Interface. Performance. What’s the Best Way to Improve Conversions? Unsurprisingly, companies worldwide told Econsultancy in summer 2009 that the No. 1 conversion relevant to them was sales, with sign-ups and registrations a close second. Overall site conversion to sale was also the top metric used by client-side respondents, monitored by 68%. That was followed by overall site conversion to response, lead conversion rate and basket conversion rate. But many companies (39%) are not satisfied with their conversion rates. They reported A/B testing as the most valuable way to improve conversion, with more than one-half of companies saying it was highly valuable and another 42% saying it was quite valuable. Agency-side respondents to Econsultancy’s “Conversion Report” did not always know what their clients thought about the best ways to improve conversions.
A/B testing came farther down the list when agencies were asked what worked, and they overestimated the value of expert usability reviews for their clients. Keep up on the latest digital trends. The Myth of Usability Testing. In 1998, usability expert Rolf Molich (co-inventor with Jakob Nielsen of the heuristic evaluation method) gave nine teams three weeks to evaluate the webmail application www.hotmail.com. The experiment was part of his series of Comparative Usability Evaluations (CUEs), through which he began to identify a set of standards and best practices for usability tests. In each segment of the series, Molich asked several usability teams to evaluate a single design using the method of their choice.
From the documented results of the second test, called CUE-2, a surprising trend appeared. Contrary to claims that usability professionals operate scientifically to identify problems in an interface, usability evaluations are at best less than scientific. In an interview with Christine Perfetti published in User Interface Engineering, Molich said: The CUE-2 teams reported 310 different usability problems. Collectively, the teams reported 340 usability problems. Think about that for a moment. Design Tidbits. Setting Up Photoshop For Web, App and iPhone Development « Smash. Advertisement Most people who have designed websites or apps in Photoshop will, at one point or another, have had issues trying to match colors in images to colors generated by HTML, CSS or code. This article aims to solve those problems once and for all.
Color Management to Match Colors Across Multiple Devices In the print world, color management typically involves calibrating your entire workflow, from scanner or digital camera to computer display to hard proofs to the final press output. This can be quite a tall order, especially when the devices use different color spaces — matching RGB and CMYK devices is notoriously hard. When designing or editing for TV, calibrating the main editing display and using a broadcast monitor are common; these show real-time proof of how the image will look on a typical TV in a viewer’s home.
When building Web and application interfaces, the situation is a little different. There is a catch, though. The Goal Why Is This So Difficult? Gamma Differences (al) UI Matters: How an Interface-Lift Can Make or Break a Brand - Ad. Smashing Magazine. Usability.Edu: 25 Incredibly Useful Usability Cheat Sheets & Is your Web site primed for any viewer?
How do you know? The nicest thing about a usable Web site is that it’s just a good thing to do for others so they can easily read your online information. The other side to usability is that it can increase your search engine standings so more people can find your Web site. The following list of cheat sheets and checklists are fairly recent; however, some older usability checklists are useful for older sites that haven’t been upgraded. You can find cheat sheets and checklists for forms, blogs and more below, all listed in alphabetical order. Did you enjoy this article?
© 2014. Writings » Blog Archive » Introduction to Good Usability. 15 Valuable Usability PDFs You Never Heard Of. Here’s a list of 15 valuable Usability Papers in PDF form that you might not have heard of, but should know and can use: I thought I’d list a few helpful papers I use from time to time when going about my usability work. Some of these you may have heard of, some not. I think you’ll find these very helpful from time to time. This list is not meant to be comprehensive, rather, it’s the list of the most thumb-worn papers I leaf through when needed.
They are all free, and are publicly available. If you have a special usability PDF you find extremely helpful and it’s not listed here please do share them in the Comments (go ahead, share them right now), that way we can all grow smarter about usability together! I hope you find these helpful! Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines by the U.S. Usability.gov should be in any usability fan’s list. How well do web site usability questionnaires apply to the assessment of websites? Why Johnny Can’t Encrypt by Whitten and Tygar (1999) Google+ 10 Useful Usability Findings and Guidelines « Smashing Magazine. Everyone would agree that usability is an important aspect of Web design. Whether you’re working on a portfolio website, online store or Web app, making your pages easy and enjoyable for your visitors to use is key. Many studies have been done over the years on various aspects of Web and interface design, and the findings are valuable in helping us improve our work.
