Design | Brand Identity | User Experience | Inspiration | The Experience Smashcast: Designing Play at Marbles Kids Museum. When we think about experiences in a digital context we generally consider what a person thinks and feels as they navigate through a website or app. A person’s experience with a service or product takes shape during moments of engagement - or touch points - that trigger emotional reactions. In turn, these experiences sculpt the way they think and feel about a brand. It is the task of experience designers to identify and improve - or altogether create - these touch points that lead to a positive experience for the user. Outside of the digital realm, designed experiences are pervasive; we just don't always notice them. Museums, theatre, music, architecture, amusement parks, and even entire cities are designed with some degree of intention. This is what Dante and I were pondering when we came up with the idea of the Experience Smashcast.
I can't remember who thought of it first, but Marbles Kids Museum resonated with both of us. So we reached out. We had so many questions for them. KUROCHA: iTunes Concept. iTunes Concept 79 comments: Joseph McLarty sur Twitter : ""Designing with web standards" & "A web for everyone". Great start to the work innovation lab library! #a11y #ux. RelativeWave Gets Acquired By Google And Starts Giving Its $80 App Design Tool Away For Free. RelativeWave, creators of an $80 “interaction design and prototyping” Mac app called Form, has been acquired by Google. As a result, Form is now free. In case you’ve never used it, Form is a visual editor meant to help designers/developers make visually-functional prototypes of apps without writing code. Form isn’t an app maker. That is, you don’t end up with an app that’ll do much on its own, or that you can distribute.
Instead, you’ll get a rough prototype — a feel for whether or not a potential design (and many of its nuances, like the specifics of how an animation flows) are heading in the right direction. If doodling on a napkin is a 1 and actually coding the app is a 10, building a prototype with Form is somewhere around a 6. Form is actually two apps: one that runs on OS X, and another that runs on an iOS device. At launch, Form was $150. With today’s news of the team joining Google, however, Form goes free. Still not sure what Form is? Why You Should Never Center Align Paragraph Text. By anthony on 01/19/11 at 2:28 pm Text is a beautiful thing. It not only has function, but form as well. When you’re creating text, it’s likely that you’re not only thinking about what your text should say, but how it should look. On the web, centered and left aligned text are the most widely used text alignments. Left aligned text is easier to read than centered text for paragraphs.
Centered text is best used for headlines and short lines of text. One other mistake you should never make is to combine centered text with left aligned text together. Following these guidelines will help make your text look appealing and easy to read. Anthony Author and editor-in-chief of UX Movement. Elliot H R sur Twitter : "Basecamp add a dynamic note at the end of their page to wish you a good day. Nice Touch! #ux... Elliot H R sur Twitter : Still on Google Drive. Not great #UX with the random error pop up. No indication what it's to do with. Uhmm? Horror Vacui. Unicorn, Shmunicorn: Be a Pegasus. If you’re reading this, you’re probably a designer . Maybe you code, maybe you don’t. But it’s likely you’re feeling more and more pressure to hone your programming skills and become that mythical product development creature who can both create compelling designs and write production code.
There are plenty of reasons why being a unicorn isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. But what you might not have considered is that aspiring to be a unicorn could be the biggest mistake of your career. Conflict of Interest Having a coder and designer in the same body is tricky. Meanwhile, as a designer, you focus on human-scale issues, and you’re comfortable grappling with the inconsistencies of human nature. Both roles are essential to the creation of great software, and close collaboration between a stellar coder and a top-shelf designer—along with a solid product manager—is the fast track to a world-beating product. But when you try to package these skills in a single person, conflicts emerge. Qwasi Intelligent Engagement, Opera Coast browser for iOS will change Mobile Web forever. Opera Coast browser for iOS will change Mobile Web forever (Credit: IntoMobile) After iPad, Opera Software is bringing its Opera Coast browser to the iPhone, featuring a revamped UI that is especially designed for single-hand use.
The application has conveniently placed buttons and gesture support, making all functions available within a thumb’s reach. In addition, there’s the updated search with related search words and quality website suggestions appearing as you type in. Opera Coast users will also benefit from the “Stuff we like” feature from where they can navigate other popular content easily. Finally, the syncing comes included enabling users to start a browsing “session” on the iPhone and finish it on the iPad.
