Object-Oriented UX
Posted on November 3, 2015 Leave a Comment
Mobile first, content first, and objects first
“To me, mobile first simply means forced prioritization. It means think about layout later. Start with a single column “design” (also known as a list), and force yourself to prioritize content and functionality with sequential ranking.
Sometimes, this means having real-deal copy first—particularly when you’re working on a site with a critical mass of evergreen or instructional copy that can be organized, prioritized, analyzed, and updated before design work begins.
But if you are working on a site that is 99 percent instantiated objects (news articles, products, campaigns, donations), there’s no way to build a complete copy deck up front—or ever. Instead of prioritizing actual copy, I have to think in objects.
That’s OOUX: putting object design before procedural action design, and thinking about a system through the lens of the real-world objects in a user’s mental model (products, tutorials, locations), not digital-world actions (search, filter, compare, check out). We determine the actions after first defining the objects, as opposed to the traditional actions-first process that jumps straight into flows, interactions, and features.”
___________________________________
Navigation
“Persistent navigation might be hidden, hamburgered out of sight when a user is on a small screen. But even on 17-inch monitor, the most beautiful pinned-to-the-top navigation might still get ignored. When a user visits a site for the first time, they often gravitate to the big shiny objects, using the navigation or search bar only as a backup plan. As Val Jencks neatly summed up, “We go to content on the page first. The top navigation is the fire escape.”
If a user is reading a recipe, where might they want to go next? We should anticipate how they might want to explore based on the recipe they are reading, and not leave it up to them to peck through a hierarchical menu or come up with a search term. And we certainly should not leave them with a few “related recipes” and consider our work done. They might want to see all the recipes that the chef has posted. Or maybe they want to see more recipes that use swiss chard, pivoting by ingredient?”
___________________________________
The Object Mapping Process is detailed in the article. Enjoy!
Saying Goodbye to the Great UX Design Bonanza of 2004-2016
Posted on October 19, 2015 Leave a Comment
So Where Does This Leave Us? Here Are Five Realities Facing Our Field
-
We’re rapidly running out of compelling form factors to design for
-
Standardization and templatization is here to stay
-
Brand “digital storytelling” or whatever every agency wants to call it is an overhyped wonder pill to realize market differentiation
-
It’s the content, stupid
-
Big data isn’t going to save us
Non-Obvious Design Challenges Are Here to Stay
http://uxmag.com/articles/saying-goodbye-to-the-great-ux-design-bonanza-of-2004-2016?utm_tone=pq
ADVERTISERS ON THE RISE OF AD BLOCKERS: “WE LOST TRACK OF THE USER EXPERIENCE”
Posted on October 19, 2015 Leave a Comment
“We messed up,” the post reads. “As technologists, tasked with delivering content and services to users, we lost track of the user experience… The fast, scalable systems of targeting users with ever-heftier advertisements have slowed down the public internet and drained more than a few batteries. We were so clever and so good at it that we over-engineered the capabilities of the plumbing laid down by, well, ourselves. This steamrolled the users, depleted their devices, and tried their patience.”
The Death of the Design Firm, maybe?
Posted on October 15, 2015 Leave a Comment
“The lever to move a company must be long and its fulcrum must be external to the organization. This is the role of the independent design firm, which is needed now more than ever. Our independence is the particular characteristic that our clients most want from us (whether they know it or not).” Thoughts?
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3051871/a-ux-legend-on-the-much-rumored-death-of-the-design-firm
Rise of ad-blockers shows advertising does not understand mobile, say experts
Posted on October 3, 2015 Leave a Comment
“The broader problem is, in many ways, that in some cases digital advertising has not put at the forefront the fundamental truth that the user experience is paramount,” Kamaras said.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/03/ad-blockers-advertising-mobile-apple
5 UX demons that need exorcising
Posted on October 3, 2015 Leave a Comment
#1: The Fold
I find this interesting because the fold hasn’t disappeared as an industry standard. Just two months ago I presented work to my team and I was asked where the fold would be. It is important on content sites to decide where the fold is, but determining the fold might be impossible due to responsive browsers.
http://thenextweb.com/dd/2015/10/01/5-ux-demons-that-need-exorcising/
50 New Resources for Designers
Posted on October 3, 2015 Leave a Comment
My favorite: Apple Watch wireframe set
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2015/10/50-fresh-resources-for-designers-october-2015/
Google’s Monopoly on Data
Posted on April 19, 2015 Leave a Comment
“Were Google a manufacturer, say, a monopoly such as it has over internet search would never be allowed. But three factors conspire to Google’s advantage. Firstly, digital services, however ubiquitous, seem less tangible and therefore do not appear so obvious a threat to commercial pluralism, innovation and to consumer interests.
Secondly, Google’s dominance is self-reinforcing, but also makes it more useful. Larger audiences improve Google’s data and make its products more accurate – as well as ever more impossible to avoid. As European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager acknowledged last week, we live in the Google age.
Thirdly, and perhaps most significantly, regulators simply cannot keep up with the pace of technological change and seem to be stuck fighting ethical, cultural and economic disruption issue by issue.”
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/19/google-dominates-search-real-problem-monopoly-data
lexinteractive 