Dave Jackson

61 Merrion Square South, <br />
Dublin 2, D02 EW25, Ireland

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<p>Friday Agency is excited to publish their inaugural <a href="https://www.friday.ie/ux-in-ireland/">UX in Ireland</a> research report. Drawing insights from over 100 relevant business leaders and practitioners, the report highlights perspectives on the maturity of User Experience Design (UX) within various industries.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
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<p>UX maturity, a measure of sophistication in design and research, significantly influences brand perception, customer conversion, retention, and overall success.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>Conducting this study annually aims to provide valuable comparative data for ongoing analysis of UX adoption and the state of the nation.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.friday.ie/ux-in-ireland/">Read the Report</a></strong></p>
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Friday publishes the inaugural UX in Ireland research report

<div class="paragraph-large">
<p>It’s an exciting week for the Irish design industry, and not just because Christmas is around the corner…</p>
<p>The Irish Government have just <a href="https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/6a866-action-plan-for-designing-better-public-services-launched-by-minister-donohoe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a progressive roadmap for embedding design in the public service. <a href="https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/1e3e2-action/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Action Plan for Designing Better Public Services</a> was launched by Minister Paschal Donohoe and is a successor to the ‘Our Public Service 2020’ framework.</p>
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<p>The primary objective of the plan is to enable all public service organisations to embrace and embed design thinking as a core part of their approach over the next two years.</p>
<p>It is encouraging to see terms like ‘UX’, ‘Journey Mapping’ and ‘doublediamond processes’ referenced in a Government roadmap. This is real recognition of the value and benefits good design can have on the public sector and beyond. What also stands out is the clear distinction drawn between paying lip service to design and adopting an effective design approach.</p>
<a href="https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/1e3e2-action/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-14801 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/DS.png" alt="" width="2000" height="942" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/DS.png 2000w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/DS-250x118.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/DS-700x330.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/DS-768x362.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/DS-1536x723.png 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/DS-120x57.png 120w" sizes="(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px" /></a>
<p>There are three focus themes within the action plan:</p>
<hr />
<h5><b>Demonstrate Design Commitment </b></h5>
<p>The first theme covers the actions required that demonstrate commitment to implementing the discipline of design by providing the necessary investment, funding and resources that are required to deliver real progress and change.</p>
<ol>
<li>Encourage Design Integration</li>
<li>Establish Design Funding</li>
<li>Leverage Design Expertise<a href="https://www.ops.gov.ie/designprinciples/"><br />
</a></li>
</ol>
<hr />
<h5><b>Increase Design Capability</b></h5>
<p>The following actions aim to democratise design by making skills, tools, and training accessible to all, ensuring everyone can contribute their unique talents to enhance public services.</p>
<ol>
<li>Develop Design Resources</li>
<li>Enhance Design Skills</li>
<li>Foster Collaborative Experiences</li>
</ol>
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<h5><b>Foster a Design Culture</b></h5>
<p>Actions to foster a design culture throughout our public service, fostering a community that integrates design into daily language and behaviours, promoting collaboration and advocacy.</p>
<ol>
<li>Promote Design Successes</li>
<li>Facilitate Design Challenges</li>
<li>Foster a Design Community<a href="https://assets.gov.ie/255872/e6feb71e-0199-4061-894e-6f8e80bafad1.pdf"><br />
</a></li>
</ol>
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<p>This plan envisions Ireland as a global exemplar of design-led public service transformation, emphasising the importance of a design approach in creating a more efficient and inclusive future.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>Overall, <a href="https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/1e3e2-action/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the plan</a> appears comprehensive, well-researched, and strategic, providing a solid foundation for the integration of design principles into the Irish public service, something everyone will benefit from.</p>
<p>This is a shot in the arm for the Irish design industry as a whole. The value of good design has been recognised at a Government level and this should have a knock on effect in the private sector over time.</p>
<p>At Friday, we’ve had the pleasure of collaborating on a number of public service design, research and marketing projects in 2023 and we look forward to continuing this work into 2024 and beyond.</p>
<p>Our observations indicate a shift in the design maturity within the public sector and this new Action Plan will have more substantial influence.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>The future of Irish design looks bright.</p>


Government Announce a Roadmap for Embedding Design in the Public Service

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<p>From a quick back of a napkin calculation over lunch, the UX team at Friday discovered that we have collectively sat through over 500 hours of user testing (that&#8217;s 20 days without sleep!). Our team has conducted user testing on many, many apps and websites, either during the redesign process or as part of UX audits.</p>
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<p>It’s fascinating looking at the patterns of human behaviour that emerge by observing people using apps and websites.</p>
<p>We figured it would be fun to compile some of the most common issues that regularly pop up across user testing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> There are many myths about what end users want or expect from an app or website &#8211; most of these are based on pure assumptions and personal bias. We hope to dispel some of these myths.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5><b>1. Where’s the Home button?</b></h5>
<p>Everyone knows that when visiting a website, if you click the logo it will bring you back to the homepage, right?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>Wrong. This is something we always observe in user testing when we prompt participants to go back to the home screen. You’d be surprised how many people use the back button in the absence of a home button. The tech-savvy will use the logo but we would hazard a guess that somewhere in the region of 50-60% of people will not know this. Implicit as well as explicit links are needed until everyone is categorised as ‘tech savvy’!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5><b>2. What does this company actually do?</b></h5>
<p>The opening title on your website holds immense significance as a communication tool. It serves as the stage-setter, introducing users to your identity, purpose, and approach. Ambiguity often leads to users navigating away. While I won&#8217;t delve into perfecting the art of writing titles for the hero area of a website, I will say that a few minutes into testing, it&#8217;s not uncommon for a user to ask “What does this company actually do?”.</p>
<p>Consider these two homepage examples from within the same industry, providing a similar service. Examining the first one on the left, does its title readily reveal its product/service or even industry? On the other hand, Cognosis (right) takes a more explicit approach. Their message conveys a simple mission of aiding business growth. In a single line, users discern if they&#8217;re in the right place and can proceed accordingly. If your brand is not a household name, be clear and direct about who you are and what you do.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14567" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/compare-1.png" alt="" width="1769" height="1474" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/compare-1.png 1769w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/compare-1-250x208.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/compare-1-700x583.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/compare-1-768x640.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/compare-1-1536x1280.png 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/compare-1-120x100.png 120w" sizes="(max-width: 1769px) 100vw, 1769px" />
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5><b>3. Don’t make me read!</b></h5>
<p>Another observation we often note is how much people don’t like to read, users will scroll and scan the page looking for something that is a visual match with the expectation they have in their head. In most cases, users might read buttons, calls to action or titles (if they are short) but they will not read any more than a couple of lines of text unless there is a clear task and they have motivation to do so.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>In our experience, the younger the audience the less patient they are when it comes to reading. Sorry, but unfortunately nobody wants to read your 15,000-word mission statement! Designing for scan reading is key to conversion.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5><b>4. Icons (for everything)</b></h5>
<p>While icons can enhance usability, communication, and aesthetics, overusing icons can lead to various issues and challenges. An assumption might be made that everyone knows what a square with a dot in the middle of it is! The reality is that there is a very small set of truly universally recognisable icons. Sometimes you’ll need to add some text beside an icon to help communicate it better but is this the right solution? We see it all the time, incomprehensible icons simply get ignored, so it&#8217;s worth making sure your icons make sense and that means testing.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14576" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/icons-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1178" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/icons-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/icons-250x115.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/icons-700x322.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/icons-768x353.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/icons-1536x707.jpg 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/icons-2048x942.jpg 2048w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/icons-120x55.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5><b>5. Burger menus</b></h5>
<p><a href="https://www.friday.ie/blog/not-such-a-tasty-burger-the-case-against-hidden-menus-in-web-design/">Mary discussed burger menus a few years ago</a>; how they can be a bit of a blind spot for users and raise issues with content discoverability. Burger menus are often a necessary evil on mobile apps and websites. They have a clear function of housing navigation that simply cannot be presented out front because of space constraints. It is amazing how little people actually use them, at least in our user testing, people are much quicker to scroll to find what they are looking for (see my next point). It&#8217;s like users see them as a last resort for navigation when all else fails.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>Take note: Never, ever use a burger menu on a desktop website, you have the space for navigation, use it!</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14568" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/website-navigation-hamburger-menu-icons-set-flat-website-menu-icons-with-rounded-and-sharp-edges-mobile-app-menu-icons-set-of-ui-ux-design-elements-app-burger-icons-stock-eps10-vector.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="340" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/website-navigation-hamburger-menu-icons-set-flat-website-menu-icons-with-rounded-and-sharp-edges-mobile-app-menu-icons-set-of-ui-ux-design-elements-app-burger-icons-stock-eps10-vector.jpg 800w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/website-navigation-hamburger-menu-icons-set-flat-website-menu-icons-with-rounded-and-sharp-edges-mobile-app-menu-icons-set-of-ui-ux-design-elements-app-burger-icons-stock-eps10-vector-250x106.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/website-navigation-hamburger-menu-icons-set-flat-website-menu-icons-with-rounded-and-sharp-edges-mobile-app-menu-icons-set-of-ui-ux-design-elements-app-burger-icons-stock-eps10-vector-700x298.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/website-navigation-hamburger-menu-icons-set-flat-website-menu-icons-with-rounded-and-sharp-edges-mobile-app-menu-icons-set-of-ui-ux-design-elements-app-burger-icons-stock-eps10-vector-768x326.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/website-navigation-hamburger-menu-icons-set-flat-website-menu-icons-with-rounded-and-sharp-edges-mobile-app-menu-icons-set-of-ui-ux-design-elements-app-burger-icons-stock-eps10-vector-120x51.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" />
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5><b>6. Everybody Scrolls</b></h5>
<p>When it comes to mobile website design, navigation can be tricky. We have looked at the dreaded burger menu and there still seems to be a high level of anxiety about what is ‘above the fold’ coming from website owners, a concept that goes back to the beginning of the printing press.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>When it comes to above the fold, sure, we need to ensure the most engaging content is visible, but users will and do scroll. Scrolling is the most common navigation action a user will take, people are much more inclined to scroll in order to find what they are looking for over going into a menu.</p>
<p>When it comes to above ‘the fold’, use discipline. Cramming as much as possible above the fold will result in poor engagement, users won’t know where to look, which leads me beautifully on to my next point…</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5><b>7. Options: Don’t make me think!</b></h5>
<p>You know when you go to a restaurant and they hand you a multi-page menu that is like a short novel, you can’t make a decision and end up panic ordering the cauliflower and squid risotto (and later regretting it).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>Too many options cause what we call increased cognitive load and this usually ends in user frustration. We’ve always noticed when a user is presented with more than 3 or 4 options at any one time, they get flustered. A flustered user often walks away. Keep it simple.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14569" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/convert-website-visitors-3a.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="700" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/convert-website-visitors-3a.jpg 1200w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/convert-website-visitors-3a-250x146.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/convert-website-visitors-3a-700x408.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/convert-website-visitors-3a-768x448.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/convert-website-visitors-3a-120x70.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />
<h5><b>8. Put it in a Carousel</b></h5>
<p>While carousels can seem like a good way to display a variety of content in a limited space, they come with several pitfalls that can negatively impact user experience. Contrary to belief, just because you have a carousel doesn’t mean users will engage with it, in fact, they have low engagement and interaction rates.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>Unfortunately, very few users will get to see the 23rd frame of your carousel but they will notice how long the screen takes to load. In our experience, most users just scroll past them unless something really catches their eye. Vitaly Friedman from Smashing Magazine created this nice little chart showing how fast engagement rates fall on the second and third slides in a carousel.</p>
<div id="attachment_14565" style="width: 1355px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-14565" class="wp-image-14565 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/1692271189974.png" alt="" width="1345" height="1000" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/1692271189974.png 1345w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/1692271189974-250x186.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/1692271189974-700x520.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/1692271189974-768x571.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/1692271189974-120x89.png 120w" sizes="(max-width: 1345px) 100vw, 1345px" /><p id="caption-attachment-14565" class="wp-caption-text">Credit: Vitaly Friedman, Smashing Magazine</p></div>
<h5></h5>
<h5><b>9. Meeting Expectations</b></h5>
<p>Every user testing session and task begins with asking the participant what they expect before they start. Based on this input, we’ll have a good idea if we’re going to get positive feedback or not. If we can meet the users expectations through intuitive interactions, trust-building, and ultimately a positive user experience, thats a win, it’s as simple as that.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>The only way to establish user expectations is research.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5><b>10. Positive Moments</b></h5>
<p>Sometimes life can be mundane, especially when you have your head stuck in a screen. We talk about how good UX can be achieved by meeting users&#8217; expectations, great UX is about exceeding them. A simple way to do this is to consider designing for emotional delight. Sounds a bit fluffy? Just bear with me!</p>
<p>A simple, maybe subtle and unexpected animation, message or sound that makes the user smile. Humour goes a long way and helps lift your<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>brand&#8217;s personality. We’ve seen faces light up with well-thought-out micro-interactions or interface feedback that leaves the user with a positive impression, this reflects on the brand.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14570" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2.gif" alt="" width="800" height="200" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14571" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/3.gif" alt="" width="800" height="200" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14573" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/a.gif" alt="" width="800" height="200" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14574" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/4-1.gif" alt="" width="800" height="200" /></p>
<p>Hopefully, these points will help you avoid some of the most common pitfalls in UX design. Do <a href="https://www.friday.ie/contact/">get in touch</a> if you need help with <a href="https://www.friday.ie/expertise/user-experience/usability-testing/">user testing</a> or any area of <a href="https://www.friday.ie/expertise/user-experience/ux-research/">UX research</a> and <a href="https://www.friday.ie/expertise/user-experience/ux-design-dublin/">UX/UI design</a>.</p>


