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10 top usability crimes

Blogger.Iconshock — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:47:02 +0000

This is a easy to read, factual list made by Chris Spooner for “line 25” blog featuring the most obvious, counterproductive, and yet common usability mistakes in web design. You won’t last 10 minutes reading this post, but the tips will improve your designs for all your career.

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EA game Spore researched the UX way

Blogger.Iconshock — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:16:58 +0000

To me, there is a fundamental mistake when “interaction” is considered the main goal in videogame testing. Interaction and entertainment are key factors, but the focus should be usability, as it encompasses the former. If you have good usability you can involve the player in emotions; Thus, create a successful game.

Bolt Peters and EA Software undertook a year long testing project for their much talked about game “Spore” with an usability approach in mind. Check this article by Nate Bolt and Tony Tulathimutte for the Boxes and arrows blog to find out all the details of their UX testing approach. Plenty of information and even videos are included. Fantastic post!

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101 I learned in IX design School

Blogger.Iconshock — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:30:32 +0000

This is the best starting point anyone should go to when beginning to dig in UX. Simple awesome and informative post made by the guys at ixd101. Must read for designers and developers.

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Building the UX dream team

Blogger.Iconshock — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:40:17 +0000

How can you assemble the perfect guys to develop killer Ux projects? User experience design is a relatively new area compared to all the other facets of design and technology, and it’s very difficult to know really who you are hiring just by their resume and interview. Anthony
Colfelt made this incredible two part article for the “Boxes and Arrows” blog, where he signals out some key details you can bet on to find just the team you need.

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Talking about mobile style sheets

Blogger.Iconshock — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:10:59 +0000

With the increase of web ready mobile phones, the necessity of designing friendly websites for handheld platforms is unavoidable, and also imperative if you want to have a bite of that almost 10% of the internet’s traffic. Dominique Hazaël-Massieux talks about ways to approach this challenge in the “A list apart” blog. Beware, a read for developers.

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Forgiveness in User Interface design

Blogger.Iconshock — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:56:23 +0000

“Forgiveness” as a concept that not only relates to the image of a guy running down a street in the middle of the rain shouting his lost love’s name. In user interface design, “forgiveness” relates to everything you can do to allow users to correct their errors. Like when you delete a file, the OS always asks you if you are completely sure. Even then you still have the recycle bin.

Famous design blog Janko at Warp Speed made this interesting post that talks about ways to implement the concept on your own designs.

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How to get better at UX

Blogger.Iconshock — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:48:10 +0000

Anders Toxboe made an incredible compilation of books, conferences, and websites regarding user interface design. This is the ultimate, definitive list of resources every UI designer should have to improve. Thanks to UI patterns for posting.

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Complete beginners guide to interaction design

Blogger.Iconshock — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:16:58 +0000

Websites are not static anymore. The internet is not that place full of animated gifs, popup banners and 56k modems. Ten years ago, web design was thought more as the labor of a graphic designer. Today, web sites are more considered as systems; complex entities that need to interact dynamically with a user. Andrew Maier, one of the most knowledgeable gurus of User interface design makes us a superb introduction to this incredible field.

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From DIY to big bucks solutions: Best ways to perform web usability testing

Blogger.Iconshock — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:05:54 +0000

Testing, testing, testing. It’s all about testing. Good usability is key to the success of any web site and web app. And sometimes, when your company has a regular staff to do this work, opinions turn in time to be very biased, and well, that’s just about normal. Iconshock wants to give you some free and commercial alternatives so you can refresh your point of view and add some cool ideas to your projects. There are many apps out there but we just selected different usability test approaches with their finest exponents, both commercial and free.

Continue reading: From DIY to big bucks solutions: Best ways to perform web usability testing

Managing UI Complexity

Blogger.Iconshock — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:32:41 +0000

Simplifying a user interface might take away some possibilities form the user, and giving the user too much complexity may confuse and drown them out. Brandon Walkin gives takes a tour throughout some key points in UI as contextual actions, Visual Hierarchy, Icons and much more. Must see guide to help developers and designers achieve that perfect balance.

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Quick chat about UX with Ryan Singer

Blogger.Iconshock — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:00:53 +0000

Ryan Singer is a lead developer at the well known team 37 signals, the creators of Ruby on rails. The Carsonified blog sat him down to ask him some interesting questions about User interface design. Must read for developers.

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User interface design fundamentals

Blogger.Iconshock — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:33:17 +0000

Hmmm… haven’t we talked about this topic before? Well yes. User interfaces are our business remember? We have featured the thoughts of Garret Dimon, Mike Lane, Andrew Maier and others. Now check this article by Kyle Sollenberger for the Carsonified Blog where he exposes his point of view on how to approach UI design.

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Guide to better Wireframing

Blogger.Iconshock — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:42:41 +0000

Web wireframing is the process by which the general structure of a web site is sketched. This is undertaken before any artwork is done and is the guide from which the project will develop. Some wireframes are so complex they are taken as website prototypes used for user testing.

One of the key factors in good development is planning. And that just applies to any endeavor, be it a website, an application, a painting or a movie. Everything begins with planning.

Check this good read by Clive Howard for Carsonified Blog where he lists 20 steps for improving your wireframing.

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UI features of social media sites

Blogger.Iconshock — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:03:01 +0000

I just found this very informative article by Matt Cronin for Smashing Magazine, where he points out some key features of interface design exclusively for Social media and networking sites. He features Call to action buttons, search and many more. Good read.

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Two clicks less on Firefox

Blogger.Iconshock — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:46:14 +0000

Did you notice that the latest Firefox has a download notification bar at the lower right area? Shit, I took that improvement for granted and didn’t even notice that previous versions didn’t have it. Thanks to Ryan Carson for putting this slight UX touch into light.