And interesting analogy -I know you all want to talk more about the difference between UX and UI...

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Travis Stiles

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Jun 10, 2016, 1:08:56 PM6/10/16
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Maybe not worth bringing this topic up, again ;) 

But I liked this analogy, it may help you with some discussions.... 

If we’re talking about delicious cake, UI is the icing, the plates, the flavor, the utensils, and the presentation. (The How)
UX is the reason we’re serving cake in the first place, and why people would rather eat it than hamburgers. (The Why)" 

Full article if you're wanting more ;) 

UI vs. UX, What's the Difference? 

Richard Price

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Jun 10, 2016, 1:37:23 PM6/10/16
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Well, I feel that....  Must. Stop. Myself. :)




Thanks,

Rich





RICHARD PRICE  DIGITAL PRODUCT DESIGNER
User Experience Design • User Interface Design • Interaction Design 

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mark schraad

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Jun 13, 2016, 10:00:09 AM6/13/16
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This comes up a lot for us (IHS), as we have a lot of interfaces that do not yet get the benefit of UX or UI. The hamburger actually has a decent affordance (drawers of content or links that slide in from the side). It's actually incredibly useful in a mobile context. The problem is that as an Icon, we have to learn it's affordance and purpose. That's not so bad... microsoft products taught most of us how to do that years ago. The real problem is that it is used as a symbol for "more stuff" without the actualization that reinforces the affordance.

As more an more people that are ill qualified (improperly trained or completely winging it) execute UX/UI, icons like this are accepted when implemented outside of the behavior they were designed for... and then become rogue and eventually very broad to the point of being meaningless in utility.

Mark


HeatherM

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Jun 14, 2016, 12:37:20 PM6/14/16
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Thanks for sharing Travis! This article goes a long way to clarifying the issue. From the job descriptions out there lately, I think there's a drift toward defining UI as front-end coding, which is even another skill set. Combining coding with the definitions in the article for UI, creates an uncomfortable partnership between visual design and development. Hopefully people writing job descriptions will read this article!

BTW - I'm looking forward to using the architect/house analogy in the future. I think it's a really good one!

HeatherM

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Jun 14, 2016, 12:54:23 PM6/14/16
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I found a good example what I think Mark's talking about - a hamburger menu gone awry. In the latest Wells Fargo app (which has some interesting interactions), not only do they use the hamburger menu as intended, but they've invented a variation of it (3 vertical elipses), which opens a sliding sub-menu with 3 icon choices. The good thing about this is that it makes 3 important tasks readily available - once you learn the interaction. But I think it's a stretch for users to readily understand that clicking the 3 dots will open and close a sliding menu. And combined with the "real" hamburger at the top could be confusing.




Mike Caskey

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Jun 14, 2016, 3:35:26 PM6/14/16
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Burgerception!


On Tue, Jun 14, 2016, 12:54 PM HeatherM <heather....@gmail.com> wrote:

  

I found a good example what I think Mark's talking about - a hamburger menu gone awry. In the latest Wells Fargo app (which has some interesting interactions), not only do they use the hamburger menu as intended, but they've invented a variation of it (3 vertical elipses), which opens a sliding sub-menu with 3 icon choices. The good thing about this is that it makes 3 important tasks readily available - once you learn the interaction. But I think it's a stretch for users to readily understand that clicking the 3 dots will open and close a sliding menu. And combined with the "real" hamburger at the top could be confusing.




Matthew Taylor

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Jul 5, 2016, 1:45:34 PM7/5/16
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Thanks Travis, loved the diigo collection of thoughts on this topic.

I did come across this little ditty posted today on NNG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BdtGjoIN4E. Adds some fidelity to Norman's thoughts in the diigo post.

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Er... Can't, help, myself...

I'll add just a few bullets from a previously crafted response that I spared everyone from having to slog through. Just some experiential thoughts about the difference between UI and UX in the wild.
  • If User Experience Design was created in response to Norman's thought here, "I invented the term because I thought Human Interface and usability were too narrow: I wanted to cover all aspects of the person’s experience with a system, including industrial design, graphics, the interface, the physical interaction, and the manual." then the only thing I see directly missing is research.
  • Most UX Designers I have met with over the years reflect this as a general lack of interest and/or skill set, to suss out who their users really are, talk with them and experience them, using a series of approaches and methodologies that allow them to effectively make quality decisions on their behalf. Stick with me though in case this causes scoffing...
  • Interaction Design, Information Design and some other disciplines require, as a practice, some level of synthesis of the people they are designing for, which may not be dramatically different for UX Designers.
  • I have come to experience the UX Designer role as being a business/recruiting response to wanting more holistic system thinkers (more than just UI) that have excellent graphic design skills.
  • UI Design has a systems feel to the role too, however the system is the UI not the user or customers wants, needs, goals or desires. To me this is the biggest difference between UI and UX, conceptually.
Practically though... UI v. UX, what's the difference? In my experience the UX Designer title is the contemporary evolution of UI Designer, in terms of what they are expected to do, largely.

On Friday, June 10, 2016 at 11:08:56 AM UTC-6, Travis Stiles wrote:
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