10 Things We’ve Learned From Over 500 Hours of User Testing

<p>It&#8217;s incredible how much technology has transformed human behaviour over the past two decades. I’ve found this to be particularly evident through carrying out hundreds of hours of user testing over the years. There is a clear change in people&#8217;s tolerance and patience levels when faced with frustrating interfaces, apps or websites that have confusing navigation or long loading times.</p>
<p>These days, people expect seamless, intuitive experiences that they don’t need to think about too much.</p>
<p>UX research and design have been undervalued in the past, but because of these changes in human behaviour and user expectations, businesses are now recognising opportunities and investing.</p>
<p>There are two main options when it comes to integrating UX into any business &#8211; building your own in-house UX team or collaborating with a UX agency. I’m going to take a look at each scenario. I’m sure I’ll be accused of bias (something UX professionals try to avoid) so I’ll keep this as objective as I can.</p>
<p>There is a place for both, and the choice depends on considerations such as scale, ambition, budget and the product roadmap. On many occasions, we have helped transition our clients to build their own UX and design teams and often continue to support them with extra capacity and consultancy.</p>
<h4><b>When should a business build an in-house UX team?</b></h4>
<p>Building an effective UX team has its challenges but it is very worthwhile when done right and for the right reasons. In my opinion, scale is the main justification for this approach. If you have a clear vision with a roadmap that includes comprehensive UX requirements, this might be the way to go.</p>
<p>In-house UX designers will be the strongest guardians of your brand. They should have broad familiarity and razor-sharp focus across your entire product suite and communications, but there is always the risk of overfamiliarity, which can lead to bias or blinkering. A strong research-based ethic with discipline is needed.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>One piece of advice I’d give anyone taking this approach is to start with strong UX leadership. Without this foundation, it will be very difficult. UX professionals also work better as part of a UX team; it’s a broad discipline so hiring one UX professional to cover strategy, research, UX design, UI Design, UX writing, information architecture, testing and delivery is a mistake. I’ve never met anyone with all of these skills at a high standard.</p>
<h5><b>Key considerations when building an in-house UX team</b></h5>
<ol>
<li>You’ll need a high level of design maturity across the business. This needs to come from the top down.</li>
<li>There should be a strong ambition for the business and a clear product roadmap for the long term that has an ongoing requirement for a UX team.</li>
<li>You need to start with foundational UX leadership that can build the right multidisciplinary team and structures.</li>
<li>You’ll need the budget to invest in, recruit and retain the UX talent needed to build an effective team.</li>
<li>Enough time and resources will be required to onboard and develop the UX team and create processes, SOPs and team culture.</li>
</ol>
<p>The state of the UX and tech industry in Ireland and beyond shows a skills shortage of experienced UX designers and researchers. This remains in 2023. It is a highly competitive market, and there is fierce competition for top talent. HR and staff retention are not easy, you need a very attractive proposition.</p>
<h4><b>When should a business work with a UX agency?</b></h4>
<p>For a lot of businesses, working with an experienced and established UX agency is often a more efficient and cost-effective way to manage UX projects without a lot of the risks associated with hiring and building a UX team from scratch.</p>
<p>If the product roadmap is less defined towards the longer term, requires a multi-disciplinary approach, and needs to start making progress quickly, hiring a UX agency can be a much smarter more cost-effective choice with a lot less risk.</p>
<h5><b>Benefits of working with a UX agency</b></h5>
<ol>
<li>A UX agency will have an existing multidisciplinary team with a broad set of skills and expertise.</li>
<li>There will be close collaboration between research, design, analytics, content creation, development, and project management professionals.</li>
<li>A UX agency will already have an evolved design culture, processes, and team dynamic, which will bring efficiency to any project.</li>
<li>An agency can provide an objective perspective on your product or service, which can be valuable in identifying blind spots and areas for improvement.</li>
<li>UX agencies have a wide range of experience across multiple industries, providing best practices and proven methodologies to your project.</li>
<li>A UX agency can plug into and enhance your existing team as support for research and design.</li>
<li>Costs are reduced by only paying for the work you need.</li>
</ol>
<p>Ultimately, the decision between building an in-house UX team or collaborating with a UX agency like Friday will depend on the unique needs and goals of the business. It may also be possible to combine both approaches, with an in-house team providing ongoing support and a UX agency brought in for specialised projects or to supplement the in-house team&#8217;s skills and capacity.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.friday.ie/contact/">Talk to us</a> about your requirements, and we’ll help you work out if collaborating with an agency or building your own UX team is the right path for your business.</p>


Should you work with a UX Agency or build your own in-house UX Team?

