Navigation is generally the vehicle that takes users where they want to go. When you examine the most successful interaction navigation designs of recent years, the clear winners are those who execute fundamentals flawlessly. While thinking outside the box is usually a good idea, there are some rules that you just can’t break. In this post, Nick Babich will help you better understand the principles of good navigation for mobile apps, then show you how it’s done using two popular patterns. The easier your product is for them to use, the more likely they are to use it.
Read more…
It’s not enough to simply design something and meet a goal. Finding your principles will help you find the right place to work and to do your best work. Giving your products a soul will make them better, more engaging products. The next time you’re designing, ask yourself what would make someone find your product useful, and what would make them care about it more than another product? In this article, Joshua Mauldin would like to share how he found his principles and regained a sense of fulfillment.
Read more…
Iconography lies at the heart of UI design. It can make or break the usability of an interface. Every icon should serve a purpose. When done correctly, they communicate the core idea and intent of a product or action, and they bring a lot of nice benefits to user interfaces, such as saving screen real estate and enhancing aesthetic appeal. In this article Nick Babich will show you how to make that possible. If you want to take a go at creating your own icons, you can download and test Adobe’s Experience Design CC for free and get started right away!
Read more…
Today, many apps make assumptions about user preferences based on personal data. They use this information to make decisions on your behalf, without any direct input from us. This type of design pattern, where user choice is removed, has recently been coined “anticipatory design”, which leverages data on user behavior to automate the decision-making process in user interfaces. Despite the good intentions imbued in anticipatory design, though, automating decisions can implicitly raise trust issues . In this article, Graeme Fulton will look at how you can give people confidence in the decisions made for them by using “light patterns,” which ensure that user interfaces are honest and transparent, while even nudging users to make better decisions for themselves.
Read more…
“The Smashing Book #5 has completely changed the potential for books around the web. It dives deep into a topic and continues to dive deeper until you feel as though your brain might explode from the knowledge. The bar has been raised significantly.” For this article, we asked Paul Scrivens if he wanted to review our latest book, Smashing Book #5. Thank you Paul!
Read more…
Today, people seek out information quickly, and cards serve it up well, regardless of device. Most of you probably have a better understanding why card-style design is so popular and will continue to increase in popularity. This trend won’t end anytime soon. Cards are here to stay and continue to be an essential part of app design. In this article, Nick Babich will explain what cards mean to UI designers, and he’ll review three popular card-based services.
Read more…
With the tools getting more user-friendly and affordable, virtual reality (VR) development is easier to get involved in than ever before. Our team at Clearbridge Mobile recently jumped on the opportunity to develop immersive VR content for the Samsung Gear VR, using Samsung’s 360 camera.
Read more…
If there is one thing that will stand the test of time, it’s thumb placement on mobile devices. This makes consideration of the “thumb zone”, a term coined in Steven Hoober’s research, an important factor in the design and development of mobile interfaces. In this article, Samantha Ingram will share the knowledge she’s acquired about the thumb zone and how to apply its rules to navigation, cards and swipe gestures.
Read more…
There are several actions you should take when improving an app engagement, but one of the most crucial is to get up close and personal with users. If you don’t segment and personalize your users’ journeys, then you should expect lower rates of conversion and retention. Understanding the individual user’s journey and how they are using the app overall is key to personalizing your mobile app experience. Mobile users have high expectations of the mobile experience and brief attention spans, so careful personalization and in-context awareness are crucial for effective communication and engagement with them.
Read more…
Skilled UX design is aerodynamic. Any bumps on the way will drag the whole plane down. Designers need to cater to their users any chance they get, so don’t make them think any more than they have to. In this article, Danny Halarewich will share some tips to reduce cognitive overload, such as using a range of content types and structured page composition to avoid visual clutter, or to remove redundancies wherever you can. Also, keep an eye out for ways to minimize the number of steps users must take or the amount of effort they must expend.
Read more…
