Design is a plan for making an object. Anything that will ever be built usually has a design up front before production of the object. A design can be a wire frame, a prototype, a schema, an image or a drawing.
75
votes
7answers
5k views
What reason could Nintendo have had for putting the A and B buttons the wrong way round?
When Nintendo brought out it's first game system, the NES, it had a controller with four buttons:
Select
Start
A
B
However, somewhere, a designer, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the A and ...
27
votes
11answers
2k views
Do user experience practitioners ever have to worry about code?
To me this is a simple question – of course not. But on several questions and answers lately I need to fight for this opinion. I might be wrong, so I need to know. Do user experience practitioners ...
26
votes
10answers
2k views
Traffic lights: “yellow” is progress, not state
When thinking about how (real-world) traffic lights work, I wonder if there is a more intuitive way to display the yellow light. The meaning of Green and Red are states:
Green: Ok, you can go!
Red: ...
26
votes
1answer
4k views
How to handle pre-4.0 versions of Android when designing a layout?
I'm designing the UI for an Android app taking the Google User Interface guidelines into account for my Android 4.0 phone.
The current concept looks like this:
How would I go about supporting this ...
25
votes
5answers
699 views
How to visualize data with extreme value differences?
I am working on some routines for a client application to visualize data in a 3d bar chart style. The data consists mostly of smaller values with only a few large values. For example:
6,942,535,341
...
22
votes
5answers
2k views
Why are there three (3) default worksheets in MS Office Excel?
As far as I can remember there have been 3 worksheets ("Sheet1", "Sheet2", "Sheet3") by default in any new MS Excel's workbook. What is the reason for that? I'm pretty sure the most popular number of ...
18
votes
9answers
2k views
Why do alarm clocks not all come with 5/7 day alarms for the working week?
In all the advances in usability why do alarm clocks still wake us up on Saturday? Why not only Monday to Friday instead of being set every night?
Do we have to rely on our mobile phone if we want ...
15
votes
9answers
701 views
How does user interface design fit in a development process?
In a software development process where does the user interface design fit?
If we take an agile approach for a small team (2 juniors, 2 seniors, a Team Leader and a web designer) what normally should ...
15
votes
2answers
340 views
What are some best practices to follow when designing for users completely unfamiliar with computers?
In User Testing in the Wild: Joe’s First Computer Encounter, a researcher for Mozilla encounters a 60 year old man who has never used a computer and describes what it was like to have him use a ...
14
votes
2answers
785 views
Any data available on using Skeuomorphic Design in apps?
I've recently come across an article about Skeuomorphism that peaked my curiosity.
Skeuomorphism: ..."an element of design or structure that serves little or no purpose in the artifact fashioned ...
13
votes
8answers
765 views
How to showcase UX work?
Presenting your UX design on the portfolio is more than just showing off some screenshots of the wireframe or finished graphics. I am just wondering what your thoughts are on the ideal way to display ...
12
votes
2answers
301 views
Should UX design consider how things behave when they are broken?
As things are used they will accumulate damage due to wear. This accumulated damage will in many cases affect their behavior and the user experience.
Should UX design attempt to anticipate changes ...
12
votes
2answers
519 views
How can you embody 'luxury' qualities in UX design?
I recently observed a group of branding professionals brainstorming ideas for a luxury brand. They used a host of inspirations to hopefully inspire a sense of exclusivity and quality. These included ...
11
votes
4answers
893 views
Is user centered design only about hygiene factors?
There is one thing that bothers me about UX-design. One of the shortcomings of a user centered design approach, is that it only focuses on existing needs and not on new revolutionary ideas. For ...
11
votes
3answers
255 views
Original design choice of back and forward directions?
There are numerous of evidence around us where forward and backward directions are predetermined. As if they are a conscious choice we all know. At least this in true in left-to-right reading ...
11
votes
6answers
545 views
What is the difference between a Hi-Fidelity Prototype and a visual design?
