Book Image

UX for the Web

By : Marli Ritter, Cara Winterbottom
Book Image

UX for the Web

By: Marli Ritter, Cara Winterbottom

Overview of this book

If you want to create web apps that are not only beautiful to look at, but also easy to use and fully accessible to everyone, including people with special needs, this book will provide you with the basic building blocks to achieve just that. The book starts with the basics of UX, the relationship between Human-Centered Design (HCD), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and the User-Centered Design (UCD) Process; it gradually takes you through the best practices to create a web app that stands out from your competitors. You’ll also learn how to create an emotional connection with the user to increase user interaction and client retention by different means of communication channels. We’ll guide you through the steps in developing an effective UX strategy through user research and persona creation and how to bring that UX strategy to life with beautiful, yet functional designs that cater for complex features with micro interactions. Practical UX methodologies such as creating a solid Information Architecture (IA), wireframes, and prototypes will be discussed in detail. We’ll also show you how to test your designs with representative users, and ensure that they are usable on different devices, browsers and assistive technologies. Lastly, we’ll focus on making your web app fully accessible from a development and design perspective by taking you through the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Title Page
Credits
About the Authors
About the Authors
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Customer Feedback
Preface

Language and semiotics


Creating a successful UI solely rests on the presentation and effective relaying of the message to the user. The message can be conveyed through language (labels, content, and so on) or visual elements such as iconography. You can create the most aesthetically pleasing website, but if the language and visual elements of the UI do not support the message, it can be horribly misinterpreted and have a negative impact on the website.

Note

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their meanings.

Semiotics is timeless, and having a good understanding of this subject is priceless in the long run. Web design trends change monthly, but semiotics is an established field of study with tremendous insights into the user’s understanding of visuals. With a good understanding of semiotics, you can create effective iconography that conveys a message that will not confuse the user. The biggest challenge with iconography is not size, but that the visual element, which is the icon...