In application design, there’s a tension between power and simplicity : Users want the ability to get a lot done, but they don’t want to take the time to learn lots of complicated features.
One way to address this dilemma is to use progressive disclosure — that is, to show users only the most important options until they ask for the advanced features.
Another good approach is to use generic commands , which remain the same across many different contexts and thus reduce complexity.
Cut, Copy, Paste
The cut-copy-paste triad offers the most famous example of generic commands. These 3 basic commands suffice to let users do everything from move...
Whether you're designing web pages, web-based applications (e.g., SaaS), or native mobile apps, one of the basic building blocks is the humble text-input field: a box where the user can enter some text. Uses of this widget are plenty and not the topic of this article. We should point out that there
The Microsoft page below also changes the information displayed on the screen as the user enters information — but, in this example, the fields stay the same, while inline error messages or explanations appear as the user progresses. Technically, this page is a form and not a wizard — the steps
Often, companies build hybrid apps as wrappers for an existing web page; in that way, they hope to get a presence in the app store, without spending significant effort for developing a different app. Hybrid apps are also popular because they allow crossplatform development and thus significantly
Blockchain Metrics Will Add Transparency to Investing and Better Inform Investors
At the moment, SeekingAlpha charges from $19.92 to $29.99 monthly, while TradingView charges from $9.95 to $39.95 per month to access real-time trading data, breaking news and access to unique trading tools. Many retail investors are unable to afford these services or do not feel that access to
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
Cross-Platform Scaling: The Way Forward for Businesses on Blockchain
In an official statement on cryptocurrency and blockchain, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton noted, “The technology on which cryptocurrencies and ICOs are based may prove to be disruptive, transformative and efficiency enhancing. I am confident that developers in fintech will help facilitate capital
Image-Focused Design: Is Bigger Better?
In comparison, Southwest’s mobile homepage makes it much easier to find essential content and features. The clutter has been removed, and the 4 top tasks are one tap away, as is a travel alert (though its position and the resemblance to an ad put it at risk for being overlooked due to banner
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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
Beyond Usability: 3 User Experiences Reshaping Their Industries
Airbnb makes it easy to satisfy the needs of these travelers by connecting them with owners who want to make an extra dollar by renting out their property. Before Airbnb, sites such as Home Away and property-management agencies used to connect owners with interested renters, but these were focused
UX Mapping Methods Compared: A Cheat Sheet
All UX mappings have two-fold benefits. First, the process of creating a map forces conversation and an aligned mental model. Second, the shared artifact resulting from the mapping can be used amongst your team, organization, or partners to communicate an understanding of your user or service. This
Customer-Service Information on Websites: The Hub-and-Spoke Model
The Customer Service page should always be present. FAQ and Contact Us are not required, but can be helpful. In any case, because users see them as general help pages, these pages should be presented at the same level in the information hierarchy and should deliver the expected experience — as
Conversion Rate: Definition as used in UX and web analytics
Now, in any case one shouldn’t obsess over conversion rates to the extent of tracking them on a daily basis. But even for the full week, the conversion rate was about half of normal (because traffic was twice the norm). Was the site design suddenly half as good? Were our offerings suddenly being
WP Engine Raises $30K for Central Texas Food Bank
WP Engine employees are rarely hungry. Our office kitchens are fully stocked with cereal and snacks, and lunch is catered Monday through Thursday, every week, for the entire team. Unlike the 46,000 people who rely on Central Texas Food Bank for food assistance every week, our employees don’t have
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Recapping the State of the Word 2018
Widgets are the content that sit around, above and below the post content. Phase two will be transitioning these widgets, written in PHP, to blocks you can implement in the sidebar and other areas of your website. This will address a whole in the Classic Editor to Gutenberg transition because many
Mobile's New Power Couple: PWA and AMP
AMP was effectively loading up landing pages faster and more efficiently than previous technology, but what about the rest of the website? Consumers desired a top-notch mobile ecommerce experience; they wanted to search for products, add to their cart, manage their points, use coupons, etc. AMP
UX Retrospectives 101
Successes teach us to do more of what we did well next time. But we can often learn even more from failures: maybe one small tweak could have saved the entire effort. In any case, as decades of quality-engineering experience have shown, continuous process improvements sustainably increase quality
Why Personas Fail
In order for stakeholders to use personas, they have to believe in them, feel invested, and have ownership over them. The most successful personas are created with involvement from their end users. Otherwise, people will have no understanding of the data behind them and the rigor that went into
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
Is Business Headed for a Cognitive-First Future?
Just like other manufacturing arenas, automotive companies are searching for ways to increase the uptime of their assembly lines and decrease malfunctions and subsequent recalls. Although only 8 percent of automotive manufacturers currently use cognitive predictive maintenance, these companies
The Biggest Hacking Risk? Your Employees
Because data breaches can incur enormous costs and greatly harm your company’s reputation, it’s imperative to do all you can to prevent them or mitigate the effects if they occur. Often, it’s difficult to know how to discuss this important issue with your team. As you work to prevent
Is more IoT driving more cyber attacks?
For general users like us, right now, there are two kinds of cyber attacks: inbound and outbound. Inbound cyber attacks target our smart devices like phones, tablets, or cameras directly. DNS Amplification Attacks are common outbound attacks, with over 80% of family level cyber attacks resulting
How Technology and Training Fueled One Ad-Based Company’s Growth
The company has also made it a goal to combat the short-term perspective by developing some long-term engagements of its own. “Average agencies will only keep clients for six months,” Young says. “We’ve been with the Golden State Warriors for almost five years now, so it’s been great to
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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
The Role of IT or an IT Consultant Provider for Business Growth
As bussinesses and the web move forward we witness many modifications in IT and the support it offers. There are many new pieces of hardware and software that we expect our IT staff to evaluation for our companysecurity. This includes new security systems and devices, and updated processes
Generic Commands | The Fold Manifesto: Why the Page Fold Still Matters
The Fold Manifesto: Why the Page Fold Still Matters
Even though the exact location of the fold will differ between devices, it exists for every single user on every single screen. From a technical standpoint, the fold for the most common device sizes can be determined by looking at web traffic and at device and browser statistics. A responsive
Beware Horizontal Scrolling and Mimicking Swipe on Desktop
Scrolling and “swiping” horizontally on the desktop is a different experience than on touchscreen tablets and mobile devices. This is one more example of why it is important to understand that people use mobile devices, tablets, and desktops differently, and why it’s beneficial to optimize
Progress Indicators Make a Slow System Less Insufferable
In our research on Children on the Web, we saw a lot of interactive tools and games that took a long time to load. In an attempt to make the loading screens more entertaining and engaging, many sites incorporated video content or shorter games for users to play while waiting. Unfortunately, these