Here are 10 useful usability findings and guidelines that may help you improve the user experience on your websites. 1. Form Labels Work Best Above The Field A study by UX Matters1 found that the ideal position for labels in forms is above the fields. On many forms, labels are put to the left of the fields, creating a two-column layout; while this looks good, it’s not the easiest layout to use. 2Tumblr3 features a simple and elegant sign-up form that adheres to UX Matter’s recommendation. Positioning labels on the left also poses another problem: do you left-align or right-align the labels? 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Effective Twitter Backgrounds: Examples and Current Practices « Advertisement Smashing Magazine has been on Twitter for about a year now (@smashingmag1), and it turned out to be a great medium to communicate with our audience, build connections, discuss design-related topics and give away some nice prizes. However, even a year later, we still don’t have a Twitter background page and now is a good time to change that.
So because we decided to create our own Twitter page, we wanted to first find out how other designers do it and what tips and techniques they use to create a truly outstanding, beautiful Twitter page. Your profile page is the only place on Twitter where you get opportunity to showcase your visual brand and possibly communicate additional information that can last longer than a tweet. You can customize your profile page by changing background, text and link colors. It’s as simple as changing the skin, but ability to change background image has allowed designers to create really unique profile pages. Twitter Profile Page Tips & Techniques. Designing For Social Traction. 35 Excellent Wireframing Resources | Developer's Toolbox |
Advertisement Wireframing is one of the most valuable parts of any web design project. It can save a designer tons of time by hashing out the details of a site’s architecture, functionality, and content prior to actually starting a visual design. But if done inefficiently, it can end up costing more time and can even create bigger headaches for both the client and the designer. Below are more than 35 resources for creating better wireframes, including tutorials on different methods and a variety of tools available. 1. Here are more than twenty wireframing articles, guides, and tutorials to help you improve your wireframing process. Wireframes Magazine This site offers tons of resources and articles about wireframing. Wire Frame Your Site A great introduction to the benefits of wireframing from Sitepoint.
Ajax Wireframing Approaches A post in a series from Particletree about prototyping Ajax, this covers wireframing techniques. Framing the Problem An article about wireframing from ClickZ. Top 10 UX Myths. Crazy Egg – visualize your visitors. The 65 Most Annoying things about the Web Today | UXbyDesign.org. 2.7K FlaresFilament.ioMade with Flare More Info'> 2.7K Flares × Using the Web can still be a very annoying experience! We’ve come a long way on the web today. Or have we? While we’ve innovated in many areas, we’ve also continued to disregard pre-existing issues. And in some cases, we have also created new ones. Here is my list of the top 65 most annoying things about the web today. They’re in no particular order, but I have organized them into what I consider core groups. Poor Design Illegible text. Unfindable Information Dysfunctional site search. No Content Strategy No focus.
Auto-Behavior Auto-playing home page video. Evil Forms Unreadable captchas. Intrusive Advertising Pop-ups. Accounts Remembering user names and passwords. Abuse Spam. Technology Explorer 6. Waiting Slow page load. Bradley is a User Experience Leader with over 15 years of interactive experience. Social Network Design: Examples and Best Practices | How-To | Sm. Advertisement According to Nielsen Online, social networks and blogs are now the 4th most popular kinds of online activities. 67% of the world online population are now visiting them and the time they’re spending on them is growing by three times the overall growth rate of the internet. Social networks are now visited more often than personal email is read. Some social networks have grown to such enormous proportions that they rival entire countries in terms of population—if Facebook, for example, was a country, it would be the fifth-most-populated in the world (right between Indonesia and Brazil).
There’s a lot of variety out there in the realm of social network design. Some sites keep a very professional approach (like LinkedIn1) while others have a more organic, free-form look (like MySpace2). Also consider our previous articles: 1. Engagement is crucial for the success of any website. What’s It For? Give Visitors Something To Do Promote Interesting Content From Friends 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 10 UI Design Patterns You Should Be Paying Attention To | How-To. Advertisement Design patterns were first described in the 1960s by Christopher Alexander, an architect who noticed that many things in our lives happen according to patterns. He adapted his observations to his work and published many findings on the topic. Since then, design patterns have found their place in many areas of our lives, and can be found in the design and development of user interfaces as well.
