UX Gossip; personal views on UX-related topics đŹ â Part 2
âUX Gossipâ is a series of instagram posts revolving around personal views on UX-related topics. #uxgossip
#11 inclusive UX
Inclusion and the social responsibility of UX.
When UX designers (1) start with locating points of exclusion, (2) identify contextual challenges and (3) personal biases, they can then take the right approaches and design better solutions. Config, a global design conference by Figma is taking place this week: snippets of their registration form are a simple example of inclusion.
#12 Figjam
Figmaâs online collaboration whiteboard is worth a look!
Weâre overloaded with millions of tools that we canât even keep up. Yet Figjam made me look! It is another chapter of Figmaâs rise with user-centric products. So far Miro and Mural among other whiteboard tools take the lead and are great ways for teams to work collaboratively on projects.
Figjamâs user experience and new features are very promising that I might consider switching from Miro to Figjam for my UX seminars and workshops!
#13 Delightful User Acquisition
Spotifyâs delightful user acquisition strategy. âSpotify Blendâ allows friends to match their musical tastes and make playlists together.
The new feature is a statement how Spotify is further ahead when it comes to personalisation technology.
#14 Unethical UX
Itâs not really new to see dark patterns and manipulative features used in marketing and conversion. As a matter of fact, Amazon does not hesitate to inundate its users with endless emails using collected data, saved items, and personal and business product analysis. This is why it is ridiculous to not only hide the Amazon Prime renewal reminder, but to even make it an option the user should proactively search for and select. In other words, Amazonâs default strategy is âwe wonât remind you 3 days before your free trial ends, hoping you forget about the automatic renewal and get stuck with a paid subscriptionâ.
#15 Relevance & Timing
Relevance is one of the buzzwords in User Experience Design. But really, it is one of the core pillars throughout the UX Design process. It serves as one of the most important UX principles for every product design; finding product market fit or investigating whether a user is even interested in a concept, a product, or a feature. Many creatives even call for establishing relevance first, and optimizing for usability later â°.
Timing goes hand in hand with relevance.
The question remains: better late than never? Questioning why some features â despite already-existing technical feasibility â take so long to be released. 2 new features were recently released, one from apple and the other by netflix. The first feature comes 2 years after the start of the pandemic, while the other comes 5 years after the rating-system switch from stars to thumbs down/up.
#16 Refrigerator UX in 1956!
Frigidaire Ice Box was introduced in 1956 from General Motors. A sophisticated refrigerator with purposeful features like vegetable door, rolling trays and easy pull ice cubes mechanism.
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The User Experience of the refrigerator includes (1) a detachable array of vegetables and fruits, which could be easily removed whenever needed, (2) sliding shelves for efficient experience and (3) a built-in shelf for ice tray for a quick and easy way to get ice cubes.
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The refrigerator was introduced 66 years ago and raises the question of âsmartâ features of todayâs products. What happened? Are businesses too busy designing for obsolescence? Or smartness in user experience is dominated solely by technology?
#17 Behaviour Change
Interactive and adaptive, the dynamic island is an area on the new iPhone 14 Pro, blending the software and hardware. It allows new and enhanced experiences through a contextual consolidation of key functions. The beauty of it lies in switching a technical given/constraint (punch-hole) into an experienceable software feature.
The new design piece will definitely lead to key behaviour shifts. Users will view statuses in a different way while multiple activities run in
the background. Actions are directly prioritised. A shortcut-experience, fast interactions and efficient tasks decision making.
Usersâ focus will shift to a specific area of the screen: the âDynamic Islandâ. While the adaptive part might seem fascinating, a slight skepticism prevails concerning the interactive aspect of the island â being located
in a far-to-reach area.
#18 UX Writing
Denglisch in Adobeâs content style guide, hĂ€? đ Under the headline of âThe price of your subscription has changedâ, an official e-mail from Adobe states the details of price change. The email text is written in German, however the most important sentence is a mixture of English and German (probably by mistake). Not only that it makes the e-mail hard to understand, but even makes the user perceives the notification email as spam, only that it isnât.
#19 aesthetics, usability & relevance
Crossroad of aesthetics, usability and relevance. đ In 1978, the âSuper Mijoteuseâ from Tefal, a revolutionary product was introduced, allowing people to simmer food for hours like âgood old daysâ (as advertised back in the 70's). With 2 controlling options* only; One for temperature and another for cooking duration. A smart, innovative and minimalistic product. Its simplified, innovative, and on-point design, is a great highlight of a crossroad encompassing aesthetics, usability and relevance.
#20 UX Writing and netflixâs conversational, familiar language.
UX writing should prioritize clarity to ensure that users can easily understand and comprehend the information presented to them. Clear and concise language helps users navigate the interface, understand instructions, and make informed decisions. Consistency in UX writing is crucial for creating a cohesive and seamless user experience. Netflix excels in UX writing by delivering contextual and crystal-clear content that precisely target usersâ preferences, guiding them effortlessly towards their desired entertainment experiences.However the netflix web experience and mobile App differ significantly in terms of user interaction and UX writing, failing to provide a consistent and optimized experience across devices.
Stay tuned for more UX Gossips. Until then have a look into SJE_âs Instagram feed or write us in case you have UX thoughts you would like us to gossip about.
