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UX/UI Links, May 2017

This month's selection was a challenge! So many exciting articles to pick from.

As a UX/UI apprentice myself, I enjoy exploring the ever-expanding interwebs every day to find the absolute best it has to offer. The process is pretty simple (I'll tell you more about it in a different post); the key is that you have to read, and read, and read 😅. Then, I submit a weekly selection of my favorites to our Designer and Writer, Leon who checks the articles and copy and gives me his feedback.

By the end of the month I usually have a pretty good idea of which articles will make it to this list, but in May I had about 15 favorites! I hope my final choice is as enriching to you as it is for me. Let's start.

Storyframes before wireframes: starting designs in the text editor

Starting your design from the text editor by outlining your interface story can help you focus on the core message you'd like to communicate through your design. This is the premise behind the technique shared by Fabricio Teixeira, UX designer at R/GA, and Editor at uxdesign.cc, in Storyframes before wireframes: starting designs in the text editor.

The rationale is that you will make faster and better high-level decisions before drawing the first line.

From Idea To Development: How To Write Mobile Application Requirements That Work

A successful project depends not only on how we execute but on how we communicate the what, why and how. This is especially true in the ideation phase, when we're starting to give form to our ideas.

The next time you need to describe your mobile app concept try the techniques explained in From Idea To Development: How To Write Mobile Application Requirements That Work by Eduard Khorkov, CEO and Co-founder at Polecat.

Tooltips: How to Design the Small But Powerful UI Pattern

Tooltips are handy elements for onboarding, introducing new features, and helping users interact with our products smoothly. There's bad news though: it's too easy to get them wrong.

In Tooltips: How to Design the Small But Powerful UI Pattern, Julia Chen, Content Marketer at Appcues, provides an informative guide to introducing tooltips in your design the right way.

It’s not you, it’s your form

"Filling in a form online is one of the most important points of interaction a user has with an organisation". Accordingly, crafting optimal form designs is key to meeting our users and our business goals.

To prevent the dreaded break-up excuse: "It’s not you, it’s your form", Mario Quintana, UX and Visual Designer at Shine Solutions, shares 5 tips you can try when designing your next form.

All Thumbs, Why Reach Navigation Should Replace the Navbar in iOS Design

Although this article is completely focused on iOS devices, the second most used mobile operating system, Brad Ellis, Interaction Designer at Tall West, has some good points about the direction that mobile navigation is heading as screen sizes, but not our hands 🖖🏽, grow bigger.

So, Why Should Reach Navigation Replace the Navbar in iOS Design? Hint: All the action should be moving south.

For inspiration...

A UX/UI design exercise for mobile navigation.

Is a horizontal scrolling system for mobile apps feasible? in The Horizontal Scroll Interface, Fabian Frey, a student at Zürich University of the Arts, tries to accomplish just that applying innovative ideas to a magazine concept.


Want more links? Here’s our previous finds.

Now is your turn!

What's the most exciting thing you've read on May? Share in the comments!❤️

Jessica for the Balsamiq Team

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