Complex 3D Graphics

With the rocketing evolution of modeling tools, 3D graphics and animation started getting increasingly popular in recent years and have taken a well-deserved place on different lists of design trends. Still, for the last year, the complexity and detailing of 3D images integrated into user interfaces have reached the levels not expected before. Although modeling and rendering can take quite a long time, using this type of visuals helps push the horizons of creative approaches and get more flexible in demonstrating specific objects that are hard to visualize in any other way or getting the modern look for web pages or mobile screens.

The company website for the prosthetics producer uses a complex animated 3D model to make the product demonstration impressive and lively.

The interactive advent calendar interface for the Nova Post Christmas campaign presents the long-scroll map with tons of beautiful 3D images, setting the festive mood and enhancing visual storytelling.

Creative Motion Design

Animation in user interfaces also moved to the next level this year, with designers in a non-stop search of applying it to various stages of interaction with websites and apps. Creative motion graphics not only support the usability and accessibility of the interfaces but also spice them with eye-pleasing details and amplify emotional appeal. Moreover, creative approaches to animation in UI play a big part in activating the power of the aesthetic-usability effect.

The hero animation for the poster store app landing page works as an impressive presentation of the product and strengthens immediate aesthetic appeal.

From the background full-screen animation on the hero section to slight motion added to numbers and copy blocks and unobtrusive motion graphics, all animation on this business consultancy website home page works as one system, engaging users into learning more without getting bored or tired.

The animated explainer illustration for the Synthesized website helps to visualize highly technological processes as well as becomes an integral part of the general visual style concept for the service website.

The web platform for bartending courses uses a variety of motion effects to make the user experience intuitive and engaging and amplify the website’s elegance.

Web design for AI-powered content hub uses a variety of web animation effects to turn the scrolling process into a captivating experience and make necessary visual accents.

Diverse Video Content

One more aspect that grows its presence and diversity in user interfaces of all kinds is video content. Realizing the effectiveness of videos for modern users, stakeholders and creative teams find more and more ways and formats of integrating them into the user experience, from full-screen background videos to small ones on some tabs or screen sections. That’s especially brightly seen for digital marketing, with websites and landing pages quickly setting the needed atmosphere and demonstrating service or items to their audience.

Hales Freight website features video content in the hero section of the web page to instantly uncover the essence and benefits of the service to the visitors.

The website for the niche water brand supports the atmosphere and sets the association of their water’s refreshing naturalness with video pieces integrated across website pages.

The home page of the virtual reality studio employs prominent atmospheric video pieces to make an impressive and emotional presentation of the service. 

The website of a mental health guide uses a block of changing video fragments sharing positive vibes.

Scrollytelling

One of the currently popular approaches we have already had the chance to realize within our recent projects is scrollytelling. Basically, it is turning the process of scrolling the page or screen into captivating storytelling with the right balance of visuals and text design and spiced with animation to make it even more dynamic. This approach is also applied in the form of various timelines telling the story of a brand or company development.

Advocacy Through Walls website, an interactive guide for public defenders, community-based organizations, and other social justice advocates on how to ethically and intentionally engage with people currently incarcerated or directly impacted by systemic advocacy, is based on the scrollytelling approach.

The business consultancy website uses the approach of engaging scrolling on the About page to uncover the stages and milestones of the company’s development and achievements.

Emotional Hero Section

One more trend showing the steady growth of popularity is using the potential of a hero section to make the first seconds of contact with the user not only informative and functional but also emotional. Prominent visuals and videos, captivating motion graphics, and bold, concise typographic parts featuring taglines and/or brand names greatly help achieve that goal.

MOVA Brewery website home page has a hero section setting instant emotional connection with the visitor via the party-vibe full-screen photo with branded beer glasses and the tagline uncovering the idea behind the beer space connecting people.

Posse website hero section sets the instant feeling of cheerful and sincere communication. 

The color palette, solid massive typography, ultra-minimalistic layout, and atmospheric full-screen photo background in the hero section set the starting point for the adventure emotion offered on the website of the service organizing sledding expeditions.

Mental health guide website uses the emotional hero section, combining a bright, bold typographic part with black-and-white background video.

The landing page for the fitness application builds an emotional connection in the hero section via the catchy prominent typography of the tagline and engages in scrolling down with the visual hint of the mobile interface, which is presented via eye-pleasing animation when the visitor scrolls.

Typography Experiments

Typography in user interfaces has always presented the field for experiments, and recently, app and web designers have been demonstrating new levels of creativity in approaches to font choice and combinations. Playing with decorativeness, original graphic details, and motion, they continue pushing the borders of making the interface design look unique, elegant, and aesthetic with the help of chosen typefaces.

The ecommerce marketplace website design uses a beautiful decorative font for taglines, headings, and primary text blocks.

The music instrument producer’s website plays with a bold sans-serif font for headings and original all-caps font for the text block, setting the visual connection to modern music technologies.

The light and airy website of the niche wild farm drinks producer uses a neat decorative primary font that plays well with the idea of wildflowers and grasses.

Interactive Menus and Catalogs

Having checked the benefits of interactivity and its contribution to positive user experience, today, designers and developers don’t limit themselves to the well-checked types of interactive content but constantly experiment with new approaches and ideas. That results in new kinds of cool interactive details we can find on modern websites and apps, and trendy interactive menus and catalogs are among them lately, making the websites and mobile apps more desirable and handy.

The winery website home page features an interactive menu showing the photos on hover of the specific position.

Interacting with the menu, the visitors of the clinic website get to the page that uses a split screen layout and changes the photo depending on the chosen position. 

The water brand website uses the interactive catalog with text-labeled vertical tabs, allowing users to switch between product pages.

Immersive Experiences

With the technological advancements of AR and VR in recent years, more and more brands integrate immersive experiences into their communication and marketing campaigns. Immersive digital marketing involves users in an experience that merges elements of the surrounding environment with personalized digital content connected to the specific customer journey and purchase needs. So, that means that creatives also have to think over new approaches to design this kind of user experience and make it the factor amplifying the positive result.

The poster store application allows users to fine-tune the search of the poster and try the chosen item in their specific interior.

Mix of Visuals

More and more interface designers tend not to make a choice upon one type of visual content but employ a mix of different visuals, finding the balance of effective combinations. So, websites and apps can feature photos and videos, illustrations and collages, and major and minor motion graphics working as one system and supporting each other to make the pages and screens more usable, informative, and eye-pleasing.

The bartending school website uses a combination of various visual content, from full-screen video to atmospheric photos and neat line illustrations.

The mental health guide combines photos, videos, and illustrations for emotional and diverse communication of the ideas to the reader.

The winery ecommerce website features a combination of beautiful vineyard photos, product presentation photos of bottles, and sophisticated line illustrations to visualize the production stages.

High-Level Conceptuality

One more trend of the recent months in UI design is the creation of high-fidelity concepts to think over user experience for future technological advancements, gadgets, and devices that are not massively used or affordable yet but are already talked about actively enough to consider interaction design for them.

Here’s an elegant design concept for a product manager application created to be used effectively on a foldable device; in this project, our team set the challenge to think over both additional limitations and possibilities that foldable devices open for the user experience. 

Some UI/UX and interaction design solutions for the vibrant and engaging mobile application concept of the AR-based social network.

Sure, these are only some of the actual trends in web and mobile design at the moment, so let’s move on and see what the new year of design will bring out.

New articles on user experience design are coming soon; stay tuned.

Useful Articles

Here’s a bunch of articles to dive deeper into the theme of usability and user experience design.

6 Essential Elements of a Company Website Design

Big Little Details: 7 Helpful Elements of Web Usability

UX Design: Types of Interactive Content Amplifying Engagement

Negative Space in Design: What It Is and How To Use It

5 Types of Images for Web Content

Types of Contrast in User Interface Design

5 Pillars of Effective Landing Page Design

How to Make Web Interface Scannable

The Anatomy of a Web Page: Basic Elements

Error Screens and Messages: UX Design Practices

Web Design: 16 Basic Types of Web Pages

Originally written for Tubik Blog, graphic and video content by tubik

Сообщение 10 Hot UI/UX Design Trends To Start 2024 появились сначала на Design4Users.

Project and Client

Crezco is a fintech product that employs technology to eliminate unnecessary expenses and frictions in trading for businesses, bringing suppliers and buyers together and supporting their growth. That is a creative and modern solution, especially for small businesses that focus on what matters most, while payment processes are all covered with Crezco. The service strived to set up a solid and trustworthy brand image and communication that would clearly transfer the idea of reliable and straightforward financial operations and business support.

Process

The creative team aimed to create an identity that would translate the key brand vision: to make inefficient markets efficient and speed up economic progress everywhere. Crezco’s identity becomes a communication tool that helps to address a broad and diverse community and conveys the product’s advantages.

