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These UX Designers are Rethinking the Voter Ballot
I was five the first time I went to vote, excited for a field trip with my dad that conflicted with bed time. The polling place was a school gym. The room echoed with the clunk of machine levers as each vote was cast, and I munched on brownies from the bake sale set up in the lobby. That visit, which was repeated each election throughout my childhood, made it statistically far more likely that I would become a regular voter myself. Many people aren’t exposed to the voting process at a young age, and millions never make it to the polls.
Whitney Quesenbery and Dana Chisnell, co-founders of The Center for Civic Design, are focused on those people: where they fall off the voter journey, and how to get them back on. So they’ve set out to bring UX strategies to the myriad systems of local, state, and federal election offices, using human centered design thinking to shepherd citizens through the registration process to the moment they mark their choice on the ballot.
Chisnell and Quesenber..
De l’imbrication algorithmique
On se souvient de la mort d’Elaine Herzberg, première humaine tuée par une voiture autonome en mars 2018 (voir l’enquête qu’en dressait l’écrivain Thierry Crouzet). Pour le Guardian, le journaliste Andrew Smith (@wiresmith) revient sur les hésitations de l’algorithme de la voiture à reconnaître ce qu’il se passait.
Pour la programmeuse et essayiste Ellen Ullman, le problème est que la programmation est de plus en plus éloignée de la compréhension humaine du fait de l’intrication des programmes, algorithmes et données. Les gens pensent souvent que les algorithmes peuvent être modifiés, mais le plus souvent, ils s’exécutent et évoluent par eux-mêmes (cf. notre dossier, réinventer la programmation). Leurs concepteurs ne les contrôlent pas vraiment et ce d’autant plus qu’ils font appellent à des bases de données, à des bibliothèques de programmes distants, à d’autres algorithmes qui évoluent également.
À l’origine, rappelle Smith, les algorithmes étaient relativement simples, ils fonct..
Technologie : l’âge sombre
L’artiste et essayiste James Bridle (@jamesbridle) s’intéresse depuis longtemps aux dysfonctionnements de notre monde moderne. Il observe ce qui ne fonctionne pas : les bugs, les glitchs, les ratés de notre développement technologique… Longtemps, il a regardé les espaces de friction entre technologie et société comme le lieu d’expression et de production de nouvelles formes culturelles. C’était ce qu’il appelait « la nouvelle esthétique », celle produite au croisement de la technologie et de la réalité, ces « irruptions visuelles du monde numérique dans le monde physique ». Il en a joué plus que tout autre, en produisant des dispositifs pour interroger la manière même dont nous produisons notre monde moderne. L’un des exemples les plus célèbres – parmi d’autres – étant certainement le piège à voiture autonome qu’il imagina, comme une mise en abîme des limites de la soi-disant intelligence artificielle qu’on pouvait prendre au piège comme un enfant… On avait évoqué rapidement, au printe..
Free Sketch Template for building a meaningful “Affinity Diagram” during the UX Process
A step-by-step guide with some key concepts explained*I believe that doing an affinity diagram exercise is more efficient in a physical space with teammates scribbling notes, thinking out loud and engaging in discussions. Therefore, unless Sketch provides the ability to share/edit a file with multiple people at once, I would suggest to use the template to digitally store written Post-it notes or to showcase the process/result somewhere (i.e portfolio).
At the end of this article, there is a link to download a Free Sketch Template to create a digital version of an affinity diagram with explanations 😎
What is an Affinity Diagram?In short, the affinity diagram shows the common issues, themes, and scope of the customer problems and needs in one place. By hierarchically grouping the data, or affinity notes that reveal the problems and needs, it acts as the voice of the customer and the issues become the basis for user requirements. With just a few tools, you can create a visual representati..
How to design Mobile Push Notifications that Don’t Suck
Photo by Jamie Street on UnsplashAs a writer, I am often being asked to help app makers with push notifications. Designing a push requires both time and energy and it’s never an easy task to do especially if you are a technical thinker. What I mean by a “technical thinker” is that a lot of people see only one side of a push notification; they have something to tell their app users and they just tell it. Usually through a very generic message. This is way too technical.
But the fact is that a push notification is a marketing tool no less important than SMS and emails. So, app makers need to be careful with this to make the most out of it. Mastering the technique of merely sending a push is not yet enough to make that push work. You have to convey a marketing message in a very user-friendly way. So, let’s examine my algorithm of designing mobile push notifications that don’t suck. Here you are!
