uxui

Mar 07 2022

Human Interface Guidelines

A desktop on a table with paper next to the screen. — Photo by UX Store on Unsplash

Human Interface Guidelines suggest how interface components should look and how users will interact with them. There are as many ideas about interface design as there are proponents of any particular library or API.

All interface designs share a similar goal, which is to create a unified user experience across the environment. To accomplish that, the guidelines help make their design’s interface intuitive, consistent, and learnable, both for the OS for its applications and tools. All interface elements and their guidelines should be included in an interface design document with usage examples, when practical. For example, buttons, checkboxes, dialog boxes, application views, buttons, bars, etc.

Apple Human Interface Guidelines

Apple was one the first companies to use “look and feel” in their literature when referencing the MacOS interface in the 1980s. As technology advanced, ideas on interface design also advanced. Today, Apple has “Human Interface Guidelines” that establish how your application should look and feel to users on all of it’s platforms.

Apple’s HIG is an extensive document covering all aspects of application look and feel across the entire Apple ecosystem. There is a platform-specific HIG for each Apple OS environment:

macOS for MacBooks
iOS for iPhone/iPad
watchOS for Apple Watches
tvOS for Apple TV

Apple’s HIG is organized by platform and technologies. Each platform is subdivided into sections. For iOS, for example, the sections cover architecture, user interaction, system capabilities, icons and images, bars, views, controls, and extensions.

From the iOS section topics, it’s evident that Apple is invested in ensuring that applications on their platform have that certain Apple “look” and that those applications function in a consistent manner.

Consistency is an important factor in user uptake of new applications. When UI elements function similarly, it’s easier for your users to transfer their operational knowledge between applications.

Using the HIG helps maintain the quality of your application by guiding your UI decisions to support the application’s operation. Following the HIG will improve your engineering and design decisions by helping you to anticipate what most users will expect from your application’s interface.

It’s important to remember that the HIG does not dictate how your application operates, it describes the user/application interaction through visual cues, controls, and application feedback.

Customer Impact

When followed, the Human Interface Guidelines ensure that the components of your application’s UI are understandable to the average Apple user through familiarity with the OS and with other applications.

Maintaining a consistent interface helps you create an application interface that is more rapidly accepted and gives your users an increased feeling of being in control, which creates a positive user experience. A side benefit is that your application will complete the App Store in a more timely manner because the UI and its controls appear and operate in the manner expected by the reviewers.

Resources

InRhythm University Lightning Talk: Lightning Talk / Human Interface Guidelines / February 24th 2022 / Hamid Mahmood

Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/

May 01 2019

Sprint 2.0: 4 Day Design Sprints

It was a humbling experience to kick off the InRhythmU Speaker Series at InRhythm HQ. InRhythmU was created to foster a culture of continuous education through onsite events and comprehensive workshops for anyone who is looking to learn and grow in their field. As the Director of UX/UI Design at InRhythm, it seemed fitting to give a talk about Design Sprints and how it impacts the speed to market as well as the creativity a group can bring to a room when working together.

We started the session with a brief overview of where UX/UI sits in the cadence of a products journey, showing where intelligence (UX) meets creativity (UI). We discussed the difference between design thinking and design sprints and then the sprints themselves, which was started by a group from Google Ventures in 2016. The five day sprint is a team workshop for learning, iterating, creating and deploying. Sprint 2.0 is a four day sprint with even more collaboration and problem solving.

While we discussed the iteration process, we did a hands on task of Crazy 8s, where attendees were giving a module to design and had eight minutes to create eight drawings per minute. The attendees were a mix of designers, product owners, scrum masters, engineers and marketers, which is the perfect cross section for this exercise. While the start was slow, the group found their footing and cruised through drawings. Coming up with idea after idea in the 8 minutes allotted. The mix of job types showed how a group can have a similar idea for a singular task.

We concluded by discussing how this methodology not only builds experiences quickly and creates a strong team dynamic but gives us the option to test our ideas. Testing creates a level of flexibility that only breeds better experiences and if everyone brings this type of creativity, iteration along with strong dynamic back to their jobs and creates some next level experiences for us all.

You can watch the full session here. Apologies in advance for the sporadic use of profanity.