The central idea that influenced the visual style of brand identity is the creative approach to the traditional bar charts usually used for financial reports and stats. They were transformed into a balanced and harmonic design system consistently used across all the brand touch-points with its customers, from logo design and animation to the diversity of both tangible branded items such as business cards, clothes, posters, billboards, and digital communication in social media.

The brand color palette is based on several shades of deep green and pale green with accent colors such as coral and beige. Such a combination is flexible for playing with color contrast and setting solid readability and legibility for different channels and spots of visual communication. The choice of typeface fell on the elegant and readable Object Sans.

And here’s a closer look at the logo design based on that approach. It is a combination made up of a solid square symbol based on the ideas of transformable bar charts and the typographic part unveiling the brand name. What’s more, based on shapes psychology, straight lines and right angles of a square give a sense of reliability and security, and people strongly associate squares and rectangles with buildings the reason why they bring a feeling of trust and authority, which also was a good association to set about the financial service.

The approach described above was developed into a set of branded and advertising items to grow brand awareness and recognizability via various customer touchpoints.

Outdoor advertising billboard design

Business cards design

Booklet/notebook design

Branded badges

Branded tote bag design

Advertising poster design

Branded video commercial concept

The design approach set for branding was also consistently stretched to the website, providing information on the problem-solving potential of the service, answering frequent questions, and engaging visitors to try its benefits to amplify their business. Light and airy web pages are built on wisely arranged content uncovered gradually, with easily reached CTA elements for each section. Also, the core navigation in the sticky header is easily reached from any point of interaction with a web page. Solid visual hierarchy and well-mastered negative space make the website balanced and easy to use while smooth and stylish web animation and vibrant visuals add emotional appeal to the user experience.

Obviously, being innovative, technological, and intangible, services like this need to use a lot of text content to introduce their benefits to the customers and convince them to try. So, the effective solution here was to divide content into small logical pieces that could be easily scanned and understood. The designers supported them with simple and clear graphics to make the content perceived and remembered even easier.

Two more small but important details to think over and design were the favicon and app icon, which play a significant role in setting the consistent visual connection across channels.

Considering the actual needs of such a fintech service, the team has also developed the concept of the mobile application, with functional and attractive screens, big noticeable numbers, neat icons, and intuitive interactions, keeping visual consistency with the branding and website design, this way making all the types of connection with the service feel like one integral customer experience.  Take a look at the mobile screens below.

Taking into account the impact of digital marketing via social media channels, it was also essential to think over the social posting templates that would keep up with the general brand approach. Below, you can see some of them, setting the general idea of what could Instagram posts and stories look like.

So, for our team, this project was a remarkable case of collaboration with progressive financial technologies, while the Crezco brand obtained a well-developed and practical design system that supports creating a clear and informative field sharing its positioning as a reputable service that makes direct bank transfers as convenient as card payments but without the fees.

New design case studies are coming soon. Stay tuned!

More Design Case Studies

Here’s a set of more case studies sharing the design solutions and approaches for some of the design projects done by the Tubik team.

FarmSense. Identity and Web Design for Agricultural Technology

Carricare. Identity and UX Design for Safe Delivery Service

Otozen. Mobile App Design for Safe Driving

Uplyfe. Identity Design for Health App

Bennett. Identity and Website Design for Tea Brand

FluxWear. Web Design and Development for Health Tech Product

Magma Math. Web Design for Educational Platform

HotelCard. Brand Identity for Hotel Offers Service

Nibble Health. Identity and UX Design for Healthcare Fintech Service

CSConnect. Website Design for Immersive Experience Marketing Platform

ProAgenda. Identity and Website Design for Golf Management Service

THT. Website Design for Electrical Engineering Service

Originally written for Tubik Blog, graphic and video content by tubik

Сообщение Case Study: Crezco. Branding and UI/UX Design for Fintech Service появились сначала на Design4Users.

What Are Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs are navigation elements used mostly in web design and supporting users in a journey around the website. Due to breadcrumbs, users get aware of where they are on the website and can get used to the website structure easier, which means that breadcrumbs present a tool for better wayfinding. Yet, breadcrumbs don’t replace the primary navigation menu; they present the secondary level of navigation and increase website usability in case it has lots of pages.

Breadcrumbs on the product page on Amazon

Why such a funny name is used for this interactive element? If you think it resembles something from a fairytale rather than from design terminology, you are right. The term echoes Grimm Brothers’ tale about Hansel and Gretel: in it, the characters used breadcrumbs to mark the way home and not get lost. On the web, it works the same way: breadcrumbs visualize the path or the users’ journey from the perspective of the website hierarchy. That’s why they are also called a breadcrumb trail.

Types of Breadcrumbs

As for classification, there are three basic types of breadcrumbs:

Location-based: they show the visitors where they are according to a website hierarchy, usually applied to websites with complex navigation schemes consisting of multiple levels.

Image source

Attribute-based: they show the visitors the trail of attributes of the page they are on.

Image source

Path-based: these show the visitors the trail of steps they took to arrive on the page they are on. This type is often referred to as less effective compared to previous ones and is not recommended to apply.

Why Use Breadcrumbs

Among the benefits of breadcrumbs as a navigation element, we would mention the following.

• increased findability: the more complex is the website architecture, the more content it has, the better organized it should be to be found quickly. Breadcrumbs give users another touchpoint to the content and help to understand the structure of the website easier
• fewer clicks needed: with breadcrumbs, website visitors can jump from one level of the hierarchy to any previous step with no effort and no need to take all the way back, which means it takes fewer clicks and transitions to reach the page they want
• effective use of screen space: crafted well, breadcrumbs take a narrow horizontal line with plain-looking text elements that don’t need much space, so users get navigated but designers have no need to overload the page
• no misinterpretation: breadcrumbs present the element which is hardly ever misunderstood by users: the behavior pattern for them has solidified through years and people rarely mistake this element for anything else
• lower bounce rate: breadcrumbs are great support for first-time visitors or people that have no everyday experience of dealing with complex websites, so the more confident they feel the slimmer are the chances of them bouncing the page. What’s more, it’s an effective way of engagement for the users directed to a particular landing page: seeing it as a part of the bigger structure shown via breadcrumbs, users can get interested in jumping to other pages and seeing more.

Minimalist product page by tubik for an e-commerce website uses breadcrumbs to follow the typical mental model users expect and help them with quick navigation.

Design Practices for Breadcrumbs

Here’s a bunch of UX design tips and practices that can help to master breadcrumbs as a supportive and handy element of web navigation. Bear in mind that none of these practices is a cure-all to apply for any website: the examples below show you how different products approach this navigation element to cover their priorities.

Don’t use breadcrumbs as the primary navigation

The key rule of thumb for breadcrumbs is using them as an addition to major navigation. They shouldn’t be seen and used as a replacement for global navigation, usually found in the website header or menu. Instead, they support and amplify primary navigation.

Place breadcrumbs above the H1 heading

The most common place where users expect to find breadcrumbs and where they work effectively as a part of the general layout is above the H1 heading. It may be the name of the category, the product, the article’s title, etc. Sure, not all the pages have visually defined H1 headings; in this case, designers find the most appropriate place, typically in the top part of the layout.

For instance, on the George website, the product page features the classic approach to the breadcrumbs: they are placed right above the H1 heading, with a slight line used as a visual divider between them. However, on the category page, which doesn’t have an obvious H1 title, the breadcrumbs just keep at the same position at the layout, below the top navigation, and visual dividers help to clearly separate the trail from other navigation elements and filters.

Consider starting a breadcrumb trail with a link to the home page

Noticeable and easy-to-reach link to the home page that allows the user to jump to the website’s main page from any point of the journey is still an essential part of web navigation. Although more and more users are getting used to the pattern when the logo featured in the website header is clickable and helps to jump to the home page, there are still many those for whom this flow is not obvious. As the breadcrumbs let users quickly define the website hierarchy and their current position in it, it’s logical to start the trail from the main page of the website.

However, if there is a text link to the home page in the primary navigation, for instance, in the header, you don’t need to double it in the breadcrumbs.

As well, in the case of a polyhierarchical website, you may want to concentrate users’ attention on a particular level or category instead of sending them to the home page. For example, Uniqlo starts the trail from the name of the major category user is browsing at the moment, letting the logo in the top left corner do the job of moving visitors to the home page.

Make the current location look non-clickable (or don’t show it)

There are two different approaches to the last item of the breadcrumb trail: you may show the name of the current page or finish it with the previous step, which means that the current page’s name isn’t shown at all. Whatever your choice, make sure that all the elements cover a particular goal and help users. If you suppose that adding the current location to the breadcrumbs is necessary to support usability, make it clear that it’s not clickable and thus looks different from the interactive elements. For the mobile experience, it’s better not to show the current location at all, as the screen space is very limited.

On the contrary, for all the other elements of the breadcrumb trail, make it obvious that they look clickable and are clickable.

