All search engines share the same purpose: to organize the web’s content and deliver the most relevant, useful results possible to search queries. How they achieve this has changed enormously since the days of Lycos and Ask Jeeves. Google alone uses more than 200 ranking factors, and those are just the ones we know about. Retrofitting search engine optimization only gets you so far. As metadata gets smarter, it’s more important than ever to build it into the design process from the start.
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By now, you’re probably used to seeing design trends come and go. But have you ever given any thought to what passing trends do to a website when left there for too long? As a web designer, you have a few choices. You can ignore popular design trends altogether; you can adopt them, but pull them out of rotation the second they go stale, or you can put your own unique spin on them. This guide will help you figure out which approach makes the most sense for your site.
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Recent research has found that e-commerce category pages have higher click-through rates in search than individual category pages. So, if your e-commerce site is struggling to attract shoppers and convert them, your category pages (specifically, those on mobile) might be in need of a redesign. Based on the following data, Suzanne Scacca will show you how category pages have a role to play — as the intermediary between search engines and e-commerce websites.
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It’s here, and it’s shipping. Today, Vitaly Friedman brings you our new practical guide on how to help companies grow sustainably with honest digital products. Without dark patterns, with ethics in mind, and ready for GDPR & CCPA. Jump to table of contents or get the book right away.Read more…
Foldable devices have brought with them talk of a ‘foldable web,’ and the idea that long-standing web conventions may be on the verge of a serious shakeup. Is it all hype, or is it time to get flexible? The ‘foldable web’ will bring with it new challenges, new opportunities, and, in all likelihood, new syntax. The web could be in for its biggest shakeup since the smartphone. Users and coders alike have gotten rather used to the playing field: desktop and mobile with a sprinkling of tablets. Not any more. If you thought you knew responsive design before, In this article, Frederick O’Brien will show you that you ain’t seen nothing yet.
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iPhone was built to be comfortably used for one-handed operation, allowing for a smoother thumb movement across the screen. 90% of the smartphones sold today have >5-inch displays. Bigger screen real estate presents newer challenges and opportunities for app makers and designers. In this article, Maitrik Kataria will show you how designing apps for one-handed usage can solve those challenges.
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Want to build a website or PWA that attracts a large audience and then converts as much of that audience into paying customers as possible? If that’s the case, what you need to do is use storytelling in your design — and there are a bunch of ways to do this. The key is to pair your client’s story, brand image, and goals with the style of story you decide to tell. There’s a ton of variation in how a story can be told. There is one thing they all need to have in common though: They need to somehow draw the reader into the narrative.
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Sprint 0, and its close cousin the design sprint, came about to solve real, everyday challenges. But do they deliver real value or just an illusion? In this article, Shamsi Brinn proposes an alternative first sprint that supports agile teamwork and delivers measurable results.
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To combat screen fatigue, voice assistants have entered the market to become a preferred option for quickly retrieving information. Voice assistants are hopping out of emerging tech and into everyday life. As a front end developer, you already have the skills to build one, so, in this article, Tris Tolliday will dive into the platforms.
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Data analysis, tools and workflow are very helpful for UX designers in a data-driven world, especially for those working on visualizations or data products. Since we live in an increasingly data-driven world, basic data literacy is useful for almost any professional — not just UX designers. With this article, Adonis Raduca would like to give UX designers the knowledge and tools to incorporate data into their daily routines.
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