3 Important Distinctions for Visual Design vs UX Design

By Frank Spillers

on November 22, 2017 - 11:56pm
UX vs Visual Design- walkway vs footpath

Image above cheat sheet: "Designers can create the right pathways, but users will do things their way. Knowing what those habits are-- will help you add shortcuts that make the journey more comfortable, and lead to better business outcomes for you" - Frank Spillers (UX Trainer / Chief Experience Officer, Experience Dynamics)

Summary: UX Design and Visual Design, while related, have very different approaches and intentions.  Visual design is about helping users see controls, menus, buttons and areas of a screen where they perform an action, for example. UX Design helps define what should go on the screen, in the first place, and helps define interactions that reinforce Key Performance Indicators like engagement, adoption and task success.

Design technique: use containership to shape user experience

By Frank Spillers

on October 27, 2010 - 5:31pm
container- car cup holder example

Summary: Containership is a useful interaction design technique that can help you direct your user's attention and shape their experience by giving them visual boundaries. Containership indicates a separation of controls or navigation in an activity space so users know there is a control and it lives in relationship to that section or sub-section of your site or app.

The deliberate use of containership can improve your user experience. It can give users intuitive cues either visually or through proximity and hierarchy.

What is "containership"?

Containership is a visual grouping technique that shows spatial relationship of similar items or actions. Visually shaded areas contain the icon, information, or action a user is expected to perform. 

Think of containership as the curbside of a road (the curb contains the road) or the edging of a garden (the edging contains the flowers).

Do top and bottom Web page toolbars add Clutter?

By Frank Spillers

on August 26, 2010 - 5:24pm

Clutter-computer

In the past few years toolbars have started to appear on popular social networking websites like Facebook; product review sites like CNET; news sites like Reuters and the Huffington Post and social tool services like HootSuite. Today, it seems more Web page-level toolbars are inhabiting our screens. The result: less control of the web page, the session or the redirect experience...and a more cluttered web browsing session.

Graphic Design vs. Usability

By Frank Spillers

on April 27, 2004 - 6:53pm

gui-olympics

The GUI Olympics (Graphical User Interface, pronounced "goo-ey") is an annual event where top graphic designers converge to design the latest and greatest "skins" for the Winamp media player, Windows themes and Icons.

The event is in its final week, and while it's wrapping up it might be useful to reflect on a couple of note-worthy items that relate to popular misconceptions of usability and graphic design...

The Logic of a "Skin"