<h4>It was a happy Friday for us at the Mansion house last week! We won the <a href="https://thespiders.ie/winners/#2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Best in E-Commerce</a> Spider Award for our work and client collaboration with the brilliant team at <a href="https://www.follain.ie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Folláin</a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></h4>
<p>The <a href="https://www.follain.ie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Folláin</a> website uses a mix of exquisite visuals, storytelling and unique gifting options to create an experience that is pioneering for its industry.</p>
<p>On the night we were shortlisted for a total 3 awards, including Best Small Agency and Best Website.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14313" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SpiderAward-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1886" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SpiderAward-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SpiderAward-250x184.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SpiderAward-700x516.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SpiderAward-768x566.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SpiderAward-1536x1132.jpg 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SpiderAward-2048x1509.jpg 2048w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SpiderAward-120x88.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />
<p>This win validates the great work of our team and close client collaboration across strategy, UX design, content creation, performance optimisation and web development &#8211; resulting in a best in class e-commerce website that has broken its own targets to date. It was great to have the client team there to celebrate the win with us on the night.</p>
<p>We are working on some exciting new projects that we hope to submit for nominations next year.</p>
<p>Well done to everyone involved, you’ve done yourselves proud.</p>
<a href="https://www.follain.ie" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-14307 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Follain_Desktop-Mobile-screen2.webp" alt="" width="1717" height="1242" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Follain_Desktop-Mobile-screen2.webp 1717w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Follain_Desktop-Mobile-screen2-250x181.webp 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Follain_Desktop-Mobile-screen2-700x506.webp 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Follain_Desktop-Mobile-screen2-768x556.webp 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Follain_Desktop-Mobile-screen2-1536x1111.webp 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Follain_Desktop-Mobile-screen2-120x87.webp 120w" sizes="(max-width: 1717px) 100vw, 1717px" /></a>


Friday wins Best in E-Commerce at the Spider Awards

<p class="p1"><span class="s1">We’re very excited at Friday to be shortlisted for 3 awards at this year&#8217;s Spiders. It’s another testament to the great UX design and Digital Marketing and work we do together as a team, collaborating with our amazing clients and their customers.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Friday has been nominated in the following categories.</span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="s2"><strong>🕷️Best Small Agency</strong><br />
</span><span class="s1">Friday Agency</span></p>
<hr />
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s2"><strong>🕷️Best Website</strong><br />
</span><a href="https://www.follain.ie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="p1">folláin.ie</span></a></p>
<hr />
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s2"><strong>🕷️Best eCommerce</strong><br />
</span><a href="https://www.follain.ie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="s1">folláin.ie</span></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The annual Spiders event has celebrated digital talent in Ireland for 26 years. Notable wins for Friday over the years include the <a href="https://www.friday.ie/blog/friday-wins-the-much-coveted-best-website-award-at-the-spiders/">Best Website Spider in 2019</a> for our work on <a href="http://www.rkd.ie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rkd.ie</a></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The event takes place on March 3rd at Dublin&#8217;s Mansion House. The dresses and suits are still warm from the DMA Awards in December where we took 3rd for Best Agency.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Looking forward to a great night out with our clients and industry colleagues. Fingers crossed we bring the silverware home.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_10344" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-10344" class="wp-image-10344 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193.jpg" alt="A bunch of posers in 2019 with the Best Website Award for our work on RKD Architects!" width="900" height="522" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193.jpg 900w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-250x145.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-768x445.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-700x406.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-120x70.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-80x46.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /><p id="caption-attachment-10344" class="wp-caption-text">Bunch of posers in 2019 with the Best Website Award for our work on RKD Architects!</p></div>


Friday Shortlisted for 3 Spider Awards.

<p>We have seen the emergence and exponential growth of User Experience (UX) as a key design discipline over the last 10-15 years.</p>
<p>Services like banking, mobile phone carriers, travel and music retail have become commodities with the only differentiator aside from price being user experience. Quite often the only interface a user has with a brand is via their mobile app or website. Customers are choosing to put their money where they have the best experience with the least amount of friction.</p>
<p>Companies like Revolut, Apple, Airbnb and Starbucks have made good UX/CX their USP and it’s paying off in spades. User centred design thinking is an obvious strategy for a businesses to employ.</p>
<h4><b>What is UX Theatre?</b></h4>
<p>A problem we’re seeing is how some businesses have employed &#8220;user-centred design&#8221; as a buzzword sometimes without a full understanding of its meaning, process and value. In some cases, executives can misinterpret UX design as a euphemism for &#8220;thinking from a customers perspective” while avoiding actually talking to their users.</p>
<p>As UX design filters from big tech all the way down to startups and SMEs we see the emergence of what has become known as UX Theatre. This is when designers are asked to act as if they are doing the work of UX design but the teams are not given the means to implement it. UX Theatre is to design what greenwashing is to climate change. Fur coat and no knickers! It’s simply lip service to UX design.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14209" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/theatre.png" alt="" width="1900" height="1136" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/theatre.png 1900w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/theatre-250x149.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/theatre-700x419.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/theatre-768x459.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/theatre-1536x918.png 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/theatre-120x72.png 120w" sizes="(max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px" />
<p>Examples of this phenomenon include talking about users instead of listening to them. Copying competitors instead of looking at customer needs. Roleplaying the users instead of observing them. Usability testing as an afterthought instead of being part of and informing the design process.</p>
<p>This can lead to poor outcomes that manifest themselves as assumption based design solutions that are led by the business for the business and not the user.</p>
<p>Users often don’t know what they want but they are usually pretty clear about the problems they need us to solve. Design thinking will help uncover these if we ask the right questions and are given the time and resources to solve them.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14204" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IoPkza2_d.webp.png.webp" alt="" width="760" height="366" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IoPkza2_d.webp.png.webp 760w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IoPkza2_d.webp.png-250x120.webp 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IoPkza2_d.webp.png-700x337.webp 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IoPkza2_d.webp.png-120x58.webp 120w" sizes="(max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px" />
<p>Another practice that can be common place is where the results of user research are effectively ignored when they don’t align with the assumptions or expectations of the stakeholders. These practices are not only damaging to the business and its users but can also be a waste of time and money while being demoralising for a design team at the same time.</p>
<h4><b>How has UX Theatre become a problem?</b></h4>
<p>Budget and time restraints can be reasons for UX lip service but the focus needs to be on creating the most effective process around the budget and timeline available instead of a poor process with most of its corners cut.</p>
<p>Recruitment for UX can be misguided, it’s all too common to see single roles advertised that encompass a multitude of disciplines such as UX research, UX design, UI design, Service and Information Design. Unfortunately, for the most part, these unicorns don’t exist and hiring one person as a multi-disciplinary ‘UX team’ is not going to have the desired effect.</p>
<h4><b>Who is responsible?</b></h4>
<p>It’s too easy to blame the stakeholders. Of course they&#8217;ll jump on the UX bandwagon when they see the success of others. The penny still hasn’t dropped for a lot of them because they don&#8217;t understand the process, how could they?</p>
<p>Why should a stakeholder be the main advocate of good design process? The truth is the finger needs to be pointed at designers. It’s a designers job to educate, collaborate and ultimately communicate the value of the process and execution of an informed UX strategy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14205" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/pointing.jpg" alt="" width="2134" height="768" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/pointing.jpg 2134w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/pointing-250x90.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/pointing-700x252.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/pointing-768x276.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/pointing-1536x553.jpg 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/pointing-2048x737.jpg 2048w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/pointing-120x43.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 2134px) 100vw, 2134px" />
<p><span class="Apple-converted-space">Stakeholders are often the loudest voice in the room and are too often left unchallenged by designers, when this happens, unfortunately the tail can end up wagging the dog. </span></p>
<h4><b>How can UX Theatre be prevented?</b></h4>
<p><span class="Apple-converted-space">Designers need to take responsibility for across their own area of expertise, this includes project processes, having the users back, challenging assumptions right down to design team recruitment. Designers need to work closely with and bring the stakeholders on this journey and build trust.</span></p>
<p>There simply isn’t enough narrative on how UX can impact the financial performance of a product or service. Money talks! Designers need to get better at communicating the data and proof points if we’re going to inspire long-lasting change across tech.</p>
<p>Our ability to communicate the value and potential financial gain from designing for the user will speak volumes to the stakeholders. Sure, push back often gets pushed back but thats ok, the message has zero chance of getting through if we don’t educate and collaborate.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>We can help our clients and businesses improve if we approach UX Theatre from the perspective of critique instead of criticism. By calling out UX Theatre we can show how testing and research help us design effective solutions to existing customer problems as well as providing benefits for the business. We can encourage the move from “I think” to “we saw” and “we heard.” We need to preach the gospel of UX.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14206" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Tweet.png" alt="" width="1090" height="362" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Tweet.png 1090w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Tweet-250x83.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Tweet-700x232.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Tweet-768x255.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Tweet-120x40.png 120w" sizes="(max-width: 1090px) 100vw, 1090px" />
<p>A meaningful focus on customer satisfaction makes an important contribution to the profitability of many businesses. It’s time stakeholders walked the walk but its up to designers to show them how its done.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;d like to find out more about how we can help your stakeholders realise the value of UX for their business, do <a href="https://www.friday.ie/contact/">get in touch</a>, we&#8217;d be delighted to start a conversation.</p>
<p>For more on this topic, how to communicate the competitive advantage a good user experience provides and how to advocate the needs of your users throughout your organisation, checkout the book <a href="https://boagworld.com/products/user-experience-revolution/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">User Experience Revolution</a> by Paul Boag. A good read.</p>


UX Theatre: Fur coat and no knickers!

<p>The team here at Friday are delighted and excited to be shortlisted for Best Small Agency at the 2022 DMA Awards. We are up against entries from other agencies with teams of 15 or less.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.friday.ie/blog/friday-wins-gold-for-best-small-agency-at-the-2020-dma-awards/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-10722 size-medium" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-250x188.jpeg" alt="" width="250" height="188" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-250x188.jpeg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-700x525.jpeg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-120x90.jpeg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-80x60.jpeg 80w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908.jpeg 900w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /></a>Friday won the <a href="https://www.friday.ie/blog/friday-wins-gold-for-best-small-agency-at-the-2020-dma-awards/">same award in 2020</a> so we are hoping to reclaim the crown for 2022.</p>
<p>This is a great testament to the talent and hard work by our team well as our clients who collaborate closely and put their trust in our people and process.</p>
<p>The event takes place on Friday, 11th November, 2022 at the Convention Centre at The Radisson Blu Royal Hotel in Dublin.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>We’ll be dusting off the ball gowns and monkey suits for the night. Fingers crossed!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