Feb 28 2019

The InRhythm Product Design Community

When you come to work at InRhythm, you’re part of a larger community of people—committed to learning and growing—who are as passionate about what they love as you are. InRhythm’s product design community is growing rapidly, and we continue to bring in the most talented and creative individuals who love helping users and building cool stuff. As Director of Product Design, I’ve made it my mission to use my 20+ years of design experience to mentor new employees and chart the course for this division’s success. Over two decades of work, I haven’t had a single day where I hated the career path I’ve chosen, and I want to foster that same energy throughout InRhythm. We’re more than a consulting company that places you on a client site; we’re more than a 9-to-5 job. Learning and growth at InRhythm is a lifestyle.

Fueled for Success

Product designers at InRhythm are some of the most passionate, driven people. We do everything, including UX/UI, design, research copywriting, and even Agile scrums and product ownership. Loving what you do as a designer does more than chart a successful career—it also influences people around you, and we want that same high energy and excitement in our everyday work and the educational pursuits of our personal passions. Not everyone understands the best practices or user psychology central to our practice; this is where you come in as a thought leader. Be the expert onsite, and elevate the quality of work for your teams.

Why is all this important? There’s a lot to be said for knowing your client, understanding their brand, being empathetic to their pain point, and creating embedded experiences that build new opportunities. Some agencies and firms only care about the end experience instead of understanding the process or story of a company; being an advocate for the users and the company is what makes for a premier user experience.

A Community Like No Other

At InRhythm, we don’t just drop you off with a client and go silent for six months—we’re a growing community that stays connected, whether it’s through Slack channels, happy hours, book clubs, and Meetups. We’re all here for the same thing: to grow and learn. Everyone is at your disposal because the best growth happens with the support of your peers, so if you want to learn something new or fill gaps in your existing knowledge, just ask!

Another benefit of working with us is the comfort and freedom to talk about your work and passions. InRhythmers lead and attend “lunch and learn” sessions on client sites, panel discussions, and interactive workshops at InRhythm HQ. You’ll never be alone in your ventures, and our community is here for everything from preparation and coaching to supporting you at your event as enthusiastic audience members.

Work Smarter, not Harder

It’s no secret that Agile and Design Thinking are hot industry buzzwords in our industry. These methodologies are great tools for making work more fun and efficient while inspiring the group collaboration that is at the core of our learning and growth culture. We embody those collective ideals, and design thinking can shape our experiences throughout our lives. When you download a new app, get a new piece of hardware, or even see how text and images are presented in a television show, you’ll find yourself starting that Design Thinking process. How did this feature get included? Why did they do this? Is this design fully effective for their target demographic? Or even something as simple as, “damn, that looks cool!” We research, sketch, iterate, and build experiences ourselves that we know will impact the end user in ways that will make a huge difference without them even realizing what went into it.

When you’re at work representing InRhythm, you’ll always be presented with challenges. Whether it’s interpersonal differences, tight deadlines, or just broken processes, InRhythmers always stay positive, focus on the drive that brought us here, communicate openly, and elevate the game for the people we work with. Regardless of who signs the paychecks, we all have a common goal to build something amazing on our client sites. No company is perfect (if they were, we wouldn’t be there to change things!) but how you show up, identify opportunities for improvement, and forge a path forward is what matters, and what sets InRhythm apart.

Leadership Takes Ownership

In my work at InRhythm, I listen to our clients’ needs, assess what they’re looking for, and our best-in-class recruiting team finds the perfect match to become a new InRhythmer. We want to hear about your process, why you make decisions, and how you ultimately reached those decisions. Anyone can push pixels, but it takes a specific type of person to talk about their work at the level we expect. Whether you’re just starting out or have been designing since the 90s, the type of devotion to your career and the disciplines behind it is what makes or breaks our hiring decision. Our selective process ensures not only your growth as a professional and person but also makes sure our clients thrive through work with some of the most impressive talent. Along the way, I make it my mission to check in with you and make sure your client work is on track to keep you challenged and growing constantly.

We hold biweekly calls that give you the opportunity to chat about everything from client site problems to the latest from your fellow InRhythmers. No one has all the answers, but we can supply you with the tools and stories you need as a group with a common mission. My primary focus is around your learning and growth; when you leave InRhythm, you’ll be better than when you arrived. We shape consummate professionals, teammates, and leaders within our community, and our accountability on all sides is why we’re built to succeed.

This year we plan on adding more UX/UI designers, visual designers, prototypers, UX researchers, scrum masters, dog lovers, thought leaders, cosplayers, crazy people, and—most of all—people who want to stand in front of a room of people and say, “let me tell you why knowing about *your subject* is important!”

Is that you? We’re hiring. Looking forward to meeting you.