk, SurveyMonkey, and more — laddering up to a pretty disorganized situation and significant blind spots. Some might reason that these silos are insurmountable for compliance reasons. And it’s true: troves of customer data can’t just be rolled out for anyone or in any old database. So, friction pops up between customer insights and the people who need them. Collaboration falls flat because decisions are made based on incomplete, siloed data. Meanwhile, designers, developers, engineers, and even product managers might be going along, imagining they’ve nailed customer-centricity. After all, they’ve integrated the user research that is available to them.”
3.
Case Study: The National Park Service. Great case study from the Figma Blog and author Jenny Xie, which illustrates how Figma was leveraged to execute the new app experience of The National Park Service. What is fascinating about the article, is the thoroughness and details the author captured which illustrates the inputs, constraints, value proposition and aspirations for the app, alongside the whole aspect surrounding the story of the park system, including what has been typically delivered for its users and how shape what the current experience actually is. It’s well worth reading through and learning how Figma also plays a part in augmenting product experiences. Highlight of the article includes:
“A recent addition to the app, AR experiences go beyond what a print brochure or wayside exhibit can offer. At Yellowstone National Park, for example, users can pull up a distance finder that helps visualize safe distances from bears, wolves, and other wildlife. At Antietam National Battlefield, you can see how troops moved over the fields during what’s known as “the bloodiest day in American History.” Juan notes, “There’s really nothing there physically, but AR brings its significance to life.” A project that’s currently underway will allow users to point their camera at Independence Hall and see the signing of the Declaration of Independence in motion.”
