Best of the Best 2016! Top 13 UI/UX Design Posts for Reference

This article curated some of the most recommended design posts in 2016, such as the principles, books, and tools helpful on UI/UX design, methods and suggestions on how to make better design, as well as the new design trends.

1. The State of UX in 2017

We are looking forward to how UX will evolve in 2017. In the meantime, here's our take on looking at the past, understanding the present, and anticipating what the future holds for UX.

2. Why Design

In some ways, this knowledge is bittersweet. Nothing gold can stay. You make a thing that changes the world, and before long the world has changed to the thing. It no longer inspires the same kind of wonder. Given time, we will always demand more.

3. Design Better Forms

Whether it is a signup flow, a multi-view stepper, or a monotonous data entry interface, forms are one of the most important components of digital product design. This article focuses on the common dos and don'ts of form design. Keep in mind that these are general guideline and there are exceptions to every rule.

4. Design Doesn't Scale.

Design Doesn't Scale is a statement that has bothered me for the last four-years. When I joined Spotify's design team in 2012, the level of inconsistency and fragmentation shocked me. Up-close, the treatment of type, color, imagery, layout, IA, and interactions just didn't seem to align anywhere. And when I started talking about it, I realized the whole team was frustrated too. We concluded that the fragmentation in the product was just reflecting the fragmentation in the team, that designers spread across so many different projects, timezone and competing timetables, just didn't stand a chance. And, after all, weren't these factors inherent in all modern tech companies anyway? It was then that I first heard myself say, “Design Doesn't Scale”.

5. The Difference Between UX and UI Design-A Layman's Guide (by Emil Lamprecht)

We've all overheard conversations, walking down hip streets of the world's tech capitals, discussions about the great 'UX' of a product, or the poor 'UI' of a website. Is it a secret language you will never be privy to? Are these people just using slang to look cool? Well, ok probably yes to the latter, but a determinate NO to the rest. Read on to learn what these terms mean, which jobs are better paid, and how to become a UX designer or UI designer. Scroll to the middle of the post to watch a video of me speaking about this article, and giving you some extra info on what being a UX or UI Designer really means.

6. Complexion Reduction: A New Trend In Mobile Design

Over the last several months, some of the leaders of innovative design have taken 'minimal design' to the next level. Facebook, Airbnb and Apple have followed a similar blueprint to simplify prominent products in a way that reflects this new trend of 'Complexion Reduction' in mobile design.

7. UX vs UI vs IA vs IxD : 4 Confusing Digital Design Terms Defined

Once upon a time, if you said the word “design”, the odds were overwhelmingly likely you were talking about graphic design. But nowadays, the digital world is becoming increasingly more complicated and a lot of new job positions appearing, which lead to confusion for people outside or new to the design industry. Here's a quick overview on the four different primary forms of design to help you understand what they mean.

8. Hamburger menu alternatives for mobile navigation

If you're working on digital products, you have already read dozens of articles describing how and why the hamburger navigation on mobile (and desktop!) hurts UX metrics due of its low discoverability and efficiency. (You can read some of best articles on the topic here, here, here, and here.)

9. How to apply a design thinking, HCD, UX or any creative process from scratch

This how-to article aims at providing designers, creative thinkers or even project managers with a tool to set up, frame, organise, structure, run or manage design challenges, and projects: The Double Diamond revamped.

10. Best Practices for Microinteractions

Microinteractions are subtle moments centered around accomplishing a single task. Almost all applications around us are filled in with microinteractions. Here are just a few examples:

Confirming an item is added to cart

Use pull-to-refresh to update content

Interface animation that confirms an action (e.g. toggle button)

11. The Best UI/UX Design Books & Resources for Designers

Want to be an excellent designer? Looking for the best UI/UX books and resources? Nowhere to go or to gain the right and effective channel for becoming an outstanding UI/UX designer? Just follow me, I have compiled a list of high-profile UI/UX books, which are recommended by the major professional websites, and blogs.The topic is mainly covering UI design, UX design, and web design. Hope it is helpful and useful to you. Any resource you think it's worth to be included, please feel free to give a message below the comment area or simply drop me a line on LinkedIn.

12. 12 Design Tools & Websites for UI/UX Designers

The continuous improvement of designing tools, have a positive impact on usability and user experience, that provides great convenience for designers, as well as the users. Therefore often a good web designer will try to be updated with frontier, and master the latest tools. Hundreds of design blogs and websites update design articles, share design skills, and recommend new tools today on the internet. That is the important source of information for designers.

13. Unintuitive Lessons on Being a Designer

I sometimes joke that everything I have ever learned about design, I learned from my first job. Nowadays, this first job has extended to nearly ten years, its soul consistent even as its shape unfurls in depths and colors I could never have imagined in the beginning.

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