In short, design patterns are solutions to recurring problems. By extension, UI design patterns are solutions to common user interface problems. This article goes over 10 interesting UI design patterns that you can use in your own projects. You may be interested in the following related posts: 1. To fully appreciate the problem of registration, we should consider an annoyance that has led to the opinion that sign-up forms must die6. When would you actually use lazy registration? 7 Amazon lets you browse and add products to your shopping cart before signing up. Recommended reading 2. 3. 40+ Helpful Resources On User Interface Design Patterns | Develo. Advertisement If there is a commonly reoccurring need for a particular solution, there is a great probability that someone has – by now – solved that need and has finished the legwork involved in researching and constructing something that resolves it.
At the very least, you will find documentation on general solutions to related problems that will enable you to gain insight on best practices, effective techniques, and real-world examples on the thing you are creating. A design pattern refers to a reusable and applicable solution to general real-world problems. For example, a solution for navigating around a website is site navigation (a list of links that point to different sections of the site), a solution for displaying content in a compact space are module tabs. There are many ways to tackle a specific requirement – and as a designer – the most important thing you can do is selecting the option that best reflects the needs of your users. Yahoo! Design Pattern Library The Yahoo! Adaptive CSS-Layouts: New Era In Fluid Layouts? | CSS | Smashing. Advertisement Fluid web designs have many benefits, but only if implemented correctly. With proper technique, a design can be seen correctly on large screens, small screens and even tiny PDA screens.
With bad coding structure, however, a fluid layout can be disastrous. Because of this, we need to find ways to work around most, if not all, of the cons of fluid design. If you as a designer are going to go through all the extra work of creating a functional fluid layout, why not go a bit further and make it compatible with all resolutions, instead of just most?
In this article, we’ll discuss effective techniques to create 100%-functional adaptive CSS-layouts, and provide details on other tutorials and practices. Also consider our previous articles: Fixed vs. 1. Most of us have heard of the 960 Grid System for designing fixed-width Web pages. What Is a Fluid Grid? A fluid grid can be created through a smart use of DIV layers, percentages and very simple math. The Benefits A Note About Margins 2. Fixed vs. Fluid vs. Elastic Layout: What's The Right One Fo. Advertisement The problem has boggled the minds of Web designers for years: fixed, fluid, elastic or a hybrid layout design? Each option has its benefits and disadvantages. But the final decision depends so much on usability that it is not one to be made lightly. So, with all the confusion, is there a right decision? By considering a few factors and properly setting up the final design, you can end up with a successful layout design that reaps all the benefits.
This article discusses the pros and cons of each type of layout. Also consider our previous articles: Flexible Layouts: Challenge For The Future1, which discusses the challenges of flexible layouts for the future.Applying Divine Proportion To Your Web Designs2, which explains the process of applying divine proportion to fixed layouts, but concludes with applying the Rule of Thirds to fluid layouts. Why all the debate? 1. Fixed Website Layouts The image above shows the general outline of a fixed-width website layout. 2. Pros Cons 3. 4. 30 Inspiring Dark and Sleek Web Designs. The skilled use of color gradients, lighting and glow effects, and details such as inset pixel dividers can lead to a gorgeous and sleek web design. When choosing a color palette, designers can often decide among a dark theme, a neutral/light theme, or a bright/colorful theme; this showcase presents dark-themed web layouts.
In this collection, you’ll find some terrific and inspirational examples of dark and sleek web designs. 1. Tapbots 2. Lisa Moseley 3. 4. coda.coza 5. designthis 6. 7. 8. 10. nclud 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. just.dot 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. atebits Related content. Web Design Toolbox: 130+ New Tools to Make You a Better and Fast. Web Development Toolbox: 120+ New Tools for Web Development. Social Media Beginner’s Guide. Test your Website: A 57-Point Checklist for Maximum Usability | 100+ Resources to Boost Your Social Media Savvy in 2009: Top Tip. 8 Layout Solutions To Improve Your Designs | How-To | Smashing M. Web Design Industry Jargon: Glossary and Resources | How-To | Sm. Eye tracking study reveals 12 website tactics. 15 Essential Checks Before Launching Your Website | How-To | Sma. 7 Useful Tools for Web Development Testing. Bargain Basement Usability Testing | Think Vitamin.
9 Common Usability Mistakes In Web Design | How-To | Smashing Ma. 20 Steps to Better Wireframing | Think Vitamin. Top 29 Free UX Tools and Extensions. 10 Most Common Misconceptions About User Experience Design. Feng Shui for Graphic User Interfaces. How people really use the iPhone - SlideShare. 10 Websites with huge list of resources for web designers and de.