UX
The integration of chatbots into digital health devices and apps is on the rise – the market for these chatbots is expected to top $1.2 billion by 2032 (Source: Vantage Market Research). The impetus behind this explosive growth: by automating simple processes – leveraging chatbots to do some of the…
BlogLooking for a plugin to quickly turn your Figma design into code for production or advanced prototyping? If so, this blog is for you! We tested 20 leading code-generator plugins – evaluating them with quality, accuracy and usability in mind – and generated code for a nine-frame Figma file. What we…
BlogIf you are creating or recreating software controls for a medical, industrial, or other device, at some point you may consider whether to design your user interface (UI) with light mode, dark mode – or both. Light mode is characterized by dark foreground elements (such as text) on a light…
BlogIf you’re serious about creating a great product that truly meets the needs of users, conducting well-planned research at the start of product development is key. Up-front research provides critical insight that can serve as the solid foundation on which to build your design strategy. The…
BlogOne of the most exciting user experience (UX) modalities to design for is that of Virtual Reality (VR). Far from being the gimmick that it was once thought to be, VR and related interaction styles are quickly becoming a viable solution for many complex interactions, ranging from retail display to…
BlogHave you gone electric? Electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) have been slow to arrive on the market so why should UX designers be excited about them? Here’s why: the change from fossil fuel to battery-powered vehicles is inevitable at this point. With this change…
BlogThe expression “Digital Transformation” sounds like it’s all about technology, but it’s not. It’s about people. People — users — are ultimately the reason for and the recipients of digital change, which can impact them for better or worse. For example, while online shoppers might rejoice at…
BlogQt Design Studio is a powerful tool for designers and developers that can be used to create professional user interfaces (UI) with the Qt framework for desktop, mobile, MCU or embedded devices with a single codebase. At ICS, we deal with in-house teams and teams of developers and designers from…
BlogAt ICS and Boston UX, we not only work with our own developers, we work with engineers from many companies that represent every industry. Without a doubt, communicating to an engineer the exact intent of a design in a form that they can implement is a very difficult task. Qt Design Studio allows…
BlogI recently attended the User Experience Professional Association (UXPA) 2019 International Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona where I presented a talk entitled Designing for the IoT and the Rise of Natural Interaction. While there I attended other design professionals’ sessions and networked…
BlogDigital technology envelopes modern life, from invisible urban infrastructures that micro-manage traffic flow to trackable pills that provide health data on the user. Analysts predict that by 2020, a mere year from now, there will be nearly 200,000 billion connected digital devices in the world. So…
BlogA user experience (UX) strategy insures that you’ll spend your design budget wisely. In the absence of a UX strategy you may find that your UX dollars are wasted. Here's the backstory. UX design is increasingly recognized as the essential part of any software project that users will interact…
BlogBoston UX and ICS are exhibiting at the 7th annual DeviceTalks in Boston from October 8 -10. We'll be showing how we pair intuitive interface design with engineering best practices to create medical devices that are both beautiful and buildable. DeviceTalks Westin Boston…
Basic pageThere’s one major reason why designing for embedded devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) is challenging: there are few common design aspects shared across devices. No similar operating system platform or interactive modality, for instance. User experience design for embedded devices is a…
BlogLast week I implored you to include your stakeholders in the creative process in terms of UX design. Now I’m going to share proven ways to actually do that. Stakeholders can offer designers invaluable insight on a project, but often it’s tough to get them to speak in-depth to share their knowledge…
BlogStakeholders — the people or groups with the power to affect (or are affected by) your project — often have valuable opinions and insight that can positively impact the design of the user experience (UX) on your project. Perhaps they’re domain experts in the subject area relevant to your project.…
BlogOften, clients — project owners that come to us seeking user experience (UX) design expertise — have “pre-designed” their project to some extent before our kickoff meeting. This can be very helpful and we encourage it. It means they’ve already done a lot of thinking on their project so it’s easy to…
BlogIn user experience (UX) design, friction is understood to mean interactions that limit a person from achieving his or her goals in a digital interface in an easy and intuitive manner. For instance, say you’re buying something online. You want to edit your purchase right before the Confirmation…
BlogAccording to Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram, you have just 30 seconds to capture someone’s attention. In terms of IoT devices, and mobile and desktop applications, that all-important first impression is driven by effective user experience (UX) design. Great UX makes a device or app…
BlogUsability testing refers to the practice of evaluating a feature, product or service by testing it with representative users. From a user experience (UX) standpoint, this process helps designers understand whether the “product” — a software application’s user interface, for instance — is user-…
