“Intuitive design” is one of those overused phrases that we as designers hear all too often from stakeholders and their requirements. In this article, Carrie Webster explores what intuitive design actually means, why it doesn’t make sense, how we can better approach design solutions, and what the future of interfaces might look like. It is aimed at user experience designers and anyone interested exploring these concepts in greater detail.
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Coding thousands of pieces of artwork teaches you a thing or two about the creative process. Whether you want to overcome perfectionism, learn new skills, or simply explore the playful side of coding, regular projects may be just what you need. In this article, Saskia Freeke will share her thoughts and experience. We hope to yield the inspiration you need to start similar projects of your own.
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We must effectively design to gain and hold users’ attention in order to have them use our digital products. In this article, Victor Yocco covers specific tactics with supporting research that are bound to help you design for attention. He also discusses the need to understand why we want to gain users’ attention as well as what our users’ needs are.
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Thanks to the wide support of the prefers-reduced-motion-media feature, we now have more advanced ways to design motion that can be creative and innovative while also being safer for those with motion sensitivities.
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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.
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There was a time when marketers used things like urgency, scarcity and FOMO to drive online shoppers to a sale. But scare tactics can actually hurt a brand’s relationships with customers. By their very nature, we run into similar problems with shipping and inventory alerts. That said, there are ways that web designers can keep panic and frustration from seeping into the shopper’s experience. If you want to better control your shoppers’ responses and keep them on the path to conversion, Suzanne Scacca will tell you how, in this article.
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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.
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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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No frills, or flashing neon frills with sprinklers attached? ‘Brutalist’ websites have flourished in recent years, but their guiding philosophy remains unclear. Brutalist web design has grown so quickly that there does not seem to be a clear consensus on what the style actually is. To some it means practicality, to others audacity. Love it or hate it, brutalist architecture celebrates rawness.
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Before the home page, there was the front page. From the Gutenberg Principle to grid systems to above the fold, newspapers teach us much about the foundations of web design. In this article, Frederick O’Brien will examine several tenets of newspaper design and show their connection to best practice online. At the core of that connection is a principle childlike in its simplicity, one newspaper and web designers alike would do well to remember.
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