Tag: web design services

A Developer or a Designer-Who reigns the supremacy of User Experience

A Developer or a Designer-Who reigns the supremacy of User Experience

It is a misplaced notion, common among many that UI and UX are the same. Now, even though they do rely on each other to a certain extent, they are not the same. The user experience (UX) is affected by many more factors than just user interface (UI). Designers do impact the user experience, but is that impact as significant as that of a developer?

They hold the power to damage the Experience

  1. One of the most annoying factors that affect a website visitor is the slow website. Imagine waiting for minutes that may seem like an hour that time with the entire fast-paced tech around us. Website performance is one of the key ingredients that improve the user experience. This responsibility of working on website performance lies primarily with website developers.
  2. The responsibility for the sites that are inaccessible or don’t work on a particular platform and a browser falls to the front-end developers.
  3. Ever been irritated by the specific way few websites ask for your contact number or credit card number? And that specific way is the only way the website will accept your submitted data. This is part of form validation and depends entirely on the choices made by the website developer.
  4. Use of capital letters, small letters, numbers, symbols, and special characters is a must while creating a new password. Moreover, it must be 8 characters long. We understand the security safeguards required but the enforced strict password requirements can ruin the user experience. Offering something like Slack Magic link instead of adding compulsive complex passwords could do the trick as well. Again, you can blame the developer for not taking safeguarding steps himself and shoving it all on us.
  5. Multiple techniques can be implemented that deal with spam and may take longer to code. However, few developers prefer to take shortcuts by simply adding CAPTCHA and make spam the user’s problem. This can significantly compromise user experience.

We can go on and on, but it then would take all day to reach the conclusion here!

It is important to note that though the responsibility of the above issues lies in the hands of the developer, it may not always be their fault. While some decisions may be enforced on them by the management, some may have stemmed from lack of knowledge transfer or platform limitations. Lack of time is another factor that makes them take decisions taking user experience into consideration.

So with the right resources and opportunity provided, can they improve the user experience?

They hold the power to improve the Experience

Again, listing down all the potential ways will take all day so we will take top four points into account and how it improves the user experience.

Create User Centric Form

While the visualization of the form lies in the hands of the designer, there are varying factors and details that need to be taken care of by the web developer to make it a reality. These details are as follows:

  1. Avoid splitting information across multiple fields.
  2. Utilize smart validation.
  3. Only show fields that are necessary.
  4. Reduce the unnecessary options provided.
  5. Remember data.
  6. Avoid forcing users to enter same data again and again.

Developers are heavily involved in form creation and have the potential to seriously hamper user experience if not done right.

Provide Better Error Handling

Designers don’t usually focus on details. We don’t mean to undermine them but there are many occasions where even though the finished interface design is good, they fail to address few glitches or errors in the interface. Error handling in such cases isn’t easy and it becomes developer’s responsibility to find ways to remedy it.

Improve the Handling of Edge Cases

Attention to detail often leads developers to get hung up on edge cases. They unnecessarily focus on secondary priorities or needs of audiences and end up ruining the experience for everyone else. Consider the form below.

Note the third line of the address field that allows users to add an extra field to fill in their complete address. Even though a small percentage of users uses it, is it really necessary to display it by default? It will take up unnecessary space and only distract users who have no need for it. A developer can easily hide that section by default and allow to add an extra field when the user clicks on it or fills in maximum characters in the provided address field.

Maximise Performance (or at least the feel of it)

You don’t need to tell your developers that they need to focus on performance. A good developer will always be aware of it. They are already inclined to make a website as fast as possible. But sometimes, developers tend to focus more on data rather than the experience. There can be a thin line between how fast a website is loading and how fast it feels like it is loading. Web developers can take following smart steps to ensure that visitors feel that the website is loading quickly when the reality might be a bit different.

  1. Load content prior to web fonts, JavaScript, etc.
  2. Provide instantaneous feedback when the visitor clicks on any link or a button rather than make him wait.
  3. Load an image of the video first. Load the video only if the image is clicked.
  4. Pre-load a lower resolution version of the image, then replace it with the higher resolution image once the load is complete.

The above points highlight how designers are not the sole guardians of the user-experience and much of the hard work done by the developers goes unnoticed and under the radar. They play a crucial role in influencing the user experience, as much as designers do, if not more.

Need to improve the user experience of your web or mobile app? Contact us at Potenza Global Solutions today! We are a reputed website development company brimming with a team of web developers and designers, offering website development and website design services across the globe.

