Spoiler — normal design is a design that no one notices in use and does not even think about the designers who created this miracle
This will be a long (and a half) read, so take food, water, a chamber pot and let’s get started.
A minute of the history
There is a misconception that UX/UI is a new trend, which suddenly appeared in the list of the most popular vacancies in the wake of the development of the latest IT technologies… There is a great temptation, where to go:
Many hipsters are now wondering whether to apply to designers or programmers — or designers… — But programmers have smoothies and sneaks; — Yes, but designers are such creative folk… — However, developers are issued visas to relocate…— But designers…
Phone screens are getting bigger, and user interfaces are moving.
Trendwatching vs Trendmaking
Trendwatching has long been an important and integral part of the work of any self-respecting designer. We follow trends to forecast the demand for new products and services, create the right brand development strategies, find promising market niches, anticipate consumer desires and further build an effective channel of communication with them. Sometimes we observe fashion trends in order to go from the opposite.
Following trends or creating your own unique product without looking at anyone is a personal choice, sometimes quite a difficult choice.
However, there is one example where the conscious use of a trend definitely makes sense —…
There are 1.8 billion websites worldwide and you still have a chance to design the worst site ever.
There are 1.8 billion websites worldwide. The average cost of web design (which includes launching and designing it) is 12000–150000$. Simple arithmetic operations allow us to understand that trillions of dollars are spent on website creation. At the same time, 5 to 15 percent of all sites will be abandoned before or shortly after delivery due to poor usability. This amounts to $150 billion lost. This loss can be avoided with a user-centred design approach. What does it mean for us? When your systems provide a poor user experience you lose. …
Everis’ research on May 2020 collected 110 writing professionals around the world and made some research about UX Writing.
I collected some interesting and important foundings from Everis’ report:
- 62% of respondents call themselves UX Writer, followed by Content Strategist, Content Designer and UX Copywriter.
Depending on the country, Company or team it may have one name or another(e.g. in Israel it is called Microcopy, and professionals not only write but also do strategy, research and testing).
- The first companies that started hiring this kind of professionals were the big tech ones (like Microsoft, Apple, Google) and now DocuWare!
- UX…
In case you are interested what works better for the users (in short).
EMOJI RATINGS
or NUMBERED SCALES
I would like to share some research results related to remote work (different organisations and different amount of participants).
For example, in 2020, 98% of people would like to work remotely, and 97% of participants told they would recommend remote work to others (according to Buffer and AngelList).
75% of current workers say they plan to work remotely for the rest of their career. People like remote work as much as they believe it would be suitable for other people as well. Perverts.
We can see a major upward trend in the number of people working remotely in the U.S. From 2016 to 2017, remote work grew 7.9%. …
There are over 110 million virtual assistant users in the United States alone, and the software is especially common in smartphones and smart speakers.
When you ask Siri: “What is the meaning of life?”, the answer can be: “I find it odd that you would ask this of an inanimate object.”
When you ask Alexa: “What is the meaning of life?”, she can say: “The answer is 42, but the question is more complicated.”
Don't ask about meanings, search them yourself.
Some stats
- 16% of Americans own a voice-activated smart speaker. (Edison Research and NPR)
- 36% of young and 52% adults of U.S. smart speaker owners are using their device more to listen to music and entertainment. (NPR/Edison Research)
- Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant have…
As a designer, it is self-explanatory that knowing your colour palette is crucial. Using the colours red, yellow and green will make certain elements stand out from their surroundings and probably lead to the desired effect. Or not.
They are not only preventing you from dying when you cross the streets.
Traffic lights are so incorporated in our everyday life that we react instinctively to them. We see red — we stop; we see green — we go. We don’t have to think about what those colours mean, they just give us an impulse, and we react to it.
As a designer, it is self-explanatory that knowing your colour palette is crucial. Using the colours red, yellow and green will make certain elements stand out from their surroundings and probably lead to the desired effect. However, UX design…
In human psychology, Baby Duck Syndrome is called the effect when a person, discovering a particular area, considers the first object encountered from this area to be the best, and the subsequent ones to be the worst.
Every usability specialist is a kind of researcher. Therefore, there are not only generally accepted standards and laws but also rules that are opened with each usability audit and usability testing.
It is no secret that, quite often, Users of digital products do not follow the optimal path to achieve their goals. They are not always interested in the most reasonable and simple…
Will AI take the designer’s job, do designers know something that AI does not?
AI affects the design, and theoretically, AI can kill graphic design and UI. But UX is safe because UX is not only working with data but also with perception. So here AI is powerless, although AI can help analyze information and take on the function of creating prototypes, which is helpful.
Maxim Stepanov
UX/UI designer | Munich based. Experience in Branding and Digital Marketing. Writing about design, research, business and marketing.
