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       Key Lime Interactive LLC is officially ten years old. On January 20th, 2009, CEO Ania Rodriguez created her very own UX company, and is now able to celebrate a decade of that company's existence. KLI joined the UX world a few years after the emergence of the iPhone, which would dramatically shift the way in which technology, user experience and user design are understood, implemented and carried out. Now in 2019, from a myriad of smartphone devices, laptops, wearables and tech gadgets for every industry, we can see how the field of UX has changed greatly over the past decade. In order to be able to really appreciate and understand how far Key Lime Interactive has come in the last ten years, it is also important to be able to look at all the ways in which the UX field has changed during that time.

        As we have mentioned before, Key Lime Interactive LLC turns 10 years old this month on January 20th. Only 4% of new businesses make it to their 10 year celebration, and we here at KLI could not be more ecstatic to be able to celebrate this wonderful accomplishment. In order to celebrate, the entire KLI team from all over the US met up at Key Lime's home base in Miami to then travel to the Florida Keys for a celebratory weekend. Aside from being able to have the entire team together, the weekend was spent doing some pretty amazing things.

      The new year is always an exciting time, brimming with new potential and possibilities. As we begin the year of 2019, we are excited to see the ways in which the UX/UI industry will continue to develop and transform. As an industry that is always changing, regardless of whether it is a new year, it is important to stay a tune to the various changing trends that exist within the industry. We here at Key Lime are excited to see all that 2019 has to offer, and to see the ways in which the UX/UI will continue to grow and expand.

    Virtual Reality today is truly off-the-shelf – the tools required for developing, disseminating and consuming a VR experience is available, accessible and affordable. This progress has enabled not only programmers but also technology novices to create significant immersive experiences. However, one of the major pieces missing in this field is a robust design and evaluation methodology that ensures that the experiences we create are not only immersive and interactive but also impactful.

      Hobbies are defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "pursuits outside of ones regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation"(Source). Hobbies are things that help us destress, bring us joy and entertainment, and help promote overall quality of life. It is important, but not always easy, to make time for hobbies. Aside from being amazing UX rockstars, Key Limers also have a wide variety of hobbies.

       VR requires an iterative Design – Develop – Feedback loop more than any other computational media format. The main reason for this is that every VR experience is a subjective experience and it is imperative to factor the user in the design and development process early and often. The fundamental construct that elicits responses from the user in a VR experience is the idea of Presence – “the feeling of being there in the virtual environment”.

    Since all kinds of information can be disseminated throughout the web so quickly, we live in a world of myths. There are myths surrounding almost every aspect of our lives, from the kinds of foods we should eat this week to the kinds of things people do at their jobs. The UX industry is something that has many myths surrounding it since it is still a term that people are learning about. And while we also live in a world of myths, we also live in a world of myth busting.

       In September, Key Lime Interactive presented a user testing study (N=12) on the post-match statistics screen of PUBG mobile at the Games UX Summit in Vancouver, hosted by EA. During our presentation, we provided design considerations and opportunities for improvement for the post-match screen, drawing best practices from other games from mobile and PC platforms. For example, comparing to PUBG mobile, Warships Blitz (iOS, Android) provides a more detailed and accessible post-match screen, organized so that it serves players of different types.

Every 6 months the Key Lime team releases competitive reports in various industries. These reports level set top players and identify the many included features a given mobile app or site have available, but also detail the importance how important each feature is and which are best from a usability perspective.

      As UX Researchers and Designers, we work hard to have empathy and understand all different kinds of user groups. By understanding differences between groups, we are able to design technology that caters to user’s wants and needs. Two interesting groups to consider when designing products are Millennials and Baby Boomers because of the way they use, view, and evaluate technology is very different and is crucial when designing a product.