Thanksgiving is fast approaching in the US. So, in the holiday spirit, we’d like to take a moment to express appreciation for some of the designs that bring us joy. I know that sometimes we, UX professionals, can get a reputation as curmudgeons: always criticizing and pointing out flaws. However genuine our intent to improve an experience, the negative findings can outweigh the positive ones.
In this article though, we’re focusing only on the positive. Some of the designs below delight us because they solve a long-sought need, or save time, or make an input less awkward, or simply because they bring a smile to our face. Some are big...
When you embed content that is hosted by another site or service, aim to control what, if anything, the site feeds to users at the end of your video content. Make sure that users are not presented with inappropriate videos or with a list of your competitors’ videos at the end of your video.
Avoid excessively long pages altogether. If you cannot, at least provide a mini-IA: a linked page table of contents at the top of the page or use accordions to do so (especially on mobile). The mini-IA (whether from accordions or jump links) will tell people what to expect on the page, it will
The entire point of the journey-mapping process is to uncover gaps in the user experience (which are particularly common in omnichannel journeys), and then take action to optimize the experience. Insights and ownership are critical elements that are often overlooked. Any insights that emerge from
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’
Optimizing Business Decisions With Blockchain Technology
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO) is the name given to the organizations where decisions are made electronically through the blockchain and smart contracts system.When a business operates in such a system, it is governed by rules established through open voting with the weight of each
Blockchain Beyond Banking
Consider, for instance, SWIFT, a financial messaging services provider: In 2017, SWIFT launched a Proof of Concept designed to streamline cross-border payments. This is important because these payments account for nearly half of global payments. The current protocol is slow-moving, especially
Image-Focused Design: Is Bigger Better?
Most sites will do best with a balanced approach: images that support the brand, without obscuring other important content. For example, the StateFarm homepage presents a large image representing driving, a critical part of their business. But this image is balanced by strong navigation elements
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User Need Statements
User need statements, if properly crafted, have the added benefit of providing a metric for success prior to the onset of ideation, prototyping, and testing. Use the insight, or goal, and ask yourself: how will we know if we accomplish this? Then, as you create your needs statements, establish
Intranet Design After a Merger or Acquisition
If radical changes (such as layoffs, moves, combining teams) occur, human beings need to have an outlet to discuss them. The benefit of encouraging discussions in a public forum on the intranet means that all questions can be asked and answered once, in one place. People who staff this forum can be
The Need for Speed
Conservative use of graphics does not imply boring pages. Much can be done by colored table cells and creative (but restrained) use of different fonts. In particular, style sheets can be used to improve page design without incurring a download penalty. If you are using style sheets (and everybody
Radio Buttons: Always Select One?
Horizontal radio buttons are sometimes difficult to scan. As seen from the EDF examples, the horizontal arrangement of the radio buttons can make it challenging to tell with which label the radio button corresponds: the one before the button or the one after. This problem is even more noticeable
Overloaded vs. Generic Commands
For mobile apps, it's usually a good idea to have an "application home" that users can return to as a safe base after exploring the apps various areas. This is particularly important for content-rich apps, such as magazines or newspapers. Used this way, the "home" button serves as a generic
Wishlist or shopping cart? Saving products for later in ecommerce
In today’s rich ecommerce landscape, finding the right product takes time and effort. Thus, it makes sense for users to want to avoid redoing the same work. However, using the shopping cart for saving items of interest occasionally conflicts with the normal functionality of the cart, which is to
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4 Noteworthy Intranet Design Trends in 2019
Ever presence of tools is another theme this year. For example, a toolbar with custom favorites and tools appeared on every page of the 3M intranet. Similarly, every page on the Norwegian Government Security and Service Organization’s intranet offered a waffle menu that led to essential
Status Trackers and Progress Updates: 16 Design Guidelines
When users buy a product or apply for a service online, they don’t have control over the completion of that process — the delivery of the product or the service. (In this article, “delivery” refers to both physical shipment and virtual or online service delivery.) Lack of control can cause
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
WP Engine All Hands Spring 2019: EMEA
Last week, WP Engine employees from our Limerick and London offices came together for the bi-annual All Hands event in Limerick. All Hands is a 2-day event where employees come to engage with, collaborate, and strategize with employees from other offices. This year’s theme was “Boldly
WP Engine Launches World's First Global Edge Security For WordPress with Cloudflare
Created by the leading brands in WordPress digital experiences and cloud security, WP Engine’s Global Edge Security is a cloud-first, high performance, advanced security solution built on Cloudflare’s intelligent network, providing the best security protection against top Open Web Application
Basic Patterns for Mobile Navigation
If the site has 4–5 main navigation options, it may make sense to have them all visible on the screen at all times, especially if these are options that will likely be needed. However, keep in mind that navigation needs to be judged in the context of the overall chrome on a page: even if a site
Test Paper Prototypes to Save Time and Money: The Mozilla Case Study
The designer made the prototypes using OmniGraffle, and we printed them onto tabloid paper and cut them to size. Because there was no code to change, this prototyping method allowed us to make design changes quickly during testing. Firefox users helped progress the designs rapidly toward better
UX Expert Reviews
Design reviews can be conducted at all stages in the design cycle, provided that there is a prototype with sufficient level of detail. In fact, since these reviews are based on inspection, as opposed to actual use by a real user, one can even review a set of specifications or other more abstract
Why IoT Data Protection Has Become More Important than Ever
Passed in May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an EU law designed to give users more control over their personal data – and to protect against data breach and misuse. Unlike in Europe, in the US, there is no single, national law that regulates the collection and use of
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How to Create an Effective Cybersecurity Routine
Microsoft and Apple discover holes in their systems on a rolling basis and create patches and upgrades to ensure you are safe online. They kind of have an impossible job because they have to continually evolve to keep pace with the changing face of cyber-attacks. But they also have to try and
Five Best Open-Source Antivirus’ for Carefree Cyber-Threat Protection
You can detect a lot of different types of malicious software by using open source antivirus products. Experienced developers in both fields will tell you this is the most secure way to connect to the internet today. These programs simply make their code available for free so you can modify and
Give Thanks for Good UX | A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
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
3 Free Banking Apps for Entrepreneurs
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Wave offers free financial software for businesses with nine employees or fewer. This easy-to-use software takes on accounting tasks for entrepreneurs by helping them track expenses and sales, manage invoices, accept payments and track accounts receivable, issue payroll, scan receipts, and create
Top 10 Latin American IoT Startups to Watch
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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
