Design is not just about form or function; it’s about purpose. Consumption has become a vehicle for self-expression. It is not just wanting a product, but aligning with a set of values. People choose to support brands that reflect their beliefs, ethics, and aspirations. Choosing a brand has become an act of self-expression.
www.createwithswift.com/design-as-brand-the-power-of-choice-and-belief/
Creating a new product begins with crafting the "happy path" –the ideal user journey. Designers often approach product development with intentionality and empathy, advocating for users. This is the foundation of user-centric design. Sadly, not all products and companies prioritize the greater good; instead, they create sneaky features.
www.createwithswift.com/building-for-hate-designing-for-deception/
As Artificial Intelligence reshapes industries, its influence on design reaches a critical moment. Rather than replacing designers, AI is transforming design itself. Moving away from fear to opportunity as AI tools become integrated into creative workflows. It will lead to either a "Golden Age of Creativity" or "algorithmic homogenization".
www.createwithswift.com/the-future-of-design-in-an-ai-driven-world/
In a linguistic beat, the Macquarie Dictionary crowned "enshittification" its 2024 Word of the Year. Coined by Cory Doctorow, the term captures the gradual deterioration of services –mainly digital platforms– by prioritizing profits over user experience and societal benefit.
www.createwithswift.com/the-enshittification-of-digitial-services/
An application carries users through different states during their journey –from happy steps to error scenarios. Each transition shapes the overall user experience, much like chapters in a story. A well-designed app anticipates and adjusts user needs in all states, enhancing an app's overall effectiveness and user engagement.
www.createwithswift.com/designing-for-application-states-creating-seamless-user-experiences
Apps are designed taking into consideration a happy path –the flawless journey– but hiccups happen. It could be a connection issue, the server might be down, or maybe the user entered the wrong password.
www.createwithswift.com/writing-better-error-messages-for-your-apps
The evolution of product design echoes the human transformation. In the early 1950s, the human-centered design approach revolutionized product development, placing human needs at the core of product creation. For the following decades, that principle guided the development of physical products, redefining what design meant.
www.createwithswift.com/designing-digital-products-for-a-sustainable-world
A design system is an essential tool for software development teams, enabling creating and maintaining a consistent experience across products and media. For a design system to be effective, it must be thoughtfully structured, with particular attention to decisions made in the product itself. Let’s explore the definition and components of a design system, its differences from a UI Style Guide, and the essential elements that shape a robust and effective design system.
This perspective article investigates the potential of applying artistic or “humanistic” data visualization to improve the understanding of learner’s growth in the context of highly dynamic, learner-centric and experiential educational programs. The article explores the possibility of leveraging a more humanistic or esthetically driven approach to visual learning analytics in the context of programs using Challenge Based Learning (CBL) as a learning framework.
Offboarding honors the end of a user's journey, closing their experience in an app –for example, a travel app used for a specific trip or a real estate app that becomes irrelevant once a home is found. In these cases, the app becomes unnecessary, and users have the right to request the deletion of their data. Login credentials, saved preferences, and other personal information can reveal a lot about a user, and to ensure privacy, this data should be erased.
User experience refers to any interaction a user has with a product or service, and one crucial element of this interaction is language. Phrases and verbs are key components in creating communication between services and users. When written correctly, these lines can transform user journeys into delightful experiences. But what should be written? Can it be humorous? Should the app be brutally honest? Learn how to craft consistent and effective wording to enhance the user experience in your app.