Blog

       Anyone who’s spoken with me in the last six months has found out that D3.js is my new favorite obsession. I recently got the opportunity to use D3.js to create a customized data visualization for the current client. This client handles large, complicated, and unique data sets. Therefore, there are many occasions where standard data visualizations won’t suffice. There were several unique challenges when creating this data visualization.

       Within the last few years, technology has grown at an exponential rate with Augmented Reality being introduced in multiple industries, such as education and training. Augmented Reality (AR) is defined as the enhancement of the real environment by computer-generated content, allows its users to see the real world together with an additional virtual world added in real-time to the same field of view. A.R. technology has been introduced into the tourism industry to add more interactive elements and improve the traveler's overall experience.  

     In this frenzy of Virtual Reality (VR) adoption, it’s hard not to gravitate towards the hubbub and explore the possibilities for yourself. Let’s say, after some digging and trying out some clever immersive experiences at conferences and meetups, you finally give in and want to explore the possibility of using VR to train your employees or team members. But, where do you start? What do you need to get started? Can you actually use VR for your use case? How do you build it? Some of these questions can be overwhelming and might lead you down a rabbit hole on the internet. So, let's try to break it down here.

     As the world continues to move faster and technology evolves quicker, consultancies and corporations are increasingly concentrating on their innovation strategies. As user researchers, designers, and leaders, we have a unique set of skills and methodologies that integrate well and provide a strong value add to strategy development. Researchers are well equipped to determine objectives, understand customers and competitors, define value propositions, assess capabilities, and establish systems and processes. In the earliest stages, while businesses are assessing their innovation strategy, there is a role for UX researchers to influence and assist in making proper strategic decisions.

    In a world where our interactions with services, companies, and even other people are increasingly mediated by mobile apps, software, and services, unpleasant user experiences can leave people feeling unsettled and exposed. Those negative experiences affect not only people’s opinions of the products but often the reputation of the company itself, spreading swiftly through social media and word of mouth. Some of these issues have been addressed, some are ongoing, but it seems that all share the same root cause - failure during design and implementation to consider potential bad outcomes from using the product.

       Last week we discussed the concept of minimalism in UX Design and the way in which the concept of “less is more” can actually improve the overall user experience through eliminating unnecessary clutter or distractions. As mentioned last week, the concept of minimalism is derived from the “Hicks Law” concept which posits that the more choices a user is presented with, the more likely they will need more time in order to make their decision. While minimalism seeks to enhance the overall user experience by transforming the UI, it is not the only design trend synonymous with this practice. Maximalism, the opposite of minimalism, seeks to enhance the user experience through transforming the user interface, but this time by utilizing a variety of different patterns, colors, designs, and visual elements in order to create a design that is prominently eye-catching.

      Within the last 5 years’ trend for UX Design, we have seen the focus placed not only on creating innovative features for the end-user but also to on the emergence of the ideology “Less is More”. The phrase “less is more” in reference to UX design means that the purpose of the UX Designer is not anymore to deliver a feature-heavy product, rather make the product leaner and amplify its functionality. It means that sometimes, going the extra mile with design might not actually make a product better. 

     
         When we think of inclusive design, search results tell the industry to associate inclusive design with product accessibility and users with disabilities or other impairments, but what if this type of thinking is what is truly limiting the impact and role of inclusive design in product development?

       While VR, AR and 360 experiences may be well-known industry terms for you at this point, you might be wondering how these experiences are any different than interactive storytelling content. Interactive storytelling is a form of media that gives the user the ability to be the “director” of their own experience from start to end. While popular among the gaming community, interactive storytelling is certainly on the rise everywhere. For example, on the heels of Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch, Netflix is double down its on interactive storytelling content, producing a variety of series according to an article by techcrunch. 

       An Event Apart is a series of three-day-long UX Conferences held throughout the US in the following locations: Washington DC, Seattle, Boston, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Orlando. An Event Apart offers attendees three full days of "design, code and content"- three days worth of opportunity to learn, connect, and explore. An Event Apart (AEA) offer presentations and panels from industry leaders, thinkers and innovators, focusing on a range of topic today and tomorrow.