“It’s important for entrepreneurs to understand that their “Brand” is the collective emotional response to their product or service. A brand is not a logo, and it’s certainly not a URL. Those things are the stimulus, while the brand is the response. It’s something out there, in the hearts and minds of the people you hope to sell to.” - by Mike Troiano on Onstartups. Full article here.
Google honors Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
I’ve been reading Walt Disney’s biography for a while now. I always savor the time I pick up the book and am finally nearing the end. I just came across a post called Ten Things I’ve Learned from Walt Disney that beautifully sums up all the reasons why I’m enamored with Walt and his indelible creative contribution to the world. Thank you Rachel Elizabeth for sharing your love of Walt with this well written post:
1. Do things only because they are fun, if you find them fun, chances are that others will too.
2. You have to grow older, but you never have to grow up.
3. Trust your instincts.
4. No good idea is ever garbage.
5. Never accept rejection.
6. Be a storyteller.
7. Reinvent yourself when necessary.
8. If you have a talent, share it with others.
9. Fall in love with ideas, not with money.
10. Enlarge your vision–whatever your dream, dream bigger.
A collection of opinions about Apple’s skeuomorphic UI design:
Skeuomorphism: The Opiate of the People by @andymangold
“Some people believe that skeuomorphism makes an interface easier to use, or more intuitive for the user, and I simply don’t buy that. But what hadn’t occurred to me is that it doesn’t matter if it actually does make it easier to use, all that matters is that it makes the average person think it’s easier to use. In reality, a user must take time to learn any interface, whether clad in faux leather or not. The skeuomorphism in iOS plainly tricks people that might otherwise walk away, convinced that they can’t learn something new, into putting in the time required to get acclimated to a new interface.”
Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: the Ars Technica review by
“In 2011, we’re far past the point where computer interfaces need to reference their forebearers in the physical world in order to be understandable (though it’s possible Apple thinks the familiarity of such designs is still an effective way to reduce intimidation, especially for novice users). At the same time, hardware and software have advanced to the point where there’s now ample “bandwidth” (to use Tog’s term) to support visual and functional nuances beyond the bare necessities.”
The condescending UI by Paul Miller
“My problem with many modern UIs is that they never get past the telling phase. They’re always dressing up their various functions with glows and bevels and curves, and in the process they somehow become overbearing to my senses. “Did you know you can click this? Don’t forget there’s a save button over here! Let me walk you to your control panel.” Imagine a car that verbally explains all of its various knobs and levers the first time you get into the car. Wonderful, right? Now imagine that car explaining all of these various functions every single time you get in the car for the next five years, until you finally snap and drive it off a cliff.”
Additional thoughts…
Great article by Braden Kowitz on the value of polished UI. A few highlights:
Trust increases when we get the details right
Customers judge online credibility by evaluating visual design, copywriting, and interactions. If trust matters to your business, then design details should matter too. Check out the academic literature on the topic of interface design and trust, or look into Stanford’s Web Crediblity Project.
Usability increases when we get the details right
When we’re happy, using an interface feels like play. So when we get confused, we’re more likely to explore and find other paths to success. There’s a whole book on this topic: Emotional Design by Don Norman. Getting design details right can create positive emotional states that actually make products easier to use.
Batch up the work
Filling one pothole won’t turn a bumpy street into a smooth one — you’ll barely notice the change! So here’s the trick: Batch up UI bugs into one sprint. If your team regularly holds a fix-it day to squash bugs, then piggyback on that habit and hold a design fix-it day. As a designer, you can do advance work like putting all the changes into a spreadsheet or bug tracker and prioritizing issues.
Polish as you go
When a feature is 90% done from an engineering perspective, it can still feel about 10% done to a designer. Now I get excited about the functionality and celebrate that there’s only a bit of surface details to finish before the feature is perfect.
Avoid customization icebergs
Custom UI requires more polish than the built-in version. If the team doesn’t have the time to polish custom UI, it’s often better to stick to the boring native controls that work.
Full article here.
1) Expert social proof – Approval from a credible expert, like a magazine or blogger, can have incredible digital influence. Example:
2) Celebrity social proof – Up to 25% of U.S. TV commercials have used celebrities to great effect, but only a handful of web startups have to date. Example:
3) User social proof – Direct TV marketers are masters at sharing user success stories. Example:
4) Wisdom of the crowds social proof – Ray Kroc started using social proof in 1955 by hanging an “Over 1 Million Served” sign at the first McDonald’s. Highlighting popularity or large numbers of users implies “a million people can’t be wrong.”
5) Wisdom of your friends social proof – Learning from friends thru the social web is likely the killer app of social proof in terms of 1:1 impact, and the potential to grow virally. Example:
Excerpted from a Techcrunch article by Aileen Lee. Full article here.
Gems from The Complexity of Simplicity by Dan Saffer:
• “Had I but more time, I would have written less” - Thomas Jefferson. If you have more time, you can come up with simpler, tighter solutions.
• People like to surround themselves with unnecessary power. Research has shown that feature lists are important UNTIL a user users the product, after which they matter less than the usability of the product.
• Giving choices gives people a sense of control. But as Barry Schwartz points out in Paradox of Choice, too many choices becomes a cognitive burden. Users are happier with limited choices. It’s the responsibility of the designer to help with that. This is why preferences can be so bad: the abdicate responsibility.
• New version of products = more features. Focus on improving the core functionality, not on “value-add” extras.
• One way to avoid or at least argue effectively against stakeholders jamming in new features by establishing design principles near the beginning of the product. Design principles state the design objectives in clear, memorable language. If you can get people to agree to those at the beginning of the project, you’ll have ammunition to use later to prevent the product from being pulled in various directions.
• “Most companies are looking to “wow” with their products, when in reality what they should be looking for is an “of course” reaction.” - Christian Lindholm
I love collecting ideas that teach and inspire me to do more of what I love doing: designing user experiences that make people feel as smart and happy as I want to feel. This is my collection of the words and images that are motivating me right now. I'm currently a User Experience Designer at LinkedIn.
