Your app: Don’t look at me. I’m waiting for the OS to finish doing whatever the hell it is doing.
Title: The Psychology of Waiting, Loading Animations, and Facebook Context: Sometimes perception is more important than truth. Especially when giving the user feedback. Synopsis: Milliseconds matter in application design. End users are notoriously impatient when waiting on a piece of … Continued
Haters gonna hate. Haters also ain’t gonna innovate.
Title: Can-Do vs. Can’t-Do Culture Context: Being unreasonable is sometimes the only reasonable way to solve a problem. Synopsis: Business history is replete with tales of short-sighted, unimaginative cranks sneering at a novel idea simply because they failed to grasp … Continued
Dogs and children can afford to be clever. Designers are better off being good.
Title: Hey, Designers: Stop Trying To Be So Damned Clever Context: There is a such a thing as being too clever. Yes, even for designers. Synopsis: “No one’s ever done it this way before!” The exultant refrain of a (most … Continued
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…A DESIGNER!!!
Title: Superheroes & Villains in Design Context: The two words most detrimental to great design are “Yes, but…” Synopsis: I’m not really sure why but some of mankind’s greatest triumphs and most tragic failures seem to happen in the design … Continued
#ux iota: This ain’t your momma’s baby bottle. Well she probably owns it, but it’s not “hers” man.
In order to design the best baby bottle, it helps to first understand babies. A surprisingly novel approach. via vimeo.com
In design, worse is better, and I mean this / Words of wisdom from the man at Rap Genius.
Title: Rap Genius Explains Why Worse is Better Context: Right now you’re too stupid to design that feature perfectly. And I mean that as a compliment. Synopsis: So one day this guy decides to build a website that let’s people … Continued
You may think that you know the reason for Apple’s success, but you don’t know Steve.
Title: Everything you know about Steve Jobs and design is wrong, according to one man who should know Context: The current importance of design in technology was not always thus. Synopsis: Think different. That’s what they do, right? Well Apple … Continued
With great design comes great responsibility.
Title: How Designers Destroyed the World Context: There is an ethical component to design that often gets lost in the shuffle of the day-to-day business of it. Synopsis: Somewhere in the reptilian recesses of our designer brain we possess the … Continued
I like the cut of your jib vanilla milkshake. You’re hired.
Title: Designing Features Using Job Stories Context: The closer designers get to actual customers the less valuable personas become. Synopsis: The good ol’ persona. The abstracted, generalized, neutered version of the people actually using your product or service. Indispensable for…well, … Continued
Tablets are to usability as tablets are to an omelet. You’re going to have to break a few things in order to get it right.
Title: Tablet Usability Context: Do your users use tablets? Who cares! You want to build that slick iPad app no matter what they are really doing. Synopsis: Who doesn’t have a tablet these days? Your kids? Of course. Your mom? … Continued
#ux iota: Creativity is a lifestyle. So how you livin?
The daily routine of some of history’s most creative thinkers. The common thread? They all slept, they all ate, they all worked. via fastcompany.com
If there was a problem, Yo, I’ll solve it. Check out the hook while I diagram a sound solution.
Title: How Diagrams Solve Problems Context: Before you design, diagram. Your designs will be glad that you did. Synopsis: Faced with a design problem? Of course the first thing to do is jump in and start designing immediately. Then, when … Continued
You can lead a user to your feature but you cannot make him use it. But if you do, they sometimes will.
Title: User Expertise Stagnates at Low Levels Context: All those hours you spent building out those new product features? Yeah, you wasted most of them. Synopsis: ROI. NPV. Benefit deferment. There are times that we sound more like economists than … Continued
Someone should write a case study on this case study of case studies.
Title: “This Is How We Built It” Case Studies Context: If you do great work and don’t write a case study about it does your great work make a sound? Synopsis: We make stuff all the time. Then we move … Continued
#ux iota: Designers have the dirtiest talk.
Sometimes designers say the dirtiest things. via designerdirtytalk.tumblr.com