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https://kennbivins.com creative thinker and do-er Tue, 11 Apr 2017 12:47:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 How Our Design Process Evolved In The Past 10 Years https://kennbivins.com/how-the-design-process-has-evolved/ https://kennbivins.com/how-the-design-process-has-evolved/#respond Tue, 11 Apr 2017 12:47:49 +0000 https://byra.vamtam.com/?p=11947 People rarely ask designers if they work in “print or web” anymore, a question that used to be the norm. These days a product manager design falls under two big umbrellas: screen design, and designing for off screen. Where inputs used to almost always be a keyboard and mouse, today’s designers have so many new...

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People rarely ask designers if they work in “print or web” anymore, a question that used to be the norm. These days a product manager design falls under two big umbrellas: screen design, and designing for off screen.

Where inputs used to almost always be a keyboard and mouse, today’s designers have so many new technologies and tools at their disposal that interaction design is no longer constrained by the dimensions of a screen or the click of a mouse. We’re wearing designs now, activating them by using our voices, and getting immersed in their augmented and artificial realities.

It’s no surprise then that the design process itself has also evolved, and so too have the opportunities for designers.

1. Designer Specialties Have Changed

The first big shift is in the nature of a designer’s role. As designing for digital became more popular, designers began to specialize in certain aspects of the design process to align with different design milestones including wire framing, prototyping, visual design, interaction design and so on. Now, many of these specialties have merged into one and the process has become less segmented.

This has allowed designers to go from quick high-fidelity designs to a final design product in less iterations and time. Things like research, mood boarding and wire framing have merged into one step, so too has the visual design process including interaction and prototyping. In turn, this has influenced the very nature of a designer’s role and the responsibilities each designer has.

2. Screen Design is the New Print Design

Designing for screens is the new normal, and designing for off the screen is the future. There are so many new domains where the products designers are designing don’t necessarily have a traditional interface, instead using human components like touch and voice to interact with designs. This has presented new challenges for designers and the design process.

Even the way designers prototype has had to shift. If you are designing a concept for an iPad, for example, it’s no longer sufficient to show a mockup of the concept on paper. Clients want to see the interaction in motion. They want to feel and touch it before it’s built.

3. New Tools to Streamline the Process

Just as the design process has influenced the designer’s role, this in turn has also influenced the tools in which designers use. It used to be very clear which products were for which parts of the design process, but now designers want a more holistic approach to a full design system.

4. Pros and Cons of New Design Processes

In addition to being a faster, more iterative design process, having a single designer own more parts of the design process can create a more unified output, one that tells a more cohesive story. This can bring increased integrity to a design because there aren’t as many hands in the pot, so to speak, so fewer designers are leaving their personal mark on the design.

Unfortunately though, this also means designers are working more in isolation in the sense that there is often less direct communication. This has created a bit of a silo effect in some organizations.

It’s also created a need for more tools for designers to communicate design decisions. Tools such as Slack and similar platforms have helped designers “get feedback in the browser” from team members and stakeholders. The need for these tools has become imperative to the design process, yet they are also born as a result of the fact that the design process has changed.

It’s a domino effect that is actually quite cyclical in the way these different components of the design process influence one another.

5. Adaption is the Key to a Designer’s Success

With all these new processes and technologies, it can be overwhelming for an aspiring designer to figure out not only where to start, but also where (s)he fits in. Don’t worry though. Most tools can be learned with enough work and experience.

One of the most important skills you need to have as a designer for today’s challenges is the ability to adapt and the ability to be able to learn to understand the domain if you are not familiar with it.

The best way to do this is to fully experience the design process from ideation to product shipment, either via an internship or an opportunity at a company that values the design process.

6. Discover Your Own Golden Formula

Experiencing the design process is just one half of each designer’s individual golden formula. The second is conducting a personal evaluation of what your interests and passions are. What type of design do you want to do? What are your goals?

It’s a refreshing take. With so many tools, technologies and different design jobs out there, it’s important for young and seasoned designers alike to remember that you have a say in the path you take and the tools you choose to embrace.

If this resonates with you it might be time to revisit step one of the design process by hitting the drawing board. How can today’s design processes help you to achieve your dreams?

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]]> https://kennbivins.com/how-the-design-process-has-evolved/feed/ 0 Things to Know for Your Website Redesign https://kennbivins.com/things-to-know-for-your-website-redesign/ https://kennbivins.com/things-to-know-for-your-website-redesign/#respond Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:52:48 +0000 https://byra.vamtam.com/?p=308 A well-designed website can lead to more conversions. Visitors and potential customers are attracted to websites with a good design that is welcoming. You may look at your website and feel like it is outdated. Your sales may be decreasing and your website design could have something to do with it. Maybe your website just...

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A well-designed website can lead to more conversions. Visitors and potential customers are attracted to websites with a good design that is welcoming.

You may look at your website and feel like it is outdated. Your sales may be decreasing and your website design could have something to do with it. Maybe your website just doesn’t function well and the user experience is presenting issues and leading to complaints.

