Top!
Hello
The "UX Day" is a conference for usability and user experience professionals. This year, as in previous years, the one-day conference took place at the Alte Feuerwache in Mannheim. In the 16 presentations and three workshops, the topic of user experience was examined in relation to the aspects of digital strategy, marketing and e-commerce, among others.
A central theme of this year's "UX Day" was innovation. On the one hand, it was illuminated how innovative ideas can lead small, but also large companies to success. On the other hand, it was also discussed that traditional ways of thinking should be questioned through a change of perspective. This was not only about the work processes as such, but also about the development of one's own working methods and working environment.
Irina Pashina highlighted the "Elephant in the UX Room" in her presentation: Content Strategy. For her, content is any information in a certain format that creates value for the recipient.
Content Strategy as a discipline plans the creation of useful and usable content. It considers both the content that the user needs and the business objectives - related to the product being developed - in order to create the relevant content.
If we relate this area to user experience design, it means that no matter how appealing the design of a digital product, app, or website, if the content does not add value, it will have a negative impact on the overall user experience. Users ask themselves, "What is this product trying to tell me?" Content is always part of a bigger picture namely the user experience. Therefore, the creation of content, the content strategy, should be part of the user experience design process. This is the only way to provide the right content for the user at the right time and positively influence the user experience.
"The goal of animations should not solely be entertaining the user, but rather, they should be helping the user better understand what’s going on and how to use your product most effectively."
– Michael Villar
The advantages and possible uses of UI animations were the topic of David Samuel Drayton's presentation.
Animations are smaller or larger movements or moving elements that have become an integral part of today's websites and apps. For example, smaller elements of the user interface are animated to signal progress or success. But also entire transitions between groups and pages/views can be animated.
Animations in user interfaces serve as a visual language that communicates with the user without text or spoken words and makes the user interface comprehensible: hints, positive or negative feedback, states as well as progress can be displayed. In contrast, poorly thought-out or even inappropriate animations have a negative impact on the user experience. Animations can delight the user, make him laugh, but also inform and warn him.
In his presentation, Youri Keifens provided food for thought on "Work 2.0" to explore your own creative process and get an answer to the question of when you are at your most productive.
To "provoke flashes of inspiration in a targeted way," he explained five supporting steps:
In order to find a (creative) solution to a problem, it is important to think again in detail about the goal and to really internalize it.
"Knowledge is the foundation of any kind of creativity". - Vera F. Birkenbihl
In most cases, an idea is just a recombination of existing elements. To be able to recombine them, one must have fully penetrated the subject matter.
"Chance favors the prepared mind." - Louis Pasteur
If you have your goal in mind and have dealt intensively with the subject matter, the topic or problem often haunts you subconsciously. It is important to give the brain breaks, to switch off in between and to let the subconscious work (more about this under 4).
The brain works best in the resting state (so-called "default mode"). This resting state occurs, for example, shortly before falling asleep or when performing routine activities such as showering. In the resting state, brain areas that normally have nothing to do with each other begin to communicate. This promotes the formation of random connections, which can then lead to new ideas.
If you have the bright idea just before falling asleep, it may "disappear" when you wake up the next day. Therefore, one should always write down ideas, answers and thoughts directly.
Unless the problem is related to a project anyway, you should then implement the idea(s) because, in the closing words of Youri Keifens, "An idea without implementation is a dying thought."
