Vitaly Friedman’s Post

😊 How To Capture Users’ Emotions In UX. With practical guidelines and toolkits to better understand people‘s emotions and act on them ↓ ✅ What people think, do, say and feel are usually very different things. ✅ We aren’t good at explaining where our emotions come from. ✅ Sympathy is the acknowledgement of the suffering of others. ✅ Empathy is the ability to fully understand/share person’s needs. ✅ For most people, it’s much easier to agree than disagree. ✅ Users often hide criticism and exaggerate positive feedback. ✅ Empathy relies on open-ended questions in UX research. ✅ There is nothing more powerful than silence in a conversation. 🚫 Don’t ask what people like or dislike: it rarely matches behavior. 🚫 Asking a question directly is the worst way to get useful answers. 🚫 Don’t mistake smiling and nodding for support or agreement. Many people assume that they can read people’s emotions fairly well. However, while it’s easy to “read” a response based on voice, tone, loudness and pace, it's often very hard to spot underlying emotions, thoughts and feelings that another person is experiencing. We often map our view and understanding of the world on how others experience the world. But more often than not, it’s inaccurate, and it’s shaped by our biases and stereotypes. We just know too little about what another person’s life is like. The best way to capture emotions is to speak less and listen more. Don’t corner people with close-ended questions, leading questions, endless surveys or feedback forms. Establish trust and safety to open up first. Give people time and space to express their doubts and thoughts. Acknowledge what they’ve said. Ask politely and respectfully for more details. And: there is rarely anything more revealing in a conversation than a moment of silence. ✤ Useful resources The Spectrum Of Empathy in UX (attached visual), by Sarah Gibbons, NN/g https://lnkd.in/d-kj3hmr Emotion Wheel Toolkit (PNG), by Geoffrey Roberts https://imgur.com/q6hcgsH Scale of Negative UX Impact, by Indi Young https://lnkd.in/eg2FiRSE How To Ask The Right Questions In UX Research, by Fabricio Teixeira https://lnkd.in/eCBrf_tS How To Ask Good Questions (Cheat Sheet), by Krisztina Szerovay https://lnkd.in/eUYSPX8g How To Avoid Bias In UX Research, by Genís Frigola https://lnkd.in/eG8atWHw The 9 Rules Of Design Research, by Erika Hall https://lnkd.in/e3WJ6rh5 Human Connection Toolkit (+ Method Cards), via Rosie Sherry https://www.deepr.cc/tools Belonging Design Principles, by Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley https://lnkd.in/eudUfAd2 #ux #research

📣 Intuit Content Design System (https://lnkd.in/eGyBUrZ2), a comprehensive system for content designers, UX writers and IA architects that covers voice and tone, accessibility and inclusion, style, wording, AI, marketing and how to talk to customers. Neatly put together by fine folks at Intuit. 👏🏼👏🏽👏🏾 Words matter. The way how they are spoken matters, too. The voice and tone. The rhythm and pace. The words underlined. The words not said. And in a digital product, there is rarely anything that guides people in the right direction better than a well-crafted messaging. Too often, content design is seen merely as embellishment. As a play of words. As a way to make people chuckle, or smile, or pause for a moment. Yet it’s one of the most impactful assets you can use to improve clarity, reduce errors and streamline flows. One of the very first things I do when reducing abandonment and churn is to refine and test error messages. The way we ask questions and how we manage answers. How we talk to customers in support, emails, app stores and blog posts. Designing a product also means choosing the right words, finding the right voice, and adapting the tone to the situation in which a user finds themselves. Spend just enough time with content design, and you might be surprised about the impact a few words and their design can make at scale. ✤ Content Design in Design Systems Atlassian: https://lnkd.in/eGpzQqm4 Amplitude: https://lnkd.in/eaB85T7n 👍 Buffer: https://lnkd.in/e3P_EZFN DHL: https://lnkd.in/eF494fkT 👍 Duolingo: https://lnkd.in/egCSX9At Girlguiding: https://lnkd.in/eEBiXX6d 👍 Goldman Sachs: https://lnkd.in/e5x7BuPt Gov.uk: https://lnkd.in/ekRadXad JSTOR: https://lnkd.in/eAnyrtcu 👍 MetLife: https://lnkd.in/evVE8sqf Monzo: https://lnkd.in/edVV8QWz NASA: https://lnkd.in/eM637kfD NHS: https://lnkd.in/eYK3QMa2 👍 Progressive’s: https://lnkd.in/evx_8bzY 👍 Schibsted: https://lnkd.in/et_BXg6R Shopify: https://lnkd.in/eAKgEHNW Skrill: https://lnkd.in/e2HGTq4q 👍 Slack: https://lnkd.in/ejZ2QtJa Zendesk: https://lnkd.in/euxijT5m 👍 Wise: https://lnkd.in/eWk-Mvf9 ✤ Useful resources Embedding Content Design In Design Systems, by Bobbie Wood https://lnkd.in/eu3EjgZg Embedding UX Writing In a Design System (+ Scorecard Template), by Mélanie Michou https://lnkd.in/eXXbRyQq Setting Up Content Design Systems, by Michael Lawrence, PhD https://lnkd.in/eC-67BnZ Content Strategy in Design Systems, by Pete Zogas https://lnkd.in/eWhUphBm Tone and Voice Workshop (Miro, PDF), by Antonia Horvath https://lnkd.in/epNJmp5B Designing Voice and Tone In UX Writing (+ PDF Worksheets) https://lnkd.in/e6r4cC8Y ✤ Books – Strategic Writing for UX from Torrey Podmajersky – Content Design by Sarah Winters – Nicely Said, by Nicole Fenton, Kate Kiefer Lee – Everybody Writes, by Ann Handley – Conversational Design by Erika Hall – Writing Is Designing, by Michael Metts, Andy Welfle ✏️ [continues in comments]