Friday shortlisted for Best Agency at the 2022 DMA Awards

<p class="graf graf--p">Thankfully, for the most part, the pandemic is behind us, leaving a strange 2-year black hole in the timeline of our lives. While normality for most was put on standby, we saw the transformation of businesses and how customers experience products and services.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">There was an acceleration in everything from working from home to digital subscriptions, online shopping, food delivery services and video calling — if you look back, the impact has been staggering.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">Most of these products and services already existed but the pandemic acted like a steroid injection of digital transformation and mass adoption. Customers are now a lot savvier, their expectations have risen around websites, apps and the overall brand and product experience.</p>
<h4 class="graf graf--h4">Dated Practices</h4>
<p class="graf graf--p">Assumptions made in the boardroom using outdated demographic data or a hunch someone on the marketing team has is no longer a way to create a successful product or service. This type of thinking has and will usually lead to failure. We’ve been banging this drum for a long time and we have to keep banging. You’d be amazed how much we see businesses, from large multinational enterprises to SMEs still taking this approach. Excuses we hear range from the lack of time, budget or our old favourite “we already know what our customers want”.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">Direction on product development needs to come from your customers — they know what they want and they will be happy to tell you if you just ask them. Not properly listening to or involving your customers in your design process will mean your competitors will out-smart, out-rank and out-sell you.</p>
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 52%; position: relative;"><iframe loading="lazy" class="giphy-embed" style="position: absolute;" src="https://giphy.com/embed/yoJC2yftYP4kP6Ku40" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
<h4 class="graf graf--h4">The winds of change</h4>
<p class="graf graf--p">This had been bubbling a few years before the pandemic, influence was starting to filter down, fueled by the success of design-focused companies. Wider adoption of research and user-focused design processes used to create and promote digital as well as physical products was beginning to have a wider impact.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">Brands who had focused on research around their customer or users experience had started to surface as the winners while others have been floating along with limited or no growth. A new standard has been set. Users&#8217; tolerance and patience for friction within a brand experience has been almost wiped out.</p>
<h4 class="graf graf--h4">Stand out from the crowd</h4>
<p class="graf graf--p">In a world dominated by multinationals, brands need a point of differentiation, a unique selling point. Maybe brands offering similar products look to pricing as a way to establish their USP but this is just a race to the bottom.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">An example of this in Ireland is the telco, Eir. They offer what is probably the cheapest TV package on the Irish market at just €10 a month when added to your broadband package — price is their standout USP but as we all know, their issues with customer experience have been well publicised. So it is difficult to imagine they have any other sales tools they can use to establish an alternative USP to price. They have boxed themselves into a corner by not focusing on good customer experiences.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">The point is that experience is more important than price. Sure, your pricing needs to be affordable but if your customers like the experience, they will be happy to pay a premium. Look at companies like Dyson, Revolut, Sky or Apple.</p>
<blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote"><p>“Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.”<em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><br />
&#8211; Seth Godin</em></p></blockquote>
<h4 class="graf graf--h4">Be Inclusive</h4>
<p class="graf graf--p">If you want to build inclusive products that work for everyone, you simply have to follow a human-centred design process that is grounded in research. Data analytics is extremely important but listening to what real people actually want is the most valuable data you can collect.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">I’m not talking about sending out a quick survey and maybe carrying out a bit of user testing on a prototype of your product. You need to invest in bringing the customer on the design journey with you, work smart by digging deep into every nuance of the customer journey and experience both online and offline — sweat the small stuff as well as the fundamentals, a collection of micro insights will be greater than the sum of its parts. Challenge assumptions, validate ideas, optimise the customer&#8217;s journey and increase conversions. This will translate into revenue, higher profits, and will grow your business.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">Customer expectations are higher than ever, good experiences are rewarded with customer trust, loyalty and referrals. If you are not already listening very carefully to your customers and involving them in every area of your offering, someone else will do it and they will win.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">Inclusive design takes time and effort but the investment will pay off in multiples. Talk to us if you want to know how we can help you with research-focused design, marketing and digital transformation.</p>


If you’re not listening to your customers, you will most likely fail.

<p class="graf graf--p"><strong>I don’t think there is another industry that has embraced acronyms quite like marketing. A handy short-cut for those who understand them and for those who don’t (and are afraid to ask) they are beyond useless. When it comes to marketing and digital performance the 2 biggest acronyms in town these days are CRO and UX.</strong></p>
<p class="graf graf--p">CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) and UX (User Experience) are two of the most important areas of focus that drive success online. These terms are used interchangeably, they work together with the same goals but it is important to note that they are not the same thing.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--h4"><strong class="markup--strong markup--h4-strong">What is CRO?</strong></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">CRO is a process that focuses on increasing the percentage of website visitors who take a specific action. This action can be anything from buying a product, signing up to a service, webinar or newsletter. CRO takes an holistic look at the full user or customer journey from first engagement all they way past the point of purchase or conversion and optimises for a better conversion rate.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">To calculate your conversion rate, you simply divide the number of conversions by the total number of web page visitors. Lets say a web page gets 10,000 visits a month and on average 400 of these visitors end up buying a product, thats a 4% conversion rate — not bad for many industries.</p>
<blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote"><p>(400 ÷ 10,000) x 100 = 4%</p></blockquote>
<p class="graf graf--p">There are hundreds, if not thousands of ways to improve your conversion rate. Every site needs a CRO strategy, you start by looking at the product or service you are offering, do people want it? Is there a value proposition? Is there a strong brand? You optimise and test your content &amp; messaging, user journeys, your ads and how they are targeted. Refine and test your calls to action, landing pages, SEO, SEM and your websites loading speed… the list is endless.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">The foundation of any CRO activity is looking at analytics and user feedback. We explore website analytics and learn about the traffic, its performance and look for opportunities. Ideas are brainstormed, prioritised and turned into a roadmap that goes through a cycle of test and iterate where necessary. This is an ongoing process that UX will play a big part in.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--h4"><strong class="markup--strong markup--h4-strong">What is UX?</strong></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">Users don’t come away from an online purchase remembering how the funnel made them feel, they will recall the website and brand experience — this is where UX comes in.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">UX is a supplement to CRO that aims at easing the user journey by improving the design of the website or App so that is intuitive, enjoyable, seamless and simple. UX removes the friction through research to find empathy with the user and understand the users perceptions and expectations, these insights give design direction from real users or customers, not assumption.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">Where CRO will focus on the numbers and the business goals, UX will be an advocate of the user which will help drive the numbers and business goals by working to help the user achieve their goals. CRO tells you ‘what’ is happening, where UX helps explain ‘why’ it is happening and presents actionable solutions.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">Gavin and I had a good chat to see if we could come up with an analogy to explain the difference between UX and CRO. This is what we mustered when applying the principles of CRO and UX to a glass of water.</p>
<figure class="graf graf--figure"></figure>
<blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote"><p>“CRO will bring you to the water and tell you that you need to drink it, while UX will make drinking the water as easy and enjoyable as possible.”</p></blockquote>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2121" height="917" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-13645" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/water.png" alt="" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/water.png 2121w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/water-250x108.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/water-700x303.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/water-768x332.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/water-1536x664.png 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/water-2048x885.png 2048w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/water-120x52.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/water-80x35.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 2121px) 100vw, 2121px" />
<p class="graf graf--p">Not perfect but hopefully you get the idea!</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--h4"><strong class="markup--strong markup--h4-strong">Hand in hand</strong></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">CRO should not or cannot be carried out without UX and visa versa, each feeds and compliments the other. If you invest in CRO without investing in UX you may drive people to your website but risk driving them into a brick wall, they are less likely to convert if the experience is poor. Likewise, you can have great UX on your website but without good CRO few will get to experience it.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">CRO and UX is an ongoing process, the world changes as does user behaviour and thats why a continuing cycle of analyse, test and iterate is needed for ongoing success.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">At Friday, our digital performance team work alongside our UX team to get the most out of your campaigns and online presence. Talk to us today about how we can use CRO with UX to attract and convert customers for you.</p>


CRO & UX  -  What’s the Difference?

