Category — clickable wireframes

User interface prototyping is an indispensable stage of UI design. The advantages of interface prototyping are numerous, ranging from boosting creativity to fostering communication within the development team. However, every web developer has to be aware of the dangers that interface prototyping has and that can easily be avoided with a bit of caution.

Sometimes clients do not know what prototypes or wireframes are meant to be. They see wireframes and get disappointed by the lack of visual elements. This creates one of the most widespread traps for web developers. In order to impress the client, they embellish wireframes with graphical elements, which are distracting and frequently unneeded. A web developer must remember that user interface prototyping is the initial stage, which helps develop the concept and test its usability, therefore interface prototyping is first performed in low fidelity. Graphical design details are dangerous at this stage because clients tend to focus on them rather than the entire concept, which gets you stuck in this phase longer than intended. Carefully educating the client about the importance and intention of interface prototypes will help avoid such pitfalls.

The next pitfall is the logical outcome of the first one. Too much detail takes too much time; that is inevitable. The more time and effort is put into the UI prototype, the more attached and inflexible the web-developer becomes. Remember that user interface prototyping is often referred to as “rapid prototyping”, and that is for a reason. It is supposed to be rapid. Most of the time only a few pages of the whole website or application are prototyped – that is enough to test and confirm the concept. So you can easily avoid this pitfall, too: Once the basics are agreed on, move on to the next stage.

Another danger of user interface prototyping, particularly high fidelity prototyping, is that clients come to believe that what they see is the actual product that simply needs to be revised and completed, which makes them significantly underestimate the timeframe of the project. In reality what they see is a prototype, and the product is yet to be created from scratch. Prototypes only give an idea of what the product will be like, and in most cases, the code of the prototype cannot be reused. Be clear with your client about stages of the product development and time frame for each, what stage you are currently at, and what this stage will accomplish. Then it should be possible to avoid such misunderstandings easily.

Hot on the heels of Microsoft’s re-boot of its Hotmail service, Google has tweaked and added features to its Gmail service, incorporating new options nicely into its user interface design. One of the features that I really liked was the ’sweep’ inbox management system which, considering that 90% of all webmail traffic is spam, is a welcome addition. And it’s not just spam but all the social networks, newsletters etc. and other websites that we sign up to sending us all manners of notifications that we may not want to unsubscribe from, but which are not that important. These last type of mails are known as “bologna” or “ bacn”. Somewhere in all this are actual important emails from friends, family and work that are actually what e-mail was precisely designed for. Gmail now has a new feature entitled Priority Inbox to combat this type of email overload.

I found the Priority Inbox to score high in usability as it was very simple and straightforward to setup and use. Nestled at the top right of the user interface (UI) design along right next to the settings, it is easy to find and utilize. Activating it offers users the chance to watch a short video describing the new service, should users wish to see it. An overlay appears that already sees Gmail suggest what are important and less important mails. Users can confirm this or change the suggestions. Important emails are unmistakable due to having a yellow mark along with the subject of the email. Priority emails naturally appear above the general inbox in a corresponding folder. This feature is sure to make an already popular online service designed for web 2.0 users much more manageable than it already is.

Online analytics is becoming increasingly important to improve the usability of various user interface designs because it is a quick and professional way to ensure that the right content is being disseminated to the right audience.  Using or implementing fully-integrated and successful online usability testing programs is important because it gives companies a competitive edge in a software world that is evolving to new sophisticated heights.  The easier a company can make it to discern how to best deliver their services to a target group may ensure their survival and success in the future.

For many years now, outsourcing has resounded through the land. But still it is linked in our heads with big companies which give some work away because they either do not have the capacity to carry out the work themselves, or want to save money by using this strategy. However, nowadays it is not only big companies anymore who try to gain from this process, but more and more small businesses and private people.

The advantages of outsourcing

But what are the advantages of outsourcing and how can these be generated? The system is easy. If you as a company – (whether a small or big one) – would like to give previously performed in-house tasks to an external provider, you can simply give the contract to a third-party who you will pay to carry out the task on your behalf. The main advantages include cost savings, being able to focus on your core business, overall being able to improve the quality while increasing flexibility at the same time. Collaborating with external experts allows customers to calculate their business costs more precisely because the costs only occur for a certain period of time.

But how can you find such an external provider, and how do you know if the price you are paying is not too high and if the proposal is really the best you could get? One possibility is: Using global internet platforms which arrange services for you in order to meet your individual needs. One of the biggest in Germany is twago.

Crossing the media bridge for free

Like iTunes, Dazzboard is an application that is completely free.  Users need only go to dazzboard.com and register for an account and download the free browser plug-in.  To begin building your media bridges you must connect your phone to your PC and set it as a mass storage device (Dazzboard provides instructions for different mobile devices). After you have set up your mobile-PC connection you will be able to view and manage all of your phone’s content from Dazzboard’s homepage, as well as transfer files from your PC to your phone. Dazzboard has a fresh and functional user interface that is buttressed by good usability since it shows thumbnails of your photos or albums so you always know exactly what is being transferred.
Dazzboard also integrates your phone with social networking sites by allowing you to download content to your phone from Facebook or Flickr.  So for those of you who have been waiting for a technology support service that allows you to fully integrate your phone and computer interfaces, arguably two of the most important personal and professional devices in the modern world, Dazzboard is definitely worth a try—you might even find it dazzling.

