You are probably wondering how anyone could muster enough words for an entire article about the humble, ubiquitous radio button—and specifically, whether the designers should choose one of the options to be selected by default or not. Before you hit the Back button, think of the old adage “the devil is in the details,” and that so many radio buttons today are downright devious. So read on to avoid creating a diabolical design.
First and foremost, a quick reminder of what radio buttons do: They display a set of mutually exclusive options from which a person may select exactly one . People sometimes confuse radio buttons and checkboxes, but...
Suggest a password change at moments when people are focused on updating their settings, and possibly at other times when they are less focused on a particular task. Add a tip about changing and remembering their password in the Settings area, and in your email newsletter. And if the app or website
A simplified high-fidelity desktop wireflow for a configurator webapp demonstrates that not all parts of the screen design must be represented in each step. Due to the larger size of desktop screen designs, showing the full page for each step is not necessary if the majority of the information
In the case of Zillow.com, a real-estate website, users can browse property listings without having an account or real-estate agent. However, when they attempt to contact an agent for a listing, the site displays a modal dialog asking them whether they already have an agent. This information is not
Is the Blockchain Role in Advertising Too Overrated?
The problem is, intermediaries between the advertisers and publishers take substantial commissions for their services. These services have given the name to a phenomenon called “walled gardens of data” – an environment that can control your access to web services and information
Decentralized P2P Lending Services vs Networks
Trustlines Network is an Ethereum-based P2P platform for creating IOU networks. Based on the original concept behind Ripple, introduced by Ryan Fugger in 2004, the Trustlines Network will allow users to generate money and make secure payments among themselves. The high-level idea is that
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?
Comparing the new Southwest Airlines homepage to its previous design clearly illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of this approach. Like many airlines, before it was redesigned, the Southwest homepage had become cluttered with different promotions and programs. The background image was
radio buttons: always select one?
Brand Is Experience in the Digital Age
Brand is a tool for influencing choice. Brand is not made of visuals or words alone — it’s not a logo or a slogan. Nor is it a figurehead, such as Steve Jobs. Those things are simply ways to communicate the brand. Although a figurehead such as Elon Musk or a logo such as McDonald’s golden
UX Mapping Methods Compared: A Cheat Sheet
Think of service blueprints as a part two to customer journey maps. Similar to customer journey maps, blueprints are instrumental in complex scenarios spanning many service-related offerings. Blueprinting is an ideal approach to experiences that are omnichannel, involve multiple touchpoints, or
Applying Discounts and Promotions on Ecommerce Websites
Shoppers love deals, whether in the form of site-wide sales, select sale items, or coupons. However, for users to be successful using promotions, a website must do two things well: (1) it must communicate these various promotions effectively throughout the site, and (2) it must also make it easy
Split Buttons: Definition
In the Windows Snipping Tool application, choosing an option from the split button’s menu (such as Window Snip) becomes the new default option, and clicking New would thereafter trigger a Window Snip (until the user chooses a different option from the menu). It is worth noting that in this
Show Prices for Common Scenarios
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
Cards: UI-Component Definition
A gaze plot of a user's eyetracking session on a card-based layout. The user was asked to find and read a story that looked interesting to her. The flexible-card layout does not clearly indicate a hierarchy of stories in order, so the user looks around back and forth in a semirandom pattern
radio buttons: always select one?
Design Critiques: Encourage a Positive Culture to Improve Products
First, make everyone aware of the critique’s scope and goals. Setting the common understanding of what the conversation should and should not cover is an important part of making the most of the team’s time. Establish rules and expectations beforehand, to make sure that participants know what a
The Magnifying-Glass Icon in Search Design: Pros and Cons
Icon labels help people make decisions faster: they give good information scent about what will come next. Labels should still be used for newer icons, such as the three-line menu (hamburger) icon. The map-marker icon is another icon with a still cloudy meaning and inconsistent use. Sometimes it
A Look Back at the 2018 WP Engine Summit
To conclude the Summit, we heard from WP Engine leaders who offered a look into the WP Engine roadmap. This included a look at newly released products, like our Global Edge Security offering in partnership with Cloudflare, as well as a deep-dive into our recent acquisition of StudioPress. To wrap
WP Engine: 2018 in Review
New year, new you, did you say? Well, that was our reality in 2018 as we rolled out some of our favorite new platform additions. We took the lead on the Amazon Polly plugin, the first plugin to bring voice technology to WordPress. The WP Engine Digital Experience Platform continued to evolve and
WP Engine Named A Best Place to Work in Technology for 2019 .
When it comes to facilitating a truly enjoyable and productive workplace, it takes more than just the promise of perks and ping pong. Employees want their workplaces to reflect what they value and expect out of the company they work for: trustworthiness, morality, and the opportunity to grow both in
Repositioning Your Brand Against Cybercrimes Through VPNs
They did not allow ticket merchant and EventBrite subsidiary TicketFly to go untouched in 2018. Names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of over 26 million customers were breached. While Panera Bread estimated that only 10,000 users were affected, KrebsonSecurity reported that more than
How tweaks to IoT’s supply chain can close security gaps
Sure, we could blame it on the pressure on companies to get IoT products to market, but sadly, I think it still stems from a deficiency of good cybersecurity governance. Everyone is happy to talk about their cyber posture, but we still lack regulated security standards and widespread adoption of
Data Science Careers: From Fragmentation to Necessity
Over the past decade — the concept of being a data scientist has become a “normal” occupation title. It is no longer an unusual way to phrase the job description in data analytics. Now this to the industry standard term for a swath of data careers. Data Science. Like any career
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
radio buttons: always select one?
How Self-Service Technology Can Boost Startup Growth
If you have a physical store, the customer can visit. A kiosk may be a better option. Self-service kiosks are digital touch screens at restaurants and cafes, where customers can place their own orders. Self-ordering saves vast amounts of time for your customers; no more standing in line to place an
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
Radio Buttons: Always Select One? | Pop-ups and Adaptive Help Get A Refresh
Pop-ups and Adaptive Help Get A Refresh
For step-by-step instructions, or guidance related to specific parts of the interface, it’s much easier for users to switch their gaze from the help window to the main area, than it is to toggle between pages. Help information presented on a separate page strains users’ short-term memory, as
Direct Access vs. Sequential Access: UX Definition
Even more than books, videos are the sequential-access medium par excellence: users must patiently watch a lot of video footage before getting to a piece of content that is relevant or interesting to them. That is why videos by themselves are not an ideal medium for instructional or informational
Official Olympic Website: UI Silver - but UX DQ
Another example is even more grotesque: The site's homepage features a promotion to buy the official souvenir program for £10. So if you click this link, what would you expect? A page about the souvenir program, with a button to add it to your cart. After all, the web's one fundamental rule is