<h4>Whether you run a business that has an app or website that is either core to, or part of the sales process you will want to keep a close eye on the conversion rate on an ongoing basis. Is the software, content and interface doing its job? Can users find the content and functions they need and are they converting? How can it be improved?</h4>
<p>It may be that you don’t know if your website or app needs minor updates or a major redesign, best not to make assumptions around this as it can be costly. There’s no such thing as a perfect user experience, there’s always room for improvement and discovering where the improvements can be made is where a UX audit can be invaluable.</p>
<p>Research carried out by Forester in 2017 shows that, on average, every €1 invested in UX brings €100 in return. They also found that a well-designed user interface could raise your website’s conversion rate by up to a 200%, and better UX design could increase conversion rates up to 400%.</p>
<h3>The Process of a UX Audit</h3>
<p>A UX audit will go through a series of steps that will help uncover any usability issues. This will provide actionable recommendations that will help eliminate any issues and improve the overall user experience and conversion rate. The process of a UX audit will vary depending on the goals, budget and time allotted. This could range from a day or two to several weeks. During a UX audit, the auditor uses a variety of tools, research methods and metrics to find out where the software is or is not working. The most effective UX audit would include quantitative and qualitative research that involves users, this would include usability testing, interviews or surveys.</p>
<p>As part of a UX audit, a UX professional would usually carry out what is known as a heuristic evaluation of the software. User experience pioneers Jakob Nielsen and Rolf Molich published an article in the early 1990’s which contained a set of principles, or heuristics, that industry specialists soon began to adopt as a benchmark to systematically determine the usability of an interface. In the absence of enough time or budget for user research, a heuristic evaluation may be central to the audit process.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design</h3>
<p>As experts, we go through a checklist of criteria to find flaws and areas that can be improved based on the following principles.</p>
<h4>#1: Visibility of system status</h4>
<p>The design should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within a reasonable amount of time.</p>
<div id="attachment_12374" style="width: 799px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12374" class="wp-image-12374 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image.png" alt="" width="789" height="272" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image.png 789w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-250x86.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-700x241.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-768x265.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-120x41.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-80x28.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 789px) 100vw, 789px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12374" class="wp-caption-text">A progress bar tells the user something is happening and indicates how long it might take. This builds trust and patients.</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>#2: Match between system and the real world</h4>
<p>The design should speak the users’ language. Use words, phrases, and concepts familiar to the user, rather than internal jargon. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.</p>
<div id="attachment_12381" style="width: 1404px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12381" class="wp-image-12381 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/cal.png" alt="" width="1394" height="896" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/cal.png 1394w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/cal-250x161.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/cal-700x450.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/cal-768x494.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/cal-120x77.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/cal-80x51.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1394px) 100vw, 1394px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12381" class="wp-caption-text">Familiarity with something in the real world, the Mac calculator is not too far from the old Casio model we all used in school.</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>#3: User control and freedom</h4>
<p>Users often perform actions by mistake. They need a clearly marked “emergency exit” to leave the unwanted action without having to go through an extended process, a bit like the undo command that is common on a PC.</p>
<div id="attachment_12387" style="width: 1312px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12387" class="wp-image-12387 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/undo.png" alt="" width="1302" height="699" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/undo.png 1302w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/undo-250x134.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/undo-700x376.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/undo-768x412.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/undo-120x64.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/undo-80x43.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1302px) 100vw, 1302px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12387" class="wp-caption-text">The undo feature Google added in Gmail gives the user 5 seconds to stop an email from sending (after they press send), might come in handy!</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>#4: Consistency and standards</h4>
<p>Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform and industry conventions and reduce learning.</p>
<div id="attachment_12382" style="width: 1209px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12382" class="wp-image-12382 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/jakobs-law-utility-nav.jpg" alt="" width="1199" height="525" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/jakobs-law-utility-nav.jpg 1199w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/jakobs-law-utility-nav-250x109.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/jakobs-law-utility-nav-700x307.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/jakobs-law-utility-nav-768x336.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/jakobs-law-utility-nav-120x53.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/jakobs-law-utility-nav-80x35.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1199px) 100vw, 1199px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12382" class="wp-caption-text">Don’t reinvent the wheel, users will find familiar interfaces that follow convention much easier to use.</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>#5: Error prevention</h4>
<p>Good error messages are important, but the best designs carefully prevent problems from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions, or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.</p>
<div id="attachment_12378" style="width: 3407px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12378" class="wp-image-12378 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/5ccb5076df86e7441a9f761b_modal.png" alt="" width="3397" height="1704" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/5ccb5076df86e7441a9f761b_modal.png 3397w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/5ccb5076df86e7441a9f761b_modal-250x125.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/5ccb5076df86e7441a9f761b_modal-700x351.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/5ccb5076df86e7441a9f761b_modal-768x385.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/5ccb5076df86e7441a9f761b_modal-1536x770.png 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/5ccb5076df86e7441a9f761b_modal-2048x1027.png 2048w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/5ccb5076df86e7441a9f761b_modal-120x60.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/5ccb5076df86e7441a9f761b_modal-80x40.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 3397px) 100vw, 3397px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12378" class="wp-caption-text">Users need to fully understand the outcome of their actions.</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>#6: Recognition rather than recall</h4>
<p>Minimise the user’s memory load by making elements, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the interface to another. Information required to use the design (e.g. field labels or menu items) should be visible or easily retrievable when needed.</p>
<div id="attachment_12384" style="width: 2654px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12384" class="wp-image-12384 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-28-at-09.37.08.png" alt="" width="2644" height="1468" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-28-at-09.37.08.png 2644w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-28-at-09.37.08-250x139.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-28-at-09.37.08-700x389.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-28-at-09.37.08-768x426.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-28-at-09.37.08-1536x853.png 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-28-at-09.37.08-2048x1137.png 2048w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-28-at-09.37.08-120x67.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-28-at-09.37.08-80x44.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 2644px) 100vw, 2644px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12384" class="wp-caption-text">In Phtoshop, Adobe present the users with a list of recently worked on files, this helps the user from having to go rooting for them.</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>#7: Flexibility and efficiency of use</h4>
<p>Shortcuts — hidden from novice users — may speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the design can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.</p>
<div id="attachment_12379" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12379" class="wp-image-12379 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/130870-phones-feature-what-is-apple-pay-and-how-does-it-work-image1-qjaxkx6zrb.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/130870-phones-feature-what-is-apple-pay-and-how-does-it-work-image1-qjaxkx6zrb.jpg 1200w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/130870-phones-feature-what-is-apple-pay-and-how-does-it-work-image1-qjaxkx6zrb-250x167.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/130870-phones-feature-what-is-apple-pay-and-how-does-it-work-image1-qjaxkx6zrb-700x467.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/130870-phones-feature-what-is-apple-pay-and-how-does-it-work-image1-qjaxkx6zrb-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/130870-phones-feature-what-is-apple-pay-and-how-does-it-work-image1-qjaxkx6zrb-120x80.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/130870-phones-feature-what-is-apple-pay-and-how-does-it-work-image1-qjaxkx6zrb-80x53.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12379" class="wp-caption-text">Payment applications like ApplePay and Google Pay help users quickly pay for something online without having to enter their payment and personal details again and again.</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>#8: Aesthetic and minimalist design</h4>
<p>Interfaces should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in an interface competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.</p>
<div id="attachment_12380" style="width: 2040px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12380" class="wp-image-12380 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Busy.png" alt="" width="2030" height="1035" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Busy.png 2030w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Busy-250x127.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Busy-700x357.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Busy-768x392.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Busy-1536x783.png 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Busy-120x61.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Busy-80x41.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 2030px) 100vw, 2030px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12380" class="wp-caption-text">Less is more. Users like consuming information at a glance. Clean design minimalist design helps with this.</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>#9: Help users recognise, diagnose, and recover from errors</h4>
<p>Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no error codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.</p>
<div id="attachment_12386" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12386" class="wp-image-12386 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/twitter_Eg3hXdQWoAI0Dgq.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="675" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/twitter_Eg3hXdQWoAI0Dgq.jpg 1200w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/twitter_Eg3hXdQWoAI0Dgq-250x141.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/twitter_Eg3hXdQWoAI0Dgq-700x394.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/twitter_Eg3hXdQWoAI0Dgq-768x432.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/twitter_Eg3hXdQWoAI0Dgq-120x68.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/twitter_Eg3hXdQWoAI0Dgq-80x45.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12386" class="wp-caption-text">Help users solve a problem, give them as much informartion as posisble without technical jargon.</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>#10: Help and documentation</h4>
<p>It’s best if the system doesn’t need any additional explanation. However, it may be necessary to provide documentation to help users understand how to complete their tasks.</p>
<div id="attachment_12383" style="width: 1608px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12383" class="wp-image-12383 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/monday.png" alt="" width="1598" height="989" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/monday.png 1598w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/monday-250x155.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/monday-700x433.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/monday-768x475.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/monday-1536x951.png 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/monday-120x74.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/monday-80x50.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1598px) 100vw, 1598px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12383" class="wp-caption-text">A smart, predictive search can help users find answers to their questions quickly.</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>The Output of a UX Audit</h3>
<p>A UX audit should also take into account the content, layout and the user flow through the interface and uncover any blocks or hurdles that users may have to get past in order to complete a task.<br />
There is no universal format for a UX audit report, each one is tailored to the process employed for the project. It may consists of some or all of the following.</p>
<ul>
<li>Usability review / heuristic evaluation</li>
<li>Information architecture review</li>
<li>Data analytics</li>
<li>Revised User flows</li>
<li>Review of language, clarity, and Calls to action</li>
<li>Conversion optimisation</li>
<li>Content review</li>
<li>Visual design review</li>
<li>Suggested updates mapped out in a priority matrix</li>
</ul>
<p>At the end of a UX audit, you should receive a comprehensive report with clear and actionable recommendations and advice. The key suggestions from this audit can be mapped out in a priority matrix that will identify the quick wins or low hanging fruit that will have the highest impact on UX with lowest amount of design or development effort — we start from there and work our way through the findings to maximise ROI as quickly as possible.</p>
<div id="attachment_12391" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12391" class="wp-image-12391 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-1.png" alt="" width="1000" height="800" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-1.png 1000w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-1-250x200.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-1-700x560.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-1-768x614.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-1-120x96.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-1-80x64.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12391" class="wp-caption-text">Priority Matrix</p></div>
<p>A UX audit is an essential process for any software product, app or website. A well-executed review will help businesses fix problems quickly, improve retention and boost conversions.</p>
<h4><strong>Interested in running a UX audit on your app or website?</strong></h4>
<p>Please, get in touch to see how we can help.</p>


What is a User Experience Audit and how is it Useful?

