Modern technology evolves at a rate that is difficult to comprehend, and successful designers and developers must remain hyper-vigilant in order to keep up with the latest trends and advances in UX, but even the best of us occasionally “miss the memo”.
This list of outdated UX design principles will help you determine whether your current design is where it should be and how to fix it if it isn’t.
Continue reading “3 UX Design Principles You Need to Forget”
We’ve all seen what an outdated UI looks like. In some cases, the technology has simply far outpaced the old design. In other cases, however, it’s the design itself that is behind the times.
Whether it’s an old trend or an outmoded style choice, these old-fashioned UIs stick out like sore thumbs. However, there are other products or equipment with UI designs that maintain high usability and functionality despite being much older.
See Altia-Generated Code in Action on STM32F7 at ESC Silicon Valley – July 20-22, 2015
Altia, a global leader in graphical user interface development software, announces code generation support for the new STMicroelectronics STM32F7 Microcontroller. The STM32F7 addresses a broad range of applications and is the first microcontroller on the market to feature the new ARM® Cortex®-M7 processor: the latest and highest-performing Cortex-M core for advanced consumer, industrial, medical, and Internet-of-Things devices. This chip is expected to provide product designers with unrivaled opportunities to enhance application performance, add new functions, extend battery life, ensure security and minimize use of external components to save cost and size.
GUI and UI design can be tricky business. Both must perform any number of complex functions, all while maintaining an attractive aesthetic that complements a product or application’s overall design. Successful designers understand the importance of striking the fine balance between form and function in GUI design.
Brand consistency is a crucial component of user experience, whether online or offline. It’s so vital, in fact, that the branding stage should be one of the first steps in creating any UI. Developing an accurate understanding of a company’s end users, business goals and overall vision should largely shape UI design, ensuring that any time a user interacts with a UI, the design clearly reflects the company’s brand, ultimately contributing to increased user loyalty and satisfaction. Continue reading “GUI and UI Design: Balancing Form and Function”
Recently, we ran across “Time to Market“, a blog post by Jack Ganssle, on Embedded.com which offered some great wisdom about accelerating schedules for firmware delivery. Even though the article was written in 2013, the advice remains true and quite excellent.
We especially liked these recommendations:
“Requirements are hard. So spend time, often lots of time, eliciting them. Making changes late in the game will drastically curtail progress. Prototype when they aren’t clear or when a GUI is involved. Similarly, invest in design and architecture up front. How much time? That depends on the size of the system, but NASA showed the optimum amount (i.e., the minimum on the curve) can be as much as 40% of the schedule on huge projects.”
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“That last bit of advice [“Buy everything you can.”] applies to tools. Buy the best. A few $k, or even tens of $k, for tools is nothing. If a tool and the support given by the vendor can eek out even a 10% improvement in productivity, at a loaded salary of $150k or so it quickly pays for itself.”
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“Never have embedded systems been so complex as they are today. But we’ve never had such a wide body of knowledge about developing the code, and have access to tools of unprecedented power. It’s important we exploit both resources.”
Read all of Ganssle’s time to market guidelines here.
For more information about how Altia can help get embedded GUIs to market faster, connect with us here.
Many developers base their GUI design and implementation on two types of people. The first is the tech generation. They’re tech-savvy and connected to their gadgets pretty much constantly. They adapt to new technologies and understand how to navigate through systems with relative ease.
The second type is the older generation. These people are presumed to be tech-illiterate. They don’t understand how to use technology at all — and they may lack the built-in skills to learn how to use technology.
Continue reading “Bridging the Generation Gap in GUI Design”
Sometimes developers see things differently than users. Creating user interface (UI) prototypes is one way to reduce the risk of a disconnect occurring between the system developers and system users.
Developers need to interact with intended users early in the development process. Prototyping is typically an iterative process, with previous models either being updated and improved by incorporating corrections and feedback from users or discarded altogether for new and improved ones. Prototypes can be used for testing a single component of a system or for testing the complete system.
Whether they’re designing a graphical or text-based interface, UI designers are always on the lookout for a better end product. This search most always leads them to one basic but far-reaching question: how can I make my design simpler?
Design simplicity seems like a straightforward process, but ask any developer or designer and they’ll tell you that it’s easier said than done. How can you best simplify your UI or GUI design? Follow our guide to get an idea of what you should and shouldn’t do for better simplicity success. Continue reading “Mastering the Art of Simplicity in UI Design”
Altia GUI Development Software Offers Enhanced Support of Animated 3D Content for Production Embedded Displays
Altia, Incorporated announces a major step forward in its GUI innovation capabilities with the new 3D Scene Object. For companies developing embedded GUIs for automotive, medical, consumer and industrial applications, this offers a tremendous benefit – the capability to integrate beautiful and informative genuine 3D content into their displays. This enhanced feature gives Altia users the capability to take their embedded user experience to the next dimension, further differentiating their products in a competitive, UI-driven market.
Continue reading “Altia Announces Powerful 3D Integration for Embedded Graphical User Interfaces”
Lean UX is a systematic approach to UI and GUI application and software creation that assumes the following:
Continue reading “What is Lean UX and How Does it Help UI/GUI Developers Reach Their Design Goals?”