Example of a breadcrumb trail on the Walmart website

Clearly separate the elements

One of the most popular separating symbols for the elements of the breadcrumb trails is the symbol “greater than” (>), which typically defines hierarchy and features the movement from the parent category to the child category. Other frequently used symbols are slash (/), right-angle quotation mark (»), and arrow to the right (→). So, designers do have what to choose from, don’t they? Some also separate breadcrumbs with the color putting them into the colored tabs that imitate the line of elements, each colored in a different shade.

Mind readability and white space

As well as for any text element, the primary goal of breadcrumbs is to make the information packed in written form perceived and absorbed easily and in no time. So, take care of making them highly readable rather than decorative. And make sure there is enough space between the elements so that it is easy to read them, visually separate the pieces of text, and click.

A clear and unobtrusive breadcrumb trail on the Google Support website

Show the website hierarchy instead of the interaction history

Unlike the fairytale characters who used breadcrumbs to mark all their way, web designers would do much more effectively turning to show users the clear hierarchy of the pages instead of all the way they got through to reach this page. Such an approach will always look more logical and, furthermore, will clarify the clear and simple path back for the visitor who could get lost otherwise. What’s more, in this case, breadcrumbs don’t work at all for users who landed on a particular page and didn’t take any steps yet.

As Jacob Nielsen mentioned in his article, “a history trail can also be confusing: users often wander in circles or go to the wrong site sections. Having each point in a confusing progression at the top of the current page doesn’t offer much help.”

Don’t clutter the page with too many elements

What if the breadcrumb trail gets too long? Sure, it won’t be good to overload the page, especially at the secondary navigation level. In the case of the too long breadcrumb trail, some of them in the middle can be hidden behind the ellipsis. But never hide the first and the last element so as not to break the logic.

In his article about breadcrumbs, Alex Zlatkus recommends not to let breadcrumbs take more than half of the page and think about such a shortening with an ellipsis inside when the trails get more than 5 items.

Image source

Sure, the final decision is up to the designers of the particular project. It should be based on usability testing, as there can be different creative design solutions that allow for organizing longer breadcrumb trails effectively.

Don’t emphasize breadcrumbs visually in the webpage layout

If you feel the urge to find a super bright and catchy solution for the breadcrumbs, consider refocusing that on the other object of the web page layout. Breadcrumbs are not the primer violin in this show; that’s not the goal behind them, so keep them stylish but moderate. No need for bright accents, bigger sizes, and impressive fonts – breadcrumbs should just provide the secondary level of wayfinding, not scream into users’ faces distracting them from more important things that solve users’ problems.

For example, the OldNavy website uses super minimalist and non-distractive breadcrumbs placed in the top left corner right below the header with primary navigation, this way sticking to a common left-to-right reading and scanning pattern. That makes breadcrumbs almost unnoticed when you don’t need them but easily found when needed.

Don’t use multiple lines of breadcrumbs on mobile

The most precious asset of any mobile app screen is space. So, optimizing your website for mobile, take special care about that aspect: if the breadcrumbs trail is just copied from the website to mobile, it may take several lines, and this way snips off the big part of the limited screen space. So, by that, you get into the higher risk that some critical elements, for example, the name of the product on the product page or the introductory text, won’t be seen at once just due to the lack of space.

Don’t apply breadcrumbs to the websites with a flat or simple hierarchy

As well as with internal website search, breadcrumbs are needed and helpful in cases when the website has multiple pages and a complex hierarchy consisting of multiple layers. Breadcrumbs are common – and expected by users – in big e-commerce websites and platforms, media and news websites, blogs, and magazines covering a wide range of topics, etc. If that’s not your case and your website has a simple hierarchy, primary navigation will be enough to let the users effectively interact with it.

Example of a breadcrumb trail on the California State University website

Breadcrumbs present the perfect example of how much details matter in user experience design for the web. Being far from primary and critical functionality but approached thoughtfully and crafted well, this interaction element can contribute much to making interactions easier and user-centered. Nevertheless, think twice and test twice before deciding upon them, as there may be more effective secondary navigation options to solve a particular task for a certain project.

Useful Articles

Here’s a bunch of articles to dive deeper into the theme of web usability and user experience design.

5 Basic Types of Images for Web Content

The Anatomy of a Web Page: 14 Basic Elements

UX Design: How to Make Web Interface Scannable

How to Design Effective Search

Web Design: 16 Basic Types of Web Pages

Directional Cues in User Interfaces

Negative Space in Design: Tips and Best Practices

Error Screens and Messages: UX Design Practices

From Zero to Hero: Look at Hero Images in Web Design

Originally written for Tubik Blog, graphic and video content by tubik

Сообщение Web Design Usability: How To Use Breadcrumbs появились сначала на Design4Users.

Project

OtoZen is an innovative technology for safe driving, operating via a hardware device connected to a mobile application. It helps users to turn any car into a smart, distraction-free vehicle. It is the all-in-one safe driving assistant that keeps drivers focused, organized, and connected to friends and family. Users can quickly pair the OtoZen device with their Apple or Android phones via Bluetooth and install the OtoZen Pod in split seconds, with no tools, wiring, or professional installation required.

In this project, tubik specialists were involved in auditing and improving UI and UX design for the mobile application, as well as creating custom graphics and a website that would strengthen the product’s web presence.

App Design

From the perspective of user experience design, the Otozen application was a complex project that included a diversity of manipulations with different data, some of which are changing in real-time mode and should be updated and distributed appropriately. Another concern was dealing with a lot of personal data security and privacy issues. So, the design process had to start with diving deep into the slightest details of functionality and user problems solved by the application. This is what the application looked like at the start of the process.

The client came to us with a prototype that had to be reviewed, discussed, and reconsidered. In general, the technology is built around the following primary directions:

• safe, distraction-free driving: texting-while-driving prevention, reduced audio distractors, high-speed alerts, feedback on driving safety level, autodial to call help for emergency
• well-used driving time and organized reminders: location/time-based reminders, audio calendar alerts, joining meetings hands-free, simplified expense reports with mileage tracking
• convenient connection and communication with other people, for example, family and friends: requesting live location and ETA of other drivers, getting easily updated with automated notifications, full control of privacy and visibility

So, having analyzed the diverse functionality and data the app had to process, considering the objectives behind the application, our team made a deep review of the pain points and blind spots in the existing prototype. That process of design audit was grounded on constant communication with clients to find out the slightest details that could have an effect on user experience and grew into tons of graphs, charts, tables, and schemes. That’s a good example demonstrating that a huge part of the user experience design process is not about visuals but about analyzing, structuring, connecting the dots, considering details, and building systems. Here’s a look at just a small part of the process.

A part of multiple systematic tables textually organizing different information about the product, questions and issues to discuss, and suggestions that could improve user experience, to support collaboration between the clients and the creative team and let them stay on the same page.

A glance at the process of analysis and structuring user interactions with the application and issues arising in the process

The process of building a particular piece of user scenario

So, the core tasks for the UX designer were to think over data organization, visualization, and navigation which would make complex flows of information and functions feel intuitive and straightforward and wouldn’t overwhelm users. Supporting that idea, the choice was made on a light and airy interface with contrasting but not overbright colors for critical visual elements and buttons and a highly-readable sans-serif font to make the screens scannable and easy to use on the go.

One of the significant points for the user experience design of the mobile application was effective onboarding and registration flow. The account creation process is divided into several simple steps, with a progress indicator keeping the user updated about the current stage.

My Trips section opens the feed and gives an opportunity to easily tune what the user wants to see. This application is a good example of how well-crafted icons support the usability and navigability of the mobile interface and help set instant visual connections with different types of information. The map screen shows the trip details. It also uses color marking for the various points, such as speeding or telephone usage, this way visualizing quickly how often the issue happened during a particular trip.

Opening the calendar, the user can see daily time stats in minutes. The drive score section opens the information on issues that influence driving safety.

The tab bar lets users switch between five core interactive zones: Alerts, My Trips, Buddies, Profile, and Notifications. To maximize the influence and make it clear for users, it combines elegant line icons and text labels to quickly inform what users will find in each tab.

And here’s a glance at the flow of interactions with the app.

The Alerts section organizes all types of incoming alerts and helps to switch between them smoothly.

Profile screen shows different data about settings and preferences, neatly organized in groups. Here users also can add, edit, and review their emergency contacts, vehicle details, and places.

One more important and valuable feature of the Otozen application is Buddies. This function allows users to connect, make their trips trackable, and notify their chosen buddy about the needed information, such as the current point on the route or arrival. It can be super helpful for various issues, for example, when the app user needs to know where the family member is but doesn’t want to distract them from driving with calls or messages.