Designing For Users With ADHD (https://lnkd.in/ePw8THBg), a practical guide on how ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) manifests itself, and design patterns to help neurodivergent users accomplish their tasks. An honest and personal article, kindly shared by Eva Katharina Wolf. 👏🏽 ✅ ADHD affects around 5% of children, 2.5% of adults. ✅ Shows in forgetfulness, time-blindness, impulsivity, hyperactivity. ✅ Have trouble sitting still, racing thoughts, hyperactive mind. ✅ Hard to handle unstructured situations that need reflection. ✅ It’s challenging to listen to others while holding a thought. ✅ Remind people about key events and unfinished drafts. ✅ Display recently opened files, used filters, payments, drafts. ✅ Improve password recovery: reduce lock-outs and log outs. 🚫 Don’t renew contracts without a series of reminders. 🚫 Avoid auto-playing videos, animations (e.g. posts using GIFs). ✅ Show progress, chunk everything, allow to continue later. ✅ For forms, more simpler pages are better than 1 long page. ✅ Disclose details, filters, options gradually, not all at once. 🚫 Don’t make users rely on working memory to complete tasks. 🚫 Avoid jargon, internal abbreviations, dense business-speak. I might sound like a broken record, but the best way to improve design is to test with a wide range of people as a part of the design process. Whenever possible, involve people with ADHD in your research, design and usability sessions. Not only will it make it easier for people with ADHD to complete tasks — it will help *everyone* reduce distraction, avoid frustration and make fewer mistakes. Said it once, will say again: accessibility is better for everyone, independent of their skills, conditions, age or level of expertise. Useful resources: Neurodiversity Design System, by Will Soward https://lnkd.in/edBzmUT8 Writing Small: Readability Guidelines, by Intuit https://lnkd.in/eMqmPGdp Humane Design Guide Worksheet, by HumaneTech https://lnkd.in/e6t2ibP3 Inflow: Neuroinclusive Design for ADHDers, via Tamara Sredojevic https://www.getinflow.io/ Living With Adult ADHD, by Ana Krajinović https://lnkd.in/emKQxYVY How To Design For ADHD And Everyone, by Penelope https://lnkd.in/eieb86zZ How My ADHD Makes Me A Better Designer, by Sarah Mohs https://lnkd.in/eMAxj8Jn My ADHD Diagnosis Took Nearly 30 Years, by Diamond Sharp https://lnkd.in/evJ3V5ZB ✂️ Accessible Numbers: How To Design With Numbers https://lnkd.in/e8wyMWp4 #ux #accessibility

