Customization allows users to make selections and set preferences in a system, with the intent of giving users more control over the user experience. Customization allows users to select the content, layout, functionality or design that appeals to them. However, customization tools require work and input from users, so need to be designed in a way that entices and attracts usage, and provides adequate payoff for the work invested by the user.
Here are 7 tips for creating a successful customization experience:
1. Show users that customization is available.
It is not enough to offer customization to users. If users don’t know about the feature or can’t find it, they...
Notifications have the design challenge that they are not the immediate and obvious result of a specific user action. On the contrary, the user is likely in the middle of doing something different and may not be thinking about the issue raised by the notification. This requires notifications to
From the above table, it might seem that move-copy-delete is the superior set of generic commands. In practice, however, it forces you to specify where you're copying or moving to and from. Having 2 arguments per command complicates matters. In contrast, cut-copy-paste employs an intermediate
Suggest a password change at moments when people are focused on updating their settings, and possibly at other times when they are less focused on a particular task. Add a tip about changing and remembering their password in the Settings area, and in your email newsletter. And if the app or website
9 Blockchains Transforming the Way We Pay, Play, and Work
Look past digital currencies’ nosebleed pricing volatility, and you’ll discover a robust, decentralized, secure database. Brands and technologists are quickly figuring out how to put this powerful ledger to good use. Here are several real-world examples that demonstrate cryptos’
9 Blockchains Transforming the Way We Pay, Play, and Work
Look past digital currencies’ nosebleed pricing volatility, and you’ll discover a robust, decentralized, secure database. Brands and technologists are quickly figuring out how to put this powerful ledger to good use. Here are several real-world examples that demonstrate cryptos’
9 Blockchains Transforming the Way We Pay, Play, and Work
Look past digital currencies’ nosebleed pricing volatility, and you’ll discover a robust, decentralized, secure database. Brands and technologists are quickly figuring out how to put this powerful ledger to good use. Here are several real-world examples that demonstrate cryptos’
Sympathy vs. Empathy in UX
In UX, sympathy is limited to acknowledging that users are going through a difficult scenario, task, or journey. If we are sympathetic to our users, it does not mean that we put ourselves in their shoes and feel their pain or annoyance. For example, when we’re designing an accessible website for
7 tips for successful customization
Better Link Labels: 4Ss for Encouraging Clicks
Each link in this list fully contains the most important content that users will find if they select it — for example, Marriage, civil partnership, and divorce. The descriptive text beneath this link is useful, but entirely supplementary: Includes getting married abroad, decree absolutes, and
Design Thinking 101
Jakob Nielsen says “a wonderful interface solving the wrong problem will fail." Design thinking unfetters creative energies and focuses them on the right problem. Flexibility — Adapt to Fit Your Needs The above process will feel abstruse at first. Don’t think of it as if it were a
10 Heuristics for User Interface Design: Article by Jakob Nielsen
Visibility of system status The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time. (Read full article on visibility of system status.) Match between system and the real world The system should speak the users' language, with words
Modes in User Interfaces: When They Help and When They Hurt Users
For example, in an image-editing application like Photoshop, it’s useful for the standard mouse click to have many different functions, because being able to point to specific parts of the image is critical for these functions — other input types (like keyboard commands) would not be sensible
Empathy Mapping: The First Step in Design Thinking
Aggregated empathy maps represent a user segment, rather than one particular user. They are usually created by combining multiple individual empathy maps from users who exhibit similar behaviors and can be grouped into one segment. The aggregated empathy map synthesizes themes seen throughout that
Troubleshooting Group Ideation: 10 Fixes for More and Better UX Ideas
Adding structure and rules to your session can make your ideation process effective. In particular, parallel design can help you reap the benefits of both individual and group ideation. One way to implement it in an ideation session is to have team members start working on ideas solo for a short
7 tips for successful customization
Parallel Design and Testing by Jakob Nielsen and Jan Maurits Faber
The designers of these merged versions did not participate in producing the original versions, but they were experienced user-interface professionals on about the same level as the four original designers. In other projects, one would often choose the most senior original designer to produce the
Most often, front-end style guides take the form of a web page or other interactive digital asset, rather than a PDF. You can typically interact with all the components in a front-end style guide, and many development teams choose to implement them so that any change made to components in a style
WP Engine's London Office Recognised as a Great Place to Work
In 2015, WP Engine opened our first global office in London as a physical representation of our desire to expand our team of WordPress specialists and better serve our customers globally. Since then, we’ve worked hard to create a workplace that is collaborative, productive, and fun. Today, we
WP Engine's London Office Recognised as a Great Place to Work
In 2015, WP Engine opened our first global office in London as a physical representation of our desire to expand our team of WordPress specialists and better serve our customers globally. Since then, we’ve worked hard to create a workplace that is collaborative, productive, and fun. Today, we
Mobile's New Power Couple: PWA and AMP
Soon, everyone got on board and organizations began creating mobile versions of their site. However, inefficient and clunky infrastructure left users dependent on their desktop. Finally, the mobile web reached a point of maturation with the creation of Responsive Web Design. Using the same code for
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Melissa Hathaway came across our radar recently when President Obama tasked the former Bush administration aide with leading a 60-day review of Bush’s Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative; a largely classified, purported $30 billion, multi phase plan to address cybersecurity issues
The Business Benefits of Visualizing Your Data
The more eyes you have on a set of data, the more useful it is. More importantly, you can discover insights and trends that would have otherwise been missed or hidden. Some data — especially the actionable kind — is most useful to the people way down in the trenches. Because they’re
Security Teams Need to Be Prepared With an Incident Response Plan
CISOs oversee the entire security operation, so when a crisis does hit, it’s incumbent upon them to lay out a clear direction for each stakeholder on the incident response team. This includes security, legal, and forensic employees (often outside consultants); law enforcement (often the
Your Pitch to VCs is More Than a Deck
There is a difference between your pitch, a distillation of your vision, and the deck, a tool that facilitates your pitch. There’s also a difference between the presenter, the person who communicates the most important points, and the presentation, the cumulative experience that includes
7 tips for successful customization
The Role of IT or an IT Consultant Provider for Business Growth
A business that continually has network problems or connectivity problems will lose business. An employee can’t work effectively when they don’t have the correct tools or appropriate access to the online information is lowered prices. If all of the work is managed by one IT person or
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Melissa Hathaway came across our radar recently when President Obama tasked the former Bush administration aide with leading a 60-day review of Bush’s Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative; a largely classified, purported $30 billion, multi phase plan to address cybersecurity issues
7 Tips for Successful Customization | Back-to-Top Button Design Guidelines
Back-to-Top Button Design Guidelines
The popularity of responsive web design has led to a proliferation of single-column, long-page designs both on mobile and desktop. A consequence of these designs has been the Back to Top button, which is a shortcut that allows users to quickly navigate to the top of the page. When users get at the
Scrolling and Attention
First, it could be that, overall, designers are doing a good job of creating signifiers to counteract the illusion of completeness and to invite people to scroll. In other words, they are aware of the disadvantages of the long page and mitigate them to some extent. Second, it could mean that users
Beyond Blue Links: Making Clickable Elements Recognizable
With that said, the flat-design trend (a style of interface design that emphasizes 2-D flat illustrations and is well exemplified by iOS 7 and Windows 8) has some website designers taking the minimalist approach to the extreme. The idea behind flat design is to simplify the interface. However