<p>Imagine meeting someone for the first time, they found you confusing and had trouble understanding you and answering your questions. They might walk away from the engagement thinking you were complex, inarticulate, demanding and robot like. Not a great start, first impressions last.</p>
<p>Online forms are what connects many businesses to their customers. It’s often the first contact customers make, so we should make a good impression and keep the engagement simple, logical and as human as possible.</p>
<p>Form design is one of the cornerstones of UX and conversion rate optimisation (CRO). This is the point of conversion for many campaigns where marketing teams spend a lot of time and money on driving potential customers towards buying their product or service. If a user gets this far, the chance of conversion if high, so it’s important we remove as much friction as possible.</p>
<h3>How can I make forms more effective?</h3>
<p>A user will look at a form to see if the effort matches their motivation. A quick glance will tell them if the process is going to be easy or not. A poorly designed form will give the user a perception of complexity, even if this is not the case.</p>
<p>If there are a lot of fields, use multi-step forms to spread them over a number of pages, group related fields into logical sets like “your details’, ‘your booking’ and ‘payment’ — we call this chunking, or dividing fields into semantic groups.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1480" height="688" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-11583" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage1.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage1.jpg 1480w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage1-250x116.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage1-700x325.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage1-768x357.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage1-120x56.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage1-80x37.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1480px) 100vw, 1480px" />
<h3>What information should I ask for on a form?</h3>
<p>Only ask for the information you really need. Think about the data you are asking for, if it is all 100% necessary and within GDPR guidelines.</p>
<p>What you are asking for should make sense to the user based on what they are buying, they will already have an expectation of the data you need. Do you really need the users date of birth for them to buy a pair of socks?</p>
<p>If the user doesn’t understand why you are asking for personal information they may not complete the form. If you have to ask for sensitive or unexpected information, clearly explain the reasons why.</p>
<p>Reducing the amount of data you ask for will save users time and make them feel more comfortable.</p>
<h3>What is best practice in form design?</h3>
<p>There are dozens of best practice design conventions that make forms easier to fill out and increase conversions. I’ll cover some of the main ones below.</p>
<h4>Use a single-column layout</h4>
<p>Give your form a simple vertical flow, don’t have the users eyes zig zagging all over the screen. Multi-column form layouts can be prone to misinterpretation, users can skip fields where they actually have data to input because they do not notice them, especially on mobile.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1480" height="688" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-11581" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage3.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage3.jpg 1480w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage3-250x116.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage3-700x325.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage3-768x357.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage3-120x56.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage3-80x37.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1480px) 100vw, 1480px" />
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>Don’t ask users to repeat fields</h4>
<p>We’ve all come across it, we’re asked to enter a new password twice to verify it and what we end up doing is copying and pasting the text into the second field, it defeats the purpose. Instead of asking users to confirm a password, let them see it, you can use a toggle to display the password as they type.</p>
<h4><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1480" height="688" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-11582" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage2.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage2.jpg 1480w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage2-250x116.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage2-700x325.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage2-768x357.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage2-120x56.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage2-80x37.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1480px) 100vw, 1480px" />Avoid Drop-down Menus</h4>
<p>Through years of usability testing we have found that using drop-down menus for the wrong input types can lead to slower form completion time and validation errors which increase the likelihood of form abandonments. In general, avoid drop-downs when there are fewer than 5 or more than 10 options.</p>
<p>Radio buttons or checkboxes work well for less than 5 options and if you have over 10 options like a choice of country, try using an open text field with auto-complete, it saves the user time and frustration.</p>
<h4>Use Placeholders</h4>
<p>Don’t assume the users know what information you are asking for on each field, give them a hint, this should help with any questions that might arise.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1480" height="688" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-11580" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage4.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage4.jpg 1480w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage4-250x116.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage4-700x325.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage4-768x357.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage4-120x56.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage4-80x37.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1480px) 100vw, 1480px" />
<h4>Try not to split fields</h4>
<p>It should not be necessary to split fields like First name and Last name, one field for both will do, this will save the users time and clicks. If you need to split them later this should be easy enough to do in the database or even in Excel.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1480" height="463" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-11578" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage7.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage7.jpg 1480w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage7-250x78.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage7-700x219.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage7-768x240.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage7-120x38.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage7-80x25.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1480px) 100vw, 1480px" />
<h4>Language</h4>
<p>One area of UX design that often gets overlooked is copywriting, designers are usually not good copywriters (myself included). UX copywriting makes experiences more efficient, by helping readers navigate their way to their desired outcome. Copy should be concise, friendly and written in plain English. It’s UX design, but with words. When it comes to error messages and form validation don’t be a robot, help the user by keeping the copy clear and easy to understand. Help the user solve the problem.</p>
<p>I could go on —</p>
<ul>
<li>always mark mandatory fields with an astrix</li>
<li>align labels top-left for best readability</li>
<li>don’t use CAPs</li>
<li>use conditional logic to shorten your forms</li>
<li>use autofocus on active fields…</li>
</ul>
<h3>What is good UX for submitting and providing form feedback?</h3>
<p>If the user has gone to the trouble of completing your form, you need to give them good feedback, reassurance that it worked and be clear about what happens next.</p>
<h4>Use clear and obvious action buttons</h4>
<p>Don’t make the mistake of being a robot again by putting a label like ‘Submit’ or ‘Send’ on the action button, this tells the user nothing about what is going to happen. Set the expectation, tell them what they are about to do. This clarity is essential for great calls to action, they go a long way in making a form more compelling and trustworthy.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1480" height="688" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-11577" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage5.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage5.jpg 1480w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage5-250x116.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage5-700x325.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage5-768x357.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage5-120x56.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage5-80x37.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1480px) 100vw, 1480px" />
<h4>No one enjoys waiting</h4>
<p>When it comes to loading and submitting data, your form should be lightning fast. Make sure you have a well resourced server and use Google Lighthouse to check your forms performance and accessibility.</p>
<p>If you have to keep a user waiting after submission, provide some feedback to show them something is happening behind the scenes. A simple animation will do this while distracting them from the time passing. You can also use some clever animations to keep them amused and the time will pass quickly.</p>
<h4>Celebrate success</h4>
<p>When a form has been submitted, tell the user it worked (or not). Show them a message of success but also let them know what happens next. Will they get an email? Will their concert tickets be posted to them? — set the expectation.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1480" height="688" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-11576" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage6.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage6.jpg 1480w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage6-250x116.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage6-700x325.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage6-768x357.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage6-120x56.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BlogImage6-80x37.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1480px) 100vw, 1480px" />
<h3>What is the number one thing I can do to improve the UX of my forms?</h3>
<p>None of this is rocket science but all of it will go a long way to maximising your online conversions. You can take all of our advise but the one thing that all UX comes back to in the end is test, test, test! If you don’t carry out usability testing, you won’t know if a form is working to its full potential.</p>


