No one needs the embarrassment of a notification popping up at the wrong time — or on the wrong device. Wired explains how to find out where you’re signed into iMessage, set up two-factor, and turn off messaging where needed. Bloomberg’s new Lens app provides a handy overlay of contextual information about people and companies. You …
Friday 5 — 3.24.2017
YouTube has released an AI-powered emotion engine that helps video creators, aka influencers, understand which elements are most and least effective. YouFirst shows the video to a segment of the creator’s audience, uses facial recognition to identify the “power moments” that resonate, and can even tell you which groups of people enjoyed different parts of the content. Anyone remember when building …
Friday 5 — 3.3.2017
Having lived through 1990s website with visit counting tickertapes and dancing babies, and then the 2000s with endless moving carousels, I’m skeptical of movement for movement’s sake. But Nick Babich explains three valid use cases for animation in mobile user interface design. If your email open rates are flagging, consider using emojis. New research finds that …
Friday 5 — 1.27.2017
It’s a mobile, social world, as this 2017 report by Hootsuite and We Are Social confirms. A few stats stood out: The shift of web traffic to mobile devices, the dominance of Facebook, and the hyper-penetration of mobile devices in some regions of the world. UX Matters tackles a question close to my heart: the difference …
Friday 5 — 1.20.2017
Within a week, all Slack users will have threaded messaging, an improvement designed to reduce the noise of the non-hierarchical discussions. And they spent a lot of time getting the feature design just right. Only ~3% of apps still have active users 30 days after download. Brian Solis lists 25 ways micro-moments can lead to more useful …
Friday 5 — 12.16.2016
Google released its 2016 year in search, with a pretty nifty user experience. Pokémon Go was the top term globally, but you can explore by type of search as well as other facets like geography and volume. Handy eye candy as the search engine comes under fire for some terrible fake news results. This week …
Friday 5 — 11.11.2016
Gmail just got way faster (and prettier) on your iPhone with their new app release. Download for features like the critical undo send, a better swiping experience, and spell-corrected search. A great push notification is three things: timely, personal, and actionable. Apps are competing for our attention, and push notifications are a means to a touchpoint …
Friday 5 — 11.4.2016
LinkedIn is putting user data to work with a new Salary tool, now included with Premium membership. LinkedIn Salary provides filters like industry, location, and title, as well additional compensation elements like signing bonus. If you’re convinced you’re underpaid, use this newfound information symmetry to make the case. Harvard Business School profs figured out why you dropped your iPhone 6 in the toilet the week …
Friday 5 — 10.28.2016
The microcopy in a user interface — the words that go on the buttons, appear in error messages, and guide you through wizards — is too often neglected or left for the developer to fill in. Nick Babich provides guidance on effective writing for your user interface. No more shopping for snake oil: the best search …
Friday 5 — 10.21.2016
The Harvard Business Review launched a Slack bot to deliver insights from more than 200 best-practice articles, neatly chunked into do’s and don’ts (an editorial feat I don’t envy.) The bot will send you daily articles, and serves up related case and article links. What are the ethics around creating ever more addictive new digital experiences? The Atlantic explores …