One of the points the technology creators describe as the most essential and show deep care on is personal data security. So, in the Buddies functionality, this aspect had to be well-thought-out, and sharing/accepting access to tracking the other users’ trip, OtoZen users needed to be sure that they can control the level to which they open data to their buddy in the app. That resulted in another neatly organized set of settings in the application that had to be clear and straightforward.

The major challenge behind the application UX design was to get together all the multiple flows of information, notifications, alerts, macro and micro settings, and decide upon the most user-friendly way to organize them.

Web Design

One of the well-checked tools for building a solid mobile application brand and effective promotion is creating a landing page or website to present the benefits and connect users to the product in an efficient, informative, and captivating way. So, the website was another task for our team to allow the OtoZen product to cover this aspect of digital marketing and set another major channel of communication with its users, letting them catch the idea and uncovering the answers for all the questions that may arise. The general layout and website style echo basic color accents and the airy, light layout of the application. The information about the technology is divided into concise sections to be scannable and skimmable. The hero section presents the immediate visual connection to the technology via the prominent image demonstrating both the device and the app and giving the main idea about the product and its value for users via an informative tagline and short description. The call-to-action button in the hero section is instantly visible due to the color contrast. It works in pair with the ghost button, allowing visitors who want more information to watch the video.

For the last few years, original illustrations applied to user interfaces have been one of the most popular and solid UX design trends. Not only do original graphics contribute to the general brand image and enhance its recognizability and memorability, but also they set a solid emotional connection between the product and its user. What’s more, they add much to the usability and visual storytelling, especially when consistent photos cannot be obtained for all the necessary demonstration needs, especially in the cases of highly technological products. The Otozen website took advantage of the custom illustrations keeping a consistent style and effectively supporting information blocks. Also, many of the pictures feature people, adding a human element to the communication. A mobile adaptation of the website makes it look attractive and work effectively from any device.

“We are very pleased with the outcome. The app UI/UX is well received by our customers. There was a consistent app UI/UX theme that was maintained throughout the development, and having the same designer working with us helped us achieve this,” the client company’s CEO wrote in his review on Clutch, and what could be the better way to finish the design story?

New design case studies are coming soon. Stay tuned!

More Design Case Studies

Here’s a set of more case studies sharing the design solutions and approaches for some of the design projects done by the Tubik team.

Nibble Health. Identity and UX Design for Healthcare Fintech Service

HotelCard. Brand Identity for Hotel Offers Service

Physica Magazine. Web Design and Graphics for Scientific Blog

CSConnect. Website Design for Immersive Experience Marketing Platform

Ready Set Recover. Web Design and Illustrations for Surgery Recovery Platform

ProAgenda. Identity and Website Design for Golf Management Service

BlockStock. Brand Identity and Website for Minecraft Models Resource

Kaiten. Identity and Product Design for Food Marketplace

Nonconventional Show. Website Design for Podcast

Crezco. Brand Identity and UI/UX Design for Fintech Service

FarmSense. Identity and Web Design for Agricultural Technology

Originally written for Tubik Blog, graphic and video content by tubik

Сообщение Case Study: OtoZen. Designing Mobile Application for Safer Driving появились сначала на Design4Users.

The niche e-commerce website for the water brand uses different atmospheric videos to make the user experience positive and emotional.

Types of Video Content in Interfaces

People are overloaded daily with tons of diverse information coming from various channels. So, make no mistake, most visitors to a website or users of a mobile application aren’t going to spend much time learning about products or services, especially the new ones. In these conditions, video can become another effective way of communication, informative, dynamic, and attractive.

A catchy video crafted with an understanding of the target audience is a tool for attracting customers’ attention as well as a well-checked method of informing them quickly and brightly. Video content activates several channels of perception – audio, visual, motion – simultaneously, and usually does that wrapped in telling a story. Such a combination of factors often makes a video presentation strong, emotional, and memorable.

Hero section video used as a part of the home page for the gardening company website

Content and Goals Perspective

From the perspective of the content packed in motion and the goals set behind it, there are several popular types of videos we can often come across on different websites and applications.

Welcome (introduction) video: these are videos mostly used on websites, especially company and portfolio websites. This video usually aims at welcoming and greeting visitors and introducing a company, service, or person in a friendly and lively manner. Another option is the “about” video created to tell more about the company, people working for it, mission, achievements, etc. Videos of this kind should be quite short, concise, and telling a visitor the core information that could engage them to see more.

Promotional (commercial) video: this type of video rooting in TV commercials and movie trailers. It’s created to inform people about a product, service, event, brand or company, new release or premiere, major updates of the product, and so on, and so forth, in a way that encourages people to learn more, buy, or join in. It’s a video playing a big part in increasing brand awareness and focused on getting the target audience aware of the offer and its benefits.

Promotional video presenting Carricare brand

Showcase (showreel) video: that’s another type of video coming from the movie industry. It’s a video showcasing a set of previous works by a person or company. This one is usually quite long, about 2-3 minutes, and is often used as an impressive addition to the portfolio of people representing various creative spheres like design, animation, filmmaking, acting, modeling, marketing, and the like.

Tubik showreel videos

Short showcase video giving a glance at the icon design project for HUAWEI EMUI 10

Showcase video for the case study about the design process for the Glup delivery application

Video testimonial: these videos share the feedback from buyers and users, show them describing their experience with the brand, product, or company, this way sharing the signs of trust and loyalty and contributing to positive brand image and reputation.

Background video: this kind of video is used as a part of website design when the background of a page is chosen not to be static. As technical improvements in web development don’t stop, video backgrounds and any other kind of video integration into web pages aren’t seen as a great challenge anymore. So, web designers often turn to full-screen videos as a way to capture people’s attention, create the needed atmosphere, and give an instant glance at the product or service.

Background videos on the landing page promoting the mindfulness application.

Mywony website design uses full-screen video setting the instant connection to the nature of the product

Website for the editorial about insomnia uses a background video to instantly set the mood

Product video: these pieces of video are widely used as a part of the e-commerce user experience, in particular on product pages and landing pages, to give details about the product’s features and advantages, and inform customers about the problem-solving potential of the product.

Pet Shop website uses video content to demonstrate the products they offer in the proper environment and the way to connect faster to buyer’s needs

Hero section video: that’s another kind of web page video that is used as a part of the hero section, which is the above-the-fold part of the web page, often the home page, that includes a prominent and attractive piece of content, be it an image, video, text, slider or other elements. Choosing a video for the hero section, designers often breathe life into it, make it dynamic and strengthen its emotional appeal.

Hero video for PointZero25 event agency website

Hero section video used on the confectionery website home page

Video guides and tutorials: these are classic how-to videos. They present video instructions of a different kind showing the step-by-step process of interacting with a product, a piece of information (for example, a recipe), etc.

Explainer video: basically, this video explains to the visitor what the website, app, product, company, or service is about, and often answers the most frequent questions that may arise about it. Being a part of branding strategy, it is focused on presenting the benefits of the product or service and explanation about how to. It often employs storytelling showing the flow of interaction or sharing particular cases and situations, and infographics helping to understand the effect quickly.

Explainer video for OffCents

Entertaining videos: these videos are more about fun rather than information. Their main goal is to encourage emotional feedback and make it connected to a particular product, brand, or company. What’s more, videos of this kind have a high virality potential as having fun; visitors may want to share it with their friends or audience in social networks, this way spreading a word about the brand.

Educational videos: these videos usually become a part of educational platforms and can present a diversity of content, from specially crafted models explaining the processes to videos of wildlife or people doing different jobs.

Educational videos about wildlife integrated into the Nature Encyclopedia app

Design and Technical Realization Perspective

From the perspective of how it’s made, we could mention such common types of video content for UI design:

Live-action videos: these videos are closest to the classic filming process and feature real people, objects, or locations. Their major benefit is a strong collection with real life that has the great power of setting associations and encouraging viewers’ empathy.

Atmospheric live-action video as a part of the home page hero section for the Lumen Museum website

Example of a live-action video combining human talk and visual demonstrations

Fitness application using video tutorials on how to do exercises

Screencast videos: this video type captures the screen this way, showing particular processes. It is especially effective for various tutorials and product videos presenting digital products and software.

Screencast video capturing the illustration process in Procreate

Live-action screencast videos: as it’s clear from the name, this type presents a combination of two previous types. In this case, viewers can simultaneously see what is going on the screen and the person giving explanations.

Animation (cartoon) videos: these videos are very close to cartoons, which means that they present the animated sequence of many still images that can be presented in a variety of visual styles: 2D (flat), 3D (having dimension and depth), and stop-motion (capturing individual frames and combining them in a sequence).

Animated video created as visual storytelling support for the article about gamification in UI design

Motion graphics videos: these ones are based on animated graphic elements, for example, shapes or text, aimed at catching attention, impressing, and setting the theme, but not employing storytelling. They also become a great help in cases when complex or abstract information should be visualized in a way that is easy to understand.

