Design Theory

We are in the midst of a major social transformation — moving many of our day-to-day activities from physical places to information-based places that we experience on our phones and computers. The central question of this book is: How can we design these information environments so they serve our social needs in the long term?

Much of the day-to-day work of UX design focuses on optimizing manual, paper-based processes through the use of technology. Human-computer interaction makes an effective partnership in which the outcome produced is greater than sum of the individual efforts.

New comic by author and UX consultant Dan Ward, in which he illustrates another UX 101 lesson.

It should be no surprise to any contemporary UX Designer that a flat, minimalist design trend has emerged over the past few years.

When users are accustomed to using a pattern, even a minor change in that pattern can be very expensive in performance terms.

Human beings are creatures of habit, and once we have a model for how a certain space should look in our head, finding that model flipped on its head can disorient us.

Don’t leave users squinting or pinching and zooming just to experience your mobile website. Help them make the most out of your mobile presence.

Designing a mobile app requires empathy. The features you invent must be business solutions that have a cost and a benefit to your business and to the user.

As technology and experience design both continue to gain influence over our lives, it's crucial that we understand what we mean when we say what we say.

Our changing relationship with content and mobile technology is signaling the end of web design as we know it—something that gives us all a lot to think about.

We talk with information architect Alberta Soranzo about mountains of data, mixtapes, and the digital legacy you leave behind.