BlogUsing design best practices ensures your user experience (UX) design and development process is focused and efficient. These four best practices — ensuring visibility of the process, following logical steps, taking ownership of work, and communicating effectively — are…
BlogYou start a new design project. Quickly, you need to make some big decisions about the strategy, overall concept, information architecture and layout templates. And you have to follow up by making even more decisions. What interaction patterns will you use? What elements should have animations?…
BlogHow do you keep stakeholders informed and included during a user experience (UX) design process? Short answer: Be generous with representations — sketches, mockups and prototypes — right from day one of the design process. Yes, that’s right. I’m telling you that, in the context of tight budgets…
BlogThinking of building a new product, say a connected device or application? When a project is in the planning stage, one of the budgetary decisions revolves around the amount of time to allocate to design — specifically UX design — versus the time spent on software development. Developers…
BlogToday’s customers are empowered like never before. That means building products they love is no longer simply a competitive advantage — it’s a fundamental business necessity. If you want to create successful, highly profitable products, think UX. When product-driven organizations prioritize the…
Basic pagePeople love beautiful things. Earthshaking information, right? What’s significant is that our appreciation extends beyond our conscious behavior. Over a decade ago, usability expert Don Norman made the argument in his book Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things that “…
BlogHere at ICS we’re excited about how the Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the lives of people every day — a topic we’ve been covering from all angles. For instance, my colleague Jeff Tranter described how IoT fits into the Qt ecosystem while Dorothy Shamonsky has written about the design…
BlogThe software industry is moving at a faster pace every day and the bar for quality has never been higher. When I graduated from college in 1989 a guy working in his garage could create a best-selling game. Today, that would take as many people working together as to create the average summer…
BlogAs a lead designer in our company, I evangelize design thinking and model the behavior of a design thinker. As a career designer, it’s tough for me to not apply design thinking to everything I do. So when our sales team asks me to support the pre-sales process on a prospective customer project, I…
BlogParticipants in ICS’ recent webinar UX Design for Software Engineers posed so many interesting questions I couldn’t get to all of them in my first post so I’m tackling a few more here. If you missed the webinar, you can watch it on demand here. What are some good UX tools? That is a very broad…
BlogI would posit that there are two types of workers: those who are mission driven and those who are not. Mission-driven workers care about the outcome of their work and make an effort to understand and track its impact. The latter group enjoys doing the work they have chosen to do but don’t wonder…
BlogPeople are impatient and distracted. You’re probably scrolling through your Instagram while reading this blog. Or replying to your boss’ email. Or ordering sushi. Point is, you’re busy and don’t have time to waste navigating hard-to-use sites, apps or touchscreens. Neither do the users you design…
BlogParticipants in ICS’ recent webinar UX Design for Software Engineers posed a slew of interesting questions. I'm tackling a few here. Look for an upcoming blog with answers to even more of your UX-themed questions. You recommended designing for 80% of users but isn't that a lowest-common-…
BlogAs a designer I love to create highly usable, beautiful interfaces. In fact, design thinking pervades every aspect of my work life. Empathy, sustainability, effectiveness and aesthetics are parameters that inspire any activity that I take part in, whether it’s managing staff, preparing proposals or…
BlogThis year’s Qt World Summit has come and gone, and a good time was had by all. I had the opportunity to give a well-attended talk on user experience (UX) design tips for software developers. It was great to see that so many developers are interested in how users view software, and aren’t focused…
BlogOver the summer I visited some breathtaking castles in Northern Europe. Many were originally constructed as small fortresses and over the centuries have been rebuilt multiple times to reflect new generations of culture and technology. Unfortunately, all this change made it challenging to get even…
Blogby Jeff LeBlanc This talk provides an introduction to user experience design, specifically focusing on issues that software engineers encounter. While engineers tend to focus on the implementation details of getting pixels on the screen, less consideration is often given to what pixels go where,…
Basic pagePhrases like make it pop, wow factor, have fun with it, and jazz it up sound like nails on a chalkboard to a designer. They are meaningless buzzwords, no different than “synergy,” “diversify” or “innovation” — words that get thrown around so often in business. “Designers are missionaries for art…
BlogMost of our everyday experiences with touchscreen technology are interactions with small screens, such as phones and tablets, where screen space is at a premium. At the opposite end of the spectrum are large touchscreens, which offer User Experience (UX) designers plenty of real estate to work with…
BlogCreating touchscreen user experiences (UX) that feel natural is an obsession here at ICS. When I say “natural” I’m referring to a comfortable and effortless touch and/or speech interaction experience. This is the definition of a Natural User Interface (NUI) — and creating this type of…
BlogThere are nearly 3.5 billion internet users today. And what are a large proportion of them doing with their time online? Using social media. Often. According to Informate Mobile Intelligence, most people check their social media pages 40 times a day! For user experience (UX) designers, the…
