UX 
User Experience ofEllo: Ello! orMellow?
UX OFELLO 
ELLO! ORMELLOW? 
ELLO SAYS: 
“Ellois a simple, beautiful, and ad-free social network […].” 
WE SAY: 
We like Ello! Its straightforward design and the clear navigation are appealing. The Ellovision and its user experiencemake a good match. Tip to the hat, chaps! 
Sorry, however, and even if that sounds old-fashioned: There are some usability flaws left. 
https://ello.co/wtf/post/about
Simple design –simple challenges
USERS FEEDBACK 
34 respondents (Non ElloUsers) had a short look at Ellosprivacy settings and answered one simple question: 
Which of the switch button below do you think is saying “YES”? 
UX OFELLO 
OPINION POLL: PRIVACY SETTINGS 
or 
https://ello.co/settings
OPINION POLL: PRIVACY SETTINGS 
68% 
32% 
0% 
10% 
20% 
30% 
40% 
50% 
60% 
70% 
80% 
grey (activated) 
white (activated) 
UX OFELLO 
RESEARCH FACT 
Only 68 % of participants stated that the grey coloured switch button is activated. So one third of all users in our random sample was wrong or at least insecure about the actual privacy settings. 
THE REASON: Lacking self-descriptiveness of the button design 
THE RISK: The UX might be weakened by this gap between the Ellovision and its design reality. 
SUGGESTION 
The design of switch buttons is frequently discussed in the design community. We assume that less errors would occur when the contrast is higher or if the activated buttons are highlighted. 
Which “Switch Button“ do you believe is activated?
UX OFELLO 
REGISTRATION PROCESS REVISITED 
We did not attempt to review the whole UX of Ello. 
It intrigued us, however, if the ‘open sesame’ AKA ‘registration process’ reflects the Ellovision –or if it needs veritable gate crashing qualities to enter.
UX OFELLO 
REGISTRATION 
WE THINK… 
—During registration, it can happen that users make errors when… 
»the user name wasn’t available anymore 
»the password didn’t match security requirements 
—None of this was obvious first, so we had to try again and again. 
—No helpful feedback what was wrong, was providedFun. Not. 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
xxxxx 
https://ello.co/enter
UX OFELLO 
REGISTRATION 
WE THINK… 
The “prove you are a human“ game rigorously breaks with Ellosvisual style. It thus does not appear to be part of the process and can be overseen despite its visual dominance. A sudden stop at registration can be the result. 
»We saw users struggling and stop the sign up, because they did not see the game 
»So, will users sign up, once they have to stop for a few seconds? 
—Once this barrier is taken, the “Create Account“ button seems to lack affordance. 
»The game is fun, and draws a lot of attention. 
»Will users step out of the game and resume the sign-up process? Will they see the “Create Account” button? 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
xxxxx 
https://ello.co/enter
UX OF ELLO 
100 % AWESOME 
RESPONSIVE DESIGN 
We tried Elloon different devices and OS. On all mobiles it is amazing. 
In our experience, Ello’sresponsive design is state-of-the-art. We can easily recognize key features across devices, feel at home immediately and don’t have to learn many new interactions. 
Thank you, Ellofor responsive design 
and flexibility.
UX OFELLO 
OURCONCLUSION 
ELLO IS SIMPLE AND BEAUTIFUL 
Ello’sfocus is on content. The design is clear and crisp, and doesn‘t distract from the content. 
But sometimes we need the design to help us find the right way -and give us feedback, when we need help. 
DEARELLO! 
SIMPLE, BEAUTIFUL AND AD-FREE – BUT SOME UI POLISHING STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE. 
. 
Great design experienceneedsgreatuserexperience.
www.uid.com 
Malte Krökel 
USABILITY ENGINEER 
malte.kroekel@uid.com 
Tobias Limbach 
TEAM MANAGER USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN 
tobias.limbach@uid.com
UX OFELLO 
SOURCESFORPICTURES 
1)https://ello.co/friends(„sayEllo“ on slide1) 
2)https://ello.co/wtf/post/about(Abouton slide2) 
3)https://ello.co/settings(Settings on slide4) 
4)https://ello.co/enter(Registration processon slide6 and 7) 
5)Slide 8 © Tobias Limbach

User Experience of Ello

  • 1.
