Visual design dictates how interactive elements look in an interface. It influences the user experience in many ways; for example, it:
affects legibility
creates visual balance on the page
coaxes the eye to move toward certain page elements
directs users toward actions
builds trust and credibility
reinforces the brand
Given its importance, all UX designers (and everyone on crossfunctional development teams) should have at least a baseline understanding of visual design and share a common language. But even proficient UX designers are not always versed in visual design, and few teams are able to create a solid common vocabulary. That difficulty can lead to hours of back-and-forth communication, countless unnecessary...
Submenus triggered from contextual menus can easily disappear if the cursor moves away from the primary list item or if the user accidentally clicks outside of the contextual menu. If a submenu is needed, make sure that none of its options open yet another level of submenus and don’t overload it
While “branding” products with an identifying mark (definition #1) has been around since people first began trading and selling goods, the use of brands to differentiate products — to truly attempt to influence consumers’ perceptions and choices within a market (definition #2) — is a
The fact is, lack of back-and-forth chatter makes us uncomfortable. Research by Koudenburg, Postmes, and Gordijn has shown that, in the United States, it takes only four seconds before an extended period of silence becomes uncomfortable during conversation. Four seconds! Why the disgust for hush
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Finally, Hathaway sees this as a unique opportunity for the United States to work with countries around the world, and with organizations on an extremely local level. “We cannot succeed if our government works in isolation,” she added. It requires “leading from the top” from
Transparency In The Cryptocurrency Ecosystem with James Giancotti
When it comes to the future of cryptocurrency, Giancotti is looking to the experts for insight: the OTC providers that have been there, done that, and gone through the long, hard slog to get where they are. What he’s seeing is that institutions are buying Bitcoin, but they’re buying it from OTC
Can the blockchain and IoT solve international freight’s issues?
DS: The initial concept behind CargoChain was initiated about six months ago, when I was researching what I wanted to develop for the Shanghai Blockchain Hackathon. As is nearly always the case in the blockchain space, you’re looking from an outsider’s perspective to figure out where blockchain
Top 10 Application-Design Mistakes of 2008
As an aside, this screen also uses radio buttons incorrectly. In theory, all five choices are mutually exclusive, which does call for radio buttons. But in the user's mental model of the workflow, there are actually two issues here: (a) new vs. old customers, and (b) how to provide the measurements
visual design terms cheat sheet
Indicators, Validations, and Notifications: Pick the Correct Communication Option
Allmodern.com used an action-required notification to communicate that a product was saved as a favorite. For a user that is saving a lot of items to their favorites, this can be a bothersome and intrusive way of providing feedback. This may be better communicated by showing a passive nonmodal
Indicators, Validations, and Notifications: Pick the Correct Communication Option
American Century Investments used a conditional indicator to provide information regarding a specific stock’s performance. When the daily change was negative, the indicator was a red arrow pointing down. When the daily change was positive, it showed a green arrow pointing up. The condition of the
Better Link Labels: 4Ss for Encouraging Clicks
Each link in this list fully contains the most important content that users will find if they select it — for example, Marriage, civil partnership, and divorce. The descriptive text beneath this link is useful, but entirely supplementary: Includes getting married abroad, decree absolutes, and
The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think
This is what level-1 people can do: “Tasks typically require the use of widely available and familiar technology applications, such as email software or a web browser. There is little or no navigation required to access the information or commands required to solve the problem. The problem may be
The Attention Economy
Attention is a valuable resource to us as individuals. This resource is also valued by businesses, political campaigns, nonprofits, and countless other organizations that try to entice us to spend money or volunteer our time. In 1997, Michael H. Goldhaber wrote that the global economy is shifting
Hackathon 2019 Goes Boldly Where No Engineers Have Gone Before
While some of that spark comes from our roots as an eight-year-old startup, it’s also part of a pioneering spirit we actively foster through various activities during the year. Arguably some of the most impactful—and most fun—are our bi-annual hackathons, where teams of developers and
visual design terms cheat sheet
StudioPress Theme Spotlight: New Breakthrough Pro
As we continue to showcase a sample of the amazing StudioPress themes now available to WP Engine customers, we’re extra excited to bring you this new StudioPress Theme: Breakthrough Pro, which is the first new theme to be launched since our acquisition of StudioPress in June. Breakthrough Pro
Introducing Revolution Pro, the First Block-Based Genesis Theme
Using the new Gutenberg post editor with Revolution Pro, developers and designers are able to create custom, reusable modules for design and content. As we continue to release new block-based themes, we hope users will find it easier to dive into their creative projects more quickly and build
UX Mapping Methods Compared: A Cheat Sheet
Designing and developing a product often involves a large team of people with different backgrounds and experiences who must be on the same page about the project goals, the user needs and behaviors, and even the component processes involved. This common understanding is often built with
Narrative Biases: When Storytelling HURTS User Experience
When deliberately constructing stories that will be used for UX design, do your homework. Include memorable details, but base them on actual user research, preferably derived from multiple data sources and methods. Even if time constraints preclude full empirical personas, at least check your basic
Flat-Design Best Practices
Google’s Material Design, which has been around since 2014, took an admirable stab at this concept. The best thing about Material Design was that it defined a carefully considered framework with specific rules, behaviors, and visual properties. Unfortunately, it’s not always implemented
3 Surprising Benefits of the Cloud in IoT
Inserting this intermediate layer becomes critical because it reduces the number of direct connections and allows for filtering of information traveling into the cloud, which prevents unnecessary data from cluttering downstream analysis. Furthermore, if this factory only used cloud computing, they
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
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
5 Ways Blockchain Startups Can Appeal to Enterprises
Blockchain technology offers a significant boost to productivity. Today’s enterprises mostly operate on software purchased from major vendors like SAP, Oracle, or Microsoft. When they work with business partners that have different systems, those systems don’t always agree on details like order
visual design terms cheat sheet
Mistakes University Students and Graduates Make in Their Jobs
Accepting a regretful work is another mistake student commit while choosing their career. Many of the students accept the job in which they are not interested or willing to work. Some graduates are so desperate to work the accept any post which comes along. Many students commit this mistake as they
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Finally, Hathaway sees this as a unique opportunity for the United States to work with countries around the world, and with organizations on an extremely local level. “We cannot succeed if our government works in isolation,” she added. It requires “leading from the top” from
Visual Design Terms Cheat Sheet | Are Chinese Websites Too Complex?
Are Chinese Websites Too Complex?
Second, our research shows that web designers targeting a Chinese audience are well advised to pay more attention to usability and dial down their complexity setting a bit. Yes, Chinese users are more used to complexity and complain less about it, but our test participants spent more time finding
WeChat: China’s Integrated Internet User Experience
Our user testing revealed plenty of usability problems in WeChat and the various official accounts we tested. This is no surprise, since the perfect user interface hasn’t been built yet, but should come as a warning to those technology enthusiasts who believe that simply moving to a new platform
How Long Do Users Stay on Web Pages?
If the web page survives this first — extremely harsh — 10-second judgment, users will look around a bit. However, they're still highly likely to leave during the subsequent 20 seconds of their visit. Only after people have stayed on a page for about 30 seconds does the curve become relatively