BlogIntegrated Computer Solutions (ICS), a leader in Qt consulting, custom software development and user experience design, is proud to offer four tactical pre-conference training courses on October 18th at the 2016 Qt World Summit in San Francisco. Whether you’re new to Qt or a…
BlogIntel® RealSense™ technology allows developers to create the next generation of natural, immersive and intuitive applications—including hand and finger tracking, facial analysis, speech recognition, augmented reality and 3D scanning. Traditionally applied to tablets and laptops, RealSense is being…
Basic pageBuilding a brand and sharing digital content in a way that resonates can be a challenge. As a user experience (UX) designer, how do you capture and retain the attention of busy audiences in public, private or corporate environments? And how do you meet their expectations for ever more interesting,…
BlogI’ve observed that people using large touchscreens experience varying degrees of fatigue and discomfort from the physical effort of swiping, tapping and zooming. The placement of the interface elements is one contributor to the discomfort. Repeatedly executing a gesture that is at odds with the…
BlogWhen you walk on a beach, you may be tempted to reach down and pick up a smooth stone or a shiny shell, turn it around in your fingers feeling its weight and texture. If a friendly cat or dog walks close by, you may be tempted to reach out and stroke its fur. When humans are attracted to an object…
BlogTap is the safest touch gesture. Everyone understands that tap equals click. On a touchscreen, you tap where you would have pointed and clicked on a mouse-enabled display. Tap is a simple, deliberate gesture. The presence of a button-like element is indication enough that it can be tapped, and will…
BlogA popular concept these days is User Experience or UX. Wikipedia defines UX as “the process of enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, accessibility and pleasure provided in the interaction between the user and the product.” A less-used term is Customer Experience or CX. Wikipedia…
BlogWhen I was an engineering student at WPI, one of the non-technical classes I took required us to read Mary Shelley’s classic book Frankenstein. As a young geek, I had already read it, but not with the intent of analyzing the very important theme running through it that all technologists…
BlogAs time goes on, and mobile becomes more popular, we are seeing global growth in its use. Everywhere you look, likely you will see a mobile device in just about any setting. With the increase in mobile device popularity, comes higher expectations. Users have grown to expect websites to be…
BlogOne of the perks of being a technology company, is we get lots of fun toys around the office. For example, we've had a few Keurig coffee machines in our office kitchen for several years now. They are quick, simple to use and produce adequate caffeinated beverages to feed our morning addictions. So…
BlogA regrettable consequence of getting older is that both our senses and our memory tend to be less acute. While I scoffed at this notion when I heard about it in HCI class back in my 20s, it is now a fact of my daily life. The National Institute of Health (NIH) describes how changes in…
BlogI have read many software specifications over the years that simplistically list being “user friendly” as a design requirement. User Experience (UX) designers can get a chuckle from this, knowing that there is a fair bit of effort involved during the design phase to make that happen. …
BlogIn this next blog post, we will explore the sixth rule of Ben Shneiderman's Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design. This rule is for designers to permit easy reversal of actions. Shneiderman explains this rule as the following, “As much as possible, actions should be reversible. This feature…
BlogDining out is a luxury to many people, and we all want the experience to be enjoyable: good food, delivered quickly, and no fuss paying the bill. Unfortunately, human error can creep in and ruin the dining experience. Most people have at one time or another gotten the wrong food…
Basic pageBen Shneiderman explains design dialogs with the following: "Sequences of actions should be organized into groups with a beginning, middle and end. Informative feedback at the completion of a group of actions gives operators the satisfaction of accomplishment, a sense of relief, a signal to…
BlogShneiderman’s Rule 5 is the one that I suspect is most often violated by software developers, and I say that looking back at 20 years of writing code. When writing software, developers think in terms of edge cases and data validation. The rule of thumb is that, for example, when a user…
BlogThe third rule of Shneiderman's Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design is as follows: "For every user action, there should be system feedback. For frequent and minor actions, the response can be modest, whereas for infrequent and major actions, the response should be more substantial. Visual…
BlogNow more than ever, there is a focus on Experience Design (XD). Users are evaluating not just the product or service, but also the experience itself. Designers must develop new strategies, plus account for an ever-increasing influx of new devices and interfaces. From invisible UI to…
Basic pageContinuing this series, the second of Shneiderman’s Golden Rules is that User Experience Designers should design systems and software for the widest range of reasonably possible users. This is a challenging, but not insurmountable, activity. People come in a wide variety. For example,…
BlogIn Ben Shneiderman's Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design, he wrote: "Consistent sequences of actions should be required in similar situations; identical terminology should be used in prompts, menus, and help screens; and consistent color, layout, capitalization, fonts, and so on should be…
BlogWhile I missed the recent 2015 Qt World Summit, I have been to and presented at Qt Dev Days for the previous three years running. Each year, I presented two topics. The first was related to a recent project or piece of software that we had been working on, including such fun items as an…
