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...
Walmart’s Brazil site tailored the payment options to fit what was expected in that country: credit card, debit card, and cash/bank ticket. (For the sake of clarity, this screenshot was translated from the original Portuguese using Google Translate.) In the Netherlands, the Van Gogh Museum
After the participants rated all 23 wireframes, they were presented with an open-ended question to elaborate more about the types of advertisements that they particularly liked or disliked. These responses were coded according to type or characteristic of the advertisement (i.e. if additional
Youths frequently needed someone to bring them to the study. In many cases, the participant arrived with a parent and a sibling. In these circumstances, it is important to note that the participant may not be the only nervous one. Parents may also be uneasy about usability testing if they’ve
The Future of Blockchain: Technology Partnerships with AI, Bots, and IoT
Although the blockchain can do some amazing things, there are still limitations to this relatively new technology. A Medium article on these limitations listed some of the blockchain’s limitations. These included significant energy consumption during the mining process, scalability problems
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
JS-Kit Score: Turn Your Site into a Localized Digg
Widget provider JS-Kit has released their latest widget this morning, Score. Score adds a thumbs up/thumbs down-style ratings widget to any page content, and then aggregates the data across the entire web site into an info box that can highlight a site’s top content. It can also integrate
Slider Design: Rules of Thumb
In cases where the use of a slider may be appropriate, ensure that the visual design of the element does not hinder its usability. For touchscreens, consider where the user’s finger will be placed on the screen—and what areas of the screen will thus be covered—while manipulating the slider
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10 Best Application UIs
But Xero might be a more interesting example, simply because it targets the traditionally dry domain of accounting. One of its main features lets users automatically reconcile bookkeeping entries with bank account transactions. As a match is made, the 2 matching entries are removed from the list of
UI Copy: UX Guidelines for Command Names and Keyboard Shortcuts
Commands are the bread-and-butter of applications; because applications often need to offer a large number of features and commands, command names are usually short — there is simply not a lot of space in an application screen to accommodate a lot of long command names. That means there is
Does User Annoyance Matter?
Knowing a better design exists made it painful to sit, day after day, and watch users fight with the mouse to scroll through the huge menu. Sometimes users selected the wrong menu option and then had to waste even more time with the drop-down. And, in this study, we mainly tested young, able-bodied
Creepiness–Convenience Tradeoff
These considerations happen when users are aware of the technology’s “creepiness” (for example, how their data will be used) and can avoid the technology (for example, by not downloading an app or disabling a new creepy feature in an existing app). Note that the perceived costs and benefits
When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods
Most of the methods in the chart can move along one or more dimensions, and some do so even in the same study, usually to satisfy multiple goals. For example, field studies can focus on what people say (ethnographic interviews) or what they do (extended observations); desirability studies and card
WP Engine Supports the Domain Connect Project .
To show our support for the Domain Connect project, WP Engine visited ICANN 63 in Barcelona to talk with DNS providers and Domain Registrars about the technology. We were joined by representatives from other companies who have adopted the Domain Connect technology, including GoDaddy, Google
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Join WP Engine in Web Week 2018
During Web Week, we encourage our customers to take advantage of this low-stress time of year to create more personalized, dynamic, and better-performing digital experiences. For brands and agencies, this is the perfect time to kick your feet up, re-access, and get creative. It’s the ideal time
It’s Time to Take Advantage of Amazing Web Week Savings
WP Engine is the WordPress Digital Experience Platform that gives companies of all sizes the agility, performance, intelligence and integrations they need to drive their business forward faster. WP Engine’s combination of tech and innovation and an award-winning team of WordPress experts are
Customer Journeys and Omnichannel User Experience
Customers now have many personal devices and each of these devices affords different possibilities for interaction with the same organization. For example, a customer’s phone can be used to browse an organization’s website, transact through a mobile app, dial the customer-service hotline, get
Facilitating an Effective Design Studio Workshop
During this first part of a design studio, the facilitator leads the group through a timed sketching activity, such as charrettes, that results in a large amount of brainstormed ideas. It is critical to give participants a quantity goal rather than a quality goal, so that people without design
Design Charrettes & Team Sketching: ½ Inspiration, ½ Buy-In
In an intranet design, the HR representative sketches a section page with 90% of the above-fold space dedicated to the benefits of the open-enrollment period. When explaining her design, she says that this year there will be no print mailings to employees, and that people already get so many
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
Is more IoT driving more cyber attacks?
As the concept of a connected world is becoming more and more popular, different types of smart home appliances have become first choice for millions of families. And because of this, the cyber attacks on IoT are changing to multiple modes. Outlaws can access all connected appliances by only
Discovering the threats below the surface on the Dark Web
All you need to do is dig a little and you’ll find your niche chat group. More importantly, these are places where hackers can discuss how to carry out attacks and share knowledge. This can be as simple as asking who wants to join in a hack against a specific target. In other cases, they can talk
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
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How to Open a Company Bank Account for Your Startup & Avoid the Pitfalls
The corporate resolution indicates to the bank the individuals who are authorized by the corporation to open the corporate banking account and sign checks. The individuals listed in the corporate resolution have complete authority to act on the corporation’s behalf in regard to the
Standardizing “Tribal Knowledge”: It’s Time for Your Company to Grow Up
Need another reason to record best practices? Think about the amount of time employees spend duplicating each other’s efforts. In the Panopto survey, two-thirds of respondents said they spent nearly six hours each week “reinventing the wheel” — investing time and energy attempting to
Visual Design Terms Cheat Sheet | How Long Do Users Stay on Web Pages?
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
The Same Link Twice on the Same Page: Do Duplicates Help or Hurt?
Before you provide redundant systems for navigation, make sure you have sufficient information about typical user scenarios and behaviors of your target users. If you have strong evidence to support the need for duplicate links, such as when different user groups expect to find the links in
The Illusion of Completeness: What It Is and How to Avoid It
The illusion of completeness can occur anywhere on the page, not just at the top (as in the example above). A break in content marked by a horizontal line that spans the width of the page can create a visual barrier and discourage people to scroll further. If users encounter these strong horizontal
