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User Experience

Launched Q&A site for user experience researchers and designers.

70 Example Questions (14 closed)

active newest votes
up vote 29 down vote
How to have a good design for the people who have color blindness?
added by Cary Chow Jun 17 '10 at 12:51
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Don't you mean people who have colorblindness? – Ben Alpert Jun 22 '10 at 4:33
@Ben Alpert - Sorry for my English. I have corrected it. :) – Cary Chow Jun 22 '10 at 4:42
up vote 24 down vote
When should a custom skin be used instead of native look and feel?
added by KennyTM Jun 16 '10 at 15:17
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A complementary question: "When custom skins should NOT be used?" (example answer: support.asus.com/images/liveupdate.gif) – Marek Grzenkowicz Jun 18 '10 at 6:42
up vote 22 down vote
I need to do an eye-tracking study - how to build or where to buy a simple and very inexpensive eye tracking setup?
added by Adam Davis Jun 15 '10 at 7:44
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up vote 21 down vote
How to make inline search feature (e.g. Ctrl+F in browser) more discoverable to new users?
added by dbkk Jun 17 '10 at 9:37
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up vote 21 down vote
What are the pros and cons of using wizards in an application?
added by Lee Jun 17 '10 at 9:38
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up vote 18 down vote
How fast (in milliseconds) does my UI need to be in order to feel responsive, and with what confidence?
added by Tom Hawtin - tackline Jun 17 '10 at 17:38
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Wording could be clearer – Alex Angas Jun 18 '10 at 0:31
I think this is a good example of an on topic question. Yes, it could be worded better, but the question is honest and there is and answer, although there's a great deal of wriggle room in that answer if the OP didn't specify more information in the question body. Still, this is a perfect question for the site. – Adam Davis Jun 18 '10 at 5:08
up vote 17 down vote
Are there any ergonomic studies to help design UI flow?
added by IAbstract Jun 15 '10 at 17:02
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up vote 17 down vote
Is it a good idea to add delays to a command to reassure users that it's working?
added by Gelatin Jun 18 '10 at 12:02
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up vote 13 down vote
What measures do I need to take to make sure that the results of my website's A/B testing are useful?
added by Adam Davis Jun 15 '10 at 7:46
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up vote 12 down vote
How can I best indicate to new users, that they can do a right-click to perform [action]?
added by Chris Lercher Jun 18 '10 at 18:30
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up vote 10 down vote
Can non-linear undo histories improve efficiency for advanced users?
added by Chris Lercher Jun 18 '10 at 18:22
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up vote 8 down vote
How many participants do I need for my informal usability test?
added by davidhfe Jun 17 '10 at 18:15
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up vote 8 down vote
What's the best way to increase the weight/importance of a UI element?
added by Evan Plaice Jun 23 '10 at 9:30
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up vote 8 down vote
Why is stealing focus considered a bad practice?
added by Marek Grzenkowicz Jun 23 '10 at 10:47
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up vote 8 down vote
What can I do to make users read error messages?
added by badp Jun 24 '10 at 7:24
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up vote 7 down vote
Which is better, a button or a link for a cancel action.
added by alexanderpas Jun 16 '10 at 23:01
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testing the waters here... is this still on topic, or is it off-topic. – alexanderpas Jun 16 '10 at 23:02
I could see this as being subjective and argumentative. – Foster Brereton Jun 16 '10 at 23:10
Subjective because the application, audience, and several other variables play a role in what choice to make, and then on top of all that two experts may disagree for completely valid reasons. It's not on or off topic - it's simply not a good example.... – Adam Davis Jun 17 '10 at 1:42
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Most UI questions are subjective/argumentative, unless there is user testing data with strong trends (and even then the answer only applies to the narrow case). Still, this is something I'm likely to want to ask about when designing an app. – dbkk Jun 17 '10 at 9:30
up vote 7 down vote
What are the web accessibility laws for [country]?
added by ahsteele Jun 18 '10 at 22:32
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I think this is on-topic, as you often have to think about this when creating a UI and it does effect the design. E.g. a rich UI does not work well with speach outpput – Ian Jun 23 '10 at 18:45
up vote 6 down vote
What are pros and cons of drop-down navigation menu on a website?
added by Marek Grzenkowicz Jun 19 '10 at 21:09
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up vote 5 down vote
What size should I make my icons so that people with some degree of visual impairment can use my site/application?
added by ChrisF Jun 18 '10 at 18:29
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up vote 5 down vote
What are some recommendations for books that I should read on usability?
added by ahsteele Jun 18 '10 at 22:31
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up vote 5 down vote
Why is blinking/flashing considered bad practice in UI design?
added by Evan Plaice Jun 23 '10 at 9:29
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Is it? It's not as bad as stealing focus. – Marek Grzenkowicz Jun 23 '10 at 10:02
@Marek AFIAK, every time I hear someone mention blinking it's followed by a lot of hysterical religious ranting about 'UI best practices'. BTW, 'stealing focus' would make for a really good on-topic example. You should add it. – Evan Plaice Jun 23 '10 at 10:19
@Evan 'Stealing focus' question added: area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/5728/… – Marek Grzenkowicz Jun 23 '10 at 10:48
up vote 4 down vote
How can I make/test my UI design for an international audience that have culturally diverse perceptions of aesthetics and usability?
added by nik Jun 19 '10 at 9:47
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up vote 4 down vote
Why do applications still use the 'OK', 'Cancel', 'Apply' dialog and in what case would this be considered a 'good' practice?
added by Evan Plaice Jun 23 '10 at 9:33
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up vote 3 down vote
How can I arrange these widgets to minimize mouse movement?
added by Chris Lercher Jun 18 '10 at 18:24
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up vote 3 down vote
Should I worry about tab order in my application or can I assume that people mainly use mouse nowadays?
added by Marek Grzenkowicz Jun 23 '10 at 8:23
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up vote 3 down vote
Is it good practice to have the same design for Right-to-left and Left-to-right languages (objects positioning-wise)?
added by Shaihi Jun 23 '10 at 11:14
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up vote 3 down vote
What guidelines should be used for tooltips? Font size, words per line, etc.
added by user5653 Jun 23 '10 at 19:09
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up vote 3 down vote
When should modal dialogue boxes be used? When should they NOT be used?
added by user5653 Jun 23 '10 at 19:09
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This seems really general. I think it would be better put in terms like 'Is a modal dialog box appropriate for confirming [AAA] actions in a [ZZZ] application?'. – Brendan Berg Jun 24 '10 at 5:48
up vote 2 down vote
Which location in a web page is best for ads?
added by Robert Munteanu Jun 21 '10 at 20:03
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This becomes off-topic if we are just talking about creating a web page. Make sure the question involves creating a web-based UI. – IAbstract Jun 22 '10 at 22:12
up vote 2 down vote
What resources are available that deal with red/green color blindness and user interfaces? Can red be used to denote an error condition?
added by user5653 Jun 23 '10 at 19:02
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up vote 2 down vote
What is the minimum screen real estate in pixels that I should target for my application?
added by user5653 Jun 23 '10 at 19:11
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up vote 2 down vote
How is it best to represent hierarchy in user interface design?
added by Donald Harvey Jun 24 '10 at 9:22
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I don't think it's possible to say which way is "best", especially without knowing more specifics. This maybe better phrased as something like "what are effective ways for representing hierarchy in UI design for a __ application?". – Justing Jun 25 '10 at 13:57
up vote 2 down vote
What are best practices/tips when changing an existing desktop application to use a touchscreen display?
added by Palmin Jun 25 '10 at 7:00
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up vote 1 down vote
How to (perform a) "click" with eye-tracking? [closed]
added by Tobias Kienzler Jun 17 '10 at 9:42
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closed as off topic by Adam Davis, Alex Angas, KennyTM, Guildencrantz, ondatra Jun 22 '10 at 20:47