BlogSome time ago, I wrote a post about the use of patterns in user interface (UI) design. The idea is that, when one solves problems for a living, over the years the same problems will crop up, and similar solutions will be re-used. The context may change, but a solution that worked…
BlogGetting a user experience (UX) design completed quickly is good for developers, good for customers and good for business. Surprisingly it’s part of a good design practice as well. Here are the steps I use: Begin with a rapid prototyping technique Iterate frequently on the evolving design…
BlogWhen most of us hear night vision goggles, it is usually a safe bet we imagine a night scene with that glowing green-scale overlay or something similar to that shown above. For those who have ever used night vision goggles or have used a digital camera with a night setting, you might already be…
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Basic pageDesigning is a process, and as a designer you can utilize numerous strategies to progress to a successful outcome, but a sure way not to succeed is to deny the process. I like to describe it as not “honoring the design process.” You need to pay homage to the natural forces of doing and deciding. In…
BlogAt the expense of some minor spoilers for a seven-year-old movie, the post-credit cut scene in Iron Man (2008) showed Tony Stark walking into his dark home and calling for his virtual butler J.A.R.V.I.S. to turn on the lights. Fast-forwarding to 2015, we can now do that, more or less, courtesy…
BlogTeam building is always one of the biggest challenges facing any manager. Sometimes you get to build a team from scratch and get to forge your own dynamic, other times you inherit a partial or full team and have to figure out the dynamic. For a user experience (UX) design team…
Blog“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” – Arthur C. Clarke As technologists, we are privileged to be working in a time of magic, or at least working with technology that would have seemed magical to our grandparents. Many of us have more computing power in our…
BlogOne of the challenges to creating effecting and engaging User Experiences (UX) for interactive devices is balancing the creative aspect with the functional. Talented visual designers can create amazing works in Photoshop, some of which make even experienced software engineers cringe when it…
BlogBefore getting the opportunity to run a design team, I worked as a Qt developer and trainer for many years. This has given me some insights into the development pipeline that I think a lot of people have missed. I’ve heard both developers and designers complaining about one or the other…
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Does the Distinction Matter to User Experience Designers? Qualcomm and Cisco have been pushing the term, Internet of Everything (IoE) while most others are using the term Internet of Things (IoT). As could be expected, confusion about the difference between the two has ensued. Is there a…
BlogThe user experiences (UXs) of Internet-enabled devices that are part of the Internet of Things (IoT) are expected to require little or no learning for users to be effectively proficient with them. As these devices proliferate, it’s inconceivable that users will have any patience to figure out…
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The Internet of Things (IoT) will be an opportunity for new kinds of user experiences (UXs) to proliferate - smart, ambient, minimal and wearable. These new interactive experiences will need to be very appealing and easy to use. In other words, these new devices and systems must possess a very…
BlogIf you are not yet honing your design skills for the Internet of Things (IoT), I’m about to light your fire. I don’t generally buy into technology hype. As designers, we tend to remain calmly skeptical about incitements coming from our business and marketing departments. However, the predicted…
BlogHere at ICS demand for our touchscreen-related services has grown by leaps and bounds. Interest in (and respect for) the skills we’ve developed over 25 years of experience has risen as organizations realize the myriad engineering and design elements to be considered that are necessary to truly…
BlogWhere did the buttons go? Significant aspects of modern visual design have made a huge impact on the development of graphical user interfaces across web, mobile, desktop and embedded systems. While flat-design holds many attractive qualities, implementation of the style has potential to…
BlogUsers find it frustrating and reluctantly accept the fact that connection to the Internet sometimes has glitches. Wait times are the norm. Users are accustomed to the cursor loading slowly, popping up periodically and at times needing to try a second or third time in order to connect to an online…
BlogAt some point in any extended-length development project -- whether it’s a multi-year project or a multi-month project -- you’re going to need what I’m calling a Surge. What’s going to prompt a Surge? Here are some examples: The market shifts and the target customer changes: for example, the…
Blog“The Times They Are a Changin’” – Bob Dylan, 1964 How many of you have noticed a change in the buying behavior of consumers today? As Bob Dylan so aptly stated more than 50 years ago when major disruptive social change was occurring, change comes with a force that shakes the walls and windows.…
BlogWhen designing a user experience, we usually assume we are engaging a user’s center of attention, albeit short. We design an experience that will be a user’s primary focus or foreground activity for the duration of their engagement with a device, whether it be on a desktop, laptop, phone or tablet…
BlogThank you for your time and interest in ICS. Based on your inquiry, we will have the correct person respond directly to you as soon as possible. In the meantime, check out our ICS Insight blog or our Portfolio for some samples of our recent work.