Speaking of which [iPad], Opera Coast has also been update for Apple’s tablet with design tweaks and usability improvements to deliver that much better user experience. Opera Coast for iPhone and iPad (FREE) [iTunes link] Read Full Article IntoMobile, Dusan Belic. What Is Pinterest? Best of 2012: UI Animations — Beautiful Pixels. Ten things we know to be true – Company – Google. Nous avons rédigé cette liste quelques années après la création de Google. Nous la mettons régulièrement à jour afin qu'elle soit toujours d'actualité, et espérons que vous la trouverez pertinente.
Recherchez l'intérêt de l'utilisateur ; le reste suivra. Depuis sa création, la société Google s'efforce d'offrir aux internautes la meilleure expérience utilisateur possible. Lorsque nous concevons un nouveau navigateur Internet ou lorsque nous apportons un plus à l'aspect de notre page d'accueil, c'est votre confort que nous cherchons à satisfaire, et non un quelconque objectif interne, ni les exigences de résultats de la société. L'interface est simple et claire, et les pages se chargent instantanément.
L'intégration dans les résultats de recherche n'est pas monnayable, et la publicité doit non seulement être clairement annoncée, mais doit aussi être en rapport avec le contenu. Hotels.com - Réservations offres et remises | wake up happy. Research on web usability and conversion rate optimization - Baymard Institute. Serif vs. Sans-Serif Fonts for HD Screens. Introducing the next iteration of GOV.UK. As Tom explained back in January, the GOV.UK beta is a work in progress. We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes since then, and today we’re releasing a new batch of content, as well as the next iteration of GOV.UK’s design. I’m here to explain a bit more about what’s new, and to ask for your feedback, so we can keep making GOV.UK even better. A simpler, clearer design for GOV.UK Ben Terrett and the design and front end team have been focussing on making GOV.UK even clearer and simpler to use.
We’ve also released the next versions of the home page, search results pages, and section pages. New content and tools We’re also starting to add content and tools to GOV.UK to meet the needs of UK businesses of all shapes and sizes, including the millions of self employed people around the country. We’re using the same approach as for other content in the beta – identifying needs, and then working out the best way to meet them by writing content or building simple to use tools. UI Prototyping Tool Made Beautiful - Create Interactive Wireframes & High Fidelity Prototypes. To Connect With Consumers, Ditch The Focus Groups. Try Acting Instead. Some months ago, I wrote an article here where I claimed that market research data is overrated, especially when it comes to innovative products and services.
An innovation is new and original, so by definition, it departs from users’ experiences and behavior. Consequently, it is hard to establish quantitatively how to market it. Unfortunately, I didn’t offer up any viable alternative methods to surveys and focus groups. So how do you manage product development and brand and marketing decisions without relying on numbers?
I believe one of the most powerful methods for synching up your brand with the zeitgeist, or people’s unrealized wants and needs, is by tapping into good old-fashioned empathy. You may wonder how to institute empathy as a capability in the marketing department. So what is empathy, and why does it matter? Well, according to the dictionary in my Mac, it is “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” How do you do it? Courage First Empathy, then go Alpha. Symbol Signs. The complete set of 50 passenger/pedestrian symbols developed by AIGA is available for all to use, free of charge. Signs are available here in EPS and GIF formats. Additional symbol signs are available free of charge at The Noun Project. Download the complete set of Symbol Signs (ZIP archive, 377 KB) About the symbol signs This system of 50 symbol signs was designed for use at the crossroads of modern life: in airports and other transportation hubs and at large international events.
Prior to this effort, numerous international, national and local organizations had devised symbols to guide passengers and pedestrians through transportation facilities and other sites of international exchange. To develop such a system, AIGA and DOT. compiled an inventory of symbol systems that had been used in various locations worldwide, from airports and train stations to the Olympic Games. AIGA Signs and Symbols Committee members: Thomas Geismar Seymour Chwast Rudolph de Harak John Lees Massimo Vignelli. Unicorn: a visual designer with UX chops. Unicorn: a visual designer with UX skills I was speaking to an entrepreneur the other day when he mentioned he was looking for a “creative director with UX skills.” He added,”…someone whose aesthetic I really like.” I responded ,”Good luck.” Having recently completed a year-long search for just such a person I’d resigned to believe this person was a in fact a unicorn.
This person may exist – someone may have seen one once – but in most cases they’re simply fantastical stories of designers long-since employed elsewhere. (Update: I was quickly reminded that I forgot to mention that my search bore fruit. I found my unicorn.) Why is it so hard to find strong visual designers who have interaction and product design experience? First, design schools have traditionally not taught interaction design or user experience design skills.
