Apping It Out in Las Vegas
So you probably heard that Slickplan, our web app for sitemapping, was selected as a finalist in this year’s AppItOut competition.
The contest was held at Future Insights Live, a massive 5-day conference for web developers held in Las Vegas.
The contest pitted three web apps against each other in a head-to-head competition before a live audience. Lights, cameras, presentations, clapping, cheering … for a few minutes, on a Tuesday afternoon, Ian and I felt like we were on American Idol.
We even got grilled by the judges, Simon Cowell–style, and had to defend our app’s design and functionality.
It was a crazy and amazing experience. Not only did we have the honor of being voted into the competition by real users, we had the privilege of introducing Slickplan to a ton of our colleagues in a huge public forum.
We also got to meet lots of Slickplan users, many of whom thanked us for creating the app and told us how much they enjoy using it every day.
And after the competition, we got to enjoy the conference itself. We got to meet and learn from amazing industry leaders like Bulat Shakirzyanov from Twilio and Devrim Yasar from Koding. And superstar entrepreneurs like Jason Calacanis from Mahalo.
Oh — what’s that you say? Did we win the competition? No, we didn’t.
That honor went to Tracky, a social collaboration app.
But the recognition from our peers — the great feedback from our users — and the chance to learn so much in such a short time — made us feel like big winners nonetheless.
So thanks to all the fans who voted Slickplan into this year’s AppItOut competition, and gave us such a wonderful opportunity. We’re sending big love right back atcha.
UI Design 101
Usability is a highly sophisticated field. And it’s constantly changing. To navigate that complexity, I keep six core principles of UI design in mind. They help me stay focused on what’s important.
You can apply these guidelines to any UI project you’ve got. Whether you’re designing web applications or washing machines, the principles stay the same.
Here they are.
Consider the people actually using your product. When I’m working on an interface, I imagine not just the general demographic I’m designing for, but the specific people. Instead of imagining “seniors,” for example, I imagine my dad or mom. How would they interact with the screen? What would frustrate them? Or make them smile?
Copywriters tell me that they work the same way. They imagine in great detail the person for whom they’re writing — even inventing details about their clothes, family, and hobbies. It helps them see their target audience clearly, and they write with more focus because of it.
Make it simple. It’s easy to get caught up in the coolness of your design. Or to shove elements in that users “might need.” Every so often, step back and remove every element that you possibly can from your interface. Be ruthless – don’t think anything is too clever or important to strip away.
Then, take a hard look at what’s left. Did you really need those extra elements? Or is the UI cleaner—and more user-friendly—without them?
Draw attention to what’s important. This guideline sounds basic—but it means everything. Think carefully about the number one action you want your users to perform. Then make that action the most prominent.
For Chipotle, that means putting “Create New Order” right at the top of the screen. For Dragon Dictation, it means placing a single red “record” button smack dab in the center of the interface—with nothing else around it.
Create barriers. On the opposite side, think about what actions you don’t want users to take—and put some barriers around them. For example, Amazon doesn’t mind if you read the “About” information on their web app. But it’s safely buried under a generic “More” navigation button.
Why? Because that information’s just not that important. It’s not central to the app’s core function: helping users quickly find and buy merchandise.
Get feedback. As a matter of fact, get lots of feedback. Share the UI with family, friends, focus groups. People who are familiar with web apps, and people who know nothing about them. Industry experts and kids just out of college. The more information you get on how real people interact with your UI, the more you can perfect it.
Just remember: collect all the data you want, but ultimately, you have to decide what’s the best design.
Consider someone performing a task a hundred thousand times. Think about the people who will use your application frequently. What are they going to get sick of? What’s going to slow them down?
For example, I hate the fact that you have to tap “Play” then “Submit” every turn on Words With Friends. That’s two taps for every single action a user performs! Multiply that by five games, two turns a day, for weeks on end. That’s hundreds of extra clicks.
Yeah, it’s just a game. But it still gets annoying. And you don’t want annoyed users for your web app.
Usability is a hugely sophisticated field, lots to learn, changing … never hurts to remember the basics.
Greetings from Tammy
Greetings! My name is Tammy Simpson, and I’m the new Project Manger at Atomic Interactive.
I’ve lived in the Dayton, Ohio area my whole life. So I find it very exciting to be working for Atomic, who works with some of the local businesses I’ve always heard about. We also work with out-of-state companies—so there’s a lot of variety.
Here are some facts about me:
- I’ve been married to my best friend, Ray, for 6 years
- I’m a mother of two girls who never fail to amaze me with their humor —and frustrate me with their antics.
- I’m obsessed with board games. I have regular game nights with my circle of friends. My current favorites are Pandemic, Shadows Over Camelot, Defenders of the Realm, and Truth Be Told.
- I go to trivia night once a week at various sports bars.
- I’m slightly ambidextrous: I write, draw, bat, golf, and eat with my left hand. But I bowl, use scissors, use a computer mouse, and play guitar with my right hand.
- I love books and could spend hours in a bookstore or library.
- As you might guess, I’m not really into sports, but if I had to choose a sport to play, it would be either roller derby or hockey (I love skating).
Being the new Project Manager at Atomic has brought some perks—and also some challenges. One of the upsides is working alongside Ryann Pierce again (we had the pleasure of designing together at a past job). She’s been like my personal guide to managing projects at Atomic.
Another thing I’m really enjoying is being able to watch a site grow from an idea in a client’s mind to an actual functioning site.
As a project manager, I’m there learning about clients’ companies at kick-off meetings, conveying design direction to our awesome designers, and then discussing site functionality with our amazing web developers. It’s so fascinating to me to see how each project grows and changes along the way.
The general vibe of the office is something I love as well. It’s nice to be part of a team that’s laid-back — yet knows how to meet deadlines. Personally, I don’t see any reason why a workplace has to be stuffy and uptight to accomplish anything.
Atomic knows how to have a good time, still make kick-ass websites, and meet deadlines. ‘Nuff said!
One of the challenges I’ve experienced in this role was learning the general steps to building a website. My first week on the job had my head spinning! My background is in print design, so a lot of what I now deal with on a-day-to day basis was new to me.
I didn’t know how to build a site map or wireframe a website — and those are very important steps in the process! They deal with how information is organized, as well as how a user would interact with the site. They’re now regular items on my to-do list. Let’s just say I took a LOT of notes my first few weeks.
And I’m thankful for these challenges. I’d always wanted to learn more about web design, but never really had the chance, being a busy mother of two little girls.
I’m so grateful that Atomic has given me the chance to work alongside such talented people and learn more about the field of web design. I’ve learned so much already, and I’m sure with each new project, there will be something new to learn.
Can’t wait to work with you!