💎 Accessibility For Designers Checklist (PDF: https://lnkd.in/e9Z2G2kF), a practical set of cards on WCAG accessibility guidelines, from accessible color, typography, animations, media, layout and development — to kick-off accessibility conversations early on. Kindly put together by Geri Reid. WCAG for Designers Checklist, by Geri Reid Article: https://lnkd.in/ef8-Yy9E PDF: https://lnkd.in/e9Z2G2kF WCAG 2.2 Guidelines: https://lnkd.in/eYmzrNh7 Accessibility isn’t about compliance. It’s not about ticking off checkboxes. And it’s not about plugging in accessibility overlays or AI engines either. It’s about *designing* with a wide range of people in mind — from the very start, independent of their skills and preferences. In my experience, the most impactful way to embed accessibility in your work is to bring a handful of people with different needs early into design process and usability testing. It’s making these test sessions accessible to the entire team, and showing real impact of design and code on real people using a real product. Teams usually don’t get time to work on features which don’t have a clear business case. But no manager really wants to be seen publicly ignoring their prospect customers. Visualize accessibility to everyone on the team and try to make an argument about potential reach and potential income. Don’t ask for big commitments: embed accessibility in your work by default. Account for accessibility needs in your estimates. Create accessibility tickets and flag accessibility issues. Don’t mistake smiling and nodding for support — establish timelines, roles, specifics, objectives. And most importantly: measure the impact of your work by repeatedly conducting accessibility testing with real people. Build a strong before/after case to show the change that the team has enabled and contributed to, and celebrate small and big accessibility wins. It might not sound like much, but it can start changing the culture faster than you think. Useful resources: Giving A Damn About Accessibility, by Sheri Byrne-Haber (disabled) https://lnkd.in/eCeFutuJ Accessibility For Designers: Where Do I Start?, by Stéphanie Walter https://lnkd.in/ecG5qASY Web Accessibility In Plain Language (Free Book), by Charlie Triplett https://lnkd.in/e2AMAwyt Building Accessibility Research Practices, by Maya Alvarado https://lnkd.in/eq_3zSPJ How To Build A Strong Case For Accessibility, ↳ https://lnkd.in/ehGivAdY, by 🦞 Todd Libby ↳ https://lnkd.in/eC4jehMX, by Yichan Wang #ux #accessibility

🔬 UX Concept Testing. How to test your UX design without spending too much time and effort polishing mock-ups and prototypes ↓ ✅ Concept testing is an early real-world check of design ideas. ✅ It happens before a new product/feature is designed and built. ✅ It helps you find an idea that will meet user and business needs. ✅ Always low-fidelity, always pre-launch, always involves real users. 🚫 Testing, not validation: ideas are not confirmed, but evaluated. ✅ What people think, do, say and feel are often very different things. ✅ You’ll need 5 users per feature or a group of features. ✅ You will discover 85% of usability problems with 5 users. ✅ You will discover 100% of UX problems with 20–40 users. 🚫 Poor surveys are a dangerous, unreliable tool to assess design. 🚫 Never ask users if they prefer one design over the other. ✅ Ask what adjectives or qualities they connect with a design. ✅ Tree testing: ask users to find content in your navigation tree. ✅ Kano model survey: get user’s sentiment about new features. ✅ First impression test: ask to rate a concept against your keywords. ✅ Preference test: ask to pick a concept that better conveys keywords. ✅ Competitive testing: like preference test, but with competitor’s design. ✅ 5-sec test: show for 5 secs, then ask questions to answer from memory. ✅ Monadic testing: segment users, test concepts in-depth per segment. ✅ Concept testing isn’t one-off, but a continuous part of the UX process. In design process, we often speak about “validation” of the new design. Yet as Kara Pernice rightfully noted, the word is confusing and introduces bias. It suggests that we know it works, and are looking for data to prove that. Instead, test, study, watch how people use it, see where the design succeeds and fails. We don’t need polished mock-ups or advanced prototypes to test UX concepts. The earlier you bring your work to actual users, the less time you’ll spend on designing and building a solution that doesn’t meet user needs and doesn’t have a market fit. And that’s where concept testing can be extremely valuable. Useful resources: Concept Testing 101, by Jennifer Lee https://lnkd.in/egAiKreK A Guide To Concept Testing in UX, by Maze https://lnkd.in/eawUR-AM Concept Testing In Product Design, by Victor Yocco, PhD https://lnkd.in/egs-cyap How To Test A Design Concept For Effectiveness, by Paul Boag https://lnkd.in/e7wre6E4 The Perfect UX Research Midway Method, by Gabriella Campagna Lanning https://lnkd.in/e-iA3Wkn Don’t “Validate” Designs; Test Them, by Kara Pernice https://lnkd.in/eeHhG77j UX Research Methods Cheat Sheet, by Allison Grayce Marshall https://lnkd.in/eyKW8nSu #ux #testing

