Color Theory and the User Experience

Color theory is often referenced when creating or viewing traditional works of art. Using color to successfully portray balance, movement and atmosphere is crucial. A painter does not use color haphazardly, they use it with purpose. It is used to organize their composition, direct the viewer’s focal point and create an emotional impact. Can these general rules be applied to interface design? Can they help create a more meaningful user experience? The answer is yes!

Crime + Design

Skills as these are invaluable to a designer. The issue designers often face is clients don’t always know what problem a user may face while using a product, they then will need to solve.

Workflow Analysis, Swim Lanes and UX

There are several ways to display a workflow, one of which is the swim lane diagram. These diagrams visually describe how a process works, including the people involved and the handover of information. Another advantage of workflow analysis is that it e

The Blue Landscape of Our Imagination

Generations of operating systems have heavily utilized shades of blue and gray. On my current Mac desktop, I can set a preference for the “Appearance” to be “blue” or “gray.” However, even if I choose gray, the folder icons are light blue.

The Role of Visual Design in UX

Visual design has the potential to make or break a user experience. The reason most people believe graphic designers exist is to make an interface look pretty. While this is an important part of the process, most people don’t realize that visual cues are designed with the end user in mind.

When you begin the artistic phase of your project, there are three important elements to consider:

1. Design for Your Target Audience

On Justifying User Experience Design

A few months ago, we put on a webinar about usability testing. One of the questions at the end was about justifying spending on usability design and testing. More broadly, how to convince management that good design matters – and is worth investing in. This is an industry-wide question and one, which user experience professionals are often asked in an “elevator pitch” kind of situation.

Design at DevDays

Welcome to the post Qt DevDays 2013 edition of the UX Blog.  I suspect that many of you who follow this blog also attended DevDays and I hope you enjoyed the show as much as I did.  I met a lot of great people, saw some interesting demos and presentations and even gave a few talks that seemed to hold people’s attention for the full time slot.  All in all, a pretty great week.