Many powerful prototyping tools, like Axure, allow us to create hi-fidelity prototypes that have design elements, such as proportions, margins, compatibility with screen resolution, font consistency, ...
11
votes
2answers
198 views
How to create a common shared vocabulary to talk about design?
A client I am currently working at has a problem with inconsistent designs.
I have identified the causes and one thing I notice is the lack of a proper language shared by all stakeholders to ...
10
votes
8answers
1k views
My boss has a different idea of a website's UX
Let me explain the situation.
I started transforming an "old (.Net 2.0)" Application into a webapplication.
Problem here is, that no-one here is really acquainted with the UX of a website (simple, ...
10
votes
3answers
198 views
Can placing dark and light elements or blocks next to each other in a UI lead to problems in visual perception?
A designer on my project has proposed something that uses both light and dark backgrounds within the same context (basic mockups below).
A short background for the app:
It is a platform on which ...
10
votes
2answers
197 views
Please recommend Improvments to the SE Menu Structure
Over at Programmers Meta we are haveing a discussion about the SE Menu Structure. Someone recommend we ask the Pro's over here for recommendations.
So, What could\Should be done to Improve the SE ...
8
votes
3answers
576 views
Design recommendation for a button
I have a form in which the user requests a report to the system by clicking the Send Report Request button. The system then produces scheduled reports according to the interval the user selected ...
8
votes
1answer
222 views
Why does MediaWiki put little padlocks on HTTPS links?
Does anyone know why MediaWiki puts little padlock icons next to HTTPS links? For example, if I put this link in a wiki article: https://twitter.com/harry_wood it would get a little yellow padlock by ...
8
votes
4answers
283 views
Does “ink is expensive” apply in a user interface context?
Edward Tufte in the book The Visual Display of Quantitative Information states, more or less, that ink is expensive. Any ink which is not used to actually convey information is chartjunk and it will ...
8
votes
3answers
198 views
How to go about presenting a large family tree?
I'm currently developing a game, and one of the features involves breeding the creatures you collect.
Since it's a game, a large amount of promiscuity is to be expected, and individuals could ...
8
votes
5answers
234 views
Looking for advice regarding a Web design involving 3-dimensional lists
I hope this is the right place for Web design advice; considering StackOverflow also, but not sure if pure design questions are welcome there?
I'm trying to design a Web page that is to display ...
7
votes
4answers
821 views
How to not make my website have a “1990's” look
I recently launched a comics website, www.hittingtreeswithsticks.com, which I created from scratch. I created my own design because I wanted to keep it unique, and used no templates.
Unfortunately, ...
7
votes
2answers
143 views
Does it make sense to put a prompt for sound or mute before a game is started?
I am building a game that is very sound-centric, but at the same time I recognize how annoying it is to be bombarded by unwanted noise.
The problem with putting a mute/sound button in-game is that ...
7
votes
4answers
254 views
Why “x seconds to download”, and “if not ready, click here to download”? [duplicate]
I'm a web developer, but I can't figure out the business or technical problems behind this. Many websites have something to offer, and user has to download it.
But some of those websites instead of ...
7
votes
3answers
128 views
Is there any issues with approaching a website re-design from a mobile first perspective?
I've read the book Mobile First and agree with many of the points made. However, I still do not approach a project creating a set of mobile wireframes and then desktop. I still design the other way ...
7
votes
1answer
567 views
Case studies on using gradients in a design
Are there any case studies on the use of gradients in a web design? I'm looking for answers similar to this answer about the usability of rounded corners.
Specifically, I'd like to know:
Is there a ...
7
votes
2answers
546 views
What is the optimal layout for a mobile search form with a large number of fields?
I'm working on the layout for a search form that has approximately 8-10 fields. At this point, the search form fills nearly the entire viewport. My research has turned up general strategies for large ...
7
votes
3answers
322 views
File Management As A UX Team
Working on a UX team, we've been looking at ways to improve the experience for our own workers in getting their job done and I was curious how other teams have approached file management.
In the ...