If these things are happening to you, it may be time for a new website redesign.

However, you’re probably thinking that you don’t know where to go. What do you do if your website could use a new, fresh look in a redesign? If you have made the decision to start a redesign process, here are some things to consider:

Before starting the redesign process, consider your competitors. What is their website design like? How can you incorporate elements of their design or strategies they may be using into your own. Competitive analysis is a good opportunity to see ways that you can make your own website better than your competition. You want to redesign your website to be more effective, load faster and have easier navigation.

Outside of comparing your website to competitors, be sure to review your old website. Be critical of your current design and identify what is working for you and what isn’t. If you’re considering a redesign, there are likely things about your current website that are not working or that you don’t like. If you have detailed analytics, you can look at the traffic patterns of visitors and see if certain pages have high bounce rates, or look at heat maps to see visitor behavior.

As you enter into the redesign process, figure out exactly what you want to prioritize, who your target audience is, what is working for your current website, changes that you want to make to the design and new goals you want to achieve. Once you have these things figured out, you can start building a redesign plan for your website.

In trying to create a quality redesign and a quality user experience, you want to make sure the website redesign has strong visual features. This is important because people tend to focus on visuals. Using custom photos is a good way to do this. By using your own photos instead of stock images, you can create more of a response.

You want to use elements that are personal to your brand that represent the tone and voice of your website and the content you produce. Use fonts, colors and images that reflect the identity of your brand. Use colors that contrast and go together well to create more pop on the design.

In addition to the actual design elements, make sure you have a blog to continue to create content and write about topics that can attract traffic to your website and add landing pages that are designed to welcome and convert new visitors into customers.

Once you have completed the design elements of the website, you want to make sure that the website is being optimized properly, and you may consider optimizing the website for voice search as well so that your website is listed among results for people using phones or voice-recognition devices. Also make sure that your website design is optimized for mobile devices so that it is responsive to all mobile users.

A website redesign may sound like a lot, but remember the reasons you are considering a one in the first place. You feel something about your website looks outdated or is not working anymore and you want to change that.

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]]> https://kennbivins.com/things-to-know-for-your-website-redesign/feed/ 0 5 Important Mobile-friendly Features Every Website Should Have https://kennbivins.com/5-important-mobile-friendly-features/ Fri, 06 Sep 2013 23:35:16 +0000 https://byra.vamtam.com/?p=5357 Nowadays consumers spend over 3 hours a day using their smartphones, and 87% of smartphone owners say that they use a search engine on their smartphone at least once a day. In addition, Google recently announced that they would deprioritize non-mobile websites in organic mobile search results, since visiting a non-mobile site from a smartphone...

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Nowadays consumers spend over 3 hours a day using their smartphones, and 87% of smartphone owners say that they use a search engine on their smartphone at least once a day. In addition, Google recently announced that they would deprioritize non-mobile websites in organic mobile search results, since visiting a non-mobile site from a smartphone can deliver poor user experience. Having this in mind, we compiled a list of five important mobile-friendly features your website should have if you want to win mobile users.

1. Responsive Website Design

Your website is not only being visited by a variety of different devices and screen sizes, but also the same visitors are returning to your site using multiple devices. This means that your website needs to provide the same level of user experience no matter the device it is being looked through. Responsive design is a web design approach which guarantees that website pages, are able to automatically reformat themselves depending on the device they are being opened on. So, desktop, tablet or phone, it really does not matter, the content will be displayed in a way which is easy to browse.

2. Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

Call-to-action button helps your site visitors understand what action you want them to take during their visiting and makes it easy for them to do so. Most mobile devices, like smartphones have limited screen space which means the CTA buttons should be adjusted to account for this limitation. One of the best practices is to use sticky navigation and place the button in it.

3. Simple mobile-Navigation

The navigation is the tool with which visitors will browse your website. And having in mind the limited space of mobile devices, it must be simplified and always visible. The navigation for mobile screens should be vertical and the space between the navigational elements should be large enough to avoid misscliks.

Example of simple and clean mobile navigation. There is enough white space between each menu item.

4. Usable Forms

Forms are the key conversion element of every business website. They should be very short and require only the most needed information in order to decrease the time spent by the visitors for filling it out. If your website requires more information, make sure that the forms are combined in small logical groups and clearly indicate how many steps your visitors have to take to complete the form. They also have to be big enough, so the users can easily click on them.

Don’t expect visitors to browse your whole website in search for your company phone or email. Just because you know it is at the bottom of the About Us page, doesn’t mean they will know. Make sure it is visible at all times. A quick tweak like putting your contact info in the main navigation or in the footer can significantly improve the number of inbound inquiries you receive.

5. Click-to-call Functionality

For B2B or Ecommerce websites it’s essential to have a method for visitors to easily contact you. Click-to-call allows your mobile visitors to phone your business in just one tap, and it is a great alternative over filling forms which sometimes may be difficult to fill out on a mobile screen.

By covering all those mobile-friendly features, your website will be one step closer to achieving its business goals. When developing your website, make sure you have a strict process for testing your website for mobile use.

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