If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the same can definitely be said for the ugliness of those “jaggies” we often see in compressed images. Our own Jeremy Wagner is on a mission to quantify image quality as it relates to performance. Can you help him out?
Topic: User Experience
Patterns and Purpose, an Excerpt from Animation at Work
Animations into our users’ visual systems and give them a cognitive speed boost. But which elements of our design benefit most from this new tool? In this excerpt from Rachel Nabors’s new book, Animation at Work, you’ll discover some core animation patterns, and learn how animation applies to a greater design system.
Integrating Animation into a Design System
Like color and typography, a cohesive animation system can help express a product’s personality and make the interface feel connected and whole. To achieve that, animation should be established holistically, almost as a system in its own right. Alla Kholmatova shares a way to approach interface animations in a systematic way.
Color Accessibility Workflows
Color is a powerful tool that allows for an almost infinite array of design options. Yet when applying color to our work, we can have a “myopic” viewpoint that puts us, rather than our audience, front and center. Author Geri Coady discusses some solid color considerations we can make for our audiences in this excerpt from her new book, Color Accessibility Workflows, available from A Book Apart.
Fait Accompli: Agentive Tech Is Here
Artificial Intelligence is an extremely hot topic. The process in which everyday devices become more aware of our needs and “learn” to adapt to those needs will play a big part in the future of user experience. In this excerpt from Designing Agentive Technology, AI That Works for People Chris Noessel, examines agentive technology and how it works in behalf of the user.
User Research When You Can’t Talk to Your Users
User research is about understanding people. But how can we do that when frontline methods of research aren’t an option? Jon Peterson offers up several “outside the box” methods for getting to know users when access and funding is limited.
Practical Design Discovery
When we can’t trace low-level decisions back to a specific objective or problem statement, we lose sight of what we should and shouldn’t do on a project. Dan Brown shows us how to create assertions that keep design direction from unraveling.
Big Data Visualization with Meaning
Good data visualizations bring new meaning to “great UX.” They deliver something real, accessible, and human. And our designs can help users customize that experience. The web is a natural medium for truly interactive data, as author Byron Houwens explains.
I Don’t Need Help
People assume help will be there when they need it. They don’t want to wait and they don’t want to have to ask. As Neha Singh explains, designers must accept these basic human traits and develop sites accordingly. There’s no design so intuitive that it doesn’t need a help function, and there’s no complex help app so engaging that it will hold user interest.
Gaming the System…and Winning
Go ahead. Game it up. Set that corporate website abuzz with rewards and badges and magic codes. Just don’t be surprised, says user interface specialist Graham Herrli, when the site’s primary users balk at your efforts. Before incorporating cool, hip game elements, he says, it’s important to know your target. Who are they? What are their time constraints? What motivates them?
