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5 Lessons That Super Mario Bros. Teaches Designers About Inclusive Design
One aspect of making any design great is making it inclusive. Inclusive Design embraces the notion that one doesn’t size fits all and it doesn’t have to; there’s plenty of room for everyone at the table. But the question is, how do we design the table? Over the years, the technology available has grown by…
A Few Hints On Amazon's Next-Gen E-Ink Kindle
While the world is anticipating Apple’s next step, Amazon is (quietly) improving its Kindle. One of the major complaints is that users need ambient light to read the devices. Now, while I don’t doubt that users who love Kindle will do anything for their Kindle, there is something to be said about having to make…
Which Tablet Is Tops?
On April 2, 2012, Consumer reports came out with its top tablet ratings and who else would be at the top but the Apple iPad The new iPad has a high resolution screen that doesn’t drain the battery, a 5MP camera that takes good photos and healthy 4G capability. A couple of downsides appear to…
Use of Static Elements in Dynamic Interaction
Visual design that creates a dialog with the user is more than just responding to search queries and leaving breadcrumbs. It’s about using static elements to interact with the user based on their needs/behavior. In order for designers to really “hit the spot,” they need to employ the following principles: 1. Start with the basics…
3 Myths Web Designers Tell Themselves About Sophisticated Users
In his article The Myth of the Sophisticated User, Robert Hoekman Jr made it clear that “It doesn’t matter how savvy your users are, better design benefits everyone.” Designers use their expertise to create the user experience but what are the myths and assumptions about savvy users they use when designing a site or application?…
Understanding Your Users
One of the most important things you need to do when starting to design is to understand who your users are. Resist if you are told to design “for anybody”, this way your design will be good for nobody. Choose a target population even if you think that other people will use your site as…
Using Search Boxes
One of the most important components of any website is a search box. Yet many people don’t always use them correctly. Some users don’t even understand the difference between a search on the site and web search. To help them, it’s best to create only one search box for the site. Adding additional search boxes…
Designing for Wide Audiences
There are a couple of things to keep in mind when designing a UI for consumers. One of the most important is the unfortunate fact that about 40% of the general population has low literacy. Keeping that in mind, most pages need to be designed at a 6th-grade level. Some other tips to consider: 1….
What's important for Homepage?
Users spend very little time on the Homepage. If the user is experienced, it can be as little as 25 seconds. What do you need to show them in this short period of time? Obviously, users don’t read long paragraphs of text. Most of those precious seconds are spent figuring out where to go next….
What Is Usability?
“The term “usable” means more than just easy to learn. Ease of learning is an important component of usability, but it is the least important of the three components. To be usable, the product also has to be quick to use and relatively error-free. Most importantly, you must do what the user wants… Usability refers…