CategoryDesign Patterns

February 24, 2021 — Where to put the label in a web form? In the early days, we talked about left-aligned labels versus top-aligned labels. These days we talk about floating labels. Let’s explore why they aren’t a very good idea, and what to use instead. Some people assume float labels are best because Google’s Material Design uses them. But in this case, Adam Silver recommends using conventional text fields which have the label outside the input (to tell the user what to type), and a distinct border all the way around (to make it obvious where the answer goes). Read more…

February 3, 2021 — Tooltips are powerful design patterns implemented to enhance the design experience by providing additional information precisely when users need it. The key to designing tooltips that fit seamlessly into the overall design is to plan for them early in the design process. Specifically, designing useful tooltips requires proper timing and proper implementation. In this article, Eric Olive will show you how to design tooltips that will amplify your mobile designs and explain where mobile tooltips are most effective. Read more…

January 15, 2021 — 2020 was anything but normal. The world has changed, and so has our role as designers. We never know what the future will bring, but ultimately we shape it, and we can contribute more positive change to the world than we often think we can. Consumers had their lives shaken up and many businesses experienced new challenges as well as opportunities thanks to the novel events of the year. Read more…

November 10, 2020 — The goal of e-commerce design is to create interfaces that won’t get in the way of the overall shopping experience. In this post, Suzanne Scacca is going to look at three key parts of a digital store and show you what you can do to design each to help customers more quickly and effortlessly get to the checkout stage. Read more…

October 13, 2020 — How can you convince your clients to make a faster (and easier) buy-in? Better serving citizens means improving a frustrating website experience — the primary way Californians access necessary services. With the help of a guided design exercise, Kelly Schummer explains how the Design Shopping workflow can help guide you throughout the design phases. Read more…

October 6, 2020 — In some instances, privacy policy, terms of use, and cookie consent pages do have to be ugly. But that doesn’t mean you can’t improve upon how easy they are to read or navigate (which visitors will definitely appreciate). Today, we’re going to look at four ways that web designers can contribute to getting more policy disclosure pages read and terms actually agreed to. Read more…

August 25, 2020 — Customer needs should be one of the primary considerations when designing a website or landing page. The era of customer-centric landing pages has dawned. And if your job involves being concerned with metrics like conversion, engagement, and bounce-rates, this is a post that you may want to sit straight up for. In this article, Travis Jamison explains why customer-centricity is so important and how you can apply it to almost every business decision that you make. Read more…

July 14, 2020 — The Scrabble GO, Instacart and YouTube mobile apps have recently undergone disruptive redesigns. Were they worth it in the end? Judging by their users’ reactions, the answer to that is “No”. But that doesn’t mean that redesigns or design tweaks are a bad idea after launch. In this article, Suzanne Scacca will take a look at the mistakes made and the lessons we can extract from them. Read more…

May 13, 2020 — Arguing that dark patterns are unethical is not enough on its own. We will also need to make the case to clients and colleagues that they are damaging to business. That’s what Paul Boag has also written in his new Smashing book, “Click”. In this post, he will put together a compelling argument you can present to stakeholders to help them understand why dark patterns are a bad idea. However, before we do that, let’s agree on a definition of dark patterns. Read more…

April 21, 2020 — A landing page is a standalone webpage created to support a specific marketing campaign or targeting a particular search term. They are where users “land” when they click a link in search results, email or an ad. In this article, Paul Boag will show you how to create a compelling landing page, which involves a combination of clear focus, persuasive copy, considered design and relentless testing. Without all four your page will fail. Read more…