Typography Variables Figma Starter Kit (https://lnkd.in/e8xrxR9M), a neat little helper with an example of a type scale and variables for font family, font size, line height and font weight — for display text, headings, sub-headings, subtitles, body copy and captions. Very thorough, very detailed and very helpful! Kindly put together and shared by Luis Ouriach. Useful type tools: User Interface Typography (free eBook), by Alex Baranov https://lnkd.in/dxQNvjwz The Good Line-Height, by Fran Pérez https://lnkd.in/e_dbaJ2A Google Font Pairing Palettes (Figma kit) https://lnkd.in/ekNXpxqC Font Pairing Guide, by Connary Fagen https://lnkd.in/eHJ7z3dd What Can My Font Do?, by Roel Nieskens https://wakamaifondue.com Combining Typefaces, wonderful (!) free eBook by Tim Brown https://lnkd.in/g-Tgbzqt What The Font? allows you to search for a font by uploading an image https://lnkd.in/erXWbAyF Golden Rules of Web Typography, by Vitaly Friedman https://lnkd.in/eXj3ZX7g What’s The Right Font Size For the Web?, by Oliver Schöndorfer https://lnkd.in/e6GqEbPn The Dictionary of Typography, by Nicholas Rougeux https://lnkd.in/enpCcsEV Type Design Knowledge Hub, by Justin Penner https://lnkd.in/e2S7X229 Happy designing, everyone! 🎉🥳 #ux #design #typography

💎 100+ Playbooks, Checklists and Worksheets For PMs (Notion hub) (https://lnkd.in/eyHiFh7J), an incredible (!) goldmine with UX research templates, messaging frameworks, user journey templates, segmentation templates, product roadmaps and planning playbooks. Kindly put together and actively maintained by one-and-only Lisa Dziuba. 👏🏽 As always, treat templates as a good starting point to build upon and improve, but not as the ultimate source of truth to follow. Too often they are quite generic, and as such, not necessarily a perfect fit for the problem you’re solving. Good luck, everyone! You’ve got this! ✊🏽 Useful resources: Free Product Management Templates (Miro, Figma, PDF), by Paweł Huryn 🇺🇦 https://lnkd.in/eW95eZ9c Google Drive (Powerpoint templates): https://lnkd.in/e9aTgcvx FigJam templates by Maryna Kucherova 🇺🇦 https://lnkd.in/eqd5yQmG Comprehensive PM Curriculum, by Matt Mochary https://lnkd.in/emX4DtcV The Product Compass: Books, Videos, Templates (Notion Hub), by Paweł Huryn 🇺🇦 https://lnkd.in/eQAwB75B. And again, please give a huge round of thank-you to wonderful creators for putting and maintaining these and other resources for everyone to learn from and grow with — and whenever possible, support them if you find their work helpful. 👏🏼 👏🏽 👏🏾 #ux #design

How To Launch Design System Components (+ Figma template) (https://lnkd.in/egTZnbvW), a practical case study by Washington Post on how to avoid mismatched expectations around components, flag technical limitations early and prevent frequent overrides and change requests. Neatly put together by Brian Alfaro and Victor Aguilar. 📋 Set up a components board ← Keep candidates as Jira tickets. 🗓️ Component sprint runs for 10 days ← From discovery to docs. 🧱 Map impact vs. effort ← Prioritize components to work on. 🕹 Pair designer and engineer ← They take charge of delivery. 🕵️ Run a broad discovery ← 2h-meeting to define scope/reqs. 🐑 Shepherding ← discuss behavior, accessibility, variants etc. 🛠 Work in progress ← designer and dev work asynchronously. 🥔 Hot potato process ← they quickly throw ideas back and forth. 🗄 Document before launch ← design/code must exist in docs. 🚀 Sync launch ← work must be delivered in Figma and in code. Component Sprint Figma Template: https://lnkd.in/eAiSKZpy The most impactful way to avoid confusion, tension and miscommunication down the line is to establish mandatory overlaps between designers and developers — before a component is fully designed, built or even signed off. The entire sprint runs for 2 weeks. First, all candidate components are stored as tickets on a shared board. The WP team starts by mapping the impact vs. effort for these candidate components, conducted by key stakeholders, PMs, designers and engineers. Once a component is prioritized, the team pairs a designer and a developer to take charge of its delivery. Next, the team schedules a 2h-meeting to kick off a sprint with the wider team and define scope, requirements and relationships with other components. That’s also the time to discuss API, behavior, accessibility, animation, options or variants, localization and general requirements — but also add screenshots, links, reference code snippets, and other artifacts relevant for the component. Eventually, the funnel for participation narrows. After the first sprint meeting, the designer-developer pair work asynchronously, throwing mock-ups, ideas and reviews back and forth — similar to the Hot Potato process by Dan Mall. Components are designed and built in parallel. But they are delivered in Figma and as a code library at the same time. And: before going to production, they both must exist in the design system — even if the docs are preliminary and incomplete. ✤ Useful resources: How To Launch Design System Components (+ Figma Kit) https://lnkd.in/edNacHw7 “How We Organize Design Files in Figma” (+ Figma Kit) https://lnkd.in/eSPuhDSK How To Clean Up A Messy Figma File https://lnkd.in/eFciDnwe #ux #design

