Tag "Usability" on Smashing UX Design

Posts Tagged ‘Usability’

We are pleased to present below all posts tagged with ‘Usability’.

navigation usabilitySticky Menus Are Quicker To Navigate

From Hyrum Denney
September 11th, 2012
95 Comments

Most designers would agree that navigation is one of the most critical components of a website. Despite this, it is not always easy to use or access. Traditionally, users must scroll back to the top of the website to access the navigation menu. I recently wondered whether sticky menus makes ...

The Roots of User-Centered DesignBeyond Wireframing: The Real-Life UX Design Process

From Marcin Treder
August 29th, 2012
49 Comments

We all know basic tenets of user-centred design. We recognize different research methods, prototyping, as well as documenting techniques in our rich methodological environment. The question you probably often ask yourself though is how it all works in practice? What do real-life UX design processes actually look like? Do we have ...

UX Design For MobileDesigning For Device Orientation: From Portrait To Landscape

From Avi Itzkovitch
August 10th, 2012
28 Comments

The accelerometer embedded in our smart devices is typically used to align the screen depending on the orientation of the device, i.e. when switching between portrait and landscape modes. This capability provides great opportunities to create better user experiences because it offers an additional layout with a simple turn of ...

UX Design PatternsForm-Field Validation: The Errors-Only Approach

From Christian Holst
June 27th, 2012
46 Comments

Error pages for form-field validation are dreadful. You’ve just filled out 20 form fields, yet you get the same bloated page thrown back in your face because a single field failed to validate. I clearly recall the often loud sighs of despair during our last usability study each time a ...

Why Your Links Should Never Say “Click Here”

From Anthony T
June 20th, 2012
51 Comments

Have you ever wanted your users to click a link but didn’t know how to get them to act? When some designers run into this problem, they’re tempted to use the words “Click here” on their links. Before giving in to the temptation, you should know how using these words ...

User Experience Takeaways From Online Car Shopping

From Lyndon Cerejo
June 13th, 2012
5 Comments

Emergency car shopping is no fun. This past month was the second time I had to shop for a car in a short timeframe without advance warning. Like most informed shoppers, I went online to get a feel for my options, armed with knowledge of what I was looking for: ...

Design Patterns: When Breaking The Rules Is OK

From Rian van der Merwe
June 6th, 2012
18 Comments

We’d like to believe that we use established design patterns for common elements on the Web. We know what buttons should look like, how they should behave and how to design the Web forms that rely on those buttons. And yet, broken forms, buttons that look nothing like buttons, confusing ...

The History Of Usability: From Simplicity To Complexity

From Mads Soegaard
May 23rd, 2012
10 Comments

The story of usability is a perverse journey from simplicity to complexity. That’s right, from simplicity to complexity—not the other way around. If you expect a “user-friendly” introduction to usability and that the history of usability is full of well-defined concepts and lean methods, you’re in for a surprise. Usability is ...

Removing Stumbling Blocks In Mobile Forms

From Robert Brauer
May 3rd, 2012
13 Comments

A few weeks ago, I was quite surprised when I saw the pavement quickly approaching while I was out for a walk. Laying there stunned, I soon realized what had happened: I fell. Ouch. B-minus. I normally try to be as attentive as possible, but this time a big crack in ...

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