Form UX: Better Forms for More Conversions

<p id="e8b8" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">There are a multitude of UX myths out there and the pattern seems to be that many of them have been carried over from the 90’s and 00’s when our technology was very different. We didn’t have smartphones, internet speeds were slow and the number of people using the internet in 2000 was <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/internet" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">10% of what is is today</a>. Until Don Norman coined the term “user experience”, it was only adopted by a few of the big tech companies as something called Human–computer interaction (HCI).</p>
<p id="21a8" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">Let me dispel some of these myths that cause so much debate, confusion and frankly waste time for clients,  UX designers and software developers.</p>
<p id="d564" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">Time to take out the trash!</p>
<h3 id="2304" class="ho hp ap bx bw hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib"><strong class="bk">1. UX is expensive</strong></h3>
<p id="b6bb" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy ic ha hb id hd he ie hg hh if hj hk ig hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">There is a famous quote that sums up and obliterates this myth.</p>
<blockquote class="ih ii ij">
<p id="755c" class="gv gw ap ik gx b gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">“If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.”<br />
— Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar</p>
</blockquote>
<p id="8014" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">Until recent times interfaces would be designed based on a designer and developers assumptions combined with the stakeholders opinions. Users were not consulted and testing was usually only carried out on the technical side.</p>
<p id="15a1" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">Sure, in-depth user research and analysis can take time and effort but it’s almost always worthwhile. Budgets do not need to run high in order to carry out user research. It could be done in the form of a user survey, informal interviews and/or usability testing. A good UX designer will have the tools to match most budgets or project timelines. Skipping research and going straight to design should never be an option, your product will suffer and the time and effort to make it right will be multiples of the initial proposed user research costs. Numerous <a class="cm di il im in io" href="https://theamericangenius.com/tech-news/ux-critical-every-1-invested-ux-yields-2-100-return/" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer">industry studies</a> have stated that every euro spent on UX brings in between €2 and €100 in return through performance optimisation and savings on design, content and development to fix a bad interface, not to mention the lost revenue due to user friction.</p>
<h3 id="fd26" class="ho hp ap bx bw hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib"><strong class="bk">2. Users don’t scroll</strong></h3>
<p id="d539" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy ic ha hb id hd he ie hg hh if hj hk ig hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">Another one from the ’90’s. Lets think about this, when was the last time you landed on a website and didn’t scroll? Scrolling is perfectly natural to us all, there is nothing unusual about it. The thinking that users do not scroll ends up producing websites and apps that have a very cluttered “above the fold” areas that look so busy, users will want to scroll past them, this is what we call a high cognitive load. User don&#8217;t deal well with too many choices. With so many screen sizes and devices ‘the fold’ is no longer possible to define.</p>
<p data-selectable-paragraph=""><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10883 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/tenor.gif" alt="" width="498" height="498" /></p>
<p id="91a4" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">Chartbeat, a data analytics provider, <a class="cm di il im in io" href="https://blog.chartbeat.com/2016/08/10/scrolling-in-the-deep/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer">found that</a> “The portion of the page below the fold is viewed for nearly three times as long as the top of the page.”</p>
<h3 id="d7bd" class="ho hp ap bx bw hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib"><strong class="bk">3. Users will read all your text</strong></h3>
<p id="8cee" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy ic ha hb id hd he ie hg hh if hj hk ig hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">There is a little bit of ego in this one, some will make the assumption that users will enthusiastically read their lengthly mission statement with keen interest. Unfortunately not, most users have very short attention spans, they will land on a web page and quickly scan it for the headings that are relevant to them before they begin to read. If the copy below the heading does not satisfy them within a couple of lines they will stop reading and move on. Well structured and concise page content broken up into bite sized chunks with very clear headings perform best — see how this article is structured? Easy.</p>
<h3 id="7815" class="ho hp ap bx bw hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib"><strong class="bk">4. You don’t need content to start design</strong></h3>
<p id="211d" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy ic ha hb id hd he ie hg hh if hj hk ig hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">Content is the bricks and mortar of an interface. Content will shape the design, functionality and structure of the interface. Design should always be content led, the process of creating content will focus the mind on the goals and objectives of any interface and will cause the project direction to evolve organically. The process of content creation will inspire ideas for other content, it forces the team to really think about how the interface and how users engage with the content.</p>
<p data-selectable-paragraph=""><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10882 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/joshua-hoehne-8nOnIx4Mq64-unsplash-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1365" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/joshua-hoehne-8nOnIx4Mq64-unsplash-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/joshua-hoehne-8nOnIx4Mq64-unsplash-250x167.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/joshua-hoehne-8nOnIx4Mq64-unsplash-700x467.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/joshua-hoehne-8nOnIx4Mq64-unsplash-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/joshua-hoehne-8nOnIx4Mq64-unsplash-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/joshua-hoehne-8nOnIx4Mq64-unsplash-120x80.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/joshua-hoehne-8nOnIx4Mq64-unsplash-80x53.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /></p>
<p id="a5c7" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">We are often asked to use dummy or placeholder during design and development as waiting for content to be created can slow the process down. In theory this makes sense if the content structure is not going to change but in the two decades I have been working in interface design I have never been involved in a project where using dummy content resulted in no design or development changes.</p>
<p id="85ab" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">Create your content first and the design and development stages of the project will run smoother. The results of this will mean less changes, lower costs, faster turnaround, less stress and a better product.</p>
<h3 id="af70" class="ho hp ap bx bw hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib"><strong class="bk">5. If it works for a competitor, it will work for you</strong></h3>
<p id="5670" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy ic ha hb id hd he ie hg hh if hj hk ig hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">There are a variety of proverbs I can insert here but I’ll leave you think of your own. Just because your very successful competitor is doing something does not mean it will work for you, it may not even be working for them. Sure, lift ideas from your competitors but make sure you test and validate their effectiveness first with your own user base.</p>
<h3 id="2a14" class="ho hp ap bx bw hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib"><strong class="bk">6. Icons enhance usability</strong></h3>
<p id="410a" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy ic ha hb id hd he ie hg hh if hj hk ig hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">Don’t get me wrong, icons are a great way of communicating something quickly and universally without users having to read but this only works if the icon is recognisable. If it&#8217;s not, we’ll need to add a text label to explain what it is. Now the user has to look at the icon and read the label which defeats the purpose of the icon and slows the user down. As Martin LeBlanc put it “A user interface is like a joke, if you have to explain it, it’s not very good.” The simple rule is, if an icon needs a label, don’t use an icon.</p>
<p data-selectable-paragraph=""><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10887 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/icons.png" alt="" width="1366" height="376" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/icons.png 1366w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/icons-250x69.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/icons-700x193.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/icons-768x211.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/icons-120x33.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/icons-80x22.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px" /></p>
<h3 id="dd01" class="ho hp ap bx bw hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib"><strong class="bk">7. Design has to be original</strong></h3>
<p id="60ce" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy ic ha hb id hd he ie hg hh if hj hk ig hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">Most non-conventional interface designs usually carry usability issues. People like familiarity, an interface that is structured in a familiar way will perform better than one that is not. There are a lot of UX conventions that are repeated across websites and apps because they work, users understand them and they provide a good user experience. Don’t try and reinvent the wheel — colour, fonts and photography can usually provide the design originality you want.</p>
<h3 id="51e1" class="ho hp ap bx bw hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib"><strong class="bk">8. White space is wasted space</strong></h3>
<p id="6e57" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy ic ha hb id hd he ie hg hh if hj hk ig hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">In the same way silence gives us time to think, focus and concentrate — white space in a design does something similar. It gives content room to breathe, to stand out in a way users can focus and comprehend it easily. This brings us back to cognitive load, if we throw too much at a user they will become confused and frustrated. White space is your friend, don’t be afraid to use it liberally. Look at the simplicity of this webpage, few distractions and lots of white space (especially on desktop where we can afford the space).</p>
<p data-selectable-paragraph=""><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10888 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bad.png" alt="" width="1900" height="1153" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bad.png 1900w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bad-250x152.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bad-700x425.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bad-768x466.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bad-1536x932.png 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bad-120x73.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bad-80x49.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px" /></p>
<h3 id="4a27" class="ho hp ap bx bw hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib"><strong class="bk">9. UX design is the same as User Interface design</strong></h3>
<p id="3d47" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy ic ha hb id hd he ie hg hh if hj hk ig hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">I wrote <a class="cm di il im in io" href="https://friday.ie/blog/whats-the-difference-between-ux-user-experience-and-ui-user-interface-design/" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer">a piece about this</a> a while back as there is a lot of confusion around this both inside and outside the industry. First, let’s just define each.</p>
<p class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy ic ha hb id hd he ie hg hh if hj hk ig hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">UX or user experience design is grounded in research with the goal of understanding user behaviour in order to design an interface that will address the users goals, motivations and pain points. UX is the design of the how it feels to use something, the flow, the functionality, the wording all working together to create a smooth and clear experience.</p>
<p class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy ic ha hb id hd he ie hg hh if hj hk ig hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">UI design is design of the interfaces aesthetics &#8211; the colours, fonts, imagery and layouts. It sets the visual tone, style, look and feel.</p>
<p id="b0e8" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">While some UX designers may also do some UI design and visa versa, this is not always the case and less so as time goes on, they are both very different areas of expertise but collaborate very closely, one cannot work without the other.</p>
<blockquote class="ih ii ij">
<p id="baf9" class="gv gw ap ik gx b gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">“UI is the saddle, the stirrups, &amp; the reins. UX is the feeling you get being able to ride the horse.”<br />
— Dain Miller, Web Developer</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-selectable-paragraph=""><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1678" height="884" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-10884" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/toptal-blog-image-1513007406573-201f3896bd3ec49768d7127ad2f96b6b.png" alt="" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/toptal-blog-image-1513007406573-201f3896bd3ec49768d7127ad2f96b6b.png 1678w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/toptal-blog-image-1513007406573-201f3896bd3ec49768d7127ad2f96b6b-250x132.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/toptal-blog-image-1513007406573-201f3896bd3ec49768d7127ad2f96b6b-700x369.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/toptal-blog-image-1513007406573-201f3896bd3ec49768d7127ad2f96b6b-768x405.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/toptal-blog-image-1513007406573-201f3896bd3ec49768d7127ad2f96b6b-1536x809.png 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/toptal-blog-image-1513007406573-201f3896bd3ec49768d7127ad2f96b6b-120x63.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/toptal-blog-image-1513007406573-201f3896bd3ec49768d7127ad2f96b6b-80x42.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1678px) 100vw, 1678px" /></p>
<h3 id="812f" class="ho hp ap bx bw hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib">10. Usability Testing is not always necessary</h3>
<p id="3405" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy ic ha hb id hd he ie hg hh if hj hk ig hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">If just one user research method is going to employed in a project it should be usability testing. It will probably reveal why you should have done more pre-design user research.</p>
<p id="4216" class="gv gw ap bx gx b gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn dx" data-selectable-paragraph="">Observational  is the most powerful user research method we have, watching users interact with your interface usually brings up all kinds of surprises and exposes any assumptions. It doesn’t have to always be carried out under lab conditions, it can be done casually over a cup of coffee with a few friends or colleagues that have not been exposed to the project. I wrote <a class="cm di il im in io" href="https://friday.ie/blog/time-spoke-importance-usability-testing/" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer">another piece</a> about this a couple of years ago.</p>
<hr />
<p data-selectable-paragraph="">There are many other UX myths and more will be revealed as technology and UX practice evolves, I&#8217;ll come back and update this in a couple of year and see where are at with &#8216;the fold&#8217;!</p>
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10 UX Myths – Time to take out the trash!

<p>We are delighted to announce that Friday has won gold for the Best Small Agency (15 or fewer employees) at the 2020 DMA Awards. This is a great testament to all the hard work from our marketing, design and development teams here at the agency as well as the close collaboration with our amazing clients who put their trust in us. We are truly proud of everyone involved.</p>
<p>The 2020 DMAs took place at Dublin’s Clarion Hotel on February 21st where the agency also won bronze in the best website category for their work on the <a href="https://www.urbana.ie" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Urbana website</a>.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10722 size-large" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-700x525.jpeg" alt="" width="700" height="525" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-700x525.jpeg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-250x188.jpeg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-120x90.jpeg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-80x60.jpeg 80w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908.jpeg 900w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />
<p>2019 was a great year for the Friday Agency, winning awards for UX and e-commerce as well as the <a href="https://www.friday.ie/blog/friday-wins-the-much-coveted-best-website-award-at-the-spiders/">best website at the Spiders</a> for our work with <a href="https://www.friday.ie/work/rkd/">RKD Architects</a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>Well done to everyone involved, well deserved, we are looking forward to more gongs when awards season starts up again towards the end of the year.</p>