Motion graphics video background for digital transformation agency

Ecommerce website design using impressive motion graphics video for the home page hero section

Photomontage videos: this video type imitates a slideshow, combining a set of photos in an animated sequence that can be supported by special effects, voice-over, or music. This type can work effectively to present various events, charities, or social issues, tell about companies, mark achievements and milestones, and the like.

Whiteboard videos: this is a captivating type of video, where the story, guide, or information flow is unveiled as a picture drawn step-by-step on the whiteboard.

Typographic videos: this is a type of video based on moving text. It helps to make text content perform in a more dynamic and emotional way and engage users that are not keen on reading static text content not to miss core messages. In most cases, it is supported by the voice-over or sound accompaniment enhancing the message.

360-degree (immersive) videos: trendy and getting more and more popular, this type of video records a view in all directions at the same time, this way allowing the viewer to get the full panoramic view. These are, in particular, effectively used as a part of the shopping or booking user experience.

Functions of Video in UX Design

Being a type of content that is quite complex in production and often needing much effort for smooth integration, videos in user interfaces are often in question. However, there are different functions they can cover, often better and faster than other types of content. So, by analyzing the target audience and business goals and considering these functions, designers and creative teams make a decision if they need a video and, if yes, what type is better for their objectives and budget. Let’s take a quick glance at them.

Information

The core factor in making video content considered a part of the user interface is making the information flow clear and easier to perceive. In many cases, a short 1-minute piece of video can share a chunk of information that would take far more time from the visitor reading it in text or trying to understand it from screenshots, mockups, and the like. That is a basic reason why various explainers, tutorials, and guides work well in video format.

No doubt, background videos applied to many web pages or screens now make them visually and emotionally appealing as well as informative, as the image instantly captures users’ attention much faster this way. Also, it supports the feeling of the integrity of all the layout elements.

An explainer video on the home page of Credentially website is placed in the above-the-fold area and lets visitors quickly check the benefits of the service

Atmospheric video integrated into the museum website design concept quickly gives visitors a glance at it in a realistic and dynamic way

Demonstration and Presentation

One of the strongest points of video content is the ability to demonstrate products or services using all the channels of perception at the same time. If visitors are interested, watching the video, they can consume quite a lot of information in a very short time without the need to scroll, read, see the pictures, and keep all those different pieces of information in mind in the process. As the human attention span is quite short, video often allows for using it effectively and gets higher chances of visitors’ engagement and website conversions. For instance, explainer videos or product videos allow for catching how to deal with it while the visitor is on the wave of interest. As well, for services that are focused on visual outcomes like design, advertising, illustration, art, modeling, and so on, well-crafted showcase videos can become the fastest way to the future client’s heart.

Video demonstrating Fitness App interactions

Short videos used instead of static images to demonstrate the options of models on niche accessories website lets customers learn more about the product and get a positive impression

Video demonstration of the product in the Drink Recipe application helps to impress users and supports the atmosphere of a bar or restaurant

Storytelling

Another strong point of video content is its ability to tell a story in a smooth and engaging way, according to the laws and techniques of visual storytelling, supported with voice narration or music enhancing that effect. People like stories: they clarify things, illustrate situations, are often fun and aesthetic, they are often easier to perceive and remember. In most cases, videos based on storytelling feature a plot that moves through 3 basic phases: showing pain points, activating emotions, and offering the solution.

Promotional video for the cleaning service tells an illustrated story using cute characters and sharing positive vibes

The video version of the case study on design for the Annual Awwwards 2020 website

Atmosphere

As well as images, many videos integrated into UI are super powerful in setting the needed atmosphere, which is a part of customer experience with the offered service, product, place, or event. This way, it pushes demonstration to a higher level, letting the visitor catch the vibe in split seconds. That’s one of the reasons why immersive videos are getting more and more popular and demanded.

The background video for the home page of the agricultural holding website impresses with the atmosphere from the first minute

The hero section video of the website for forest camping creates the needed cozy atmosphere from the very start of interaction with the website

The atmospheric hero section video on the winter holiday website shares the views of the destinations users can travel to, and this way lets them get stunned and dive into the mood instantly

Emotion

Whatever logical and clever people are, many of our decisions are partly or fully based on emotions, not only facts. “I feel it,” “I like it,” “I want it” – aren’t these reasons often stronger than any logic, calculations, and analysis? Video content is often a good way to cover that point: as it employs multiple perception channels and can collect various factors of influence together in a time-saving concentrated piece, the chances it sets the emotional connection to the audience get much higher.

Hero section video for a horse riding club sets strong emotional appeal

Archive video added to the article devoted to the historical period strengthens the emotional appeal of the page

Points to Consider

Loading Time

This is a core thing to consider when you decide upon video integration into the website or application. This issue requires a thoughtful approach from developers and thorough testing. That’s especially vital for the web pages that are expected to attract much organic traffic but can be downgraded in search results just because the loading time of the page is too long while the bounce rate is high as some visitors won’t wait long to see the page and will just move away. Think twice, consider technical options, and do your best to test that aspect. Otherwise, there won’t be much effect from even a very well-crafted video if it’s not even got a chance to be seen.

Contrast Issue

Integration of video content, especially full-screen backgrounds well-spread these days, requires much skill and effort to find the right contrast and hierarchy of elements and integrate the navigation and text content properly so that the page wouldn’t turn into an illegible mess. Test the contrast on various screens, devices, and in different environments to make sure it doesn’t spoil general readability and doesn’t break navigation leaving users lost in all that beauty.

Other Ways to Communicate

Make no mistake; video content is not a cure-all or a magic wand, as it could seem from everything mentioned above. Not all people like videos. Not all of them, interacting with your website or app, find themselves in conditions that are convenient for watching a video. So, don’t make the video your only way of communicating with visitors or customers. Support it with other ways of communication, like text and images. Otherwise, you risk losing a part of the audience just because video as a way of getting information is not comfortable for them. The “Show, don’t tell” rule may work, but the “show and tell” works better in this case.

Manipulations

Take care of allowing a visitor to manipulate the video where it’s needed, especially if it’s long and heavy. Think twice about using autoplay, as it may appear less convenient for your audience than the ability to control if they want to watch a video or not. Make sure that the user can control the volume of the sound part as audio autoplay as soon as the web page or screen is loaded is reported to be one of the most annoying aspects of the user experience. Put shortly, consider all the basic manipulations that will allow users to feel more confident with the video content in your web or mobile product.

Mobile Adaptation

What looks well on a desktop or TV, may not work at all on a much smaller mobile screen. As more and more digital interactions of different kinds move to mobile these days, this aspect should also be well-considered and tested for all types of content, including videos. Make sure that it looks clear and legible and is well-adjusted to the mobile screen of any kind.

Mobile adaptation for a niche e-commerce website selling accessories

Sure, that’s only the tip of the iceberg in such a deep and diverse issue as video implementation into user experience design, so we’re going to share more examples, UX practices, and tips about it. Anyway, this article may help UX designers, marketing specialists, and businesses to take into account the different benefits and pitfalls of using video content on websites and mobile apps. Stay tuned, and don’t miss the updates!

Useful Reading

For those, who want to dive deeper into the topic, here’s a list of handy articles:

UX Design: Types of Interactive Content Amplifying Engagement

Photo Content in User Interfaces: When and How It Works

Aesthetic Usability: Beauty on Duty for User Experience

5 Basic Types of Images for Web Content

Motion in UX Design: 6 Effective Types of Web Animation

Types of Contrast in User Interface Design

5 Pillars of Effective Landing Page Design

How to Improve Website Scannability

The Anatomy of a Web Page: Basic Elements

How to Design Effective Search

Web Design: 16 Basic Types of Web Pages

Videos as Instructional Content: User Behaviors and UX Guidelines

Step-by-Step Guide to Custom Promo Video Design

Originally written for Tubik Blog, graphic and video content by tubik

Сообщение UX Design: How Video Content Can Enhance User Experience появились сначала на Design4Users.

Client and Project

FarmSense is a USA-based innovative tech product that helps growers reduce losses from insect pests and lower dependence on pesticides to take the uncertainty out of pest management for better farming and a brighter future.

Why is it important, and how does it help? The agricultural industry loses more than $220 billion in crop damage each year because of insects. For decades, farmers have been stuck with few options for pest management. Most use sticky traps – a time-consuming and inaccurate method, followed by a broadcast spray of selected pesticides and insecticides. Still, sadly, these traps can also affect beneficial bugs that pollinate more than 70% of the global crop supply.

So, the FarmSense team formed by scientists and innovators developed a better way. Using computational entomological models, they created a real-time sensor that can help farmers make better decisions for pest management, saving time and potentially boosting crop yield. The team believes that leveraging the power of machine learning and computational modeling can help save lives, reduce hunger, and help developing countries achieve food independence.

