twitter @danielspronk, founder of eight media, total experience and soocial and gilana! ;)
ui trends 2009 - not just looking for practical tips but we’re going to look at the usability principles driving these trends
apple got it right - lots of mp3 players out there but we all bought iPod’s because the interface was simple and beautiful. it’s the interface, stoopid.
experience rich, poor in features
easiest way to get simplicity is to reduce
reduce noise!
first law of simplicity -reduce - use the methodology ‘she’: shrink - hide - embody
book tip: the laws of simplicity by John Maeda
first law of simplicity -reduce - use the methodology ‘she’: shrink - hide - embody
book tip: the laws of simplicity by John Maeda
first law of simplicity -reduce - use the methodology ‘she’: shrink - hide - embody
book tip: the laws of simplicity by John Maeda
which option is better and why?
book tip: Don’t make me think by Steve Kruger
ui trends in 2009 were started in 2008 but they’re maturing in 2009.
modal windows - good example of “SHE”
when should you consider to use modal windows?
contact forms
no loading new pages - write your message in relevant context
sign up & log in forms
in-line help functions - great for modal windows
typography is coming to the forefront of design
big is the new black
fat big fonts - your content is the design now
big fat headlines AND big font size in body - you actually read it now!
big headlines and big font for blog (16pt), right line widths
learn your typography. we can learn a lot from the art of typography for print.
learn which line widths are suited for the screen, learn to look at kerning when using font replacements.
leading is key to making body content readable.
book tip: the fundamentals of typography Gavin Ambrose
sifr made using non-system fonts feasible (SEO friendly)
this gives designers more freedom and more experience for the user
new tehcnology: cufon (>3x faster than SiFR)
Excited about Typekit: true freedom for fonts
this is a really nice trend
homepages are evolving, thank goodness. We don’t want to see ‘welcome’ introduction pieces anymore and list of ‘news’ articles on the homepage. Tell your visitors what you’re about and what you’re good at. Start with the needs the visitor might have. The homepage is the place where you and the user need to ‘match’.
weg met welkomsteksten en nieuwsberichten
big headlines - portfolio previews are connected to the content of the headlines.
companies need to think about what they want to communicate on the homepage - think of a cool concept. and write really good copy to make it hit home.
content and usability go hand in hand... good copy is more essential than top notch usability
fantastically designed icon’s and illustrations
adds a lot to the experience of the website
lots of detail and attention to headers of typography, emboss - cut-outs, inner shadows and gradients...yummy!
some go all-out on headers - fantastic for experience oriented websites.
‘hd’ grids...i know it sounds lame...but proportion have shifted from 4:3 to 16:9 and lately to 16:10 on computer screens
law 2 of simplicity: organizing. good organizing makes a lot of elements seems less.
we should use the horizontal space well - we’ve got landscape screens now!
these 960 grids are great and cater well to multi-column layouts
more multi-collumned designs - lots of trends here:
big headlines, rich illustrations, lighting, lots of whitespace, separate section for navigation and a copy oriented design.