Good points here. I think we're actually pretty good at this. We tally Zendesk feedback and periodically meet with customer service to see what's actually a problem and what is just the result of a few loud voices.
To icon or not to icon
Pretty comprehensive writeup about the use of icons from the makers of iA Writer, one of the App Store's most popular overpriced minimalist writing apps.
The long and short of it:
- Icons alone can't convey the meaning, causing usability issues
- Text labels without icons are dry and not compelling, which is a UI problem of its own (whether we like that fact or not)
- Both is almost always going to feel like a compromise
So... everything is bad, more or less. They advise getting things right without icons in the IA and wireframing stage, then adding on the emotional component as part of UI design. Sound approach, but ultimately we're still left with icons as a pretty good solution that are still mostly unable to convey verbs and abstract concepts.
LukeW on dropdowns as a last resort
I feel like this applies to desktop as well. The idea of not hiding options is appealing. I wonder where along the way we (collectively) stopped putting radios out there — it's probably in the interest of keeping UIs "clean" and concise. But concise is a function of the actual design of fields and we need to fight for easier controls and fewer options, not a visually appealing mess.
Showing passwords
Luke Wroblewski on login screens:
Quite quickly I came to see password-masking as a rut. A design pattern that has been around so long that no one thinks about it much. We all just go through the motions when assembling a log-in screen and add password-masking by default. Lost business and usability issues just come along for the ride.
Really makes u think.
(Not long before this, my team and I got in a fight about this topic, and we won. Pretty cool!)
Writing interface copy
Great stuff from Nicole Fenton. This is a talk but translates well to a writeup.
UI copy gets the shaft so often, not just in terms of the attention it receives but also the way it's written.
You write code iteratively, so why not the rest of it? It’s okay if your interface writing isn’t perfect. But you better believe that you need to go back and clean up those strings before you go live.
This is really important. Every project I've ever been a part of forgot the "we can improve later" mindset of Agile to some degree when faced with the prospect of launching with imperfect interface copy.
Hamburger update: totes fine
From UXmatters, "Why It’s Totally Okay to Use a Hamburger Icon."
The pendulum swings to a reasonable center. Which, apparently, is the part of a mobile screen where users focus. This makes sense, too.
Don't call it the hamburger to users, though.
UX for enterprise
A good read, although a bit long for something that I've repeatedly had to answer more concisely as an interview question.
Everybody scrolls
Research findings from Rebecca Gordon at HUGE, Inc.:
We learned that participants almost always scrolled, regardless of how they are cued to do so – and that’s liberating.
Can we get rid of the "fold," now?