UX Heuristics, Cognitive Crutches & A Process for Simplifying Application UI

The world around us can be overwhelming most of the time, especially during global pandemics and with social turbulence occurring on a daily basis.

When we think about how our minds comprehend the vast amounts of information around us, one of the cognitive tools our minds use is pattern recognition.  We hear a lot about pattern recognition in Artificial intelligence, this is because programmers are attempting to mimic human mental cognition.

This so-called pattern recognition, from a User Experience and Psychological perspective is called Heuristics.  A Heuristic can be seen at play in almost all walks of human life.

by Damon Sanchez Nov 5, 2020

Design patterns are a lifesaver for Extensible Applications.

All of the major programming languages have evolved tremendously over the past decade especially to make the developers job easy. C# by Microsoft has been at the top of the game of adding plethora of easy to use and extremely powerful constructs ranging from async programming to functional programming. The well-developed programming languages have made it extremely easy for beginners to pick up coding and start developing applications quickly.

However, when developing extensible applications for the future, just using the language to write down logic for applications does not do the job well. We have to think about the overall design of the application for it to be able to scale and extend well. This means utilizing appropriate design patterns wherever applicable.

by Siddharth Bhola Jul 11, 2019

SPO Image Resizing and How to Format New Visual Content

One Question I have been getting asked since SharePoint Online came out is about content images. How should they be formatted? What are the dimensions of a banner image? How do the images look at different window and screen sizes?

by Andrew Jordan Jan 16, 2019

User Experience Process & Strategy | Super Mario Brothers & Chaos Theory

We have experiences woven into technology ranging from 0-Dimensions involving the realm of sound, all the way to 3-Dimensional space in which overlaid objectivity heightens what we perceive.

Understanding these experiences as humans intertwined into the realm of technology, involves a host of various sciences and areas of thought.

This is not to say that other areas of a User Centered Strategy are not important, but the gravity of doing a User Persona and a User Journey can be positively felt through out a project as it impacts who the intended use encapsulates.  Likewise the positive impact of group consensus over UI Layout, and the effectiveness of approved visual language kindles what is typically referred to as fuzzy-design-logic into clarity.

by Damon Sanchez Oct 5, 2018

Designers as Ambassadors: Knowing Your Client

In my short time at Concurrency, I have been involved in the vital role we serve as the bridge between our clients and our developers. 

by Emma Hurth Aug 10, 2018

Things to Consider When Designing a 3D Experience on HoloLens

Many have heard of the incredible, hands free, fully untethered, augmented reality computing device created by Microsoft, known as HoloLens by now as it has been out in the early market for some time.  This device allows people to interact with their environment in ways that has never been seen before, (apart from science fiction).  With these new paradigms comes new challenges when designing a well-polished and compelling user experience on HoloLens.  I have found that nailing down these key areas early in design will help the overall application build go smoothly.

by Sam Figie Oct 17, 2017

2-4-6-8 Who Do We Appreciate… Toasters & The Psychology of Consumer & User Experience CX/UX

To understand how to utilize a Consumer Centric process and in what order to effectively execute the many puzzle pieces its first required that we know who are users/consumers are…

by Damon Sanchez Oct 13, 2016

Using UI Wireframes & UX Mock-ups to Attain Group Consensus - The Art of the Dog-and-Pony-Show.

Creative Platforms are planned, scrutinized and scrapped and then reimagined from the ground up many times over.  If done correctly a creative platform can imbue a consumer with a magical sense that they themselves personify a brand.

This Holy Grail in advertising psychology… is the insubstantial brand equity that agencies strive to produce.

User Interface Design and the ability to shape a User’s Experience operates a lot like the pursuit of a perfect Customer Experience and how it builds Brand Equity. 

by Damon Sanchez May 23, 2016

SharePoint 13/2016 UI & UX, Apps & Web Services - The Continuity of User Experience in Design Language

Notice the Visual Impact of the simple change to a custom App Icon.  Where we would typically experience the UX of SharePoint out-of-the box, there is an occurrence of Micro Brand Establishment and now we have Aesthetic Value.

by Damon Sanchez May 11, 2016

Sketches, Doodles, UI Patterns or Poodles? Conditioned Responses & User Interfaces: Part 1

User Interfaces rely on the common knowledge of the person using the interface.  What establishes the perception of good UI, is really based on conditioning.

by Damon Sanchez Mar 2, 2016