    UX User ExperienceofEllo: Ello! orMellow?
  • 2.
    UX OFELLO ELLO!ORMELLOW? ELLO SAYS: “Ellois a simple, beautiful, and ad-free social network […].” WE SAY: We like Ello! Its straightforward design and the clear navigation are appealing. The Ellovision and its user experiencemake a good match. Tip to the hat, chaps! Sorry, however, and even if that sounds old-fashioned: There are some usability flaws left. https://ello.co/wtf/post/about
  • 3.
  • 4.
    USERS FEEDBACK 34respondents (Non ElloUsers) had a short look at Ellosprivacy settings and answered one simple question: Which of the switch button below do you think is saying “YES”? UX OFELLO OPINION POLL: PRIVACY SETTINGS or https://ello.co/settings
  • 5.
    OPINION POLL: PRIVACYSETTINGS 68% 32% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% grey (activated) white (activated) UX OFELLO RESEARCH FACT Only 68 % of participants stated that the grey coloured switch button is activated. So one third of all users in our random sample was wrong or at least insecure about the actual privacy settings. THE REASON: Lacking self-descriptiveness of the button design THE RISK: The UX might be weakened by this gap between the Ellovision and its design reality. SUGGESTION The design of switch buttons is frequently discussed in the design community. We assume that less errors would occur when the contrast is higher or if the activated buttons are highlighted. Which “Switch Button“ do you believe is activated?
  • 6.
    UX OFELLO REGISTRATIONPROCESS REVISITED We did not attempt to review the whole UX of Ello. It intrigued us, however, if the ‘open sesame’ AKA ‘registration process’ reflects the Ellovision –or if it needs veritable gate crashing qualities to enter.
  • 7.
    UX OFELLO REGISTRATION WE THINK… —During registration, it can happen that users make errors when… »the user name wasn’t available anymore »the password didn’t match security requirements —None of this was obvious first, so we had to try again and again. —No helpful feedback what was wrong, was providedFun. Not. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx https://ello.co/enter
  • 8.
    UX OFELLO REGISTRATION WE THINK… The “prove you are a human“ game rigorously breaks with Ellosvisual style. It thus does not appear to be part of the process and can be overseen despite its visual dominance. A sudden stop at registration can be the result. »We saw users struggling and stop the sign up, because they did not see the game »So, will users sign up, once they have to stop for a few seconds? —Once this barrier is taken, the “Create Account“ button seems to lack affordance. »The game is fun, and draws a lot of attention. »Will users step out of the game and resume the sign-up process? Will they see the “Create Account” button? xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx https://ello.co/enter
  • 9.
    UX OF ELLO 100 % AWESOME RESPONSIVE DESIGN We tried Elloon different devices and OS. On all mobiles it is amazing. In our experience, Ello’sresponsive design is state-of-the-art. We can easily recognize key features across devices, feel at home immediately and don’t have to learn many new interactions. Thank you, Ellofor responsive design and flexibility.
  • 10.
    UX OFELLO OURCONCLUSION ELLO IS SIMPLE AND BEAUTIFUL Ello’sfocus is on content. The design is clear and crisp, and doesn‘t distract from the content. But sometimes we need the design to help us find the right way -and give us feedback, when we need help. DEARELLO! SIMPLE, BEAUTIFUL AND AD-FREE – BUT SOME UI POLISHING STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE. . Great design experienceneedsgreatuserexperience.
  • 11.
    www.uid.com Malte Krökel USABILITY ENGINEER malte.kroekel@uid.com Tobias Limbach TEAM MANAGER USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN tobias.limbach@uid.com
  • 12.
    UX OFELLO SOURCESFORPICTURES 1)https://ello.co/friends(„sayEllo“ on slide1) 2)https://ello.co/wtf/post/about(Abouton slide2) 3)https://ello.co/settings(Settings on slide4) 4)https://ello.co/enter(Registration processon slide6 and 7) 5)Slide 8 © Tobias Limbach