Second, graphic designers get gobbled up quickly by the agency world. Why do you think there are relatively few of these unicorns? [Jeff] 5 Reasons Why Metaphors Can Improve the User Experience. There are many ways to experience the world around us. Especially offline, we can make use of our different senses to collect information, interpret our environment and make judgments. On the Web, however, our senses are more limited. As designers, we need to present information carefully to make sure our users think, feel and do the right thing. A great way to help your users understand abstract content, create a sense of familiarity, trigger emotions, draw attention and motivate action are metaphors. "The way we think, what we experience, and what we do every day is very much a matter of metaphor. " - Lakoff and Johnson In their frequently cited book, Metaphors We Live By, Lakoff and Johnson demonstrate the important role of metaphors in our language and in our everyday lives.
Our conceptual system is largely metaphorical, which means that we use metaphors to reason and understand the world. Let’s look at how you can use metaphors to add to the user experience on your website. 1. Source 2. QR Code Survey. Mydeco.com | Shop Unique Range Of Furniture, Home Accessories & Gifts. A Collection of Printable Sketch Templates and Sketch Books for Wireframing | geekchix.org. At the beginning of a web (or application) development project I always create the sketches first. While sketching can be done on a blank paper, it’s much better to use a sketch template. For me that is the best and most productive way to work on and improve my ideas before application development begins (and things get more complicated :-)). This way I won’t pay too much attention to some details that should be taken care of later, but stay focused on general layout and functionality.
Below you will find more than 20 resources that you can use in sketching phase of application development. If you have some additional resources to share, please leave a comment so I can add them to the list. And, of course, don’t forget to share your wireframes on I ♥ wireframes :-) Printable sketch templates for websites These are some pretty good, printable sketch templates for website design. Browser Sketch Pad (PDF) Browser Sketch Pad by Design Commission — see original source 960 grid template Graph paper. Lara: I love this messaging! Wha... iTravel: Apple's Future Travel Centric App for the iPhone. Patent Background Transportation ticketing has traditionally involved a pre-printed ticket which is scanned at a departure station. For example, transportation tickets may be printed at home with a barcode or a QR code (i.e., a 3-dimensional barcode) encoded with information about the traveler and/or the travel (e.g., name, destination, departure time, schedule number, etc.).
In addition, this information may be included in plain language on the printed ticket. A traveler may be required to present this pre-printed ticket to gain admission to the transportation depot (e.g., airport, train station, but station, etc.), to pass through a security check-point, and/or to board the vehicle for transportation. For example, in order to board an airplane at an airport, a traveler may be asked to present his pre-printed ticket in order to check in to his flight, to pass through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint, and to enter the gangway to board the airplane. Kevin Mireles | Product Management, Marketing, Startups & News 2.0. Why wireframes can hurt your project | Attack Of Design. Wireframes are one of the main tools in the user experience designer’s toolkit. Most usability and web design books devote a considerable section to sketching, paper prototyping, and other forms of planning.
But while I agree wireframes can have their place in some projects, I think they are actually detrimental in a lot of cases. A new environment In recent years, a few factors have started shaping the world of web design and development in a new direction. I’m talking about things like: The emergence of frameworks like Rails or jQuery, and services like Heroku or EC2, who all contribute to minimizing development time.The success of 37Signals and other bootstrapped companies which show that you can be successful with limited resources.The lean startup movement and the notion of minimum viable product.
All of these things have come together to create an environment where web products are quicker to develop, focus on fewer features, and are flexible enough to adapt to a changing market. The Landscape of User Experience Design in Asia, by Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong. TinyGrab - Simple. Screenshot. Sharing. Taming Complexity. More on Burying the Sign Up Button. What I Learned About the Web in 2011. BBC Internet Blog: BBC Weather: Design Refresh in Pictures. Twitter: Yours to discover. Kindle Fire Usability Findings. Lean UX: Getting Out of the Deliverables Business - Releasing in 2012, this book redefines the way UX designers work with their colleagues by focusing on a shared understanding of the experience being created rather than documentation.
Usability Counts | Blog Archive | Five Reasons Why Skype 5.0 for Mac Sucks. It's what you do. UX Magazine | Defining and Informing the Complex Field of User Experience (UX)