websites

10 things every designer needs to know about forms

Apr 072012

Forms, there’s nothing many designers hate more than forms. They don’t necessarily bring the creativity out, or do they? Maybe it’s time we looked at forms again and understand that a form, at its most basic, is a conversation between the user and the software.

Forget point and click, forms represent the richest interaction we as digital designers will face. Next time a form comes your way don’t think it’s just a matter of applying some nice CSS effects or adding a nice jQuery flourish. There’s much more depth to designing forms.

I’ve user tested hundreds of forms and designed some complex forms for insurance companies, holiday booking interactions and many more. Chances are you’ve used one of my forms in the last few months.

Here’s the lessons I wished I’d learnt before I began designing forms.

10 Excellent User Interface Designs to Learn From

interface, Web Design No Responses »

Sep 232011

Over the last few weeks, we’ve gathered together some great resources and information on constructing amazing user interfaces. Here, we’ll take a closer look at 10 beautiful interfaces — five for the web and five for mobile — that you can use as reference points in your own design.

via 10 Excellent User Interface Designs to Learn From.

Mark Boulton on layouts and grid systems

Design, interface, Web Design 301 Responses »

Sep 072011

“The idea is a very mature way of thinking. It’s almost ingrained as a designer: this is how we approach layout. But we’ve tried to make it work on the web by basically inventing a page, like a best fit. We’ve created a page in a medium where there are no edges, there is no page. The web is different. So I’ve thought up three rules, which I think we need to apply to modern web design. It’s a complete reversing of the way of thinking about it.”

via Mark Boulton on layouts and grid systems | Interview | .net magazine.