Interactive Design articles

Researchers have known for some time that human behavior happens in patterns. Rather than seek out new ways to interact with technology, humans default to the familiar. Evidence to support people’s love of patterns is abundant. The architect Christopher Alexander recognized, and wrote extensively about, design patterns as early as the 1960s. More recently, Charles Duhigg examined how the majority of our day to day lives are the product...

At its core, the concept of interaction was always about communication. Human-Computer Interaction has never been about graphical user interfaces, which is why Voice User Interfaces (VUIs) are the future of user interface design. An interface is just a medium people use to interact with a system—whether it’s a GUI, VUI or something else. So Why is VUI So Important? Two reasons: Firstly, conversational interfaces are so fascinating...

Okay, how in the heck do you make something “cute”? Now maybe you’ve grown up in an environment where getting in touch with your feelings was anathema. Maybe you just naturally gravitated to Max Steel over Hello Kitty. Maybe you’ve never had a problem with any of this, and freely make high-pitched noises whenever there’s a puppy in sight (as is appropriate). Whatever your background, attempting to turn a web design into “something...

A visual language is just like any other form of communication. Where “language” refers to spoken or written communication, visual language goes a step further to connect with a certain community. Elements from color to style to type of photos or illustrations establish what a brand or company is. These visual elements tie together a group in a structured and conventional way that people understand. A visual language includes both the...

There’s a moment that every tech nerd in every corner of the tech industry knows all too well. It’s that moment when you see that some movie or TV show has decided that your area of tech is relevant to the story, and by golly they plan to butcher it in the cheapest and most simplified way possible. (This is your yearly reminder that CSI: Cyber was a thing, and that NCIS once had two people type on the same keyboard to “hack faster”.) Oh dear God…why?...

Tech folklore has it that the landing page was born in late 2003, when Microsoft created the concept in response to poor online sales of Office. Realising that the buying process had to be smoother and more direct, the IT giant created a separate mini-site designed specifically for buying its flagship product. Whilst the campaign undoubtedly worked for Microsoft—we’re still stuck with Office, after all—it’s hard to believe nobody...

When was the last time you visited a website with no images? As web designers, we love adding images to our designs because images are memorable and give us a direct channel of communication to the audience’s brain. Also, images are universal and processed by our brains faster than text. That’s partly why the “story” medium (short-form videos with effects and overlays) and emojis attract engagement. But something else has also been...

I love the hamburger menu. I hate the hamburger menu. I am constantly contradicting myself about this tiny website element; whether I think it works beautifully…or just makes a mess. And I’m not alone. While this icon has exploded in popularity, there’s still significant debate as to whether it is the right choice for tucking navigation menus into websites. It’s a debate I have with myself (and team) every time we approach a new project...

Have you ever visited a website, looked around for a bit, and then headed straight to the footer to find the information you were looking for? You’re not the only one. Footers are unique pieces of screen real estate that offer a number of benefits. They house important information (like contact details and copyright statements) and navigation options that make it easier for users to find what they’re looking for. In this article, we’ll...

Designers, developers, site owners… lend me your eyeballs for a bit. There’s something rotten in the state of pre-made website themes. Alright, I’ve offended The Bard quite enough. But you get my point, right? Themes have gotten a bad rap for a variety of reasons: they can have bloated code, content must be designed to fit in them rather than designing them to fit the content, et cetera. But they’ve also gotten really good. Many are made...

Just like anything else, product design can be done well, and it can be done poorly. When a product is designed well, users don’t notice it. But when a product is designed poorly, users not only notice, but also complain. In this article, I want to share five the most common things that lead to bad product design. 1. Adding Too Many Features to a Product All too often designers think about features as a synonymous with value. They believe that the...

Have you performed a mobile speed test lately? How does your website rank? A slow website can turn mobile users away. Ideally, you want your design to load just as quickly for 3G users on phones as it does for desktop users on Wi-Fi. (That’s a pretty big ask, but there are things you can go to make it happen.) First, test your mobile speed. And then use these tips to improve your performance, and keep more users on your site longer. 1. Optimize Images...

There’s no question that making your website’s pages load fast is important. Research shows that people start to lose focus on something after a single second, and lose interest completely somewhere between 4 and 10 seconds. There’s even a direct correlation between slow load times and losing sales, according to Amazon and Kissmetrics. But who has time for complex tools like reading waterfall charts? The easy solution would be to...

Designing for the iPhone X will bring some new challenges, but also some new design opportunities. In this article, I’ll share a few suggestions that will help you design apps and games that look and feel great on iPhone X. Display Specifics iPhone X has a new high-resolution, rounded, edge-to-edge Super Retina display has a resolution of 1125×2436px. While it gives designers more space for display content and allows them to create a genuinely...