Designing With Metaphors & Skeuomorphs

Metaphors are often used in interface designs as a shortcut to tell a story, mimic something tangible and in general make otherwise puzzling digital products more relatable. Digital metaphors date back to when Xerox PARC first invented the GUI...

Posted on 5/9/2012 baymard.com(41) Tags: GUI, metaphor, skeuomorph, UI

UI: Proper Indicators for Hidden Elements

Tabs, collapsed menus, accordion forms, and the ever popular hover items such as mega menu drop-downs – progressive disclosure is a great way to cut down visual clutter while still offering the user lots of content and features. However, there’s a danger:

Posted on 4/25/2012 baymard.com(41) Tags: hidden elements, icons, progressive disclosure, UI, user interface

From Print to iPad: Designing a Reading Experience

UX Designers always talk about failing early and often, but we rarely share the gritty details of the problems we face and the disasters we narrowly avert when working behind closed doors.

Posted on 4/21/2012 90percentofeverything.com(8) Tags: design process, iPad, iteration, readability, ux

UX: 7 Product Image Categories

Images sell. But besides the traditional white-background product image shot from three different angles, which product image categories can you include in your product gallery? In this article we will look at seven different categories of product image

Posted on 3/6/2012 baymard.com(41) Tags: images, Photos, product images, user experience, ux

Checkout Usability: Apply Changes Immediately and Near the Input

During our usability study of the e-commerce checkout experience we found that users have a hard time figuring out what actually happened when changes – such as an updated shipping cost – don’t appear instantly and in close proximity to the input...

Posted on 2/26/2012 baymard.com(41) Tags: e-commerce, form, input, usability, user experience

UX and the Kano model

The Kano model assumes three different attribute types – basic, performance, and delight – that collectively constitute the customer experience of your product. The Kano model helps you analyze the customer experience of your product (or service), which..

Posted on 2/7/2012 baymard.com(41) Tags: kano, model, user experience, ux

Mountain biking, misdirection and peanut butter sandwiches

Recently I took part in a 30 mile mountain bike ride. It was quite a challenge and on reflection made me think about not only my cycling ability but also user experience design… naturally!...

Posted on 1/20/2012 shortboredsurfer.com(9) Tags: navigation, usability, user experience, ux

Copywriting: How to Write Useful (Yet Intriguing) Headlines

Writing headlines for online editorial content can be a daunting task with conflicting advise. On the usability side people like Jakob Nielsen argue that you must front load information scent in you headlines. On the other hand these headlines very..

Posted on 1/12/2012 baymard.com(41) Tags: copywriting, usability, user experience

How to Create a Unique Selling Point for Your Home Page

Your website may get a lot of visitors, but how many of them actually subscribe to what you’re selling? Whether you’re asking them to sign up for a service or buy a product, every home page needs a unique selling point to succeed.

Posted on 12/27/2011 uxmovement.com(40) Tags: content, home page

UI: Thoughts on the New Facebook Timeline Design

The new Facebook timeline is a dramatic departure from the current profile view. There’s many things to like about it: good use of metaphor, a sense of space, and a simple navigation model – all of it presented in an aesthetically pleasing package.

Posted on 11/18/2011 baymard.com(41) Tags: facebook, interaction design, layout, timeline, UI, usability, user experience