The target audience they aim at is diverse, from big agricultural corporations to small family farms, from innovators and advisors with high tech-literacy levels to farmers that spend most time right in the fields and have no broad experience or tight connections to different software and applications. So, the team worked on the affordability and accessibility of the technology and strived to reflect that in the branding approach and website, helping them communicate with their clients and uncover the product’s benefits. Let’s check how the designers from tubik achieved that goal.

Identity Design

The branding design process started with extensive research covering the agriculture and ag-tech current state in the USA, the existing presence of the sector on the web, the pain points of the target audience, and the touchpoints of the brand communication.

Based on everything mentioned above, the key advantages of the product that branding had to transfer were defined as:

• sustainability
• affordability
• accuracy of real-time data
• rich information

As well, the team aimed at making a visual branding design system that would have a range from more strict and business-like to more illustrative and emotional.

One of the core tools supporting both emotionality and usability in brand design for FarmSense is color. The palette features bright contrast shades of natural colors employing the psychology of color and giving instant visual connection to the topic of agriculture, summer, soil, fields, insects, and plants: green, orange, yellow, and blue. The latter is also traditionally associated with tech-related and digital products.

Having agreed upon colors, the team started working on the logo. The initial logo design approach was based on data as a core of the problem-solving power of the product. The creative search based on that resulted in a set of brand sign options reflecting that idea via lines and dots forming abstract shapes and building association with digital data processing and statistics visualization as well as fields seen from the bird-watch perspective. The basic shape chosen for the brand symbol was a circle.

Here’s a glance at the logo design process, from sketches through variations to the polished sign. The first version of the symbol developed in this direction was an abstract round sign consisting of vertical lines.

First sketches to think over the idea and find the composition

Digital symbol development

Testing the symbol with the brand name typographic part

Monochrome version of the combination mark

The version of the symbol with soft edges

Icons designed to test how the symbol can be further developed into other types of graphics

Another idea for the symbol at this stage of the creative search was to transfer the visual metaphor of the insect or the sun rising above the field, shaped by the lines. The latter was taken into deeper consideration.

Logo symbol sketching stage

Digital logo symbol development

Combination mark for the brand identity

Monochromatic version of the combination mark

The set of branded items was also presented to show how this version of the logo and color palette could work for various marketing goals: banners, printed advertisements, social media posting, business cards, etc.

Although the general idea looked effective, after discussions with clients and deeper testing, we together made the decision to move to another iteration, as this version of the symbol, even looking different, could bring up associations with some political campaigns that took place earlier in the USA. So, the second approach was also based on aerial views on the fields of crops, but this time irregular and asymmetric, cut by roads in various directions.

For this version, the color palette excluded blue, and the basic shape was square. The creative search was done on the sign composition and detailing.

The idea development resulted in the bright three-color symbol with a moderate level of detail and a bold, readable typographic part.

And here’s how it could be developed into the design system for branded items.

Posters design

Truck livery design

However, the deeper the team dived into the visual concept for the FarmSense brand, the more the client’s team got certain that they would like to combine the discussed approach and palette to their existing logo and reconsider it to make its design bright, up-to-date, and recognizable as well as flexible for various communication objectives.

The previous FarmSense logo

So, the final iteration started at the intersection of the existing logo and the ideas considered in the previous versions. The logo had to become simpler and less detailed to stay clear and informative in various sizes and get packed into a new color palette giving a quick connection to both agriculture and digital technology. Again, it started from basic sketching to think over the idea and moved to the polished logo.

Finally, the option with strict thin lines and a thin, elegant sans-serif typographic part was chosen as an approved brand sign.

So, based on that solution, the consistent set of branded items was designed for indoor and outdoor advertising and brand communication.

Billboards and banners designed for outdoor advertising

Business card design

Rollup design

Exhibition stand design

Truck livery design

With the brand graphics above, it’s also easy to see that another important aspect of identity design for FarmSense was creating custom illustrations. They covered four major goals:

• pictures set the atmosphere and apparent association with the agricultural theme
• specially created graphics helped to visualize the flow and benefits of highly-technological processes which are hard or even impossible to show via photos or videos
• custom graphics helped the brand to stand out of the crowd among the players in the agricultural sector, mostly using photo content which is often quite generic and just setting the theme
• the hero illustrations featuring people added a powerful human element and made brand communication more friendly and emotional

The creative process for the illustration also moved from rough sketches to present the idea and discuss it with the clients to the transformation of the approved ideas into bright digital artworks. Here’s a glance at the process for hero illustrations which had to become one of the first visual touchpoints of the product introduction on the website as a channel of communication.

And here’s the process for creating custom graphics reflecting the main benefits of the FarmSense technology.

Web Design

The next stage of customer experience design, extending the efficiency of the product presentation and amplifying brand communication online, was redesigning a website. At the initial stage, the team worked on developing a structure that would be effective and straightforward for the diverse target audience of the product.

Overview of the UX wireframing stage to consider the solid and straightforward website structure and navigation

At the UI design stage, the bright branded colors were used not only for illustrations and other graphics but also as background colors for different website sections, supporting usability, scannability, and readability of web pages.

Here’s a glance at the home page of the website, catchy, friendly, and informative, amplifying the message with a hero illustration sharing the peaceful, sunny, and positive atmosphere and giving instant connection to the topic of farming that employs modern technology.

The set of original illustrations used across the website pages proves itself as a powerful tool for visual communication and storytelling. It supports the text content, sets the mood, and helps establish consistency and integrity in the website’s performance.

Also, an infographic with custom illustrations was created to visualize how the technology works and make its benefits more accessible.

Here’s a closer glance at the set of artistic color icons supporting different text messages and creating visual triggers for essential functions or benefits to make them more noticeable and well-organized for website visitors.

To make the website work effectively and look attractive on any device, the tablet and mobile versions were also well-thought-out. They were arranged to provide a smooth and integral user experience at any stage of interaction.

For our team, the FarmSense project was a great chance to collaborate with the representatives of the modern ag-tech industry developing with a rocketing speed now and utilizing innovations to improve farming experience and outcome, which is crucial for the whole world.

New design case studies from our team are coming soon. Stay tuned!

More Design Case Studies

Here’s a set of more case studies sharing the design solutions and approaches for some of the design projects done by the Tubik team.

Nibble Health. Identity and UX Design for Healthcare Fintech Service

ProAgenda. Identity and Website Design for Golf Management Service

BlockStock. Brand Identity and Website for Minecraft Models Resource

Kaiten. Identity and Product Design for Food Marketplace

THT. Website Design for Electrical Engineering Service

Komuso. Website Design for Wellness Tool

Nonconventional Show. Website Design for Podcast

Fulfill. Illustrations and Web Design for 3PLs Marketplace

Glup. Delivery App Branding and UX Design

BEGG. Brand Packaging and Web Design for Food Product Ecommerce

Crezco. Brand Identity and UI/UX Design for Fintech Service

Carricare. Identity and UX Design for Safe Delivery Service

Originally written for Tubik Blog, graphic and video content by tubik

Сообщение Case Study: FarmSense. Brand Identity and Website Design for Agricultural Technology появились сначала на Design4Users.

Fitness application design by tubik

Activity tracker by Sigma Software Design

Workout app design by Odama

Fitness app design by Musemind

Fitness and yoga application by Outcrowd

Fitness app concept by Anastasia Golovko

Workout application by Enver Studio

Workout planner app by ever

Fitness tracker application by One Week Wonders

Fitness tracker application by tubik

New design collections are coming soon; stay tuned!

For more inspiration, check the sets of other posts from our D4U Inspiration gallery, where we gather impressive creatives to share their art with you, for example:

• people illustration gallery
• a big of user-friendly mobile applications
• logo design collection for various business goals
• captivating 3D animation concepts
• creative web designs with 3D graphics
• web design examples on ecological issues
• inspiring mobile interactions design examples
• Procreate illustration tutorials

Сообщение UI Inspiration: App Design Concepts for Sports and Fitness появились сначала на Design4Users.

What Is Internal Search

Internal search is the function of browsing the content inside the website or app and showing it to the user according to his or her search query. Tuned correctly, it shows the relevant content and this way provides the shortcut to what the user needs. Thus, the internal search saves the user’s time and effort, amplifies the usability and desirability of the digital product, supports user retention, and increases conversion rates. Easy to see that this element is vital.

The interactive element responsible for the internal search in the user interface is a search field. A search field, which is also called a search box or search bar, presents the interface element that enables a user to type in the search query and this way find the pieces of content that are needed.

Physica Magazine website features the search control in the header

When to Use Internal Search

Whatever great you find the navigation of your interface, if your website or app is made of 50+ pages, it’s high time you considered applying the internal search. Well-designed and easily found search field enables the user to jump to the necessary point without browsing through the numerous pages and menus. This approach is a common pattern of user behavior now, it respects the user’s time and effort, so it is highly demanded in user-friendly interfaces.

