It is a common misconception that design thinking is new. Design has been practiced for ages: monuments, bridges, automobiles, subway systems are all end-products of design processes. Throughout history, good designers have applied a human-centric creative process to build meaningful and effective solutions.
In the early 1900’s husband and wife designers Charles and Ray Eames practiced “learning by doing,” exploring a range of needs and constraints before designing their Eames chairs, which continue to be in production even now, seventy years later. 1960’s dressmaker Jean Muir was well known for her “common sense” approach to clothing design, placing as much emphasis on how her clothes felt...
In design thinking (as well as in any product-development process), it is important to define the problem you want to solve before spending time and resources on generating possible solutions. (A great solution to the wrong problem will fail.) This approach maximizes resource use and decreases the
In this case, you have at least two options. You could offer a configurator that lets hospital administrators estimate the exact supplies and their prices. This option might help users who are motivated to engage deeply with the site, but it would also be fairly complicated and time-consuming to
Even though transactional messages are typically sent after the user has placed an order, these messages have substantial business value in improving customer satisfaction. They can increase the likelihood that the user will place another order in the future. Each email is another touchpoint on the
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
She explained that the original design of the Internet was driven more by considerations of interoperability rather than security, and as a result we are now faced with almost insurmountable issues. Some examples include online criminals who steal our information, mass bandits who have the ability
4 Ways to Enter the Blockchain Industry
The technology uses cryptography to make sure that users can only edit their own blocks. Each user has a unique, private key that’s required to alter their own Blockchain file. Additionally, the technology keeps the entire chain of distribution synched. Many enterprises are still
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
She explained that the original design of the Internet was driven more by considerations of interoperability rather than security, and as a result we are now faced with almost insurmountable issues. Some examples include online criminals who steal our information, mass bandits who have the ability
Beyond Usability: 3 User Experiences Reshaping Their Industries
When they call a regular cab, riders have no control — hence, all the anxieties listed above. With Uber, they suddenly get all the control they need: once they order an “uber”, they see how far away the car is and how much they have to wait, they know in advance how much the ride will cost
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Split Buttons: Definition
The target size of the arrow component of the split button is a major limiting factor on its usability. If the size of the arrow button is very small (as it often happens), that button will be harder to acquire (according to Fitts’s Law). As a result, we do not recommend split buttons for
Empathy Mapping: The First Step in Design Thinking
In this step, the team moves through the stickies on the board collaboratively and clusters similar notes that belong to the same quadrant. Name your clusters with themes that represent each group (for example, “validation from others” or “research”). Repeat themes in each quadrant if
Mobile: Native Apps, Web Apps, and Hybrid Apps
Last but not least, if one of your priorities is providing a user experience that is consistent with the operating system and with the majority of the other apps available on that platform, then native apps are the way to go. That doesn’t mean that you cannot provide a good mobile user experience
Designing Effective Infographics
Statisticians and information designers have debated the details of scaling in charts for decades. One topic of particular contention is the starting point of the y-axis. Darrell Huff cautioned readers to beware of any chart that does not begin the y-axis with 0 in his 1954 book How to Lie with
Toggle-Switch Guidelines
If immediate results are not achievable or seem ill-suited, an alternative (i.e. radio buttons or a single checkbox — see chart above) should be used instead. If you’re considering including toggles in long forms where other types of form fields are present, and users will need to click a
How to Try Gutenberg Safely in a Sandbox Environment .
If you encounter issues with your own custom plugins or custom theme, and are worried that Gutenberg might be released before these can be updated for compatibility, not to worry! Installing the Classic Editor plugin is a safe and easy way to ensure you can continue using the standard WordPress
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WP Engine Supports the Domain Connect Project .
If you’ve launched a site on WP Engine recently you may have noticed a new feature that allows you to easily connect to your domain name to your site. This integration is powered by an open source technology called Domain Connect, which enables WP Engine to find your DNS provider and be
Fortune Names WP Engine a Best Place to Work in 2018 .
At WP Engine, we believe our people are the core of every success, award, milestone and every achievement. That’s because employees who truly feel empowered and validated by their workplace are energized to delight and inspire the customer in every interaction. When new employees walk through the
Design Thinking 101
This is the most important part of design thinking, but it is the one most often forgotten. As Don Norman preaches, “we need more design doing.” Design thinking does not free you from the actual design doing. It’s not magic. Milton Glaser’s words resonate: “There’s no such thing as a
Dropdowns: Design Guidelines
This small study, conducted in front of a crowd of hundreds, shows that sometimes it is enough to run tests with a single user to clearly illustrate a point. Once you see such confusion in action, you realize that using a "helpful" dropdown menu to save users a few keystrokes can hurt more than it
Consistency in the Omnichannel Experience
Nespresso’s visual design is consistent and cohesive across every channel: (1) The desktop website shows a graphic of the product packaging. (2) The mobile app uses has the same color palette and images of the coffee pods as on the desktop. (3) The the order confirmation email tells the same
Hackers are Ready to Exploit Zero-Day Flaws; Companies are Slow to Act
Developers and vendors of vulnerable systems often try to take prompt action but fixes often don’t come out overnight. For example, a zero-day flaw that affected various Windows operating system versions was revealed last August, but it took Microsoft two weeks to release the official fix. The
JS-Kit Score: Turn Your Site into a Localized Digg
Widget provider JS-Kit has released their latest widget this morning, Score. Score adds a thumbs up/thumbs down-style ratings widget to any page content, and then aggregates the data across the entire web site into an info box that can highlight a site’s top content. It can also integrate
The Top Futurist Speakers to Have at Your Conference
Jim Carroll’s talks focus on what businesses should do in an era of acceleration and disruption. He gives companies the guidance they need to align with and adopt new trends. Few futurist speakers have Carroll’s grip on innovation or his 25 years of experience. Jim Carroll has spoken at
5 Real Life Blockchain Implementations Outside of Cryptocurrency
Arcade City is a new peer-to-peer rideshare startup whose goal is to disrupt the disruptor. They’re taking on Uber and Lyft to cut out the middleman and protect driver rights, and they’re basing their platform on the Ethereum blockchain. Many drivers have had negative experiences using Uber
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Is Artificial Intelligence Still Relevant for Startups?
The company is probably not a scam — they may be “bragging.” Many companies are just using the term “articifial intelligence” because they plan to use this technology at some point. They just can’t afford actually to do the work AI entails – now. Due
Yes, Entrepreneurs Can Thrive in Corporate Environments
Government-funded or private research facilities at universities or research institutes can provide some of the elements needed. Large companies are also well-suited to create a cross-functional, collaborative, win-together environment. Demonstrated support has been shown by innovation incubators
Design Thinking 101 | The Role of Enhancement in Web Design
The Role of Enhancement in Web Design
Sometimes an enhancement proves so useful that it morphs from being something extra to being the main way of accomplishing an interaction. The scroll wheel is a good example of this evolution: early commercial mice didn’t include a scroll wheel (though a few research-lab prototypes did). The
Breaking Web Design Conventions = Breaking the User Experience
Design navigation that is always visible, with a level of depth and breadth that is appropriate for your content. Navigation helps users understand where they can move on the site, so make sure users can see it. In this way, you will increase findability and discoverability, so that visitors can
Minimize the Need for Customer Service to Improve the Omnichannel UX
In a relatively small number of cases, users simply preferred to complete tasks by working one-on-one with a representative, because they felt that the task was too complex for the digital channels available to them. (This is an example of a limitation imposed by the communication channel’s
