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Top 10 UX Articles of 2017

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The following UX articles published in 2017 were the ones our audience read the most:

  1. Flat UI Elements Attract Less Attention and Cause Uncertainty
    Flat interfaces often use weak signifiers. In an eyetracking experiment comparing different kinds of clickability clues, UIs with weak signifiers required more user effort than strong ones.
  2. UX Research Cheat Sheet
    User research can be done at any point in the design cycle. This list of methods and activities can help you decide which to use when.
  3. UX Mapping Methods Compared: A Cheat Sheet
    Empathy maps, customer journey maps, experience maps, and service blueprints depict different processes and have different goals, yet they all build common ground within an organization.
  4. Mega Menus Work Well for Site Navigation
    Large, rectangular menus group navigation options to eliminate scrolling and use typography, icons, and tooltips to explain users' choices.
  5. The Most Hated Online Advertising Techniques
    Modal ads, ads that reorganize content, and autoplaying video ads were among the most disliked. Ads that are annoying on desktop become intolerable on mobile.
  6. Comparison Tables for Products, Services, and Features
    Use this versatile GUI tool to support users when they need to make a decision that involves considering multiple attributes of a small number of offerings. Consistency in content, scannability, and a simple layout are some of the most important qualities of successful comparison tables.
  7. Date-Input Form Fields: UX Design Guidelines
    Date-entry fields must be unambiguous and support task completion by using the right design pattern. Small design changes can prevent big user errors.
  8. Personas vs. Jobs-to-Be-Done
    Jobs-to-be-done focus on user problems and needs, while well-executed personas include the same information and also add behavioral and attitudinal details.
  9. Don’t Use Split Buttons for Navigation Menus
    Menu on hover, category landing page on click: we discuss challenges and solutions for replicating this pattern on touchscreens.
  10. Flat-Design Best Practices
    Flat designs often suffer from usability problems and cause click uncertainty because of lost signifiers. Avoid these negative side effects by consistently and clearly differentiating between clickable and unclickable elements.

Bonus Articles

Last year must have been a particularly good year for UX articles, because the following 7 articles published in 2016 would have qualified for the 2017 top-10 list based on the additional pageviews they received during 2017:

  • Open-Ended vs. Closed-Ended Questions in User Research
    Open-ended questions prompt people to answer with sentences, lists, and stories, giving deeper and new insights. Closed-ended questions limit answers: thus tighter stats.
  • Design Thinking 101
    What is design thinking and why should you care? History and background plus a quick overview and visualization of 6 phases of the design thinking process. Approaching problem solving with a hands-on, user-centric mindset leads to innovation, and innovation can lead to differentiation and a competitive advantage.
  • When and How to Create Customer Journey Maps
    Journey maps combine two powerful instruments—storytelling and visualization—in order to help teams understand and address customer needs. While maps take a wide variety of forms depending on context and business goals, certain elements are generally included, and there are underlying guidelines to follow that help them be the most successful.
  • The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think
    Across 33 rich countries, only 5% of the population has high computer-related abilities, and only a third of people can complete medium-complexity tasks.
  • Design a Brilliant SharePoint Intranet
    SharePoint requires install plus in-depth UX design and development. Forge strong relationship with SharePoint UX designers and developers for successful intranets. And take advice from winning teams who have made SharePoint an effective enterprise tool.
  • Website Forms Usability: Top 10 Recommendations
    Follow these well-established — but frequently ignored — UX design guidelines to ensure users can successfully complete your website forms.
  • Hamburger Menus and Hidden Navigation Hurt UX Metrics
    Discoverability is cut almost in half by hiding a website’s main navigation. Also, task time is longer and perceived task difficulty increases.

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