When to send the pushDefinitely NOT when your users are sleeping. Also, always send push notif..
Creativity, concentration and get shit done
How to be more concentrated, create better products and be a better colleaguePhoto by Rob Bye on UnsplashConcentration was not much of a topic 20 or 30 years ago. Most people could easily focus on page-length articles without pictures or infographics. This is hard for us since we are constantly bombarded with information about all sorts of channels and devices. The new media takes our attention almost uninterruptedly and our impulsive brain is helplessly exposed to the many stimuli.
Attention is the new currencyPhoto by Youssef Sarhan on UnsplashThe digital world is brilliant!(?)The countless positive achievements of the digital age are undisputed. The only problem is that our brain has not yet learned to deal with the modern flood of stimuli. When we’re not in a workflow tunnel, our brain constantly scans the environment for new stimuli and pounces on any interesting information. Nowadays we are constantly receiving new messages over the smartphone and the internet, so our brain absor..
The UX Designer’s Ultimate Compendium of Free Typography Resources
Be the type expert your users deserve with our ultimate list of free typography resources for UX designersIt was infamous typeface designer Eric Gill who opined in 1931 that “we are concerned with typography in England.” Fast forward 80 years and everybody is concerned with typography, everywhere.
That’s why the Justinmind UXers came up with this list of top font and typography resources.
Typography in design: A quick run-downTypography is entwined in our everyday lives and there is no avoiding its omnipresent power. Whether you’re in a bustling metropolis like New York City or secluded in the plains of Rwanda, you’re going to interact with type. It’s on street signs, buildings, movie posters and books to name but a few of its homes.
That’s why typography plays such a vital role within user experience design. It’s found all over the globe and can be used to define a brand, convey emotion, deliver information and even ignite fiery hatred among zealots.
Use typography to prototype awesom..
Off-White A/W 2018
Mood board: The staging for Virgil Abloh’s A/W 2018 collection was a red room installed at the Pompidou centre. For red, read new blood. Abloh has created a cult label in a short space of time, capturing the imagination and the evolution of Generation Z. Everywhere you turn, in cities around the world from Hong Kong to Hull, you’re faced with his recognisable branded security tag, strapped across knowing shoulders. The pulp illustration on the show’s invitation depicted a suited man wielding a knife on which his frenzied eyes reflect back at him; the Hitchcockian scene suggested a sense of dread, perhaps even self-loathing. Best in show: The brand is connected to its fans – they are its bread and butter. Prior to the show, Abloh Instagrammed a photograph of a single pocket t-shirt, engineered to twist around the torso. The caption read: ‘primary show note in one iphone photo. pattern...
The Power and Danger of Persuasive Design
Back in 2015, I launched the Persuasive Patterns card deck. It was a physical brainstorm tool created to help UX practitioners implement persuasive design in their daily work. The card deck is used in the daily UX work at some of the biggest and most popular tech companies all over the world.
The premise of the tool is to help companies build products that not only solve real user problems but also excels in execution. To help companies that have been spending too much time perfecting the usability of their product and too little on figuring out what actually motivates their users to do exactly that.
It doesn’t matter how easy your product is to use if nobody wants to use it.
Too often, companies have built great products that actually solve important and real problems of the user, but fail to get users to realize it. For that purpose, you might consider looking into persuasive design. Here, the starting point is psychology rather than graphical design. Persuasive design help design..
Décoder, recoder, programmer, déprogrammer
A l’occasion de ses 10 ans, la Haute école d’art et de design de Genève organisait un étrange colloque convoquant designers, artistes, philosophes, théoriciens, cinéastes… pour tracer des « histoires d’un futur proche ». Une prospective aux frontières de la création et de la science. Parfois ébouriffante, parfois déconcertante. Retour sur une sélection de ces… narrations d’un futur qui est déjà là.
Métagénomique On ne devrait plus avoir à présenter Kevin Slavin (@slavin_fpo). Slavin est le responsable scientifique de The Shed, un centre d’art new-yorkais. Il est le responsable et le fondateur du programme Playful System du Media Lab du MIT. Il est le cofondateur de Everybody at Once, une entreprise spécialisée dans le développement d’audience et les stratégies média et de l’entreprise Collective Decision Engines. Mais aucun de ces postes ne le définit vraiment. C’est un touche-à-tout iconoclaste qui a étudié la sculpture, paraît-il… Il en est bien loin. Il avait donné à Lift, en 2011..