Qwasi Intelligent Engagement, Opera Coast browser for iOS will change Mobile Web forever Opera Coast browser for iOS will change Mobile Web forever (Credit: IntoMobile) After iPad, Opera Software is bringing its Opera Coast browser to the iPhone, featuring a revamped UI that is especially designed for single-hand use. The application has conveniently placed buttons and gesture support, making all functions available within a thumb’s reach. In addition, there’s the updated search with related search words and quality website suggestions appearing as you type in. Opera Coast users will also benefit from the “Stuff we like” feature from where they can navigate other popular content easily. Finally, the syncing comes included enabling users to start a browsing “session” on the iPhone and finish it on the iPad. Speaking of which [iPad], Opera Coast has also been update for Apple’s tablet with design tweaks and usability improvements to deliver that much better user experience. Opera Coast for iPhone and iPad (FREE) [iTunes link] Read Full Article IntoMobile, Dusan Belic
Unicorn, Shmunicorn: Be a Pegasus If you’re reading this, you’re probably a designer . Maybe you code, maybe you don’t. But it’s likely you’re feeling more and more pressure to hone your programming skills and become that mythical product development creature who can both create compelling designs and write production code. There are plenty of reasons why being a unicorn isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Conflict of Interest Having a coder and designer in the same body is tricky. Meanwhile, as a designer, you focus on human-scale issues, and you’re comfortable grappling with the inconsistencies of human nature. Both roles are essential to the creation of great software, and close collaboration between a stellar coder and a top-shelf designer—along with a solid product manager—is the fast track to a world-beating product. But when you try to package these skills in a single person, conflicts emerge. The hybrid coder/designer is not a new idea. Checking the UX Box Drowning in Details Your time is the ultimate zero-sum game.
Why You Should Never Center Align Paragraph Text by anthony on 01/19/11 at 2:28 pm Text is a beautiful thing. It not only has function, but form as well. When you’re creating text, it’s likely that you’re not only thinking about what your text should say, but how it should look. On the web, centered and left aligned text are the most widely used text alignments. Left aligned text is easier to read than centered text for paragraphs. Centered text is best used for headlines and short lines of text. One other mistake you should never make is to combine centered text with left aligned text together. Following these guidelines will help make your text look appealing and easy to read. anthony Author and editor-in-chief of UX Movement.
RelativeWave Gets Acquired By Google And Starts Giving Its $80 App Design Tool Away For Free RelativeWave, creators of an $80 “interaction design and prototyping” Mac app called Form, has been acquired by Google. As a result, Form is now free. In case you’ve never used it, Form is a visual editor meant to help designers/developers make visually-functional prototypes of apps without writing code. Form isn’t an app maker. Form is actually two apps: one that runs on OS X, and another that runs on an iOS device. At launch, Form was $150. With today’s news of the team joining Google, however, Form goes free. Details of the acquisition weren’t disclosed (we’re digging, as usual), but it doesn’t seem like a classic “Hire the team, kill the product” situation. Still not sure what Form is?
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 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. We’re using the same approach as for other content in the beta – identifying needs, and then working out the best way to meet them by writing content or building simple to use tools.
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. 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 Branding through empathy requires a lot of courage, because after all, your strategy will be based on a hunch or an intuition.
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
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]
KUROCHA: iTunes Concept iTunes Concept 79 comments: 5 Reasons Why Metaphors Can Improve the User Experience There are many ways to experience the world around us. Especially offline, we can make use of our different senses to collect information, interpret our environment and make judgments. On the Web, however, our senses are more limited. As designers, we need to present information carefully to make sure our users think, feel and do the right thing. A great way to help your users understand abstract content, create a sense of familiarity, trigger emotions, draw attention and motivate action are metaphors. "The way we think, what we experience, and what we do every day is very much a matter of metaphor." - Lakoff and Johnson In their frequently cited book, Metaphors We Live By, Lakoff and Johnson demonstrate the important role of metaphors in our language and in our everyday lives. Let’s look at how you can use metaphors to add to the user experience on your website. 1. Metaphors are a great tool to help your users understand abstract or unfamiliar content. Source Source Source 2. Source Source 3.
A Collection of Printable Sketch Templates and Sketch Books for Wireframing | geekchix.org At the beginning of a web (or application) development project I always create the sketches first. While sketching can be done on a blank paper, it’s much better to use a sketch template. For me that is the best and most productive way to work on and improve my ideas before application development begins (and things get more complicated :-)). This way I won’t pay too much attention to some details that should be taken care of later, but stay focused on general layout and functionality. Below you will find more than 20 resources that you can use in sketching phase of application development. And, of course, don’t forget to share your wireframes on I ♥ wireframes :-) Printable sketch templates for websites These are some pretty good, printable sketch templates for website design. Browser Sketch Pad (PDF) Browser Sketch Pad by Design Commission — see original source 960 grid template 960 grid template by Nathan Smith — see original source 960 Sketch PDF template Graph paper Paper browser Notepod
iTravel: Apple's Future Travel Centric App for the iPhone Patent Background Transportation ticketing has traditionally involved a pre-printed ticket which is scanned at a departure station. For example, transportation tickets may be printed at home with a barcode or a QR code (i.e., a 3-dimensional barcode) encoded with information about the traveler and/or the travel (e.g., name, destination, departure time, schedule number, etc.). In addition, this information may be included in plain language on the printed ticket. A traveler may be required to present this pre-printed ticket to gain admission to the transportation depot (e.g., airport, train station, but station, etc.), to pass through a security check-point, and/or to board the vehicle for transportation. For example, in order to board an airplane at an airport, a traveler may be asked to present his pre-printed ticket in order to check in to his flight, to pass through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint, and to enter the gangway to board the airplane.