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

Do you mean how to implement "click" as a UI designer, or how to perform "click" as a user? – KennyTM Jun 19 '10 at 20:13
@KennyTM thanks, I clarified, I wanted to offer an off-topic example – Tobias Kienzler Jun 20 '10 at 10:07
@KennyTM I would say both would qualify for an off-topic example – hultqvist Jun 23 '10 at 11:07
I think this is on-topic,as if a UI designer wished to make the software easy to use bya eye-tracker user, then the designer need to know a bit about how a eye-tacking system is used. – Ian Jun 23 '10 at 18:46
up vote 1 down vote
How can I use Fitt's law to improve my interface?
added by Evan Plaice Jun 23 '10 at 9:25
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up vote 1 down vote
Do I always have to follow Fitt and Hicks' laws? Are there counter-examples?
added by Red Knight Jun 23 '10 at 18:21
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up vote 1 down vote
How do I make a WPF application useable by a blind person?
added by Ian Jun 23 '10 at 18:37
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I'm voting this on-topic since accessibility is an important part of UI design, but I'm wondering if it's bordering on implementation-specific information best asked on S.O. – Brendan Berg Jun 24 '10 at 6:06
up vote 1 down vote
What services/companies exist that will evaluate my current user interface?
added by user5653 Jun 23 '10 at 19:10
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up vote 1 down vote
With touch screens becoming popular, do you think it is still important to give users single key shortcuts on device UI?
added by Tugga Jun 24 '10 at 13:13
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up vote 0 down vote
Have any studies have been done measuring the learning curve of the major operating systems for beginners? Old results for prior systems are fine. [closed]
added by Adam Davis Jun 15 '10 at 7:49
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closed as off topic by Gelatin, alexanderpas, Foster Brereton, Ilya Ryzhenkov, Tim Sullivan Jun 17 '10 at 20:11

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

Off Topic - It's a typical "Use google or a literature search engine" question. A follow up question such as, "In study XXYY by Soand So indicated that windows XP had a longer/shorter learning curve than windows 98, and indicated the main reason was due to some principle. Why wasn't some other principle considered a significant factor?" would be fine, but the site isn't meant to replace google and research literature search engines. – Adam Davis Jun 15 '10 at 7:56
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