Basic pageSo often, the Internet of Things (IoT) is discussed in terms of the technology that enables it, particularly focusing on cool, smart gadgets that will propagate in our lives. There is inevitably mention of in-vehicle entertainment and navigation, smart home appliances, wearables and robots. At…
BlogAs the Internet of Things (IoT) proliferates, some user experience (UX) designers will migrate to working on unique one-off computer appliances rather than platform specific apps. On IoT projects there are likely to be more context of use issues to consider because: Devices can exist in a…
BlogWelcome back! Today I’ve been pondering team formation and team building. While I try to avoid buzzwords, team building is often about synergy – that moment when a team comes together and the overall team performance is even more impressive than individual contributions alone. …
BlogDuring 2014, the user experience (UX) group at ICS worked on our usual fare of mobile and desktop apps, but we also saw a large expansion of embedded device projects that fall into three categories: kiosk information systems, in-vehicle infotainment systems (IVI) and robotics control systems. Each…
BlogWelcome back for a chat about user experience (UX) in the real world. Today, I want to talk about user experience and coffee. Now, I know not everyone drinks coffee, so for the sake of discussion, let’s assume that you want to drink some coffee. Initial Decision Once you’ve decided to drink…
BlogIn a previous blog post (Defining a Natural User Interface) I explained how finding a clear and concise definition of a Natural User Interface (NUI) was not easy. Finding a clear and concise list of user experience design principles for a NUI is even more challenging. An obvious reason for this is…
BlogJoin us for The Business of UX 2014 in San Francisco If you are in San Francisco Nov 6, 2014, please join us for The Business of UX 2014 Summit . This event is a one-day opportunity for product and engineering management professionals to connect and learn about the business impact of UX on your…
BlogWelcome back to the coffee corner! I hope that you’re doing well and enjoying your user experience (UX) rock star status on any project you may be working on, no matter your role. Today, we’re going to be chatting about Mental Models - what they are, why we should care about them and how…
BlogNatural User Interface (NUI) is a concept that sounds simple enough at first but then it defies a simple, one-sentence definition. A command line interface (CLI) and graphical user interface (GUI) can both be described concisely, as in “the user types commands to the computer in the form of text”…
BlogWhen a person encounters a kiosk or computer device in a public space, such as a sales or museum kiosk, they can only benefit from it if they can figure out how to interact with it rather quickly. So one of the requirements of public interactive devices is that they be very easy to use, or easy to…
BlogI just made it to my daily 10:30am coffee break (the one where I refill my coffee mug, since I already drank my 8am coffee) and wanted to spend a moment to chat about usability/user experience (UX) and project management (PM). Now, I’ve never met you, so you might be on the usability side, the…
Blog+ Just between the two of us, I think the first 10 seconds of a usability test are the most important, not because you’re already running the test - far from it. It’s what happens even before testing begins. Your participant who is already seated, might be perusing the consent form or pre-…
BlogA while back, I spoke about how I’ve been noticing User Experience (UX) becoming more of a differentiator across various industries. From airlines to fast food to automobiles, it is the entire experience someone has with a particular brand that brings people back for more, often trumping…
BlogWith the recent announcements of Apple’s CarPlay® and Google's Android Auto In-Vehicle Infotainment Systems (IVI), in-vehicle systems in general have recently been pulled from relative obscurity into the limelight. IVIs are becoming a much more integral part of everyday life with people spending…
BlogWhether you are designing the user experience for mobile, embedded products or a website they all have elements that when applied consistently can make any product or website successful. One website that most of us are either familiar with or have used is eBay. The online auction and buy-…
BlogAt Integrated Computer Solutions (ICS), we recently have begun marketing a touchscreen kiosk product that we call ViewPoint (www.viewpointkiosks.com). ViewPoint is a kiosk-authoring environment that currently runs on Windows 8, Android and Linux and can scale to various resolutions. As a…
