Everyday Interactions

Top 3 Things I Love About The Redesigned Wunderlist

I’ve blogged about Wunderlist several times, mainly because I loved using it. Sometime this summer, it became plagued with app crashes. So imagine my skepticism when I noticed its updated, flatter icon in my app bar indicating its update. After weeks of using it, I can say with much confidence that the Wunderlist app redesign was a true success. In addition to its tremendous app performance…

Icons: A Deeper(ish) Dive

After 4ish long years in the UX Design industry, I’ve become known as a bonafide Icon Hater. My face physically contorts into disgust every time someone suggests replacing concise text with an icon. So, I decided to educate myself on icons, because surely omnipresent icons haven’t been ingrained in society for nothing!

Reading Visual Language for Designersprovides a comprehensive yet digestible…

Deleting Lists With Wunderlist

I was overjoyed to learn that Wunderlist has gotten a facelift. Its performance and design have improved dramatically. I was revisiting some old forgotten lists (forgotten because I got tired of Wunderlist’s constant crashes and bulky design) when I decided to delete a few. Like most users, I was also attempting to multi-task and failed to realize I was about to delete a list of songs I want to…

Good Design: The Two Grand App UX

Much has been written about the quantified self, its significance and insignificance. I found myself somewhere in the neutral territory of the debate until my own quest to develop a better relationship with food led me to Two Grand.

This app operates on the basis of food visualization. Instead of tracking pesky calories and steps, take a picture of your sandwich or the track you just ran around.…

The Goodness of iMap’s Weather Radio Redesign

Weather Radio by iMap updated their weather app a few weeks ago. I’ve been using it all this time and surprise! I have some thoughts on it. Let’s jump right in.

The Good

The enhanced logo. It just looks good. It looks as useful and innovative as iMap Radio’s approach to weather reporting for consumers is. I’ve written about iMap before, so it should come as no surprise that I’ve long touted them…

I Don’t Endorse LinkedIn Endorsements

It is painfully easy to endorse anyone for anything on LinkedIn. “Painfully” because LinkedIn ignores the most basic UX design principles, and “easy” because, well, it’s super easy in the valueless sense of the word. Let’s take a deeper dive into the endorsement process.

Meet Angela Stewart, my awesome big sister. She bakes the best lemon squares, has the moral compass of Moses, and continues to…

Dark Pattern: Feedspot’s Attempt to Disuade Unsubscribers

It’s safe to say that the news aggregate app market is saturated. Feedspot, particularly, is just one of hundreds. Incapable of overlooking its lack design any longer, I decided to pull the plug on my email subscription.

I was immediately skeptical of my ability to unsubscribe when I couldn’t find a clearly labeled “unsubscribe” link. I went with the “Edit sites to receive…” link, and things…

The Securely Unsecured Wifi Login at Café Express

I’m often entertained by public wifi logins. From sad HTML to reluctant CSS to some businesses giving up all together and just using a Facebook login, I thought I’d seen it all… until I tried logging on to the public wifi at Café Express.

If you’re going to display the username and password directly in the terms acceptance box, just don’t bother with a “required” username and password.

But hey,…

Good Design: Find Better Selfies with Instagram’s Design Update

I was a decidedly late adopter of Instagram. Wanting to preserve my privacy and to be shielded from the digital decline of society, I avoided it like the plague. But alas, my millennial-er little sister nudged me over to the dark side. Instagram’s purpose was obvious from the first time experience, but continued engagement with the app felt clunky for several reasons, including the…

UX Tips for Tipping In The Starbucks App

I love Starbucks. The coffee is consistently strong and the baristas make me feel special when they call out my name and order. Speaking of baristas, customers can tip baristas using the mobile app, a feature rolled out about 2 months ago. I love having the ability to tip my baristas for their great service, but I am not a fan of the design or integration into the existing app.

In addition to…

Simple Design Saturday: Latte Bowls

Saturday is a time to take in the simpler things in life, including the simpler side of design. Each Saturday, we’ll take some time to smell the proverbial roses by examining a simply designed thing with a lot of value.

As most designers can attest, the modern day kitchen is filled with examples of awesome simple design. One of my favorites is the latte bowl.

Sold exclusively at Anthropologie…

Part 1: Looking for Kindred In- Store and Online Experiences

It’s not every day that you receive champagne, chocolates, and a lovely card from a schwanky hotel (yes, “schwanky”), but that’s just what happened when my husband and I stayed at The Joule, a cute hotel in downtown Dallas. The staff went above and beyond, making our “in-store” experience a true delight, so I was curious to know if their website was just as delightful (we booked via Hipmunk like…

The Challenge of Recycling at Whole Foods

Graphical representations of interactions have the power to make a social effort really successful or a complete flop. Enter Whole Foods commendable attempts to increase recycling at its stores. Whole Foods has a long history with trying to encourage conscious disposal decisions by offering a combination of trash/ compost/ recycling options. Nevertheless, Whole Foods seems to have settled on 3…

BuzzFeed Quizzes >>> Other Internet Quizzes

It goes without saying that BuzzFeed quizzes are popular right now. Despite rumors that quiz content is yoinked from other internet sources or that your responses to quizzes like “Which Twitter Founder Are You?” are data mined for eventual reincarnation as shiny targeted ads… despite it all, legions of users (myself included) waste precious time taking them.

Is the UI hopelessly crowded with all…

Simple Design Saturday: Scarves

Saturday is a time to take in the simpler things in life, including the simpler side of design. Each Saturday, we’ll take some time to smell the proverbial roses by examining a simply designed thing with a lot of value.

It goes without saying… this winter has been insane. Good ol’ Polar Vortex has come around so many times that it has matured into colloquialism. Even us Texans have gotten used to…

Design Rant: Stop Calling Your Users “Stupid”

I’ve had it. Over the years, I’ve heard far too many PMs, Devs, and yes, even Designers, talk about users in the most condescending ways. It has usually sounded something like this: “I’m not going out of my way to design for stupid users who don’t know how to use the product.”

Users are the reason PMs, Devs, and Designers have jobs. Let’s just all be clear about that.

Now, here are some reasons…