I can operate almost any user interface. After all, I have 33 years’ experience using computers and 25 years’ professional experience analyzing bad designs: I know most of the ways interaction designers can confuse or annoy users. I’ve seen it all before. Or so I thought.
Despite my prowess at defeating complicated user interfaces, I was recently stumped by a simple dialog box. I simply couldn’t figure out how to proceed, so I had to close the application and use another program to achieve my goal.
The offending software shall remain nameless; it’s a nice piece of shareware that I enjoy enough to have paid the fee. Also, a single...
Tooltips are hard to discover because they often lack visual cues. If tooltips are erratically displayed throughout your site, people may never discover them. It’s important to be consistent and provide tooltips for all the elements in your design rather than just for some. If only some of the
But Xero might be a more interesting example, simply because it targets the traditionally dry domain of accounting. One of its main features lets users automatically reconcile bookkeeping entries with bank account transactions. As a match is made, the 2 matching entries are removed from the list of
If form length is a concern, you can place field labels to the left of the text fields. However, make sure that labels are of similar length and are placed as close to the text fields as possible. If the labels are too far to the left, it can be difficult to associate the correct label with its
A Tale of Two Bubbles: Why Cryptocurrency Isn’t the Next Dot-Com
When looking for dynamic and adaptable management teams, focus on candidates with a track record of success — those who can navigate an ever-changing technology landscape while incorporating traditional financial market tactics. At Neptune Dash we did just that, incorporating a well-versed
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’
SEO DIY: Optimize Your Startup’s Website Yourself
Anyone who pays attention to the world of search engine optimization knows that maximizing your company’s search results on Google and other search engines is not something you can do with a quick pin here and a hasty status update there. It’s a full-time job. But if you’re
Touch Targets on Touchscreens
Lists of links and stacked buttons also often fall victim to touch-target errors because the spacing between the elements is too small. For example, the stacked thin buttons on the mobile homepage of Kate Spade were too close to each other. More space between them would prevent users from tapping
defeated by a dialog box
The User Experience of Public Bathrooms
Approach people as they head toward the restroom and ask them if you may follow them through their experience and ask them questions. Immediately offer a valuable incentive, such as: cash, a roll of extra soft toilet paper, disinfectant spray or gel (for the seat or their hands), reusable seat
The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think
There is one more difference between you and the average user that’s even more damaging to your ability to predict what will be a good user interface: skills in using computers, the Internet, and technology in general. Anybody who’s on a web-design team or other user experience project is a
The Science of Silence: Intentional Silence as a Moderation Technique
While using intentional silence to encourage contributions from workshop participants is a useful technique, be careful not to give the impression of a cold shoulder with misplaced intentional silence. Do not follow participant contributions with intentional silence if they have completed their
The State of Transactional Email
In preparation for the fourth edition of our report on transactional email and confirmation messages (part of our Ecommerce User Experience report series), we conducted two user research studies: in-person usability testing, and a longitudinal diary study. The main types of transactional email
Mobile Tables: Comparisons and Other Data Tables
To compare credit cards on Citi.com, users needed to follow the instruction, Rotate your device to continue using the compare credit card feature. Once the phone was rotated, most of the screen height was dedicated to large images of the credit card, which locked in place as the user scrolled
Recapping the State of the Word 2018
Mullenweg referenced his 2017 State of the Word where he told the WordPress community to “learn JavaScript deeply.” He said the second request is much easier: learn blocks deeply. The blocks are now the DNA of WordPress. Once you have learned about blocks, the possibilities with creation will
defeated by a dialog box
A Look Back at the WP Engine London Summit .
At the end of September, we held our 2018 WP Engine Summit in Austin, Texas. Last week, agencies, brands, and digital innovators from EMEA came together in London for the WP Engine EU Summit. Attendees discussed the future of digital experiences, Gen Z’s perception of the Internet, and the
WP Engine Supports the Domain Connect Project .
To show our support for the Domain Connect project, WP Engine visited ICANN 63 in Barcelona to talk with DNS providers and Domain Registrars about the technology. We were joined by representatives from other companies who have adopted the Domain Connect technology, including GoDaddy, Google
The Impact of Interaction Design on Brand Perception
For each interactivity attribute, Tolstrup and Heyer constructed simple interactive prototypes meant to embody the two extremes of that attribute. For example, they created one prototype for direct manipulation in which users could change the width of a circle by directly clicking on the circle
Better Link Labels: 4Ss for Encouraging Clicks
Learn more is the new Click here. Some of its popularity is likely due to a misunderstanding about how people read online. Mailchimp might justify using a vague link (Learn more) because it follows a very specific and well-written tagline (Make your life easier with automation). However
Using Swipe to Trigger Contextual Actions
A complicating factor is that not all applications support this gesture, which slows down users’ learning. When encountering new apps or revisiting infrequently used apps, users will have difficulty to predict if they can use contextual swipe. For example, the Key Ring app for iPhone (an app
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Finally, Hathaway sees this as a unique opportunity for the United States to work with countries around the world, and with organizations on an extremely local level. “We cannot succeed if our government works in isolation,” she added. It requires “leading from the top” from
8 Things Every Business Should Know About Data Recovery
The frequency of backup must be based on data criticality and affordability. And there’s no debate on whether you should create and maintain a regular backup. The point is when and how. You should backup business database nightly. But in case some data is lost in between the backup cycle, use
Internet of Warnings: How Smart Technology Can Threaten Your Business’s Security
The Internet of Things is becoming more prevalent, so it’s likely your business has considered a switch to some form of IoT device. Self-driving delivery trucks and self-monitoring security systems are industry-specific, but every business benefits from smart lighting and thermostats that reduce
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
defeated by a dialog box
Meet Meural, Fine Art on My Walls at Home
One person was offended by a painting — it was a Degas — some ballerinas, of course. Do ballerinas belong in a tech world? Come to find out — everything belongs in the tech world. Photos by Ansel Adams, Quotes from Shakespeare, Don Quixote, and Buddha. Pictures of fast cars, wrinkled men’s
Meet Meural, Fine Art on My Walls at Home
Being in “charge” of the office atmosphere, the “correct” thing to have was to have inspiring entrepreneurial sayings, quotes, and pictures. Jack Ma, Jeff Bezos, Mary Grove, Mary Barra, Derek Andersen, Elon Musk, Dave Goldberg and Sheryl Sandberg. My mind went completely wild — I
Defeated By a Dialog Box | Website Forms Usability: Top 10 Recommendations
Website Forms Usability: Top 10 Recommendations
The best design solution for any given form depends on many factors: the length of the form, the context of use, and the data being collected. The exact implementation you should use may vary in certain circumstances, but this is no excuse for ignoring guidelines altogether. Instead, use these
Instilling Confidence in Online Shoppers: I Bought a Sofa Online and Good UX Sealed the Deal
Joybird, a niche furniture manufacturer that strictly sells furniture online, was able to focus its knowledge of this domain and design the entire shopping experience around it. Although not all organizations have as narrow a focus, Joybird’s example shows that optimizing an experience to the
Scoped Search: Dangerous, but Sometimes Useful
Make scoped search apparent by using strong visual cues. Placing the scope label in close proximity to the search box and at the top of the search results will help make a scoped selection more obvious. (But even so, there’s no guarantee that users will notice it. That’s simply the nature of
