Graphical User Interface Design - Rossul Design » UX

MS to offer Alternative Browsers to European Users

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:15:53 +0000

From beginning of March european users will be able to choose which web browser they want to install as an alternative to Internet Explorer.

In random order MS shows Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera и Safari. These “primary” browsers list is visible instantly and scrolling down the page users can find Avant, Flock, Green Browser, K-meleon, Maxthon, Sleipnir и Slim.

This browser choice windows only appears to those users that have IE as their default browsers. Users of Chrome or Firefox won’t get to see alternative browser windows.

One more small step towards support of W3C standards and better user experience.

How Much Time Do We Waste on Badly Designed Apps?

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:04:24 +0000

Computer load-time, pop-ups, new apps installation, new user interrelations, lack of intuitiveness, search for drivers, frozen system, reboots, etc. – these are just a few of the things that most of us face on daily basis. Dealing with all these issues takes users up to 30 minutes a day according to Telegraph UK. Which equals 8 days per year or 400 days in 50 years. That means we spend more than a year of our life dealing with software and hardware problems and suffering from badly designed User Interfaces.

According to MSN.co.uk which conducted the survey, computer problems are “as frustrating for people as being stuck in traffic or losing a wallet” . Almost half of users say that they just want a computer that “works” and would like to avoid “flashy updates” or new features.

Probably half of the frustration can be attributed to hardware issues, drivers compatibility and overall OS stability issues. But the other half is purely in hands of UI designers. Things like UI inconsistency, badly designed workflows, confusing colour schemes and mystifying error messages – each taking valuable user time and creating a frustrating user experience.

For those who still think they don’t need to employ UX or UI designers, just think about saving your valuable customers four days a year by simply creating a better interface.

Apple’s Rumoured Tablet to Have 3D Interface?

admin — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:21:06 +0000

Apple has filed a patent that describes an interface for manipulating “three-dimensional virtual objects” on a touch screen. The technology may be used in future releases of iPhone or in the rumoured Apple tablet (iSlate?). I doubt that simply porting existed OS to a 10” touch screen may take “you-know-who’s considerable undivided attention”. Having an entire event dedicated to the mobile market Apple will most probably try to set a new standard. 3D User Interface may become just the thing to mark a new step in evolution of UX. Apple has been working on various 3D systems for quite some time now: 3D Projection System, 3D Desktop, 3D Displays, etc.

Android Market and Apple’s App Store

admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:47:35 +0000

As Android Market has grown to about the 20,000 apps mark, it is interesting to compare two different approaches to User Experience. While Apple sets up very strict approval rules in effort to assure only well done and polished apps get through to an end-user, Google doesn’t set any approval process at all. Aesthetics have never been Google’s concern although it’s nothing-gets-in-the-users-way approach has became a signature style on its own. And it does work very well on the web, but for mobile apps it may not.

In many cases visual aspects of apps and UI become the very corners that are being cut in order to minimize product-to-market time and expenses. As a result, we see less-than-inspiring graphics, confusing User Interfaces and an overall lack of consistency. One of iPhones’s strong points is the well-designed default UI elements that help to assure some level of consistency across various applications. After all, apps are just tools running on a mobile device and shared layout principals help a great deal in minimizing learning curve for users.

Below is a screenshot of Apple Store’s Movies App that uses default iPhone library elements as well as a very similar app from Android Market.

Movies by Flixster (Android)

Movies (Apple App Store)

Mobile Traffic at glance (by AdMob)

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:23:06 +0000

A few days back, AdMob published a very interesting report on market share of various mobile OS and smartphones. The data suggests that Apple’s dedication to User Experience results in higher apps approval and user adoption rates. The report is a great read but for those that don’t have time here are the highlights:

Smartphone Traffic by Manufacturer – Worldwide

Apple – 50%
Nokia – 24% (Mainly from India, Indonesia, Philippines and South Africa markets where Nokia has 89% of the market)
HTC – 12%
RIM – 7%

Smartphone Traffic by OS:

Apple OS 50%
Symbian OS – 25% (Mainly from India, Indonesia, Philippines and South Africa markets where Nokia has with 89% of the market)
Android OS – 11%
RIM OS – 7%

United States Data by Manufacturer

Apple – 55%
HTC – 22%
RIM – 12%

Smartphone Traffic by OS:

iPhone OS – 55%
Android – 20%
RIM OS – 12 %

It is interesting that Apple’s traffic comes from only 2 devices – iPhone and iPod. Android traffic comes from 9 devices currently available worldwide. RIM traffic is a result of their current 11 smartphones and probably some past models.

The full report is available here. http://metrics.admob.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/AdMob-Mobile-Metrics-Oct-09.pdf