Big Bang Redesign: Smashing Magazine’s 2017 Relaunch, A Case Study

Abstract

You’ve been there: big bang redesigns are usually a very, very bad idea. Redesigning and rebuilding an existing website from scratch is risky and unpredictable, and in many cases the level of complexity is highly underestimated. In mid-2016, Smashing Magazine decided to make a big switch from the existing setup to an entirely new design, focusing on microinteraction and copywriting.

In this talk, Vitaly Friedman, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Smashing Magazine, will share some of the insights into Smashing Magazine’s Relaunch in 2017 — with decisions made, failures, successes, lessons learned and shady’n'dirty techniques used along the way. Among other things, you’ll learn how Smashing Magazine’s new design came about, how we started, and all the stumbling blocks we discovered (and had to solve) along the way. Beware: the session will contain at least 27 illustrations of cats!

Usability Testing and Eyetracking

Abstract

Usability testing involving eyetracking is a core theme at Interface Consult, the company Martina founded in 1994. Each test environment is configured depending on use case, participants, device, and intended location of use, so as to obtain maximum feedback within a given time and budget. Martina will explain how usability tests are conducted at Interface Consult, how eyetracking is integrated into user testing, and what some typical results look like.

The Values of UX

Abstract

For as long as design has been a profession in its own right, practitioners and theorists have reflected on the value of design for society. It can be argued that the first design manifesto, “Ornament as Crime” by Adolf Loos in 1910, marks the founding moment of the professional designer. More than 50 years later, the most prominent example of a design values declaration, the “First Things First” manifesto from 1964, stated that not all good design is also good for socity, but that “good for society” is a desirable value in good design. Today, designers use algorithms to build artefacts which can create transformational or even disruptive experiences for individuals, groups, and whole societies. This talk will discuss the intrinsic properties of algorithms as a material, some of the new problems it creates, and will put forward a new set of values for UX designers having to deal with these issues.