🍰 Designing Better Live Validation UX. Design guidelines to avoid an endless stream of disruptive error messages and boost success rates in complex forms ↓ ✅ Form validation can be premature, real-time, late or delayed. 🚫 Premature: starts when user just focuses on an input field. ✅ Real-time: happens when users starts typing first characters. ✅ Late: starts once a user has moved to the next input field. ✅ Delayed: happens only when user hits the Submit button. 🚫 Live validation often kicks in too early or too late. 🤔 Validation rules aren’t error-prone to exceptions. ✅ For each input, set a threshold when validation starts. ✅ When a user fixes an error, validate during data entry. ✅ When a user edits a correct input, validate after data entry. 🤔 Strict validators often cause 100% abandonment. ✅ Validate empty fields only when on Submit or Continue. ✅ Show errors immediately for severe/blocking issues. ✅ Allow users to override live validation if necessary. ✅ Late/delayed validation almost always perform better. You can find all the fine details in the newsletter below ↓ --- 👋🏼 I'm Vitaly Friedman, a UX lead who loves design, usability, writing, checklists and running UX workshops. You can find useful UX resources on my profile. I’m also running “Smart Interface Design Patterns” 🍣 (https://lnkd.in/d4CNaTxR) with a friendly video library and live UX training. #ux #design

🐝 How To Write Effective UX Research Invite Emails (https://lnkd.in/eWGer4bi), a practical guide on how companies across B2B and B2C write invite emails for UX research to get more useful responses. By Rosie Hoggmascall. 🚫 Avoid generic, vague, company-focused subject lines. ✅ Good subject line: “What do you think of [X] so far?”. ✅ Better subject line: “👋 Can you answer one quick question?”. ✅ For subject lines, try a direct question that is easy to answer. ✅ Introduce yourself in the very first line of body copy. ✅ Explain how long the survey will take (5–10 mins max). ✅ Include a survey link in the top 50% of the email. ✅ Be specific and explain why you’re inviting that person. ✅ If needed, add a Calendly link to choose a time slot. ✅ Good copy comes from a real person, not a big company. ✅ Include an authentic email signature from a real person. ✅ Show how many people joined already as social proof. ✅ Put company’s logo at the bottom of your invite email. ✅ Test plain text format: no imagery vs. branded template. Some emails prompt users to participate to get a chance to win a $250 prize for their time. In my experience, giving a guaranteed $50 voucher works better. Reward doesn’t have to be cash: it must be meaningful. Suggest to plant trees, or support initiatives, or donate funds to a charity of their choice. We don’t want generic responses. We want honest, constructive, helpful insights — and they aren’t coming from generic emails from corporate research initiatives. So the more an invitation feels like an invite from a colleague who is genuinely interested, the more likely users are to respond. Show yourself, your name and your title, and perhaps even your work phone number. Explain how customer’s insights will help you and your team. As a result, you might not only get helpful insights, but bring people on your side, willing to participate and help for years to come. Useful resources: How To Write Compelling UX Research Invite Emails (+ Templates), by Lizzy Burnam 🐞 https://lnkd.in/erfKiCHi Email Templates To Recruit All The Users You Need in 24 Hours, by Chuck Liu https://lnkd.in/ev6MhEGT UX Research Participants Handbook, by Gitlab https://lnkd.in/ezFWEc-E UX Research Recruiting Email Tips, by Annegret Lasch, David DeSanto https://lnkd.in/eY-XMwqd Research Recruitment Email Strategies, by Lauren Gibson https://lnkd.in/e2xBk6MZ How To Recruit UX Research Participants By Email, by Olivia Seitz https://lnkd.in/eJFZT6Qf #ux #design