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Fitts’ Law: Tracking users’ clicks
We’re now going to look at a subject that’s especially relevant to web design. Specifically, we’ll see how the user’s eye makes sense of web pages according to where it expects to find elements comfortably. Understanding Fitts’ Law (sometimes called Fitts’s Law) will give you a key to unlock another dimension in designing.It can be very helpful ...
Repetition, Pattern, and Rhythm
Let’s look at three subjects that, at first glance, may strike you as being incredibly basic and self-explanatory. However, although they may seem like they should need no introduction, we should study them. By understanding these concepts, you’ll be able to apply them more effectively to captivate your users’ attention while making your designs...
The basic principles of effectuation –How to use what you already have to become more innovative
In your role as a designer, coming up with creative and innovative designs and ideas that should have a positive impact on both users and business is part of the job description, whether you are employed, a student or an entrepreneur. Sometimes, though, devising the next great idea can be a challenge, especially when a client’s requirements for ...
Physiological Needs: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
At the base of Maslow's hierarchy of human needs we find the physiological level, which encompasses the basic, yet self-preserving needs, such as sleep, water, and shelter. The ability to work our way further up the hierarchy, to satisfy our more complex needs, is based on fulfilling the physiological needs. Designers can tap into our unconsciou...
How to Recruit Users for Usability Studies
You’re going to need to conduct usability studies at some point during your design work. That may be for a product or for an information visualization but if you don’t know whether your outputs are usable – you cannot begin to guarantee a user experience. Usability testing is so important that even presidents get involved (above you’ll see Barac...
How to Prevent Negative Emotions in the User Experience of Your Product
Learn to prevent negative emotions in the user experience of your product. As a User Experience (UX) designer, you want users to enjoy using your product by eliminating negative experiences and inducing positive emotion in your users. This article will teach you how to prevent anger and frustration from your users as you design the optimal user ...
Preattentive Visual Properties and How to Use Them in Information Visualization
A preattentive visual property is one which is processed in spatial memory without our conscious action. In essence it takes less than 500 milliseconds for the eye and the brain to process a preattentive property of any image. This is good news for information visualization designers and graphic designers in more general terms too – it means tha...
How to Design an Information Visualization
Designing information visualizations offers you endless possibilities when it comes to end products and it would be impossible to provide step-by-step instructions for all these possibilities. However, it is fair to say that while the end products may vary dramatically – the process by which we reach the best possible end product is consistently...
IDF seeks a B2B Marketing Wizard who has a passion for design
The Interaction Design Foundation is the world's most prestigious community and online course platform for User Experience (UX) designers. We've spent the last 16 years building our foundation from scratch—this has been largely based on organic growth and has only recently been increased through specific marketing activities. We’re now ready to ...
IDF seeks a Partnership Ninja to help the world learn more about design
The Interaction Design Foundation is the world's most prestigious community and online course platform for User Experience (UX) designers. We've spent the last 16 years building our foundation from scratch, and we now need your help to expand our partnership network… to both grow our design community and serve it to our best potential yet. We a...
Shadowing in User Research - Do You See What They See?
The idea of shadowing someone to see what they are doing is not new. It is a technique that is widely implemented in user research. The idea is simple; the researcher accompanies the user and observes how they use the product or service within their natural environment.Shadowing also takes place in other fields of business and in particular inte...
The Use of Story and Emotions in Gamification
Gamification projects can benefit from storytelling features; these features can help arouse emotional connections with players. They can enhance the player experience and improve the longevity and fun factor of the gamified features. Let’s take a closer look at how that might work, even if you don’t feel that you are a natural story teller. An ...
Implement Global Navigation to Improve Website Usability
When you’re designing a new website, application, or other product, you always start with the global idea and structure before addressing more detailed issues. Designing the navigation on a website is no different. Getting the global navigation right is the first step in designing a great user experience. Get to know all about the Global Navigat...
Help! I need some help! Not just any help… Help in mobile applications
When users start getting to grips with your mobile app they’re going to need a little help from time-to-time. The good news is that there are standard design patterns which can be employed to reduce design time for help in mobile apps. There are also some useful guidelines that can be employed to improve the UX of help in general. Familiarizing ...
Using Mobile Apps – The One Thumb, One Eyeball Test for Good Mobile Design
Mobile designs need to take into account the way that users work with a mobile phone. That means understanding that distractions can come into play when the smartphone is in use and also ensuring that you make the input process as simple as possible to counteract their impact. Luke Wroblewski suggests the “one thumb, one eyeball” test as an effi...
Positive Emotional Responses
Positive emotional experiences are specific to the individual. However, we share many characteristics, which, to a certain extent, make things a little easier for designers. If we had to alter a design according to every single person who uses it, the budget would be extinguished within a matter of weeks and, as the saying goes, you can't please...
Serial Position Effect: How to Create Better User Interfaces
Learn about the limits of your user’s short-term memory by understanding how the serial position effect works and how you can manipulate it in the context of user experience design. Many of the most successful designs out there, produced by highly successful companies like Apple, Electronic Arts, and Nike, reflect an understanding of the serial ...
Understand the Elements and Thinking Modes that Create Fruitful Ideation Sessions
Facilitating ideation sessions involves an understanding of human thinking and mental modes as well as a whole range of factors like creating the right environment and goals, which we’ll introduce you to here. “Ideation is the mode of the design process in which you concentrate on idea generation. Mentally it represents a process of ‘going wi...
The Self-Generation Effect: How to Create More Memorable User Interfaces
Learn how to improve user experience by incorporating the self-generation effect in your user interface design. The self-generation effect is prompted in many of the customization tools built into some of the most widely-used products out there. This phenomenon provides users with a sense of control as they customize their own tools and function...
The Moment of Truth - Build Desirable Relationships with Users and Customers
In order to understand “the moment of truth”; it’s important to understand the customer lifecycle with a brand or product. There are many moments at which a customer (or potential customer or former customer) will interact with a brand. A moment of truth is simply any interaction during which a customer may form an impression of your brand or p...
