Clearly, a good mobile experience requires good form usability, and implementing touch keyboards is a key part of that. During a recent study of 18 of the largest mobile commerce websites, we observed how certain features and limitations of modern touch keyboards can collide with the user’s expectations of how to fill out a form. When this happens, users quickly grow frustrated, Today, Christian Holst will look deeper into the usability issues surrounding touch keyboards, including five design guidelines that will alleviate some of these pains.
Read more…
For those of us who design and build apps, websites and software, a great product means one that delights its users. But digital product development is complex. What can designers do to increase the overall quality and success rate of the products we craft and to elevate our team’s batting average? An answer lies in the way artists and composers have worked for centuries to create paintings and music — by focusing on a singular element: a motif.
Read more…
The flat interface style is the manifestation of a desire for greater authenticity in design. The Modern design movement curbed the ornamental excess of the 19th century, making design fit the age of mass production. Today, we’re seeing the same desire for authenticity manifest itself in the “flat” trend, which rejects skeuomorphism and excessive visuals for simpler, cleaner, content-focused design.
Read more…
One way to gauge mobile experience is to look at the tools at our disposal. Prototyping tools enable us to build wireframes and click-dummies. We seem to be in a better position than ever to design great experiences in virtually no time. However, these tools come with a hidden cost: they tempt us to skip the key step necessary to creating a well-designed product — which is to take the time to understand the problem we are given.
Read more…
Following is a list of 13 beliefs on the value of user experience strategy, design, and designers, one for every year that Robert has been in the web industry at the time he wrote it in 2012.
Read more…
Microcopy is the little text that can make or break your user experience. If your microcopy isn’t getting the job done, you’ll lose users — and all the marketing in the world might not get you a second chance. With that in mind, here are five ways to make sure your website’s microcopy doesn’t end up sinking your UX.
Read more…
In this article, we’ll travel into the future and explore a world where Google Glass and a few other technologies are as much a part of our daily lives as our smartphones and desktops are now. We’ll be discussing a new paradigm of human-computer interface. The goal of this piece is to start a discussion with forward-thinking user experience designers, and to explore what’s possible when the mainstream starts to interact with computers in 3-D space.
Read more…
Understanding people better often requires us to get outside and get our hands dirty but, in doing so, allows us to better analyze and solve. In the first of three articles, Pete Smart will share what travelling from the bustling metropolis of London to the cobbled backstreets of Turin taught me about the design process and about the power of empathy to foster innovation.
Read more…
If you are a mobile UI or UX designer, you probably remember the launch of Apple’s first iPhone. It introduced a completely touchscreen-centered interaction to a individual’s most private and personal device. It was a game-changer. Today, kids grow up with touchscreens, and touch and gesture interactions have a lot of potential to make mobile experiences easier and more fun to use.
Read more…
We decided to conduct a large-scale usability study focusing specifically on m-commerce, and our subjects encountered 1,000+ usability-related issues during the testing sessions. These usability issues have been analyzed and distilled into a report titled “M-Commerce Usability.” In this article, we’ll share 10 recommendations from that report with you.
Read more…