Facebook has added a so-called panic button to its security interface design for users in the UK. This new feature will allow minors to report suspicious or inappropriate behavior of adults (or others) to the authorities. The new addition is a part of Facebook’s collaboration with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). The British government-run organization is dedicated to ensuring  that minors are safe when they surf the web. To this effect, they have requested updated security features from various social networking sites. Facebook is recovering from an explosive internet safety controversy in the last few months, so its newest user interface security feature sends a clear message that user safety has become a priority. According to Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes „both Facebook and the CEOP have shared interests in keeping young people safe online.“ Thus, both organizations will complement each other as they work toward the mutual goal of privacy and security for youth.

With the global smartphone market estimated at $2 billion and the iPhone (a product that did not exist 3 years ago) accounting for 40% of Apple’s revenue, it is an understatement  to say its future is anything but bright. According to research2guidance, the market is set to reach $15 billion in 2013. Which players appear set to be the winners and loosers of this boom? As things stand Apple is far ahead of the pack. A January report from the research firm Gartner found that the app market in 2009 was 99.4% Apple’s. Despite this, other stores, particularly Android, are currently growing at a much faster pace.

According to eco (the German Association of Internet Businesses) handset manufacturers seemed poised to continue their hegemony over the smartphone app market despite more and more cellphone carriers, such as Vodafone, planning their own app stores.  But they might be simply too late to the party. With handset manufacturers in pole position, OS platform providers such as Microsoft come in second.  With this in mind it would seem that the combination of creating your own handset and platform is all it takes to challenge the market leaders but one must not forget what made the Apple App Store a success in the first place.
One of the important things that made the iPhone and its App Store a success was their ease-of-use, i.e. high usability and great interface design. Compared to other mobile platforms the iPhone was intuitive and did not have a labyrinthine menu layout. The capacitive touch screen coupled with the interface design of the OS allowed for revolutionary Human-Computer Interaction that was seamless. The app store also well and truly brought e-commerce to mobile phones with an interface design that allowed users to browse apps as if they were music on an iPod. Android would pack a lot of the same functionality but on a more open platform that could be tweaked by handset manufacturers as evidenced by HTC’s celebrated Sense User Interface design. So, really, challengers should strive for a great interface design in addition to whatever features they may be planning to differentiate and market their offerings.

Over the past few weeks numerous iPhone 4G users have been complaining that the phone has a faulty antenna. They claim that they easily lose reception when holding the phone at its lower left-hand corner.  Apple’s solution?   Steve Jobs simply says “don’t hold it that way”.   Apple also has a more concrete answer, insisting that the problem can be avoided by using a case that covers the phone (presumably an iPhone case purchased from Apple).  While this hardware related usability complaint may seem trivial, Apple’s newest hardware usability problem is a springboard that we can use to explore a growing area of concern for many technology users: the increasing gap between hardware and the interfaces required to use them.

What impact does the smartphone market have on the tech industry?

This current fiscal year has been a great one for Apple as they, for the first time, surpassed long-time frenemy Microsoft to become the second largest US company by market capitalization after Exxon Mobil. This achievement would not have been possible with a product that did not exist just over three years ago. That product, in case you were wondering, is none other than the iPhone which now accounts for 40% of Apple’s revenue. Smartphones, this goes without saying, are the hottest game in tech town! And everyone seems to want a piece of this ever-growing pie if HP’s purchase of Palm is anything to go by.

How are the two biggest players in the smartphone market seeking hegemony?

The iPhone’s biggest challenger comes in the shape of Google via their Android OS which can be found on a number of smartphones made by manufacturers such as HTC, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung, and more. The Android OS, with its royalty-free license, manages to compete with a hardware item like the iPhone by going the route of Windows in the 80s of targeting volume to create a ubiquitous platform that will in turn attract developers to create apps that add to the OS’ functionality. Although the iPhone is a hardware item the real attraction is the exclusive, beloved OS. This is evident in the fact that, so far at least, the iPhone is the leading smartphone OS in terms of market share despite Android boasting phones with better hardware specs such as the HTC Desire. Both Apple and Google have announced future iterations of their respective smartphone OSes, namely iPhone OS 4 and Android 2.2. According to tech blogger John Gruber “Apple and Google are jostling to shift the comparison between the two platforms to their very different strengths. Apple’s strengths: user experience, design, consistency. Google’s strengths: the cloud, variety, permissiveness”. And just to be clear, design here also refers to interface design, of course.

More of Google’s many announcements at the recently concluded Google I/O 2010 developers conference are a number of new features to its Google Chrome internet browser. Apart from improved speed and now being available for both the Mac and Linux platforms the web browser now features the Chrome Web Store. The store is an open marketplace for web apps that makes it easier for both users to discover web apps suiting their needs and for developers to reach a large audience.

How do interface design changes improve usability through efficient access?

Installing web apps will create shortcuts to said apps on the tab bar making them more quickly accessible through Chrome’s interface design with just one mouse click, thereby improving usability and user experience. Furthermore, installed web apps built on HTML5 can access services that regular web pages can not such as Geolocation APIs, file drag-and-drop and App Cache (this  can allow apps to tap unlimited local storage for offline access for example). Although using web technologies, with App Cache web apps would be able to run like native apps as all their resources could be stored locally. An example of this would be a video game that wouldn’t require a server connection in order to run.