Search engines have evolved in leaps and bounds these past few years. This year, there are a number of things that need to be kept in mind with regard to SEO. There are some key SEO concepts that experts in the field struggle to communicate clearly to designers. This can create friction and the impression that most well-designed websites are very poorly optimized for SEO. In this article, Myriam Jessier aims to provide all the information you need to know.
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Project goals, processes, and responsibilities should be clear to everyone on your team. Don’t focus on a unique design per se, unless that’s the main feature of your product, and collaborate with other designers whenever possible. When two people are thinking about the same problem, they will deliver better ideas. In this article, Boyan Kostov shares his story and lessons learned from redesigning a digital interior design shop.
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Developers and designers need to initiate a conversation about the ethics of web design, i.e. how do we define and measure goodness and rightness in the digital realm? It’s important to discuss responsibilities, decisions, and consequences. Even small and seemingly insignificant decisions can have enormous implications, and ethics can help ensure the longevity of our designs and help us carve paths to better futures for everyone. It’s about time that we, the people who build the web, initiate a conversation about where we are and where we want to go. It is time we talk about the ethics of web design.
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As technologies improve and design techniques evolve, improvements in digital design are inevitable. What is truly impressive, however, is how we are now able to use design to tell a story. As attention spans shorten and visitors just want to get to the good stuff on a website, designers have to get more creative in how they communicate their website’s “story.” In this article, Suzanne Scacca suggests techniques that can be used in web design.
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The difference between a good app and a bad app is usually the quality of its user experience (UX). The average US user spends 5 hours per day on mobile. The vast majority of that time is spent in apps and on websites. So, there are many things to consider when designing for mobile. Today, Nick Babich brings you a detailed guide will help you get rid of that headache when building apps.
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Making improvements to your mobile app’s design isn’t necessarily the easiest of tasks. In this article, Suzanne Scacca explains the six key ways in which dating app developers successfully use design to create an engaging and addictive experience for their users. Dating apps often get a bad rap for turning the dating scene into something superficial, mechanical and impersonal. Log in through Facebook. Swipe left. Swipe right. While it’s easy to write off these apps as fun little diversions for people trying to find love, they’re actually quite successful. So, what’s their secret?
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You know how sometimes during one of those late conference evenings somebody brings up a seemingly ridiculous topic and then the entire conversation seems to circle around it? That’s exactly what happened at SmashingConf Freiburg when suddenly the entire conversation was about how famous books and movies could be represented in an emoji, and it turned out to be a pretty decent cliffhanger for this particular Emoji Riddle. These riddles can be quite addictive and annoying, can’t they? With seven mischievous riddles published over the last few years, we’ve learned a few lessons along the way. At this point, you might be used to endless, mischievous, tricky, mean, time-consuming and intricate Mystery Riddles, and the latest one wasn’t any different.
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To celebrate the relaunch of this little website, we’ve prepared something special yet again — a Smashing Emoji Mystery Riddle. Below you’ll find the first of a few animated GIFs that contain a hidden key. The key is always exactly one emoji. Your job is to find these emoji as fast as possible. Once you’ve reached the last level, just tweet out all the discovered emoji in one single tweet at @smashingmag.
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There are a good number of benefits and reasons why you should consider integrating design workouts into your team. In this article, Arturas Leonovas shares some exercises which are worth trying out with your design team and get you all to train before the big game — together. Doing this at least once a month is a fun way for everyone to polish skills that they use every day. Not only that, the added benefit of team-building and knowledge-sharing will help everyone become the best versions of themselves.
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Conversations about ethics are often difficult and awkward. Nevertheless, designers can play a vital role in finding new ways for people to relate to and communicate with each other. In this article, Ciara and Samantha set out to understand how ethics is used in contemporary design.
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