Trendiest web designs that are totally “IN” for 2017

Trendiest web designs that are totally “IN” for 2017

With the evolution in science and the rate of technological advances, the web cannot be left behind forbidden. And that sums up to be a remarkable reason for all the changes we witness with each passing day. With each improvisation the tools and techniques, we are offered something new and fascinating in the name of technological advances. And all that in a very short period of time!

Likewise, when it comes to choose a website design or theme for your portal, we are left wondering what could be the trendiest design to follow. And that’s where we come to your rescue. Here, we are providing you a list of designs that are all set to bloom and blossom this year. 

* Modern Retro

Retro with a hint of modernity is what’s widely demanded these days when it comes to responsive website design. Be it pixel art, be it vintage typography or be it those 80s-90s inspired imagery; Modern Retro has left a remarkable impression on responsive web design services. There have been quite a number of sites making the most of this style.

* Cinemagraphs

Cinemagraphs have been gaining popularity off lately because of its visual appeal. Cinemagraphs is nothing but still photos with factors that make recursive movements. Cinemagraphs can be anything from a basic GIF file to a brief video. However, even a teeny tiny video will make for a large file size owing to the high quality of the cinemagraph.

* Material Design

Google’s very own Material Design has been in the responsive website development and responsive website design arena since 2014. It operates on the fundamentals of paper and ink that is further translated into a digital format. With a package full of themes and templates crafted exclusively for CMS as well as front-end frameworks, Material Design has gained remarkable popularity within the past few years. One consistent con of implementing Material Design you will ever hear is that all the sites developed implementing it seems like a clone of one another. 

* Bold, Creative Typography

2016 has been an eventful year in terms of seeing some creative implementations of typography. And the league is expected to be carried on in 2017 as well. As designers push the boundaries with type, you can expect to see more creative typefaces than your usual web fonts.

Combining the prowess of typography and video, Nurture created an enticing website. A video runs in the background, visible only through a single large letter from the word “NURTURE”. The video, along with the letter keeps on changing as you navigate through each section of the homepage.

You can refer website of FRIENDS, a design agency based out of the USA. Their website used the big and bold type that highlights itself as the main feature.

* Modular Design

Modular design, though it has been around for a long time, has now been gradually gaining popularity over the last few years. It is a design approach that utilizes a modular, block grid pattern to layout elements. According to Google Trend data, a search query for ‘modular design’ has been on the rise since 2011, and I expect this growth in trend to continue in 2017 as well.

Refer BUILD IN AMSTERDAM’s website as an ideal example of a modular design website. This approach helps them define each content element clearly.

* SVGs

Aren’t you tired of logos and image resizing yet? Doesn’t the time and effort it takes feel inconsequential? In this case, it’s time you ditch the usual PNG and JPG formats and try out SVG format. Please note that SVG doesn’t work with all images, you can’t just infinitely scale any photos you want. SVG works best with vector graphics, logos for example.

Even though PNG and JPG formats have been used extensively since long time, recent Google Trend data points out that search query for SVG has been on the up since 2013 and this growing trend will remain unchanged even in 2017.

The reasons why SVG image should be used are because they render seamlessly no matter the scale and the file sizes are comparatively small that contribute to improved page speed.

Check out WPMUDEV logo on the lop left corner of their website. If you zoom it, it won’t get pixelated. It remains sharp and clear no matter how much you enlarge it.

* Flexbox

Flexbox, aka CSS3 Flexible Box, is a CSS3 layout mode that ensures each element behave efficiently and predictably when the page layout is displayed on varying screen sizes and devices. Flexbox is now supported by most modern browsers and is steadily garnering interest among front-end developers. For more information on Flexbox, it is recommended to refer guides such as Understanding CSS3 Flexbox for Clean, Hack-Free Responsive Design and Understanding CSS Grids for Modern WordPress Website Design.

* 360 Video & VR

2016 was the year when a large number of gaming VR headsets were released and 360 video had seen a rise in search interest. Surely one can expect to see VR videos incorporated into websites in near future. Google VR View, a javascript API that can help you add 360 video to your website, can make this happen. You can experience 360 VR through movies and games like Blair Witch and Resident Evil 7 respectively. It is best experienced on mobile using a VR headset for mobiles.

* Microinteractions

Any user interaction with the website can be considered as a Microtransaction. These interactions can be anything such as filling a form, sending a message or even liking a post. The main purpose of these microtransactions is to provide feedback and guidance for the user, contributing to improve UX.

Microtransactions have gained tractions in recent years with users getting more creative and innovative in ways of providing feedback and guidance.

Wrapping Up

So here we conclude with the web design trends to watch out for in 2017. We are hopeful that you have got a fair idea about what designs to take inspiration from. So now that you know, go relish in responsive website development with cool new patterns and web technologies.