Introducing the next iteration of GOV.UK As Tom explained back in January, the GOV.UK beta is a work in progress. We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes since then, and today we’re releasing a new batch of content, as well as the next iteration of GOV.UK’s design. I’m here to explain a bit more about what’s new, and to ask for your feedback, so we can keep making GOV.UK even better. A simpler, clearer design for GOV.UK Ben Terrett and the design and front end team have been focussing on making GOV.UK even clearer and simpler to use. We’ve reduced the amount of type styles and are now only using one typeface. We’ve also released the next versions of the home page, search results pages, and section pages. New content and tools We’re also starting to add content and tools to GOV.UK to meet the needs of UK businesses of all shapes and sizes, including the millions of self employed people around the country. Tell us what you think Author: Sarah Prag, Product Manager, GOV.UK Mainstream
Usabilityweb, kennisbank voor gebruikersvriendelijke websites Inside DuckDuckGo, Google's Tiniest, Fiercest Competitor ⚙ Co.Labs ⚙ Code When Gabriel Weinberg launched a search engine in 2008, plenty of people thought he was insane. How could DuckDuckGo, a tiny, Philadelphia-based startup, go up against Google? One way, he wagered, was by respecting user privacy. Six years later, we're living in the post-Snowden era, and the idea doesn't seem so crazy. In fact, DuckDuckGo is exploding. Looking at a chart of DuckDuckGo's daily search queries, the milestones are obvious. "Every year, we've grown 200-500%," Weinberg says. Surprisingly, the sudden success didn't send the site crashing down. Three Ideas In One: Where DuckDuckGo Came From Weinberg didn't originally set out to build a search engine. "I started all of these projects independently and none of them really took off," Weinberg says. The result was DuckDuckGo, a search engine offering direct answers to people's queries, rather than merely delivering a list of links. Related: Can We All Just Admit Google Is An Evil Empire? Weinberg and his small team seem undeterred.
Nielsen Norman Group: UX Training, Consulting, & Research iNDiGO Multimedia To Connect With Consumers, Ditch The Focus Groups. Try Acting Instead Some months ago, I wrote an article here where I claimed that market research data is overrated, especially when it comes to innovative products and services. An innovation is new and original, so by definition, it departs from users’ experiences and behavior. Consequently, it is hard to establish quantitatively how to market it. Unfortunately, I didn’t offer up any viable alternative methods to surveys and focus groups. I believe one of the most powerful methods for synching up your brand with the zeitgeist, or people’s unrealized wants and needs, is by tapping into good old-fashioned empathy. So what is empathy, and why does it matter? Well, according to the dictionary in my Mac, it is “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” So if we can feel what they feel, then logically we can react to new information and stimuli, i.e., branded products and services, in their emotional shoes as well. How do you do it? Courage First Empathy, then go Alpha
Usability Post Mobile Application Design, iPhone App Design and Development by Pacific App Design We work a little differently than most iPhone and iPad development companies and we are sure it shows in the high quality of our work. We are not an app factory like many of the development companies around today. We pride ourselves on producing exceptional work for our clients and ensuring that every app development experience is an extraordinary one. We work with iPhones, Android and iPads, day in and day out, not because we have to, but because we want to. We want you to have an extraordinary app, even if that means we help you hone your ideas. Founded in 1990 as a software development company, we grew from those roots into a web development company in 1996 and since then have grown into a leading mobile application firm. These days touch devices are everywhere and they now come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but while they are becoming common, understanding of how best to utilize these devices certainly is not.
User experience UX consultancy & usability training from Userfocus joeycloud.net Symbol Signs The complete set of 50 passenger/pedestrian symbols developed by AIGA is available for all to use, free of charge. Signs are available here in EPS and GIF formats. Additional symbol signs are available free of charge at The Noun Project. Download the complete set of Symbol Signs (ZIP archive, 377 KB) About the symbol signs This system of 50 symbol signs was designed for use at the crossroads of modern life: in airports and other transportation hubs and at large international events. Prior to this effort, numerous international, national and local organizations had devised symbols to guide passengers and pedestrians through transportation facilities and other sites of international exchange. To develop such a system, AIGA and DOT. compiled an inventory of symbol systems that had been used in various locations worldwide, from airports and train stations to the Olympic Games. AIGA Signs and Symbols Committee members: Thomas Geismar Seymour Chwast Rudolph de Harak John Lees Massimo Vignelli
10 Useful Techniques To Improve Your User Interface Designs | How-To Advertisement Web design consists, for the most part, of interface design. There are many techniques involved in crafting beautiful and functional interfaces. Here’s my collection of 10 that I think you’ll find useful in your work. They’re not related to any particular theme, but are rather a collection of techniques I use in my own projects. Without further ado, let’s get started. 1. Links (or anchors) are inline elements by default, which means that their clickable area spans only the height and width of the text. Obviously, the larger the clickable area is, the easier it is to click on the link because there is less of a chance of missing it. Make sure to also add a healthy dose of padding to the links, because converting a link into a block only affects its behavior and width; adding padding ensures that the link is high enough and has some room to breathe. 2. Attention to every detail is what separates a great product from a mediocre one. 3. All the text is set in black. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Pacific App Report | Leading Edge Design and Development Ideas Unicorn: a visual designer with UX chops Unicorn: a visual designer with UX skills I was speaking to an entrepreneur the other day when he mentioned he was looking for a “creative director with UX skills.” He added,”…someone whose aesthetic I really like.” I responded ,”Good luck.” Having recently completed a year-long search for just such a person I’d resigned to believe this person was a in fact a unicorn. (Update: I was quickly reminded that I forgot to mention that my search bore fruit. Why is it so hard to find strong visual designers who have interaction and product design experience? First, design schools have traditionally not taught interaction design or user experience design skills. Second, graphic designers get gobbled up quickly by the agency world. The experience designers collect through school and agency doesn’t prepare them to solve the challenges of workflow, transactional systems and information organization. Why do you think there are relatively few of these unicorns? [Jeff]