With the family-tree metaphor being fairly easy to grasp, people intuitively knew how to interact with the interface, creating a more immersive experience with the actual data that powered the interface without much effort. It also allowed them to feel like the data they submitted made them part of the larger Porsche family. It’s important to keep

It’s important to keep in mind that features that delight users now could become expected features later on. For example, the crowd may have gasped when Steve Jobs introduced the pinch-to-zoom functionality in the first iPhone at the 2007 Apple event, but we’re not gasping now. As technology evolves, we become more and more demanding in the types

Going through a thorough requirements-gathering process allows us to unearth the underwater stones, roadblocks, or potential time sucks. Had we not spent as much time talking to the History Channel upfront, we probably would have ended up wasting a lot of time on a design direction that would have gotten rejected right away. All projects come with

The great thing about user flows is that with very little effort, before we even design any UI or do any information architecture, we can get a bird’s-eye view of all the possible paths available to the user. The other nice thing is that as a deliverable, they’re quite easy to understand. Everyone—including clients and developers—can understand

The product definition—or understanding—phase sets the foundation for the final product. Only after we understand what actually matters to the business stakeholders and customers can we start thinking of ways to conduct the research. And only after we have done the research can we actually start designing.

Remember, if everything is important, nothing is important.

Obviously not all forms should feel like a game, but if the form is ordered logically, fields are labeled clearly, related information is grouped, there are proper defaults, both keyboard and thumb input has been considered,

Do we truly understand the user’s intent in this exact interaction? Are we hiding things that stop the user from progressing? Are there clear indicators that point to what’s hidden? Is it easy to recall the hidden features? Have we tested the interaction to ensure it works as we imagined?

However, the problem with a mobile-first design approach is that it often means mobile only. The interface will look great on mobile devices, but awkward and empty on desktop computers. It also means that when new and even smaller devices are introduced into the ecosystem, like smartwatches, we end up with the same problem: The design can’t scale