BlogYears ago, the concept of design patterns made a fundamental change to the way software engineers approached design problems. The idea, for those who are unfamiliar, is that in software development we often find ourselves confronted with the same problems over and over, but in a…
BlogWhen designers create user experiences, red is the color most often chosen in interface design to draw attention and signify an alert or warning. A message in red text might say, “Email is a required field” or “Invalid username or password." Sometimes red is just used to draw attention. The…
BlogColor theory is often referenced when creating or viewing traditional works of art. Using color to successfully portray balance, movement and atmosphere is crucial. A painter does not use color haphazardly, they use it with purpose. It is used to organize their composition, direct the viewer’s…
BlogHave you ever walked into a bank and wondered "what might be the best way rob this place?" Do you walk up inconspicuously to the teller and hand them a note that says, “If you don’t give me all the money in the drawer, I’m going to blow up my underwear and take all of you with me?” On the other…
BlogLet’s talk about a hypothetical scenario. As part of a product launch team and as part of product management, you’ve just been appointed the dreaded process documentation assignment. To make things even more interesting, you have to both document the current process and identify possibilities…
BlogEveryone remembers his or her first car. Mine was a ’72 Pinto that I traded a busted CD player to get. My dad and I pulled a radio out of my brother’s truck so I could have some tunes while cruising. The tape deck occasionally got hungry and needed to be fed a mixed cassette…
BlogA few months ago, we put on a webinar about usability testing. One of the questions at the end was about justifying spending on usability design and testing. More broadly, how to convince management that good design matters – and is worth investing in. This is an industry-wide question and one,…
BlogIf I describe a user experience (UX) as having visceral appeal, is it the same thing as the user having an aesthetic experience? Traditionally, an aesthetic experience implies a complete, expansive encounter, while visceral appeal implies something less grandiose, a discrete event or several…
BlogWelcome to the post Qt DevDays 2013 edition of the UX Blog. I suspect that many of you who follow this blog also attended DevDays and I hope you enjoyed the show as much as I did. I met a lot of great people, saw some interesting demos and presentations and even gave a few talks that…
BlogCongratulations! You've finished your usability test. What's the next step? How do you organize, analyze and present your findings and recommendations? Keep reading to find out! Organize Before you can begin to sift through your data, you need to be organized. Pre…
BlogWhen we say that a user experience (UX) has “visceral appeal”, we mean that it elicits an immediate “I like it” response. A visceral response is an emotional reaction that involves little or no active thought. It is often called a “gut feeling,” and it can be either positive or negative. According…
BlogWe've all seen them. We use them on a daily basis, often multiple times a day and without much conscious thought. They're everywhere. Doors. Interestingly, doors can show us why we should care about the user experience. Doors are straightforward, right? They open,…
Blog“Visceral appeal” is an expression that is thrown around freely in the UX community but it seems to be well understood on some level, yet not truly understood at all. Everyone seems to grasp the general notion that a user experience (UX) can immediately elicit a positive, gut feeling of “I like…
BlogWhat can you do in 30 seconds? Well, according to Instagram founder Kevin Systrom, one thing you can do is lose a potential user of your application. If your application doesn't grab the interest of a potential user in 30 seconds, they may move on. It’s the user experience that generates that…
BlogSummer is rolling right along, and so are the attempts to simulate some of Tony Stark’s lifestyle here at ICS. A while back, I wrote about trying to create our own version of Jarvis here at ICS. We got a fair distance and demonstrated our results during the ICS QuickStarts earlier in…
BlogTo see what new UX projects ICS has been working on, come by our booth at DESIGN East September 18 and 19 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. At ICS, we’ve cultivated a cross-disciplinary UX team. To be more specific, everyone has UX skills of some flavor and everyone has at least some…
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