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 reduced the amount of type styles and are now only using one typeface. 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. Tell us what you think Author: Sarah Prag, Product Manager, GOV.UK Mainstream
Usabilityweb, kennisbank voor gebruikersvriendelijke websites Inside DuckDuckGo, Google's Tiniest, Fiercest Competitor ⚙ Co.Labs ⚙ Code When Gabriel Weinberg launched a search engine in 2008, plenty of people thought he was insane. How could DuckDuckGo, a tiny, Philadelphia-based startup, go up against Google? One way, he wagered, was by respecting user privacy. Six years later, we're living in the post-Snowden era, and the idea doesn't seem so crazy. In fact, DuckDuckGo is exploding. Looking at a chart of DuckDuckGo's daily search queries, the milestones are obvious. "Every year, we've grown 200-500%," Weinberg says. Surprisingly, the sudden success didn't send the site crashing down. Three Ideas In One: Where DuckDuckGo Came From Weinberg didn't originally set out to build a search engine. "I started all of these projects independently and none of them really took off," Weinberg says. The result was DuckDuckGo, a search engine offering direct answers to people's queries, rather than merely delivering a list of links. Related: Can We All Just Admit Google Is An Evil Empire? Weinberg and his small team seem undeterred.
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. 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. 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.” So if we can feel what they feel, then logically we can react to new information and stimuli, i.e., branded products and services, in their emotional shoes as well. How do you do it? Courage First Empathy, then go Alpha
Usability Post Mobile Application Design, iPhone App Design and Development by Pacific App Design We work a little differently than most iPhone and iPad development companies and we are sure it shows in the high quality of our work. We are not an app factory like many of the development companies around today. We pride ourselves on producing exceptional work for our clients and ensuring that every app development experience is an extraordinary one. We work with iPhones, Android and iPads, day in and day out, not because we have to, but because we want to. We want you to have an extraordinary app, even if that means we help you hone your ideas. Founded in 1990 as a software development company, we grew from those roots into a web development company in 1996 and since then have grown into a leading mobile application firm. These days touch devices are everywhere and they now come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but while they are becoming common, understanding of how best to utilize these devices certainly is not.
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
10 Useful Techniques To Improve Your User Interface Designs | How-To Advertisement Web design consists, for the most part, of interface design. There are many techniques involved in crafting beautiful and functional interfaces. Here’s my collection of 10 that I think you’ll find useful in your work. They’re not related to any particular theme, but are rather a collection of techniques I use in my own projects. Without further ado, let’s get started. 1. Links (or anchors) are inline elements by default, which means that their clickable area spans only the height and width of the text. Obviously, the larger the clickable area is, the easier it is to click on the link because there is less of a chance of missing it. Make sure to also add a healthy dose of padding to the links, because converting a link into a block only affects its behavior and width; adding padding ensures that the link is high enough and has some room to breathe. 2. Attention to every detail is what separates a great product from a mediocre one. 3. All the text is set in black. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Pacific App Report | Leading Edge Design and Development Ideas 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. (Update: I was quickly reminded that I forgot to mention that my search bore fruit. 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. The experience designers collect through school and agency doesn’t prepare them to solve the challenges of workflow, transactional systems and information organization. Why do you think there are relatively few of these unicorns? [Jeff]
Operating System Interface Design Between 1981-2009 A Graphical User Interface (GUI for short) allows users to interact with the computer hardware in a user friendly way. Over the years a range of GUI’s have been developed for different operating systems such as OS/2, Macintosh, Windowsamiga, Linux, Symbian OS, and more. We’ll be taking a look at the evolution of the interface designs of the major operating systems since the 80′s. I should mention that this article showcases only the significant advances in GUI design (not operating system advances) and also not all of the graphical user interfaces and operating systems existing today. The first GUI was developed by researchers at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in the ’70s. The first personal computer which used a modern graphical user interface was the Xerox Alto, developed in 1973. Xerox 8010 Star (released in 1981) This was the first system that was referred to as a fully integrated desktop computer including applications and a GUI. Xerox 8010 Star, Source: toastytech.com
iPhone Application Development | iPhone Apps Development – Pacific App Design From iPhone app design, development and right through submission to the Apple App Store, Pacific App Design provides a complete suite of iPhone application development services. We were an early innovator as an iPhone application development company and the iPhone application development platform has remained at the core of our services since 2008. We are very proud of both the design and functionality of our many iPhone apps and strive to maintain cutting-edge skills for both our UI/UX design team and our iPhone app development team. A large part of the success of the iPhone was its seamless integration of hardware, mobile apps and operating system. While all the various parts existed prior to the iPhone, it was the iOS operating system and iPhone that really propelled the possibilities for usability to the forefront of the mainstream for personal mobile devices. Expand Your Business Potential What makes us different?
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. Let’s look at how you can use metaphors to add to the user experience on your website. 1. Metaphors are a great tool to help your users understand abstract or unfamiliar content. Source Source Source 2. Source Source 3.
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. 1. A study by UX Matters1 found that the ideal position for labels in forms is above the fields. 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. People instinctively notice other people right away when they come into view. Eye-tracking heat map of a baby looking directly at us, from the UsableWorld study4. And now the baby is looking at the content. Here’s an eye-tracking study5 that demonstrates this. 3. 4. 12Basecamp13 makes great use of space. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.