As the ways we collect data and the tools we use to analyze it evolve, our world is becoming incredibly data-rich. One of the most exciting challenges designers face in an increasingly quantitative world is how to translate data into a medium that is easily understood by a wide audience. Information graphics (better known as infographics ) are a powerful storytelling tool that allows users to comprehend, analyze, and explore data. The hope of social-media sharing has made infographics popular on websites that emphasize content marketing.
The distinction between data visualizations and information graphics is subtle, but important. Infographics often contain data visualizations, but a data visualization on its own...
That mainstream corporate websites make blatant usability mistakes is understandable because most members of their teams aren't grounded in graduate degrees in human-computer interaction. (That's why I have recently added foundational courses, such as The Human Mind, to my usability conference
Despite the mainly positive attitudes towards the standard, there were also negative points mentioned during the interviews. Even though 67% of the developers felt that the standard made it easier for them to design screens and develop the associated software, 20% disagreed with that statement. As
Start the progressive animation slower and allow it to move faster as it approaches the end. This way you don’t risk establishing a faster expectation than the system can maintain. Exceeding customer expectations always creates more satisfaction than disappointing customers by delivering less
10 Things Teaching Us About Running Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns
The mammoth network of influencers ensures that any brand they are accelerating carries out a successful crowdfunded campaign all the time focusing on the here and now. The game changer is to outsource to the best hands around instead of depending on the internal source. Or, trying to engage
Blockchain Trends that Everyone Should Watch Out For 2019
Amid 2019, we may not see an arrival to the highs of 2017, when the estimation of crypto resources available for use overall approached 75% of a trillion dollars. We could see a continuation of the time of relative strength that we saw amid 2018. Also, as the open’s comprehension of what
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’
Beyond Usability: 3 User Experiences Reshaping Their Industries
Pre Uber we were all plagued with standing on the corner, possibly in the rain, belongings in hand while attempting to wave down one of the few free taxis. (The worse the rain, the fewer the taxis — that’s a law of nature.) An abundance of unknowns adding further anxiety: how much is it going
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Brand Is Experience in the Digital Age
Before a siege, Blackbeard dressed himself in a dark heavy coat and captain’s hat to accentuate his domineering stature. He strapped pistols to his chest and tucked lit, smoking fuses under his hat and in his beard to create an image reminiscent of the devil himself having just emerged from some
Beyond Usability: 3 User Experiences Reshaping Their Industries
Take Uber for example. While the experience is hugely popular and generally pain free, there is room for enhancement — especially for large groups travelling together. Currently, a group must problem-solve in order to figure out how many “ubers” to call and and how many passengers can fit in
Tips for Better Product Descriptions on Websites
Even a single line of text that answers no product questions can deter or distract a user. In the example below, Fannie May started a description of assorted creams with the text, “Sweet dreams are made of these creamy centers and each one is its own pleasing reward.” All we’ve learned here
The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think
For sure, anybody who works on a design project will have a more accurate and detailed mental model of the user interface than an outsider. If you target a broad consumer audience, you will also have a higher IQ than your average user, higher literacy levels, and, most likely, you’ll be younger
Optimizing for Context in the Omnichannel User Experience
The mobile phone is portable and used everywhere. It has unique strengths like geolocation, photo-input capabilities, or fingerprint-based authentication, but sessions are short and often interrupted by external events. We can assume that users on the phone are either at home or on the go, but they
Bringing Array Themes into the WP Engine Family
We’re excited about all of these developments—the new styles we’ll be incorporating into future Genesis themes, the added ease and functionality we’ll be able to provide for Gutenberg, and the addition of Mike and John to our team. But most of all, we’re looking forward to the
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Join WP Engine at SXSW 2019
In this panel, Brunner will be joined by popular Austin figures as they discuss who and what has been the major change agent in Austin. Brunner will represent technology while other panelists will represent food and film. Joe Nick Patoski, author of Austin to ATX: The Hippies, Pickers, Slackers
Mobile's New Power Couple: PWA and AMP
That’s where PWA (Progressive Web Apps) come in. What AMP does for landing pages, PWAs do for the rest of the website. AMP brings users in, ensuring consumers reach your landing page quickly without bouncing, while PWAs allow for immersive and complex shopping experiences that keep users on your
Brand Is Experience in the Digital Age
Though interaction has always been important for forming customer impressions in service industries — customers would quit going to McDonalds if they were consistently treated rudely by staff no matter how highly they rate the fries — what’s new is that interaction and user experience have
Why Personas Fail
A failed persona effort is often the largest barrier to future success. Those who have seen them fall by the wayside without having any meaningful impact on a project often write them off as a silly waste of time for the rest of eternity. You will have to work hard to convince these skeptics that
Decision Frames: How Cognitive Biases Affect UX Practitioners
In the real world, there's no single 'right' answer to this question. It’s a judgment call, and the best answer could be influenced by a variety of factors, such as the type of website, the overall importance of the search function, and any implementation costs. Since none of this information was
We get Smarter with the Internet of Things (IoT) and so do Cities
The higher the availability of data, the more informed the decisions of the smart city capabilities. In order for the smart traffic system to work to greatest efficiency, it needs to collect data from all traffic lights in the city. The smart city information will then be able to make an
What does the WPA2 vulnerability mean for IoT?
I spoke to cybersecurity researcher Nadir Izrael, CTO and co-founder of Armis, the company responsible for the discovery of BlueBorne, a set of vulnerabilities that impact any connected device using Bluetooth. Nearly all devices with Bluetooth capabilities, including smartphones, TVs, laptops
8 predictions for the future of IoT in 2017
As IoT gains momentum, the volume of data generated will be stratospheric. Not only will there be more data, but there will be different types of data, and data from sources that have yet to be considered. Big Data analytics will evolve into a distributed analytics model, which will help with 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
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Top 10 Latin American IoT Startups to Watch
According to the World Cancer Research Fund, breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer in women worldwide, contributing 25.4% of the total number of new cases diagnosed in 2018. Mexican company Higia helps women detect early symptoms of cancer with non-invasive biosensors that use thermal
How to Choose a Startup Investment
Look for platforms where founders have shared their thought leadership. This includes blogs, industry sites, and social media channels. What they say is integral to understanding how they think and approach growing a business. This in turn will tell you about the type of return you might expect
Designing Effective Infographics | The Roots of Minimalism in Web Design
The Roots of Minimalism in Web Design
To better grasp and apply minimalist principles, we need to understand the origins of minimalism and its fundamental characteristics. We explore these topics in a series of two articles: In this first article we define minimalism and look at its history; in a second article we analyze in depth the
Change vs. Stability in Web Usability Guidelines
Take, for example, the guideline to avoid splash screens. The best-selling Web design book in the 1990s strongly advocated splash screens, which is why I had to campaign so strongly against them in 1999. I don't bother mentioning splash screens in my current courses, however, because no decent
Site Map Usability, 1st study
I have often predicted that Internet Explorer version 8 will be the first decent Web browser. One feature request for version 8 is better navigation support by offering a visualization feature that would pull the site map out of the website and make it a standardized browser element. Unfortunately
