Velvet Roundup №3
Third issue of our probably-not-weekly article where you’ll find interesting articles, links and ideas, and also little updates about what we’ve been up to. Enjoy.
Let’s design for short-term memory
I stumbled upon a really great article from Martin Jancik where he writes about long-term and short-term memory and how to ease the users cognitive load when considering these aspects while designing our products.
Read more about Designing for Human Memory.
“As designers, we should strive to design for the STM [short-term memory]. The memory load is lighter and the interaction is faster and more error-free. If a user has to recognise or recall something from the LTM [long-term memory], that takes time, cognitive load and increases error occurrence probability.” — Martin Jancik
How not to fail with Personas
Personas are really useful, but often wrongly used. Kim Flaherty from Nielsen Norman Group writes about common pitfalls that cause personas to fail.
“Personas are not a one-size-fits-all tool; they should be used with a specific, well-defined goal in mind. For personas to be useful, the data captured in a persona should reflect the goal for that persona and the scope of work it is meant to impact.
Often, people create the wrong tool for their needs or they want to (re)use personas created for a very different purpose. It’s as if they’re trying to put a square peg in a round hole.” — Kim Flaherty
Read more at NN/G website: Why Personas Fail
Low effort & high impact decisions
Joel Califa from GitHub writes about little fixes and changes that can make high impact. He shows us some great examples with tips on how to leverage them in your work.
“MVPs and iteration are powerful tools that should be leveraged by companies looking to move quickly. But Tiny Wins are much more potent when it comes to filling the gaps, improving retention, and nurturing your community of users.” — Joel Califa
Read more at Joels website and go make some tiny wins.
Some weekend listening
A thought-provoking conversation between two design industry veterans Jeffrey Veen and Erika Hall about the “role of designers as critical voices in the ethical decisions companies make and the morality of venture capital in sustainable business.”
Listen it on Relay FM podcast Presentable.
Design is [about] creating an intentional exchange of value. — Erika Hall
This week at our place
Velvet Run internship program’s second run started their first sprint this week so the office is full of interns doing some great stuff. Can’t wait to show the results to you next week.
On Thursday our team played ice hockey with friends. Some bruises were acquired but all the teeth stayed at their designated places.
We had a really interesting conversation with Peeter Marvet (Reteep Tevram) from Zone who shared knowledge on web security and General Data Protection Regulation (GDRP). Thanks Peeter!
