In this week’s UIEtips, I discuss how great designers use sketching for notetaking, to convey their ideas in meetings, to record their conversations with their co-workers, and to support their design research. Here’s an excerpt from the article: Words are powerful, but sometimes they don’t cut it. We can try to describe what we’re imagining, [...]

A data visualization, when done well, can be an incredibly powerful way to communicate information. It ultimately boils down to the choices you make in how to design and present the data. If you make the wrong choice you can run the risk of not accurately displaying the data or struggling to effectively tell its story.

The right data can be more effective than words when it comes to telling a story. Even if you have the data, you have to present it in the correct manner. Choosing the right axes, colors and placement are all a big part of putting together a great visualization. Noah Iliinsky demonstrates what goes into creating an effective visualization.

Dashboards are a great idea. The problem is, many are useless. In this seminar, Hagan Rivers will show you which elements to include, how to structure them, and what to slash out of your existing dashboard that needs some UX TLC. She’ll show you a bunch of dashboards. And she’ll give you tips for helping [...]

A common trap in designing data visualizations is focusing on all the different ways to represent the data, rather than the questions that the data should answer. The presentation of a data set is pointless if it’s not useful, usable, or if people can’t understand it. With so much data to choose from how do you keep the goal of the visualization in mind? How are you sure you’re telling the right story?

There’s definitely an advantage to having your users understand data and messages through a picture versus reading a series of sentences. Information visualization, when done right, can have a greater impact. In many ways, data visualization will take a message and make it more succinct. A good visualization can simplify the most complicated data, and [...]

Visualizations are an increasingly popular way designers use to convey complex, data-driven ideas. But with so much data to choose, how do you decide which story is the most appropriate one to tell? And how do you then tell it? On February 2, find out from Noah Iliinsky. In his UIE Virtual Seminar, Telling the [...]

Through the years we interviewed some awesome UX professionals and designers. Many have shared tips and techniques that shed light on new approaches and thinking in the world of design. Today’s article is based on one of those podcasts. Kate Brigham and her group at PatientsLikeMe are doing amazing work when it comes to online [...]

Following the brilliance of Day 1 of the UIE Web App Masters Tour, we had a another awesome day of great presentations. Pam Rodriguez and Luke Wroblewski did a nice job of posting their notes. Thanks guys! Steve Portigal on Design Fieldwork: Uncovering Innovation from the Outside In – Pam’s notes, Luke’s notes. Kate Brigham [...]

Well, we’ve just wrapped up the first day of the UIE Web App Masters Tour stop in Seattle. What a day! Blogger Pam Rodriguez has done a tremendous job summarizing the first day’s sessions. You can read them here: My talk: Mobilism & UX: Inside the Eye of the Perfect Storm Bill Scott’s talk: Designing [...]