WELCOME
Being Designerly Turns 1!
A year ago, the first issue of Being Designerly was published with the intent of sharing curated designerly articles every other weeks to help readers think, feel and act like a designer. I hope you've enjoyed reading the articles which ranged from light reading, to deep analysis.
This issue of Being Designerly has articles related to how Apple validates product designs while still keeping their products secret (including the last prototype of the first iPod ever). Learn about UX Theatre, Squid Games, Gamification and UX, Facebook and ethical design discussions, a tool to help with color palette selection, and UX Research resources.
FEATURE
World Usability Day – Make Life Easy (November 11, 2021)
We will be celebrating World Usability Day in a few days. The theme for 2021 is DESIGN OF OUR ONLINE WORLD: TRUST, ETHICS AND INTEGRITY. The theme will address important issues such as Dark patterns and Ethical design, Designing for Trust, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Now go find an event or a topic online that interests you!
worldusabilityday.org
A Prototype Original iPod
The original iPod turned 20 years this month, and the Panic Blog has images of what the prototype looked like a couple of months before launch. Rumor has it that this was to keep the actual device form factor a secret.
As someone commented, Apple could have filled the empty space with a battery that could last all... year. And then we would have needed a roll-aboard instead of our pockets :-)
panic.com
Design apple
Speaking of keeping products secret before launch, Brendan Jarvis talked with Bob Baxley shares how Apple tackled this very challenge during his tenure there in this 3-minute clip.
linkedin.com
VISUAL
UX
UX design has a dirty secret
UX Theatre: It's what happens when designers are asked to pretend to do the work of design and aren’t actually permitted to do the work of design.
fastcompany.com
Analysis: Gamification Design behind Squid Game
Yu-kai Chou shares an analysis of Netflix's Squid Game - a gamified death experience and why it rose above the crowd and totally killing it.
I couldn't make it past Episode 1, but if you haven't yet watched it or are planning to - there are spoilers in this article.
yukaichou.com
Can Squid Game make you a better UX designer?
The South Korean survival drama has captured millions of viewers, but is there a hidden lesson in there for UX Designers?
This is a very short read...
uxdesign.cc
MOBILE
How to automatically pull reviews from AppStore and Google Play
The author shares his automated process of working with store reviews that increase the speed of the traditional process.
Read all about it!
uxdesign.cc
Continuous scrolling comes to Search on mobile
Now, when you reach the bottom of a search results page on your phone, the next set of results will automatically load with relevant information. Most of the time, people can find what they need in the first few results, but people who want additional information tend to browse up to four pages of search results. This update allows people to browsing through many different results, before needing to click the “See more” button.
blog.google
TOPICAL
How Facebook’s formula fostered rage and misinformation
Five points for anger, one for a ‘like’. Facebook engineers gave extra value to emoji reactions, including ‘angry,’ pushing more emotional and provocative content into users’ news feeds.
The logic was that a reaction emoji signaled the post had made a greater emotional impression than a like; reacting with an emoji took an extra step beyond the single click or tap of the like button.
An interesting read about ethical use of AI...
washingtonpost.com
TOOLS
UI Color Psychology Map
This is a few years old, but an interesting read by Brian Cugelman about a tool he developed to teach people how to blend digital psychology with UXD, graphic design, info architecture, marketing, and other practice areas. He describes how he builds color palettes with a clear visual hierarchy, that are functional, aesthetic, accessible, and persuasive.
uxplanet.org
UX Research resources
A list of resources for anyone interested in UX Research.
Don't miss out on the suggestions in the comments as well!
linkedin.com
UNTIL NEXT TIME
I hope you enjoyed this issue of Being Designerly with curated articles about a prototype of the first iPod, UX Theatre, Squid Games, Gamification and UX, Facebook and ethical design discussions, a tool to help with color palette selection, and UX Research resources.
If you think someone would benefit from Being Designerly, please forward it to them.
I'm looking for feedback, of the brutally honest kind, so this can improve over time. You can reach me at lycerejo (at) gmail.com - thank you!