6
votes
3answers
351 views
Best practice for logo height in admin sites?
If you visit any admin/franchise/clients sites, these sites always have logo on the left top corner.
What is the golden rule for admin site logo height? as i have build a logo with 50px height but its ...
6
votes
5answers
370 views
What are the advantages and disadvantages of “minimal” design?
E.g. Google has minimal web design (just a search box). How do you define minimal design? How does this relate to minimalism in general? Is Facebook also minimalism at least from the beginning?
6
votes
4answers
242 views
Why are AC adapters (wall warts) designed to block adjacent AC outlets?
The AC adapters for a lot of equipment seem to be specifically designed to block the AC outlets around it (this is in the US).
Is this a safety feature to minimize the power to that outlet or just ...
6
votes
3answers
527 views
What's the best way to show you can scroll on mobile devices?
I'm trying to find the best method of showing users on mobile devices that they can scroll in a <div>.
As iPhones/iPads don't have scrollbars, I will need an indicator to show that you can ...
6
votes
3answers
261 views
UX responsibilities
Is there a number of responsibilities that fall under UX (for example, graphic design, usability etc), or is UX a sub responsibility of design?
6
votes
6answers
314 views
Finding out how users respond to look and feel
If you wanted to put designs in front of users and test how they feel about the visual designs look and feel. What questions could you ask to explore how users feel without being leading?
6
votes
2answers
147 views
Balancing Information: Number of elements
I'm currently working on a redesign of our company support page. The focus is to move towards a search orientated experience, but there's been some debate about which elements to keep there and which ...
6
votes
3answers
170 views
Need help Displaying an Elimination Chart on a small display (iPhone/Android/etc..)
I'm building an Application for mobile device that needs to display an Elimination Bracket for a tournament (16, 8, 4, 2, 1)
I haven't seen any application doing something similar and I'm "jammed" ...
6
votes
2answers
181 views
Pros/Cons of customized/reproduced HTML elements
I have a very specific case where the <select/> elements in a browser interface are replaced with a custom HTML structure while styling is added via CSS and functionality is added via ...
5
votes
3answers
3k views
Speech Bubbles meaning
I am developing a toon story to illustrate my company's offerings. May be I'll use a landing page, or just create it on the home page.
I have 3 actors in it, a cab driver, a bpo company owner and ...
5
votes
2answers
200 views
Do niche web applications still strive for legacy browser support?
I'm developing an organization web application geared towards creative thinkers, with productivity tools for freelancers and small group collaboration; designed responsively, the app will work on ...
5
votes
2answers
76 views
Should I use pagination in a forum's thread
I am designing a forum with large discussions, with no specific need to order answers. Do I need to implement pagination or should I maintain one unique page per thread?
5
votes
2answers
385 views
Tabs within a tabbed layout in Android?
I'm working on an app for public transit information that has a base layout looking like this:
The three tabs represent trip planner, departure times and disruptions respectively, which are the ...
5
votes
2answers
990 views
Alternatives to MDI layout?
As WPF has no built-in MDI support I was looking around for alternatives for a rather large graphical work oriented application. The application will have a lot of different widgets, and for a lot of ...
5
votes
5answers
141 views
Designing a different kind of survey experience
How do you design a (not crazy-ass) interactive survey so as the user feels nice about taking the survey while at the same time, the interaction is not (at all) distracting since the topic of the ...
5
votes
2answers
120 views
How to design a wireframe logically?
I'd like to know what is the reasoning you go through when you wireframe a page.
After having determined the different components of a page, I usually identify the primary/secondary contents and key ...
5
votes
3answers
85 views
Designing for both customers and businesses in the same product
The Problem
I am in the process of designing a 'deal' tracking kind of site except rather than offering discounts on products or specific deals as such, The site offers a 'hub' for viewing and ...
5
votes
2answers
329 views
One page site design + blog implementation
I'm designing a one page agency site. Everything works great in this format, except for the blog/news section(s.) The problematic issue is not necessarily displaying the blog content inline, but how ...
