The world of web application design is expanding at a rapid rate. We’re now expected to design great experiences across a huge variety of platforms, from small screens to large displays. The flood of iPad applications and successful online businesses are showing our executives that design matters.

The proliferation of mobile devices has made it necessary to rethink your web experiences. The mobile phone and tablet, along with retina displays, have substantially changed how a user experiences your design. Responsive web design has emerged as a solution in some cases, but even though connection speeds on mobile networks are increasing, performance remains an issue.

In this week’s UIEtips, Jared discusses the cost effectiveness of responsive design vs. creating a separate mobile version of a web site. Here’s an excerpt from the article Which is more expensive: a responsive design web site or creating a separate mobile version? This is a constant debate among many organizations. We can answer it [...]

With the emergence of techniques like responsive web design, many of the traditional prototyping methods become difficult to employ. Sketches and wireframes have in some cases given way to HTML and CSS prototyping so that users and clients can experience a richer, more complete interaction.

In this week’s UIEtips, I speak with Cyd Harrell on conducting user research on mobile devices. Here’s an excerpt from the article Jared: Does mobile usability testing require a lot of hardware? Cyd: It can. I think there’s a bit of a perception that it requires more than it actually does. If we’re going with [...]

We’re celebrating this year’s UX Immersion Mobile Conference’s fantastic program by giving everyone access to last year’s great show. The recordings and slide decks contain a wealth of information. Learn how to incorporate Agile methods while still fitting user-focused activities into your projects. Design for mobile based on how people think and what emergent themes [...]

As more web capable devices hit the market, designers need to consider where and how their designs will be seen. Unfortunately, the same consideration isn’t always made when it comes to content. With design changing so much in a multichannel environment, content must be structured independent of how it will eventually look.

In this week’s UIEtips, I discusses the concept of context-aware design, where it is today, and the possibilities of its future. Here’s an excerpt from the article Imagine being in a foreign city, trying to get across town to catch a train. Not knowing where you are, relative to the train station. Getting to the [...]

Building a prototype is a great way to test your design early on with users. Whether you choose to go for a high-fidelity representation, or go lo-fi with paper, you can learn a lot about the usability of your site. Often, teams are concerned with which technique or tool to use because of the litany that are available.

What makes a user want to download an app in the first place? Ideally, it’s the promise of fulfilling a goal or need for the user. With the hundreds of thousands of options available, and the immediacy of the mobile context, you have a small window of opportunity to engage your user. If users can’t easily use your app, they simply won’t.