The home page of the BlockStock website features a big search field in the above-the-fold area to let users quickly find the Minecraft assets they want

Why is it important to have a search inside? Earlier the recommendations about applying the internal search started from 100-200 pages on the website, but now we find them outdated a bit. Modern users are spoilt with a variety of choices and options offered by a constantly growing number of resources on the Web and in the app stores. If a visitor has already come to your website, your task is to give them what they want as soon as possible. And in most cases, users (especially those led by external search engines) come to a resource with a specific goal or query and without the wish to spend much time looking for it. Search enables them to make their journey focused and effective.

The Crypto Blog makes a search control one of the core CTA elements on the page: placed in the website header, it features the form of a clickable button, uses the well-known search icon and the textual explanation together, so that it was super fast for users to find it.

In case you have a single-page website, if your app or website is concise and not heavily packed with content, an internal search is not needed. Well-thought navigation will be enough, for example, for a corporate or portfolio website highlighting core information and services.

However, designing search usability, don’t make the opposite mistake: don’t prioritize search over navigation in a user interface. Based on everything mentioned above, designers may think that search is the best and only interactive element worth their attention. And that’s a big mistake. Although many users do try getting closer to their aim via search, there are also others who may have problems with search interactions. For example, they don’t know a language well enough to form the correct query, it’s not convenient for them to type something in, or they just hate thinking over the textual queries and they would prefer to follow the already existing navigation and cues rather than the cognitive load of communicating to the system via the search.

Take that into account and strive for a good balance of navigation and search.

The ecommerce platform selling insects features the open search field in the header

Core Features of Effective Search

There are different nuances of making the search interactions clear and intuitive, yet the three features below are core points to consider for the internal search:

• it should be instantly visible
• it should be clear as a search functionality
• it should show relevant content

The tea e-commerce website includes the search control in the header, which is sticky and easily reached from any point of interaction

UX Design Practices for Search

Give textual prompts and auto-filling

Textual prompts are a good way to give users a hint about the interactivity and functionality of a particular interface element. The classical example everyone knows is the Google search that offers you the options as soon as you are inputting your query. This way you reduce the time of filling in the search field and let the user start actual interaction with the content quicker. Of course, it is quite logical to tune auto-filling according to the most popular and relevant queries.

The search in Tubik Blog opens a minimalistic new page blurring the blog home page as a background. The user gets the big search field with a text prompt “Type to search” and pulsing cursor showing that the form is interactive. Also, there are clickable tags with popular queries.

Search screen of the education courses app

Offer the options immediately

The flow of interaction can also be supported with the dropdown menu offering possible options while the user is typing the query. Going further from auto-filling, these can be fully-featured preview snippets of the relevant shop items, news, blog articles, etc.

Search interactions for Calorie Calculator App

Use filters to tune search

In case of very high content intensity on the website (imagine Amazone with thousands of items), even a quite well-crafted search query may be not enough as it will bring out too many options in search results. In this case, filters can support the interaction flow and allow users to tune their search better: for example, on the e-commerce platform, the filters can narrow down the search results according to price range, specific brands, particular characteristics of the product, and so on.

Here’s what search filters look like on Walmart website: the page of search results has a sidebar on the left to allow users to narrow down the list of options with the fine-tuning

One more option is integrating additional tuning right in the search field. For example, the search field on Amazon uses the built-in dropdown menu of core categories of goods, so you can start searching inside a specific section right from the search.

Filters also work really well in mobile search interactions as they are easily tuned and save time and effort in finding the perfect item.

Here’s how Kaiten food marketplace website and application use filters to help users tune their search process

The flower store mobile application uses a noticeable search field on the top of the screen and makes the search process tuned with filters

Recipe app filters interaction designed to tune the search among the hundreds of recipe options in the mobile app.

So, internal search is an element of high importance to provide website visitors or app users with a good user experience. Make it intuitive, use the power of habits, consider the points above to improve the search experience of your user interface, and strive for a good balance of search and all the other navigation. And don’t forget to analyze the internal search result: they will tell you what the users need and look for on your resource.

Useful Articles

Here’s the set of articles on more aspects and best practices of user experience design.

Error Screens and Messages: UX Design Practices

Visual Dividers in User Interfaces: Types and Design Tips

How to Design User Onboarding

Directional Cues in User Interfaces

How to Make User Interface Readable

Basic Types of Buttons in User Interfaces

Negative Space in Design: Practices and Tips

How to Make Web Interface Scannable

UI/UX Design Glossary: Navigation Elements

Originally written for Tubik Blog, graphic and video content by tubik

Сообщение How to Design Search in User Interfaces: Tips and Practices появились сначала на Design4Users.

Project

Brand identity and website design for a new-age shipping and fulfillment service.

Client

ShipDaddy is a modern company that covers shipping and fulfillment services to other smaller but growing ecommerce companies and brands that have a product sold online but cannot fulfill by themselves for any reason. ShipDaddy solves this problem by warehousing their pallets, shipping products directly to customers, and repalletizing their inventory if it needs to be shipped to other places in bulk. Put shortly, the service takes over all the needed effort on shipping so that their clients could focus on other aspects of their business growth.

The ShipDaddy team came to us with two aspects to cover from the design perspective:

• logo and identity design for a company brand and diverse marketing goals
• website based on a consistent approach with visual branding and a super high level of usability for any category of the service clients

Tubik agency team created a brand identity and a website that would help redefine a third-party logistics company and let the world know that ShipDaddy people genially care about the success of their clients.

Process

One general direction to take into account for the entire design process was the harmonic combination of friendliness and seriousness: ShipDaddy is a super friendly and open company that deals with serious challenges. The ability to work on both branding and user experience on the web allowed for a comprehensive and consistent design approach for all the channels of company communication with the target audience.

Logo Design

The clients wanted the logo to be friendly, approachable, and cool. It had to give ShipDaddy customers the feeling of working with a partner in helping to build their business, not just a boring and impersonal shipping firm. What’s more, the service goes above and beyond shipping: it acts as a full-on consulting company that helps businesses optimize their entire ecommerce strategy, including shipping and logistics. The best solution to reflect the message was found in creating a mascot that would make communication of the brand with the client emotional and humanized as well as could cover a diversity of marketing goals and campaigns.

The creative process moved through the traditional stages from discussion and research to sketches and then a polished digital version. Focusing on people, Tubik created a cute and friendly brand identity based on the image of the company’s COO. The mascot was a human character that was friendly and funny but also quite adult and serious enough.

The final logo presented a combination mark made up of a mascot and a typographic part with a company name in a bold and highly readable font. The color palette included the primary colors (blue, yellow, red) as they look good in both print and digital presentations.

What’s more, the mascot was developed further in a variety of states and plots to get integrated into the website, social media, branded items, and marketing campaigns.

Packaging design

Stickers design

Favicon for the website and welcome screen for the mobile version of the website

Social media posting

Web Design

The website was designed following the branding guidelines and the chosen palette of corporate colors. As the mascot was chosen as the main tool of communication, it was decided to integrate it broadly into the website and illustrate most of the functions and content with it. To cover that goal, 20+ variations of ShipDaddy were drawn, depending on the context of the website sections and blocks. Also, they were used for branded stickers.

At the stage of the website UI, the creative team came up with an idea to connect the drawn character with the real-world environment. In the design process, it got clear that such an approach draws too much attention and may distract visitors from the content. Therefore, that idea was implemented only on 2 pages, the first screens of the home page and the Company page.

Let’s take a look at the website pages. All the website was made on Webflow – in our previous web design case study we told about the benefits and functions of this tool in detail.

The home page applies the split screen based on color contrast to make the text content readable and the CTA button instantly noticeable. The motion of a mascot cheerfully walking through the photographed warehouse adds fun, atmosphere, and emotion from the first seconds.

Another page combining illustration and photography into one visual effect was a Company page.

Mascot Motion: APNG for Webflow

To make the user experience dynamic, engaging, and memorable, as well as activate the maximum potential of a mascot, we decided to make the character live with animation on all website pages.

All animations were made in APNG format instead of the usual GIF for the following reasons:

• much better image quality with equal size (compare the samples here)
• APNG works efficiently with Webflow
• mobile devices support APNG as well as desktop, which makes the user experience the same across all platforms.

Breakpoints

Recently, 3 new breakpoints for large monitors have been added to Webflow. In addition to adapting to tablet and mobile, you can now modify the website design at 1280px, 1440px and 1920px width. That helped us to be even more flexible in adjusting the first screens of all pages so that they would look more consistent and proportional even on the largest monitors.

404 Page

If, for some reason, visitors click on an outdated or broken link and get to the 404 error page, they get the experience spiced with a bit of fun with a nice animation. That helps to smoothen the negative effect of dealing with an error and supports a friendly atmosphere of communication. A solid visual hierarchy of the page and an instantly noticeable CTA button help a visitor quickly understand what to do next.

