Want updates? Sign up for the UX newsletter here.
[ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS]
Stop thinking about flows, start thinking about objects
Object-oriented UX goes beyond user goals (flashlight). “OOUX” approaches the interface from a holistic point of view (top light). It first looks at all the content and data (boxes in the basement). Then it attempts to create a high-level map, an orientation system, a scalable mental model. And then it starts to detail its parts (unpack the boxes).
While object-oriented thinking isn’t a totally new concept, it is certainly a different mindset approach to design applications. Designers are often familiar with task-based thinking where a task is given as the goals with requirements and designers and developers set off to build the solution around the user task.
With OOUX, designers take the focus from the task and zoom out to look at the relationship of your objects — how do they relate to your different use cases? After understanding that, map out the required actions for each object — this gives you a better understanding of the interfaces’ needs, which in return will help with prioritization as well.
[DESIGN PODCAST]
You’re Not Alone, Nobody knows what they’re doing with Chad Rieck
UX Hustle is a podcast focused on what it means to be a UX Designer. The various podcast episodes take a look at different perspectives and the various paths that people have taken to get into the industry. For UX beginners and career-changers, this is a good episode to pay attention to. Chad Rieck shares that “all roads lead to UX in some way” and that there are skills that can be easily transferable to UX.
I 100 % agree with these beliefs and would even add that knowing what skills are transferable and how to demonstrate that you understand UX from an adjacent field is what will help you stand out among other candidates when interviewing for a role.
[ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS]
Adaptive, accessible and automated color for Design Systems
In a design system, four colors are associated with common contextual indications: green, red, orange, and blue.
“Danger red, Success green, Warning orange, and Info blue.”
To make these colors legible and accessible, they need to be calibrated — text size, contrast, add symbols to increase readability. There might be different occasions when a certain variation of a color tag might be used to convey a certain message. All this to say, colors and design systems take time to create and implement. They need to be tested for various backgrounds but by the end of the process, you’ll have a great palette.
[SOMETHING FUN]
The Museum of Annoying Experiences
Craving a visit to an interactive museum? Here’s your chance to visit 5 virtual exhibits online from The Museum of Annoying Experiences and Zendesk.
[UX QUOTE]
“A less thorough design handoff can keep a designer very busy throughout the development phase, unnecessarily.”
- Bilal Mohammed’s closing thoughts in A Guide to Successful Design Handoffs
[WATCH THIS]
Making of ARCANE
“Arcane is our love letter to you, the players and fans who over the years have been with us to make League of Legends what it is today.”
For League of Legends players and enthusiasts, Arcane was a 2021 anticipated Netflix series. In this video, get a glance at the thought that went into the series and what the creative process looks like.
[UX BOOK REC]
Surveys That Work: A Practical Guide for Designing and Running Better Surveys
Trying to create a good survey? Here’s how. This book is filled with checklists and acceptance criteria, along with pragmatic guides for survey improvement for every budget. Sure, surveys get a bad rep of being spammy and inserted all over the place but how can we take what we know to make them better? This easy-to-read, step-by-step guide should help guide any UX’er through the creation and facilitation of a survey that will yield workable data.
[DESIGN TOOL]
Color accessibility: tools and resources to help you design inclusive products
Stéphanie Walter curated this fantastic article that provides resources, tips, and tools that she regularly uses to build and check for color accessibility. It’s hard to truly be an expert on accessibility but a good start to good practices is being aware of what you can do to create these inclusive designs. I’ll be bookmarking this page to reference during my creative process too!
📚 UX Learning Recommendations ✨
UXBeginner.com is an educational partner with outstanding design bootcamps and resources. You can support our free site and newsletter by using our referral links, which often get you a discount off of UX courses and bootcamps. Check them out:
🧪 Design Lab
Design Lab’s UX bootcamps are the most popular — and well-rated — amongst UX Beginners. Their flagship program is polished and strikes a good balance between practice and modern design theory.
✊🏾 Interaction Design Foundation
IDF has in-depth courses on various UX skills. Get 3 months off your first year of design membership or $200 off a UX BootCamp!
💸 Rakuten for Cash Back on Courses
Did you know you can get free cash back when shopping for UX design courses? Use our Rakuten referral link to get $40 for free after first purchase, and even more when you activate Rakuten when shopping at places like Udemy and Skillshare. Read our guide on getting course cash back here
Other reviews from UXB:
