Update: I have uploaded some tutorials on youtube
There's also an interesting discussion on Branch.
You can find that here - quartz composer
In answer to my own question..
I got a great piece of advise from the Quartz Composer group on Facebook which was to take apart the 'Welcome.qtz' that pops up when you open the application at the start.
To open it as a composition navigate : Applications>Quartz Composer ( right click ) > Show Package contents> Resources> Welcome.qtz
Rightly pointed out by the guy who suggested it to me, it has all the functions you need to protot
Update: I have uploaded some tutorials on youtube
There's also an interesting discussion on Branch.
You can find that here - quartz composer
In answer to my own question..
I got a great piece of advise from the Quartz Composer group on Facebook which was to take apart the 'Welcome.qtz' that pops up when you open the application at the start.
To open it as a composition navigate : Applications>Quartz Composer ( right click ) > Show Package contents> Resources> Welcome.qtz
Rightly pointed out by the guy who suggested it to me, it has all the functions you need to prototype an app - rubberbanding, inertia scrolling and clickable text/images to take you to another screen.
It takes a while to get what each patch does and even longer to figure out what each macro does but it's definitely worth it. I've taken what I need from it and built a solid ( basic ) template on which to use for prototyping. To achieve the more obscure animations that iOS has will take some experimentation and its well worth having a look at the existing patches in QC root folder in the library.
Hope this helps anybody interested.
Where do I start?
I’m a huge financial nerd, and have spent an embarrassing amount of time talking to people about their money habits.
Here are the biggest mistakes people are making and how to fix them:
Not having a separate high interest savings account
Having a separate account allows you to see the results of all your hard work and keep your money separate so you're less tempted to spend it.
Plus with rates above 5.00%, the interest you can earn compared to most banks really adds up.
Here is a list of the top savings accounts available today. Deposit $5 before moving on because this is one of th
Where do I start?
I’m a huge financial nerd, and have spent an embarrassing amount of time talking to people about their money habits.
Here are the biggest mistakes people are making and how to fix them:
Not having a separate high interest savings account
Having a separate account allows you to see the results of all your hard work and keep your money separate so you're less tempted to spend it.
Plus with rates above 5.00%, the interest you can earn compared to most banks really adds up.
Here is a list of the top savings accounts available today. Deposit $5 before moving on because this is one of the biggest mistakes and easiest ones to fix.
Overpaying on car insurance
You’ve heard it a million times before, but the average American family still overspends by $417/year on car insurance.
If you’ve been with the same insurer for years, chances are you are one of them.
Pull up Coverage.com, a free site that will compare prices for you, answer the questions on the page, and it will show you how much you could be saving.
That’s it. You’ll likely be saving a bunch of money. Here’s a link to give it a try.
Consistently being in debt
If you’ve got $10K+ in debt (credit cards…medical bills…anything really) you could use a debt relief program and potentially reduce by over 20%.
Here’s how to see if you qualify:
Head over to this Debt Relief comparison website here, then simply answer the questions to see if you qualify.
It’s as simple as that. You’ll likely end up paying less than you owed before and you could be debt free in as little as 2 years.
Missing out on free money to invest
It’s no secret that millionaires love investing, but for the rest of us, it can seem out of reach.
Times have changed. There are a number of investing platforms that will give you a bonus to open an account and get started. All you have to do is open the account and invest at least $25, and you could get up to $1000 in bonus.
Pretty sweet deal right? Here is a link to some of the best options.
Having bad credit
A low credit score can come back to bite you in so many ways in the future.
From that next rental application to getting approved for any type of loan or credit card, if you have a bad history with credit, the good news is you can fix it.
Head over to BankRate.com and answer a few questions to see if you qualify. It only takes a few minutes and could save you from a major upset down the line.
How to get started
Hope this helps! Here are the links to get started:
Have a separate savings account
Stop overpaying for car insurance
Finally get out of debt
Start investing with a free bonus
Fix your credit
I haven't seen any... That said, I tend to use quartz composer in ways that let me use it inside another program, VDMX, for mixing real-time video, so the user-interface question for me is more about VDMX. Have a look at the contents list of this new Quartz Composer tutorial book http://books.google.com.au/books?id=SqbB_giseTAC&pg=PR16&lpg=PR16&dq=quartz+composer+book+pearson&source=bl&ots=DjFKPGNG13&sig=EgHRidMZhlpgAIwdPtg8pbvCjyk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FG8aUJaRMoi6iQf_r4CABQ&ved=0CGYQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=quartz%20composer%20book%20pearson&f=false and try kineme.net or the apple QC mailing list.
Design news featured this super helpful Wayfinder link with guidelines to prototyping with Quartz: Prototyping 101 - Quartz Composer
Source: Facebook Home prototyped in Quartz Composer - Tutorial
"Facebook Home is prototyped with Quartz Composer (by Facebook), @DaveOBrien_ (a design student from Ireland) reverse engineered it and made 5 tutorials explaining how it's done!"
Demo:
Tutorials:
Design news featured this super helpful Wayfinder link with guidelines to prototyping with Quartz: Prototyping 101 - Quartz Composer
Source: Facebook Home prototyped in Quartz Composer - Tutorial
"Facebook Home is prototyped with Quartz Composer (by Facebook), @DaveOBrien_ (a design student from Ireland) reverse engineered it and made 5 tutorials explaining how it's done!"
Demo:
Tutorials:
Take a look:
User Interface Design Basics
User Interface (UI) Design focuses on anticipating what users might need to do and ensuring that the interface has elements that are easy to access, understand, and use to facilitate those actions. UI brings together concepts from interaction design, visual design, and information architecture.
Choosing Interface Elements
Users have become familiar with interface elements acting in a certain way, so try to be consistent and predictable in your choices and their layout. Doing so will help with task completion, efficiency,
Take a look:
User Interface Design Basics
User Interface (UI) Design focuses on anticipating what users might need to do and ensuring that the interface has elements that are easy to access, understand, and use to facilitate those actions. UI brings together concepts from interaction design, visual design, and information architecture.
Choosing Interface Elements
Users have become familiar with interface elements acting in a certain way, so try to be consistent and predictable in your choices and their layout. Doing so will help with task completion, efficiency, and satisfaction.
Interface elements include but are not limited to:
- Input Controls: buttons, text fields, checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdown lists, list boxes, toggles, date field
- Navigational Components: breadcrumb, slider, search field, pagination, slider, tags, icons
- Informational Components: tooltips, icons, progress bar, notifications, message boxes, modal windows
- Containers: accordion
There are times when multiple elements might be appropriate for displaying content. When this happens, it’s important to consider the trade-offs. For example, sometimes elements that can help save you space, put more of a burden on the user mentally by forcing them to guess what is within the dropdown or what the element might be.
Best Practices for Designing an Interface
Everything stems from knowing your users, including understanding their goals, skills, preferences, and tendencies. Once you know about your user, make sure to consider the following when designing your interface:
- Keep the interface simple. The best interfaces are almost invisible to the user. They avoid unnecessary elements and are clear in the language they use on labels and in messaging.
- Create consistency and use common UI elements. By using common elements in your UI, users feel more comfortable and are able to get things done more quickly. It is also important to create patterns in language, layout and design throughout the site to help facilitate efficiency. Once a user learns how to do something, they should be able to transfer that skill to other parts of the site.
- Be purposeful in page layout. Consider the spatial relationships between items on the page and structure the page based on importance. Careful placement of items can help draw attention to the most important pieces of information and can aid scanning and readability.
- Strategically use color and texture. You can direct attention toward or redirect attention away from items using color, light, contrast, and texture to your advantage.
- Use typography to create hierarchy and clarity. Carefully consider how you use typeface. Different sizes, fonts, and arrangement of the text to help increase scanability, legibility and readability.
- Make sure that the system communicates what’s happening. Always inform your users of location, actions, changes in state, or errors. The use of various UI elements to communicate status and, if necessary, next steps can reduce frustration for your user.
- Think about the defaults. By carefully thinking about and anticipating the goals people bring to your site, you can create defaults that reduce the burden on the user. This becomes particularly important when it comes to form design where you might have an opportunity to have some fields pre-chosen or filled out.
References
- Jesse James Garrett’s The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web and Beyond (2nd Edition).
- Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld’s Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites.
Related Content
Related Resources
Related Categories
Designer News has some more info and tutorials on QC: Facebook Home prototyped in Quartz Composer
This Wayfinder link was also super helpful: Prototyping 101 - Quartz Composer
Designing Interactions by Bill Moggridge
http://www.designinginteractions.com/
The best freelance digital marketers can be found on Fiverr. Their talented freelancers can provide full web creation, or anything Shopify on your budget and deadline. If you’re looking for someone who can do Magento, Fiverr has the freelancers qualified to do so. If you want to do Dropshipping, PHP, or, GTmetrix, Fiverr can help with that too. Any digital marketing help you need Fiverr has freelancers qualified to take the reins. What are you waiting for? Start today.
Dont Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
It's powerful for prototyping animations, has a steep learning curve, and is Mac-only.
QC is great for animations that would be really hard to simulate in After Effects or Keynote (such as Facebook's famous usage of it for Chat Heads).
It's just another tool, though. Don't forget that.
I bought my first house a few years ago. I’ve learned a lot (mostly the hard way).
Here are the things I wish someone had warned me about from the get go.
Just get a financial advisor
You wouldn't trust your car to somebody who wasn't a mechanic. If you're not a finance genius, stop managing your money/investments by yourself.
Trust your money to an actual finance expert. It took me maybe 5-10 minutes to find one and he's saved me a ton of money (and hassle) over the years.
People with a good financial advisor can see yearly returns boosted by ~3%¹.
If you don’t know one, try a comparison site to fi
I bought my first house a few years ago. I’ve learned a lot (mostly the hard way).
Here are the things I wish someone had warned me about from the get go.
Just get a financial advisor
You wouldn't trust your car to somebody who wasn't a mechanic. If you're not a finance genius, stop managing your money/investments by yourself.
Trust your money to an actual finance expert. It took me maybe 5-10 minutes to find one and he's saved me a ton of money (and hassle) over the years.
People with a good financial advisor can see yearly returns boosted by ~3%¹.
If you don’t know one, try a comparison site to find someone with solid reviews (link here).
Get help setting a budget
I used to think budgeting meant tracking every penny like someone with a spreadsheet obsession. Turns out, there are apps that can do all of that for you.
I’ve been using Simplifi ($5.99/month, but there are others), and it pulls in all my accounts, shows me what I actually have left to spend, and even flags random subscriptions I’d forgotten about.
I also set up savings goals, bill reminders, and a debt tracker - which has been surprisingly useful.
It comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it and see if it’s worth it: link here.
Switch auto insurance every 6 months
If you haven’t checked your insurance rates in the last 6 months or so, do it.
If you’re a good driver, your auto insurance rate should be dropping (not rising), cos you’re less of a risk to insure.
They count on you not shopping around. Don’t let them win. Use a comparison site to find a better deal (I used this one: link here).
Automatically find cheaper prices (when possible) on Amazon, etc.
Amazon isn’t always going to show you the best deals.
Use a savings app like Capital One Shopping. It auto-compares prices and applies coupons while you shop. It’s free so prob worth a try.
Let a company pay your home repair bills for you
If you have a home warranty, your warranty company will likely pay your home repair bills for you.
If you don’t have a warranty yet, think about getting yourself one. Choice Warranty is pretty good (link here).
Home warranty companies usually have pre-vetted maintenance and repair workers ready to get the job done (which is one less thing to worry about).
If you’re interested just enter your zip code here to look at pricing etc. Could save you a bunch of money the next time something breaks down.
I'd recommend the Uxd work of Glix dannyglix.com/specialtydesign_onlineinterface.htm
When looking to learn about UX/UI design, several excellent resources can help you gain a comprehensive understanding of the field:
Nowadays Online Courses, Podcasts and Webinars, Communities and Forums, YouTube Channels are great resources for learning about UX UI design.
I would highly recommend a Youtube channel, a great community for new beginners at UX design Industry.
“UX Talks with Atiq" a valuable resource for learning about UX/UI design.
This series offers in-depth discussions, interviews with industry experts, and practical advice that can help you deepen your understanding and skills in
When looking to learn about UX/UI design, several excellent resources can help you gain a comprehensive understanding of the field:
Nowadays Online Courses, Podcasts and Webinars, Communities and Forums, YouTube Channels are great resources for learning about UX UI design.
I would highly recommend a Youtube channel, a great community for new beginners at UX design Industry.
“UX Talks with Atiq" a valuable resource for learning about UX/UI design.
This series offers in-depth discussions, interviews with industry experts, and practical advice that can help you deepen your understanding and skills in UX/UI design.
I've listed what Quartz related tutorials I've found helpful so far...
at these links...
Prototyping 101 - Quartz Composer
http://www.skynoise.net/2010/04/15/learning-quartz-composer-part-1/
http://www.skynoise.net/2011/05/05/learning-quartz-composer-part-2/
http://www.skynoise.net/2011/05/25/learning-with-quartz-part-3-diy-ancho-rotation-fx-for-vdmx/
And in related news: VJ Shakinda apparently has a book about Quartz Composer coming out in May 2012 ( it's been at the publishers since 2010!) ..
I would agree with Jonathan on this. LiveView is the best way to go.
It was something I meant to show in my tutorials but forgot ( I will do it in the next few ). There isnt and probably wont be an easy way to integrate QC with iOS devices that I can see.
I think it's possible to do something with OSC sender and recievers as QC has patches for that and I've seen it being done once but it's something I havnt researched fully.
The guys on the QC Facebook group are amazing with it and can bend Quartz to do some pretty incredible things. Im sure they would know a lot more about this kind of thin
I would agree with Jonathan on this. LiveView is the best way to go.
It was something I meant to show in my tutorials but forgot ( I will do it in the next few ). There isnt and probably wont be an easy way to integrate QC with iOS devices that I can see.
I think it's possible to do something with OSC sender and recievers as QC has patches for that and I've seen it being done once but it's something I havnt researched fully.
The guys on the QC Facebook group are amazing with it and can bend Quartz to do some pretty incredible things. Im sure they would know a lot more about this kind of thing. Try them
Of your options, Atomic. But I'm a die-hard Axure user. Sure, it requires a bit more skill and thought, and is possibly regarded as not as flash, but as they say ... everything they can do, I can do better. A lot of these up and coming tools have potential, but they are still very limited in what you can do. Some are mobile only. Some are interaction glue only. Some focus on transitions and actions. Axure does it all, and then some. I'm trying all the new tools as they appear, all the time, always looking for that better way to make great prototypes with less effort. Heck, I'll drop Axure as s
Of your options, Atomic. But I'm a die-hard Axure user. Sure, it requires a bit more skill and thought, and is possibly regarded as not as flash, but as they say ... everything they can do, I can do better. A lot of these up and coming tools have potential, but they are still very limited in what you can do. Some are mobile only. Some are interaction glue only. Some focus on transitions and actions. Axure does it all, and then some. I'm trying all the new tools as they appear, all the time, always looking for that better way to make great prototypes with less effort. Heck, I'll drop Axure as soon as one appears. Until then, it does it all, and then some.
I should also mention that I've written some tools we use in-house that creates fully functioning HTML5/Bootstrappy prototypes from minimal XML text input which we use when we are testing fully adaptive designs.
You start by understanding your users and everything they need to do before you draw anything.
This is your user and task analysis. Without it, you’re rolling the dice. Your purpose is to know …
- What your users need to do in the system — their tasks, which follow from their goals. If I’m going to the grocery store, one task is to drive there, which requires me to start my car, which requires me to insert the key. Break this down into as much detail as you need. Nobody suffered from understanding user tasks in too much detail.
- Why they’re doing it. I’m doing all those tasks because I want to accom
You start by understanding your users and everything they need to do before you draw anything.
This is your user and task analysis. Without it, you’re rolling the dice. Your purpose is to know …
- What your users need to do in the system — their tasks, which follow from their goals. If I’m going to the grocery store, one task is to drive there, which requires me to start my car, which requires me to insert the key. Break this down into as much detail as you need. Nobody suffered from understanding user tasks in too much detail.
- Why they’re doing it. I’m doing all those tasks because I want to accomplish something. If I go to YouTube to watch Stephen Colbert’s opening monologue from last night, that’s my goal. Opening my laptop, firing up Chrome, and submitting a search are means to that end.
- Their context when doing it. Look for constraints and external factors. Going back to the grocery-store analogy: Could I be in a rush because I need to get dinner on the table? Am I flustered because I’ve got naggy kids with me? Am I looking for unusual ingredients because of some ethnic recipe? Have I been there before so I know where everything is?
- Relative importance, frequency, and motivation. There’s a big difference between a frequent but unimportant feature and a rarely use feature that is time-sensitive and very important when it is needed. Create a matrix — frequency high to low is one axis, importance high to low is the other. Call “importance” “urgency” if you need to make absolutely clear to stakeholders what we’re talking about. High importance, or urgency, requires high visibility or findability. Frequency determines whether you expose by default and whether you can rely on recognition cues like icons.
Once you properly understand what people will be doing, you will have the information you need to determine what’s exposed at what level, how you get to stuff that’s collapsed or further down in the hierarchy of the layout or site architecture, and how you learn where everything is.
Without that groundwork you might as well be navigating a submarine with no charts.
Apple human interface guidelines are really very insightful : http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/MobileHIG/Introduction/Introduction.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40006556-CH1-SW1
Right from minimum size of a button to effects, it can really help designers and developers.
For Android : http://developer.android.com/design/index.html
(I read http://www.mutualmobile.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/MM_Android_Design_Guidelines.pdf . The guide tries to give some idea on how one can design for Android.)
Even though I've had very little experience with Quartz composer, the best advice I can give you is to start with Apple's documentation. As with all Apple technologies, the docs include lots of information on how to get started and even provide examples and tutorials.
So I'd start here:
1. Quartz Composer User Guide: Learn the basics and get started with creating compositions. A step-by-step tutorial is included.
https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/graphicsimaging/conceptual/QuartzComposerUserGuide/qc_intro/qc_intro.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40005381-CH201-TPXREF101
2. Quartz
Even though I've had very little experience with Quartz composer, the best advice I can give you is to start with Apple's documentation. As with all Apple technologies, the docs include lots of information on how to get started and even provide examples and tutorials.
So I'd start here:
1. Quartz Composer User Guide: Learn the basics and get started with creating compositions. A step-by-step tutorial is included.
https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/graphicsimaging/conceptual/QuartzComposerUserGuide/qc_intro/qc_intro.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40005381-CH201-TPXREF101
2. Quartz composer programming guide: learn how to use your compositions in websites and applications.
https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/graphicsimaging/conceptual/QuartzComposer/qc_intro/qc_intro.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40001357
I don't know if that's exactly what you were looking for, but I hope this helps anyway.
It's the process of creating interfaces (namely apps and websites) with a focus on look, style, and interactivity. A UI designer will design the movement between different screens, and create the visual elements—and their interactive properties—that facilitate user interaction.
The U stands for User and the I stands for Interface. Thus UI is ‘User Interface’
Definition: UI stands for an interface between a human and computer or a computer program. It can take many forms. A screen, keyboard or a mouse is technically an interface. And so is a website or an application.
In general parlance today, UI usually refers to a software interface and more often than not, it is Graphical User Interface that comes to mind. This however need not be the case.
These are some of the common types of interfaces that we will find around us:
1. Command Line Interface: This is one of the oldes
The U stands for User and the I stands for Interface. Thus UI is ‘User Interface’
Definition: UI stands for an interface between a human and computer or a computer program. It can take many forms. A screen, keyboard or a mouse is technically an interface. And so is a website or an application.
In general parlance today, UI usually refers to a software interface and more often than not, it is Graphical User Interface that comes to mind. This however need not be the case.
These are some of the common types of interfaces that we will find around us:
1. Command Line Interface: This is one of the oldest forms of Computer Interfaces still around and it involves the computer responding to the commands typed in by the user or the operator
2. Graphical User Interfaces: Like mentioned earlier this is the most common understanding of what a user interface is. The most common version is that which involves a mouse and other hardware interfaces that are used to control metaphorical interface objects on screen to perform tasks. The most common user interface metaphor is that of the desktop where a WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointers) are used to control the actions. E.g. Windows & MacOS
3. Gestural Manipulation Interfaces: This is a variation of a GUI without the mouse part of the WIMP and found mostly on Touchscreen devices like mobile phones and tablets.
4. Gestural Interfaces: This is a non direct manipulation interface like the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Kinect that use gestures to control the user interface
5. Menu driven interfaces: Common on ATM machines this is where the UI is driven through a series of menus
Form based UI: This is where the UI works based on infromation captured through forms
Natural language UI: This can be either voice based like the Amazon Echo/Siri or text based like the conversational AI bots of today
The study of this brach of computer science is called Human Computer Interaction
Question: What is the UI design?
Once you’ve figured out the user flow and information architecture.
start Wireframing with a paper and pencil.
Once you have the wireframes, you can start designing on softwares.
Before installing any tools. do try web products like
UXPin - UX Design, Wireframing Tools, Prototyping Tools
Wireframe.cc - minimal wireframing tool
Fluid UI - Free web and mobile app prototyping
Don’t shy away from using trial versions of softwares you come across. Play around with all of them, you would learn lot.
You can use following for prototyping your designs.
Free Web & Mobile Prototyping (Web,
Once you’ve figured out the user flow and information architecture.
start Wireframing with a paper and pencil.
Once you have the wireframes, you can start designing on softwares.
Before installing any tools. do try web products like
UXPin - UX Design, Wireframing Tools, Prototyping Tools
Wireframe.cc - minimal wireframing tool
Fluid UI - Free web and mobile app prototyping
Don’t shy away from using trial versions of softwares you come across. Play around with all of them, you would learn lot.
You can use following for prototyping your designs.
Free Web & Mobile Prototyping (Web, iOS, Android) and UI Mockup Tool | InVision
Free Web & Mobile Prototyping (Web, iOS, Android) and UI Mockup Tool | InVisio
Apart from web based, you can start downloading
Sketch App : Professional Digital Design for Mac
Adobe XD Website and app prototyping, free wireframing tool : ( only for mac now windows version is on it’s way) has a long way to go, but keep yourself updated. It’s going to be a major software in future for UI / UX Designers.
Adobe Illustrator and photoshop (helps because of existing tutorials and ui kits)
Again, Don’t ever forget the traditional paper and pencil.
Like architecture, of today, it is a trend and I don't like it.
Give me the relief sculptures in the eves of buildings that I cannot see with the unaided eye when I look to the roof tops of the 8th or so floor.
Give me the textured design that says you took the time to make detailed your site and didn't mass produce something like a computer would do.
Stop making excuses for how flat allows you to focus on something else, because you should have already been focused on that something else and not blaming the attention to art and detailed designs for not being able to make the website better.
Any
Like architecture, of today, it is a trend and I don't like it.
Give me the relief sculptures in the eves of buildings that I cannot see with the unaided eye when I look to the roof tops of the 8th or so floor.
Give me the textured design that says you took the time to make detailed your site and didn't mass produce something like a computer would do.
Stop making excuses for how flat allows you to focus on something else, because you should have already been focused on that something else and not blaming the attention to art and detailed designs for not being able to make the website better.
Any child can use flat pictures, their eyes are not trained to see the details of a complicated photo. Flat simply is fisher price, simply boring.
I have almost tried all design tools available in the wild, and currently my new favourite tools (and likely will stick with it) is Principle for Mac - it's at the early stage by now, but it has huge potential ahead due to the use of Core Animation, and it's fairly easy to use (if you done Keynote animation in UI design + timeline based animator like Photoshop/After Effect, you will get used to it within a few hours with impressive result).
Sure, it's limited to Mac and iOS for now, but I don't see why it won't be able to expand to, say, Web for faster collaboration and communication.
When I first started in design, I often confused UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface) design, but they have distinct roles. UX design is all about the overall experience a user has with a product. It involves understanding user needs, behaviors, and pain points to create a smooth and enjoyable journey. Think of it as the foundation that ensures users can easily navigate and interact with the product. On the other hand, UI design focuses on the visual aspects. It’s about how everything looks—colors, buttons, typography—making sure the interface is not only functional but also aesthetica
When I first started in design, I often confused UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface) design, but they have distinct roles. UX design is all about the overall experience a user has with a product. It involves understanding user needs, behaviors, and pain points to create a smooth and enjoyable journey. Think of it as the foundation that ensures users can easily navigate and interact with the product. On the other hand, UI design focuses on the visual aspects. It’s about how everything looks—colors, buttons, typography—making sure the interface is not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing.
In my experience, both roles are essential for creating a successful product. While UX designers dive deep into research and user testing, UI designers take those insights and create beautiful, engaging interfaces. When they work together effectively, you get a product that not only meets user needs but also delights them visually. So, while they are intertwined, understanding their unique contributions helps in creating a truly user-friendly experience!
For user interface design services, you can explore online platforms such as Upwork, Behance, or Dribbble. These platforms host a diverse community of talented UI designers. Browse through designers' profiles, portfolios, and reviews to find one whose style aligns with your project needs. Additionally, consider reaching out to design agencies or freelancers directly through their websites or social media channels. Clear communication about your requirements and expectations will help you find the right UI designer for your project.
For user interface design services, you can explore online platforms such as Upwork, Behance, or Dribbble. These platforms host a diverse community of talented UI designers. Browse through designers' profiles, portfolios, and reviews to find one whose style aligns with your project needs. Additionally, consider reaching out to design agencies or freelancers directly through their websites or social media channels. Clear communication about your requirements and expectations will help you find the right UI designer for your project.
Origami is the best.
Using Origami doesn’t prevent you from using any of the original Quartz Composer features, but it adds in tons of UI improvements as well as all the custom patches they provide.
I believe you can use Avocado in addition to Origami as I think it is just a set of patches.
Form is nice, but I don’t think it has been updated much since being bought by Google.
Ok. I've checked out LiveView as a way of mirroring the Quartz content to the display and it appears to be very slow.
Part of the reason (I suspect) is that there is no way in LiveView to send a non retina portion of the display to the App. I want to do this so as to reduce the amount of data per frame required to be sent to the App. For example a 320x480 window instead of the retina 640x960 native resolution of the display. In the case of the iPad Retina (2048x1536) the amount of data to be sent each frame is huge.
So I'm still looking for an App with the same interactivity options but finer
Ok. I've checked out LiveView as a way of mirroring the Quartz content to the display and it appears to be very slow.
Part of the reason (I suspect) is that there is no way in LiveView to send a non retina portion of the display to the App. I want to do this so as to reduce the amount of data per frame required to be sent to the App. For example a 320x480 window instead of the retina 640x960 native resolution of the display. In the case of the iPad Retina (2048x1536) the amount of data to be sent each frame is huge.
So I'm still looking for an App with the same interactivity options but finer control over the frame area.
If you only have one type of UI?
Always prioritize who you are designing for.
- Novice users first?
- Expert users first?
- Novice users who will become experts soon?
—
Always set defaults for your prioritized users.
- Novice to experts?
- Have a walk through at first
- Learn about their behavior to adapt the UX to novice users becoming experts
- You could give them control thru Settings
—
Avoid falling into the trap of having a “one size fits all” approach because this might be bad for everyone on the onset.
Choose wisely.
It is a trend but it also a useful way to drive simplicity into interface design.
Putting fake leather with stitching on an interface, for example, adds noise to the interface and reduce the directness of the experience.
Go too simple and users will be left wondering what they should do.
It's a balance but flat interfaces have done a good job of simplifying many interfaces.
Fred already gave you a good comment about the sources, but I’d like to also invite you to watch my own youtube channel about wrong UX cases.
You can see one of them underneath. It’s GoEuro startup’s case and I think I said a lot of handy information there. Watching this type of videos is a good start to understand usability and make firs step to become an expert :)
I would suggest looking into Figma, which continues to become better by the day.
Best of all it’s free and available on every platform.
Not only is it feature rich and enables you to create and share fully interactive prototypes, but there is a thriving community sharing amazing resources like style guides, templates, and much more.
Though designers are swimming in UI Design software at the moment, I believe that Figma has the most momentum at the moment.
Quartz Composer "was" very difficult to learn, mainly because there was no good tutorials online. Now, after the "Facebook Home" effect, it seems to be much more materials and interest. Said that, the learning curve is very steep: By being a different programming paradigm (visual programming), it counters many of the preconceptions other programming languages/styles impose/encourage.
My advice is to start with Apple's documentation and then jump to YouTube. I'm also considering starting a series of tutorials:
Who is interested in learning Quartz Composer rapid-prototyping? What would be the aud
Quartz Composer "was" very difficult to learn, mainly because there was no good tutorials online. Now, after the "Facebook Home" effect, it seems to be much more materials and interest. Said that, the learning curve is very steep: By being a different programming paradigm (visual programming), it counters many of the preconceptions other programming languages/styles impose/encourage.
My advice is to start with Apple's documentation and then jump to YouTube. I'm also considering starting a series of tutorials:
Who is interested in learning Quartz Composer rapid-prototyping? What would be the audience profile?
I’ll preface by saying I despise the visual composer that comes with WordPress. I can’t decide if this plugin (and it’s zillion extensions) is capable of improving it or making it even more of a disaster. Every problem my clients have ever had with WordPress has been caused by using the Visual tab of the editor.
That being said, the only plugin that matches your description is called Visual Composer, and has major documentation with instructions and tutorials. Personally, I’d prefer to take instruction from the folks who made the thing, rather than some third party.
You can find the instructions
I’ll preface by saying I despise the visual composer that comes with WordPress. I can’t decide if this plugin (and it’s zillion extensions) is capable of improving it or making it even more of a disaster. Every problem my clients have ever had with WordPress has been caused by using the Visual tab of the editor.
That being said, the only plugin that matches your description is called Visual Composer, and has major documentation with instructions and tutorials. Personally, I’d prefer to take instruction from the folks who made the thing, rather than some third party.
You can find the instructions and API guide here: Visual Composer Pagebuilder for WordPress. From the looks of it, it might be easier to learn how to code…
When it comes to diving into the world of UX/UI design, there's a plethora of resources available to help you sharpen your skills and stay updated with the latest trends. Here are some of the best ones:
- Online Courses: Platforms like Udemy, Coursera, and LinkedIn Learning offer comprehensive courses on UX/UI design taught by industry experts. Look for courses that cover topics like user research, wireframing, prototyping, and usability testing.
- Books: There are countless books dedicated to UX/UI design that provide valuable insights and practical advice. Some popular ones include "Don't Make Me
When it comes to diving into the world of UX/UI design, there's a plethora of resources available to help you sharpen your skills and stay updated with the latest trends. Here are some of the best ones:
- Online Courses: Platforms like Udemy, Coursera, and LinkedIn Learning offer comprehensive courses on UX/UI design taught by industry experts. Look for courses that cover topics like user research, wireframing, prototyping, and usability testing.
- Books: There are countless books dedicated to UX/UI design that provide valuable insights and practical advice. Some popular ones include "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug, "The Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman, and "Sprint" by Jake Knapp.
- Design Blogs and Websites: Follow design blogs and websites like Smashing Magazine, UX Design CC, and Nielsen Norman Group for articles, tutorials, case studies, and design critiques. These resources offer valuable insights and inspiration for designers at all levels.
- YouTube Channels: Channels like The Futur, Flux, and AJ&Smart offer informative videos on UX/UI design concepts, techniques, and tools. You can find tutorials, design critiques, and interviews with industry professionals to enhance your understanding of design principles.
- Design Communities: Join online design communities such as Designer Hangout, UX Mastery, and Designer Hangout on Slack or Discord. These communities provide opportunities to connect with fellow designers, seek feedback on your work, and participate in discussions about design-related topics.
- Conferences and Workshops: Attend UX/UI design conferences and workshops to learn from leading experts, network with other designers, and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies. Events like UX Design Summit, Smashing Conference, and Adobe MAX offer valuable learning opportunities.
- Online Forums: Platforms like Reddit (r/userexperience, r/UI_Design) and Designer Hangout Forum provide spaces for designers to ask questions, share resources, and engage in discussions about UX/UI design.
Remember to practice regularly, seek feedback on your work, and stay curious and open to learning from diverse sources. With dedication and the right resources, you can continue to grow and excel as a UX/UI designer.
User Interface Design (UI) is the practice of designing interactive software user interfaces. It is often synonymous with User Experience Design (UX).
UI designers are in charge of the look, organization, and behavior of a person's experience with any given piece of technology. This includes sketching products, creating graphical layouts to choose the instructions given for an app or software product, determining steps taken by a customer when using it, and other usability factors that make something intuitive and easy to understand. A good designer will make sure that their work as few mistake
User Interface Design (UI) is the practice of designing interactive software user interfaces. It is often synonymous with User Experience Design (UX).
UI designers are in charge of the look, organization, and behavior of a person's experience with any given piece of technology. This includes sketching products, creating graphical layouts to choose the instructions given for an app or software product, determining steps taken by a customer when using it, and other usability factors that make something intuitive and easy to understand. A good designer will make sure that their work as few mistakes as possible for users trying to use their product while not making it hard for them to do so in some way if they accidentally press a certain button or icon.