Blog

In Webflow, you can create full-fledged blogs with any design, functionality, and navigation, including categories, author pages, search, subscription, and so on. The client gets access to the admin dashboard, where he adds articles in a simple and intuitive editor, and in a few seconds, they appear on the website. The best benefit of a blog for a company website is that you can greatly increase the organic traffic through regular posts and cross-links in the articles.

The main page of ShipDaddy Blog

Author’s page on ShipDaddy Blog

Blog article page

Page Transitions

Since quite a lot of character animations are integrated into the website, and individual blocks of text are animated as well, they don’t overload the transition process. The motion graphics are light-weighted, so the user experience is not affected badly. And so that the visitor could see all the content at once and avoid the situations when something is loaded faster while something longer, we made the transitions between the pages through the curtain, which disappears only when all the content is fully loaded.

ShipDaddy project is a bright example of a tight and friendly collaboration of the creative team and the stakeholders in the desire to reach the most customer-centric solutions possible.

New design case studies are coming soon. Stay tuned!

Design Case Studies

Here’s a set of case studies sharing the design solutions and approaches for some other design projects by tubik team.

CSConnect. Website Design for Immersive Experience Marketing Platform

Fulfill. Illustrations and Web Design for 3PLs Marketplace

Roebuck. Mobile Design and Illustrations for Educational App

Kaiten. Identity and Product Design for Food Marketplace

Glup. Delivery App Branding and UX Design

THT. Website Design for Electrical Engineering Service

Komuso. Website Design for Wellness Tool

PointZero25. Identity and Website Design for Event Agency

Nonconventional Show. Website Design for Podcast

Crezco. Brand Identity and UI/UX Design for Fintech Service

FarmSense. Identity and Web Design for Agricultural Technology

Carricare. Identity and UX Design for Safe Delivery Service

Originally written for Tubik Blog, graphic and video content by tubik

Сообщение Design Case Study: Identity and Website for Shipping Service появились сначала на Design4Users.

Kinds of Visual Dividers

Talking about dividers, we can analyze them in two aspects: their appearance and their functions. Starting with the visual part, there are five basic and broadly used methods of dividing content in user interfaces:

• lines
• color
• negative space
• shadows/volume
• images.

Lines

Lines have belonged to the top methods of separating the pieces of content since time immemorial, both in print production and in digital interfaces. They are recognized easily in this role, so users won’t need to think twice.

On the other hand, this type seems to be super simple and far from original. So, quite often, designers strive to find other ways of content separation. What’s more, it is recommended to use lines only if the content cannot be effectively divided in another way. Too many lines can overload the screen with visual noise and create unnecessary visual tension.

The mobile version of the Nonconventional Show website uses lines to divide different sections in the menu.

The product page for a website devoted to zero-waste living uses horizontal lines as visual dividers to clearly organize different information about the item.

The webpage of the scientific platform uses horizontal lines to separate different content blocks and make their structure easily scanned.

The ecommerce website of a tea brand uses different levels of visual separation of the content, from the simple horizontal line to separate the pricing and CTA element to a kind of table with an irregular grid look for the information about the item, a regular table look for the items in the website header and color contrast to separate visual content from text content.

Negative Space

Negative space (aka white space) means empty space on the screen around and often inside the elements. Yet, empty doesn’t mean passive or wasted: as well as any other element of the screen, it works supporting a positive user experience. Negative space is one of the most popular kinds of visual dividers, especially in interfaces built on the idea of minimalism and simplicity. Spiced with the knowledge of Gestal principles of visual perception, for example, proximity and similarity principles, negative space turns into an effective and elegant visual divider that also lets the interface breathe and avoid clutter.

Education app design demonstrates the elegant approach to unit arrangement via a well-balanced negative space.

The travel planner app separates the items in the list without any additional visual elements, just with white space.

The Health Blog list of articles is based on typographic hierarchy and negative space to make them look like a clear set of items without stealing the air from the layout.

Color Contrast

Another effective type of visual divider is color contrast. Color choice and combinations in UI design have great psychological potential: they are able to strengthen the message and content of the website, creating the appropriate mood. Contrast is one of the key factors influencing the scannability and visual hierarchy of the page or screen. With all that, color contrast can effectively separate different options, items, or interactive zones, which means working as a visual divider. That is the reason why split screens have been so trendy in recent years. And that may explain the popular approach of organizing landing pages and single-page websites along the content blocks presented on contrasting color backgrounds.

The landing page concept for Momatu divides content with different color backgrounds.

The Nonconventional Show website design employs bold color contrast to arrange the content more engagingly and dynamically.

The mobile menu concept is based on color contrast to make the items clearly distinguished.

Even in pastel elements like this one, the power of color contrast is clear: it helps to divide the page on the hero section with the CTA and the active section of the menu. Also, pay attention to the vertical lines used as visual dividers for menu items: together with slightly seen images, here they also work as directional cues and help to avoid the illusion of completeness on the page.

In the website design for GNO blankets, the color contrast helps to divide the long webpage into digestible and elegant blocks of content.

Shadows and Volume

Shadows and volume, which are usually reached with the effect of visual elevation of a part of the content, may also work effectively as dividers. They create a feeling of depth and separate the page into several layers that often look natural and harmonic to the human eye. On the other hand, it looks less obvious and noticeable than lines, so this approach may be helpful in achieving balance and legibility of the particular items without too much visual noise or distraction.

Music Learning application uses the effect of volume to make items look clearly divided in a list of tracks.

The catalog screen presenting the items in stock uses drop shadows this way giving the layout more depth and clearly separating the cards from each other.

The mobile app for buying customized bouquets also divides the positions in the catalog with a card standing out from the background. This way the content looks clear and interactive in the interface that looks all light and airy.

Images

Images of all kinds present one more effective visual divider. In this role, they are especially popular in the interfaces with lots of text content, for example, blogs, online media, and text-based landing pages. Photos, illustrations, 3D graphics, as well as animated images, help to balance the text content, increase scannability and readability levels, effectively divide the visual blocks, as well as add fun and emotional appeal.

The university website uses images and videos not only to set the atmosphere but also to divide different blocks of content.

The landing page for the cryptocurrency report uses catchy blocks of 3D graphics with an animated Learn More call-to-action. This way, the theme blocks are also clearly separated.

The menu screen for the restaurant app uses images as a crucial element in dividing the options.

Functional Types

The functional types of visual dividers depend on the hierarchy levels they work at.

Full bleed dividers

Full bleed dividers are the ones that separate the sections and span the whole length of the screen layout.

Astrology website uses full-bleed dividers to separate blocks of content.

The gallery app uses horizontal lines as dividers in the catalog of artists.

The Perfect Recipe app uses full-bleed dividers to separate the recipes.

The finance app uses slight, barely seen full-bleed dividers to separate the items in the list of expenses.

The cinema app uses full-bleed dividers on the check-out screen.

Inset dividers

Inset dividers separate the items of related content, anchored by elements that align with the app bar title or adjust to the specific kind of text content on the page.

The website of the construction features the part with specs that uses horizontal lines as inset dividers.

The Spa Space website uses lines to organize the options on the menu page elegantly.

Dividers with subheaders

In some cases, you can pair dividers with subheaders to identify a block of grouped content. In this case, the divider should be placed above the subheader to make the subheader’s connection to content more obvious.

Middle dividers

These are usually dividers placed somewhere in the middle of a layout, for example, to separate related content, such as prices on a receipt.

The product page for the ecommerce website selling herbs features the middle divider to clearly separate the check-out interactive zone from the text content describing the product.

Points to consider

Choosing the type of visual divider for the layout you design, you’d rather consider two essential factors.

Subtlety: dividers shouldn’t yell for users’ attention and shouldn’t distract users from the content itself. The goal behind the divider is to support and make the layout clean, not to catch attention. So, make them noticeable but not annoying.

Moderate Frequency: as was mentioned above, too many visual dividers, especially if they present the additional element of the layout like lines do, can create visual noise and make the user interface tiring for users. So, thinking over the type, think twice or seven times more. Prefer negative space to lines where it’s possible; don’t overplay with colors; strive for harmony and consistency.

As the examples above show, designers tend to find an effective combination of visual dividers that would effectively organize the content on the webpage or mobile screen.

Useful Articles

Here’s the set of articles on more aspects and best practices of user experience design.

Directional Cues in User Interfaces

How to Make User Interface Readable

Basic Types of Buttons in User Interfaces

The Anatomy of a Web Page: Basic Elements

3C of Interface Design: Color, Contrast, Content

Negative Space in Design: Practices and Tips

How to Make Web Interface Scannable

How to Use Hero Images in Web Design

Light or Dark UI? Tips to Choose a Proper Color Scheme

Originally written for Tubik Blog, graphic and video content by tubik

Сообщение How to Use Visual Dividers in User Interfaces появились сначала на Design4Users.