Thermo is Coming (eventually)

If you're a UI designer and had the privilege to integrate your brilliant design comps into Adobe Flex (fun) then you may have heard the buzz about Adobe Thermo arriving later this year. Well at the Web 2.0 Expo this week, Webware recorded a pretty good summary about how Thermo will bridge the "interaction translation" between the designer and the developer.

This five minute video is worth checking out, if you haven't read up about the product yet:

Watch via Viddler

Two UX Trends: The Gradual Engagement & Caring

I came across this great entry written by Sarah Perez on ReadWriteWeb about two UX trends.

The first trend is called "Gradual Engagement." It's simply a try before you buy tactic. Let customers use your app before they give up their information. If they see value from your site, they will sign up and probably give you their real email address rather than the typical here's-my-Hotmail-address-cause-I-don't-know-if-you're-going-to-sell-my-info type of sign-up. There are plenty of other benefits such as users to adopting your app more quickly and them telling their friends about it.

But, I'll admit, it's hard to convince clients to do integrate a Gradual Engagement strategy. I've already incorporated the idea into the concepts of two projects I worked on over the past year. And, even though I coupled my visuals with a compelling argument (they agreed to it initially), it wasn't implemented at the end of the day. I got a number of reasons later stating that it didn't fit it with the revenue model or someone told them it wasn't "standard."

My advice to anyone trying to incorporate a Gradual Engagement UX model is to evaluate if the business (and the leaders) respect UX enough to consider it. If not, it'll be an upward battle. You'll be better off designing a standard login feature.

The second is a trend called "Caring for your Customers." Seems obvious, right? Well, if the content of the site, the technology, and UI design doesn't demonstrate a respect for the visitor's time, then the application/online business doesn't really care about users. And that reflects poorly on the brand you are trying to help your clients build. In my book, BRANDING TO THE POWER OF 5, I state that customers (people) have the ability very quickly sniff out a business that doesn't really care (Malcolm Gladwell's book, BLINK, covers this more). Much of this "sixth sense" evaluation has to do with the little things about the business. The same goes for online applications. The success of the online brand has everything to do with the value it provides and how easy it is to get that value.

Sarah points out that some sites have started using emotion indicators. This is a good concept that I will keep an eye on, however, simply watching how users interact with the site and how many times they return is just as valid (if not more) than if a customer were to tell you how they actually feel.

Give the article a read. Sarah spells things out pretty well:
Good UI Design: Make It Easy, Show Me You Care

How to Create a %&*@ Hot Online Experience

Come join me at the next Atlanta Adobe Experience Design (XD) meeting on April 10th, 2008 as I discuss how to build a compelling online experience.

More information about this event is available on the Adobe XD Users Group Website.

Hope to see everyone there.

Design Your UI to Make Customers Feel Smart

For a long time I've talked about implementing UI methods that will educate users while they interact with your site. For instance, if your UI incorporates a simple way to guide your user through any forms or complex processes, they'll be more compelled to use your service further. This is because the UI gives the illusion of being very responsive to input and users feel like they will make less mistakes. Couple that with subtle marketing and branding techniques and you'll have created a very powerful online user experience.

Dave Shepard of the Smashing Magazine blog put together a really good post that sums it up better than I can:

Evolve Your User Interface To Educate Your Users
by Dave Shepard

The Web has changed. This isn’t your neighbor’s nerdy kid’s internet anymore. Now the Web is home to your mom, your grandma and your technophobe sister. With computers as common a household appliance as televisions now, who might be using your web-application has expanded beyond the realm of just the power user.

Complicated menu systems, alert dialog messages that lock you out of the browser and flashy but confusing layouts aren’t necessarily going to help you make conversions. The Web user demographic has changed and to make your web application appeal to the masses your user interface needs to teach and to guide.

User Interfaces Should Teach
User interfaces need to teach your user how to use your application without resorting to a help screen. Many developers think that a help section will suffice for teaching users how to operate most any application, but this is not the case.

The help section of most applications, Web-based or otherwise, end up being used by the power users who are already trying to figure out every nook and cranny of the application. The proper way to help users understand how your application works is to bring the help section to them and in a format that can easily be understood."

Read the rest here: Evolve Your User Interface To Educate Your Users

Even a 1-year old can use an iPhone

Now this is interesting. Kinda makes you want to rethink who should be participating in your next usability test session. ; )

Should users be able to adjust a UI design to their preference?

