February 2012
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“- Don’t hav a logotype that takes up 50% of the screen
- Make sure some of your...”
– Height matters! – Anders M. Andersen
Here’s an excellent list of things to keep in mind when designing for a small device. I’m beginning to see more and more folks talking about the height of a device, instead of just the width, which is a great trend. These tips should help most...
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Leaving Old Internet Explorer Behind →
Using media queries to make a clean break from legacy browsers
January 2012
25 posts
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“The “key ingredient” to our new design. The answer is simple: all design...”
– Smashing Magazine on their new responsive design (via uxrave)
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Pinterest for Brands: 5 Hot Tips →
Promote a lifestyle
Use it like a focus group
Crowdsource
Run contests
Inspire your team
Pinterest has been blowing up of late as the hottest way for creative brands to reach users. This Mashable post highlights some of the ways you can use the new micro-blogging service to effectively connect with people in a variety of ways.
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Behavioral economics and Facebook conspiracy... →
Timeline also makes branded posts (ads) look nearly identical to the actual content we’re on Facebook to see, so it follows that they’d be processed similarly.
Super interesting piece by Jeff Dechambeau on the psychology behind the new Facebook Timeline and how it could play into a shift in perception of ads.
(h/t @eignerchris)
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Jeff Gothelf – Understanding Lean UX →
No one else in the process has to get it right the first time. Designers don’t have to get it right the first time.
Excellent 30 minute podcast discussing the agile UX process.
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An Extensive Guide to Web Usability →
Despite differences in layout, functionality and purpose, all forms have three main aspects, as noted by Caroline Jarrett and Gerry Gaffney in their book Forms That Work: Designing Web Forms for Usability:
Relationship Forms establish a relationship between the user and the organization.
Conversation They establish a dialogue between the user and the organization.
Appearance By the way they...
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Chobani Yogurt Tickles The Tastes Of Pinterest... →
Excellent piece on how one brand is using Pinterest to connect with consumers on a human level.
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WatchI somehow missed this great presentation on the future-friendly web by Brad Frost earlier this year. Lots of great stuff in here!
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Vertical Media Queries & Wide Sites | Trent Walton →
The fact that media queries can switch on screen height as well as width is often overlooked, but Trent Walton argues a few cases when height is an important factor in web design.
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FunctionSource: Making beautiful forms; Square and... →
Great walkthrough of the “Adding a new payment card” flow in the Square mobile app. There is lots to learn in here about how to not overwhelm a user.
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7 Form Tactics That Drive Users Crazy →
Insisting that passwords have certain characteristics
Insisting upon perfect formatting
Vague error messages
Having to re-enter all your data just because you messed one thing up
Poorly coded drop-down menus
Requiring information that has no business being required
No clear indication that the information was submitted
Excellent little round up of form behaviors that are sadly still seen...
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“Over the last year, NPR says its total page view growth has increased by more...”
– The Future of Web Design
That’s a pretty huge jump, and all because they combined responsive web design and content first design methodologies.
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Crafting the Front-end →
Old school markup
Let’s take a step back. Before we fret about creating a divinely pure modular CSS framework, we need to know the site’s design and what it is made of. The best way to gain this knowledge is to go old school. Print out every comp, mockup, wireframe, sketch or whatever you have. If there are sections of pages that are hidden until some user action takes place, or if the page has...
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“The key to social is looking at every piece of content and thinking, “Would a...”
– Jonah Peretti (via soupsoup)
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Stop Designing Pages And Start Designing Flows →
Whether you’re mapping out a brand new website or looking to optimize an existing user experience, flow design will keep you out of the trap of designing individual pages and interactions and instead focus you on fulfilling users’ needs. By prioritizing your user flows and focusing on the ones that drive the most value to the most users and to the business, you can make the greatest impact...
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Multi-Safari →
These special versions of Safari use the original Web Kit framework that came with them, bundled inside the application. They will mimic original Safari rendering and javascript behaviours. HTTP requests and cookies however are still handled by the system and may not work exactly the same.
Useful thing of the day.
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December 2011
2 posts
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November 2011
5 posts
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There only five questions that are essential to...
What is the user trying to accomplish?
What does the user need to know to accomplish their goal?
How should the user feel as they accomplish it?
How does the current design (or alternative) currently make them feel?
What did they do to accomplish it?
Kim Goodwin’s 5 Essential Questions for Great Design
Frameless Grid →
“Adapt column by column, not pixel by pixel.”
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Inspiration: Fluid & Responsive Design →
Great little round up!
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October 2011
9 posts
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9 Rules to Make Your Icons Clear and Intuitive →
Always label your icons, unless space is limited
Always represent both the icon action and object
Always group similar icons together
Always keep the icon order and placement consistent
Always give your icons a common visual motif
Avoid using icons for abstract actions
Avoid using icons that are too metaphoric
Avoid giving your icons too much specific detail
Avoid using 3D perspectives...
Focusing on Good Design, Not (Just) Good...
http://www.noupe.com/design/focusing-on-good-design-not-just-good-decoration.html
http://hubot.github.com/ →
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pttrns: iOS UI Patterns →
Today in useful things: a collection of design patterns in iOS apps.
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“Texture [in a UI] should make me want to touch it, but not make me afraid to use...”
– The UI Guide | Part 2: Backgrounds, Forms, and Texture » Galpin Industries - Pixels Straight From Canada
This is a great article, but the gem above is from the comments. Words to design by!
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September 2011
9 posts
Responsive Design: Content Prototyping →
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10 Excellent User Interface Designs to Learn From →
This is a great roundup; just don’t learn from the UI of the gallery in the article. It is ironically awful.
Yes! Wait... No! →
In the famous words of Inigo Montoya, “You keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
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Our Best Practices Are Killing Us →
Excellent presentation on CSS and specificity wars.
Easy forms from Target →
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