After I read the following post, it sparked an even deeper thought.

From the Terminally Incoherent Blog:

Should people adapt to computers?
"There seems to be an interesting argument going lately. The topic that spurs this discussions is: “Should we expect people to adapt to complex user interfaces, or rather adapt user interfaces so that they are easy for people to use?”

I believe we need to ask a slightly different question regarding the future of online user experience design.

Just like our freedom to select a favorite Web browser or RSS reader, perhaps the future of Web 2.0 interaction design will allow users to remap any application or Website to their preferred GUI.

Today, content can be separated from form – XML and RSS, for example. Websites and various applications can parse this information and format it according to its own layout and UI standards.

What if UI design for 2.0 applications became standardized? Better yet, what if users demanded that a design adjust dynamically to their preferred layout? We already see a similar approach with customization options in everyday Web browsers, music players, and operating systems.

If we openly allow users to adjust the UI design we provide, are we removing the unique branded "soul" of applications and sites we build? Or would we be enhancing the experience by letting users to modify our designs to a consistent method they are familiar with?

This new demand could open an opportunity for certain brands to gain more market share. Companies focused on building great user experiences, such as Virgin, could provide a branded "standardized skin" that offers superior information management within a visually-rich online environment.

7 User Experience Lessons from the iPhone UX Team

Nice insight into how the iPhone's user experience was conceived.

Experimental UI Approach

Not exactly the best user experience I've seen, but it's kind of neat. Reminds me of Surface at bit.

What will Web 3.0 UI design standards be?

There has been a lot of discussion about Web 3.0 being more Web "3D".0, where humans surf virtual worlds instead of the 2D interfaces we use today. My experience has proven that translating the real-world "touch-and-feel" (like Second Life and Habbo Hotel) into practical daily interface usage is a big challenge (I've tried before without much success).

However, I do see Web 3.0 UI design standards governing a more 3D-like feel where movement on the screen mimics the physics we are used to in everyday life. This provides a psychological comfort factor and triggers an intuitive interaction with the UI.

Excerpt From Putting People First:
Second Thoughts on Second Life

"Leaving aside for now the discussion to what extent this is just negative hype, it does make sense to see Second Life as an experimental environment where we can prototype new interaction and communication paradigms. Experimenting in these virtual worlds can also help us understand and imagine a future where a mix of real and virtual worlds will become increasingly prevalent."

I agree that the only way to find out what will work in Web 3.0 is by experimentation. I'm sure we'll start seeing simple, clever UI ideas from innovative designers where we'll slap our forehead saying, "Why did I think of that?"

Goodbye, User Experience Design. Hello, User Integration Design.

Emerging Web 3.0 technologies will eventually change the way users and businesses interact with one another online. But, will "Web surfing" be more intuitive in this new space?

In our current Web 2.0 world, the most compelling Web sites offer information in a fast and easily-digestible manner. For example, the innovative methods of AJAX and Flex applications offers non-refreshing browser windows and quick data calls. As users, we often don't see these subtleties, but we subconsciously appreciate the efficiency and will more than likely return to the site in the future.

So, where is online user experience design heading toward?

I scanned through cluttered MySpace pages, overwhelming Ebay auctions and media-packed news sites. Still, the shining star of user experience is Google's search page. Google has proven to us that a great online brand experience is not the design, but what it provides us when we want something. Type anything into the search field and you pretty much get what you're looking for very quickly – even if you spelled it wrong. Their brand's success is in the technology you don't see and the value it provides us in the moment.

How intuitive is Apple's new iPhone? I think we all agree it's pretty easy to use and beautifully designed, considering the other options in the market. I believe this better integration of hardware and software UI is a clear sign of things to come. More precisely, the UI we design needs to adopt to the environment and situation. To Steve Job's point, it was obvious to use your finger as the sylus for the iPhone because you always have it readily available.

I believe we'll find Web 3.0 will naturally transform User Experience Design into something called User Integration Design. Sites will become less cluttered, simpler and more contextual to us and our intention in the moment. Take for instance the Blade Runner movie. Harrison Ford walks into the kitchen and the lights automatically turn on. He walks out and the lights turn off. Simple, practical and elegant. If we think in this manner while we're designing the next Web, we'll unveil new ideas to enrich the online brand experience surfers will come to rely on.