Friday wins Gold for Best Agency at the 2020 DMA Awards

<p>Surprisingly, this is my first post to mention toasters more than once, you’ll see why later. In my last post, I discussed <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/how-to-be-persuasive-the-6-principles-of-influence/">How to be Persuasive and The 6 Principles of Influence.</a> Being persuasive is one thing, but how do we actually change behaviour and influence someone to do something and take the action to convert?</p>
<p>The focus of UX design can often be centred around user research and the usability of an interface, how simple and intuitive it is to use. This ultimately increases the user&#8217;s ability to complete a task but just because a user has the ability to do something, doesn’t mean they’ll do it.</p>
<p>In 2009, B.J. Fogg, a social science research associate at Stanford University developed a very simple behaviour model that illustrates the three elements that need to be present at the same time in order to persuade someone to do something.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>I’m going to get a little bit geeky here but bare with me, its very simple. <b>Behavioural</b> change requires a sufficient amount of <b>ability</b> and <b>motivation</b> along with a <b>prompt</b> in order to persuade someone to do something. It is only when all 3 elements of the model are present at the same time that the behaviour can happen.</p>
<h4><b>1. Motivation</b></h4>
<p>Motivation is what makes the user want to complete a task. This is the background story, what drives them to do something. This could be something as simple as a user who loves to eat toast needing a new toaster because their old one has broken.</p>
<h4><b>2. Ability<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></h4>
<p>In order for a user to perform a task they must have the required ability, the easier the task the higher the ability they’ll have. Ability can range from the user requiring time, money, mental or physical capacity to complete a task. In UX it can be the ability to fill in a form easily or when it comes to the toaster, does the user have enough money (ability) to buy the toaster?</p>
<h4><b>3. Prompt</b></h4>
<p>Without an appropriate prompt, the behaviour will not occur, even if high ability and motivation are present. A prompt or trigger can be something that reminds or reveals an opportunity for the user to carry out the desired behaviour at an appropriate time.</p>
<p>A prompt can also help with motivation. Let’s say a user is in the market for a new toaster but they don’t have enough money to buy one. Then, they see a social media ad for half price toasters, this is the prompt that motivates them to buy the toaster because the prompt reveals that they now have the financial ability to buy the toaster.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>Fogg’s Behaviour Model can be used to quickly test the effectiveness of any desired behaviour by asking three simple questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>Is the user motivated enough to do what you want them to?</li>
<li>Does the user have the required ability to carry out the task?</li>
<li>Has the user been reminded to perform the desired behaviour at the right time?</li>
</ol>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10700 size-large" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/graph-700x595.png" alt="" width="700" height="595" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/graph-700x595.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/graph-250x213.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/graph-768x653.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/graph-1536x1306.png 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/graph-120x102.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/graph-80x68.png 80w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/graph.png 2014w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />
<p>Any call to action can be checked against this model to predict its effectiveness, be they toaster ads or otherwise. Remember, for a behaviour to happen, the three elements have to happen at the same time: motivation, ability, and trigger.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h2><b>B = MAP</b></h2>
<p>Graham recently gave a talk at the <a href="http://3xedigital.com">3XE Digital</a> UX Conference in Dublin around this very topic. He gave some good examples of Fogg&#8217;s behaviour model in practice.</p>
<h4>Prompt with low motivation</h4>
<p>In this example a user is prompted to signup for a newsletter, while the ability is high, motivation is low due to lack of any value being offered. Why would a user want to signup to this newsletter?</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10702 size-gallery-panel" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Graham-Carroll-3XE-Digital-CRO-UX.001-1260x620.jpeg" alt="" width="1260" height="620" />
<h4>Prompt with high motivation but low ability</h4>
<p>This example creates motivation by offering users a 20% discount on their next order if they signup for the newsletter, great! However, the ability is low as users are asked to enter their date of birth without a reason and it does not tell the user what format the date of birth should be in. Ability will be low because of this.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10703 size-gallery-panel" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Graham-Carroll-3XE-Digital-CRO-UX.002-1260x620.jpeg" alt="" width="1260" height="620" />
<p>The following error message doesn&#8217;t help either!</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10704 size-gallery-panel" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Graham-Carroll-3XE-Digital-CRO-UX.003-1260x620.jpeg" alt="" width="1260" height="620" />
<h4>Prompt with high motivation and high ability</h4>
<p>This is what a successful prompt looks like, motivation is high because of the value on offer in return for signing up and ability is high because the user simply has to enter their email address.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10705 size-gallery-panel" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Graham-Carroll-3XE-Digital-CRO-UX.004-1260x620.jpeg" alt="" width="1260" height="620" />
<p>This is all very simple and obvious stuff but you&#8217;d be surprised how many marketers overlook testing calls to action against this model.</p>
<p>The great man himself, BJ Fogg, explains the simple formula for the behaviour model in this 2 and half minute video if you’d like a quick recap:</p>
<div class="youtube-responsive-container"><iframe id="myFrame" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jsbF9z6adAo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>


Persuasive design: How to make shit happen

<p>2019 was a great year for Friday on the awards front, we received multiple trophies for our UX and e-commerce projects as well as winning the much-coveted Best Website Award at the Spiders for the <a href="https://friday.ie/work/rkd-2/">RKD Architects website</a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>2020 has kicked off with a bang and <a href="https://digitalmedia.ie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">4 DMA Award nominations</a>.</p>
<h3><b>Best Website</b></h3>
<p>We have a total of 3 nominations in the best website category all competing against each other. This category recognises websites that enhance user experience and those that consumers think are the most useful.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>The first of our nominations is the new <a href="https://friday.ie/work/dublinzoo/">Dublin Zoo</a> website which we launched late last year and has already been a huge success in terms of performance, conversions and engagement. <a href="https://www.urbana.ie" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Urbana</a> is the second in the category, this website won 2 awards last year at the UX and eCommerce awards. Finally, winner of the 2019 Best Website Spider Award &#8211; <a href="http://www.rkd.ie">RKD Architects</a> has been recognised again.</p>
<h3><b>Best Small Agency</b></h3>
<p>Friday Agency has also been nominated in the best small agency category. We are up against entries from other agencies that employ 15 or fewer employees.</p>
<p>This is a great testament to the talent and hard work by our team well as our clients who collaborate closely and put their trust in our people and process.</p>
<p>The event takes place on Friday, 21st February in the Clayton Hotel. We’ll be dusting off the ball gowns and monkey suits. Fingers crossed!</p>


Friday with 4 nominations in this years DMA Awards, including Best Agency

<p id="185c" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph="">The art of effective persuasion in humans is a fairly rare quality. Those who possess it often have a natural balance of charisma, charm and authority. This generation has been brought up to question everything so effective persuasion is getting more and more challenging with time.</p>
<p id="d012" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph="">Fortunately innate powers of persuasion are not required for effective marketing or UX design, just a little bit of psychology. Persuasive design uses communication and design methods to influence human behaviour and increase motivation. When combined with good usability this can maximise potential conversions in a very powerful way.</p>
<p id="a78f" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph="">All the way back in 1984 when Tina Turner was asking us ‘What’s love got to do with it?’ and Freddy Kruger was freaking us all out in the first Nightmare on Elm Street movie, Dr Robert Cialdini wrote a booked called <em class="hd">Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion</em>. This is widely hailed as seminal book on conversion optimisation in marketing. In the book, Cialdini outlined the 6 Principles of Influence that are more relevant today than they were 36 years ago. Let’s run through them briefly.</p>
<p id="2ae2" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph=""><strong class="gr he">1. Liking</strong></p>
<p id="9d0c" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph="">Most of the time we like people who like us — we react positively to genuine praise, rapport and common ground. A good brand that is honest, respectful, seeks empathy and is well presented will form relationships with its customers and have more perceived credibility.</p>
<p id="45a9" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph=""><strong class="gr he">2. Scarcity</strong></p>
<p id="b804" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph="">We all understand FOMO or fear of missing out, this can be a powerful motivator. Research has found that loss language is far more effective than highlighting potential gains. This could be in the form of a time limited offer or limited product availability.</p>
<div id="attachment_10550" style="width: 786px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-10550" class="wp-image-10550 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1dFJz5tQ6JzDcKkXnUoCoTw.png" alt="" width="776" height="866" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1dFJz5tQ6JzDcKkXnUoCoTw.png 776w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1dFJz5tQ6JzDcKkXnUoCoTw-250x279.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1dFJz5tQ6JzDcKkXnUoCoTw-700x781.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1dFJz5tQ6JzDcKkXnUoCoTw-768x857.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1dFJz5tQ6JzDcKkXnUoCoTw-120x134.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1dFJz5tQ6JzDcKkXnUoCoTw-72x80.png 72w" sizes="(max-width: 776px) 100vw, 776px" /><p id="caption-attachment-10550" class="wp-caption-text">Limited time online offer creating scarcity</p></div>
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<p id="9128" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph=""><strong class="gr he">3. Reciprocity</strong></p>
<p id="2765" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph="">This one is the simple principle of giving what you want to receive. There are many ways to have reciprocity work for you. Small acts of kindness will be remembered, be it treating others with respect, going the extra mile and doing a good deed can all win you points with other individuals.</p>
<p id="0873" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph="">As an organisation you could enhance the customer experience by giving customers a discount, gift, free shipping, being environmentally aware or not having limiting return policies.</p>
<div id="attachment_10549" style="width: 1420px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-10549" class="wp-image-10549 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1oA6fDZ_ovju3Sbs8tBY5bQ.png" alt="" width="1410" height="734" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1oA6fDZ_ovju3Sbs8tBY5bQ.png 1410w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1oA6fDZ_ovju3Sbs8tBY5bQ-250x130.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1oA6fDZ_ovju3Sbs8tBY5bQ-700x364.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1oA6fDZ_ovju3Sbs8tBY5bQ-768x400.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1oA6fDZ_ovju3Sbs8tBY5bQ-120x62.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1oA6fDZ_ovju3Sbs8tBY5bQ-80x42.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1410px) 100vw, 1410px" /><p id="caption-attachment-10549" class="wp-caption-text">Reciprocity is demonstrated for those who are environmentally aware.</p></div>
<p id="652a" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph=""><strong class="gr he">4. Social Proof / Consensus</strong></p>
<p id="e0d5" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph="">We are usually open to things that have been tried and tested by those we trust — friends, family, media or the influencers that we respect. One of the most powerful persuasive techniques online comes in the form of social influence…because it works.</p>
<div id="attachment_10548" style="width: 1344px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-10548" class="wp-image-10548 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1HRp4-NNkXmcPOez0ze3Leg.png" alt="" width="1334" height="1174" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1HRp4-NNkXmcPOez0ze3Leg.png 1334w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1HRp4-NNkXmcPOez0ze3Leg-250x220.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1HRp4-NNkXmcPOez0ze3Leg-700x616.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1HRp4-NNkXmcPOez0ze3Leg-768x676.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1HRp4-NNkXmcPOez0ze3Leg-120x106.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1HRp4-NNkXmcPOez0ze3Leg-80x70.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1334px) 100vw, 1334px" /><p id="caption-attachment-10548" class="wp-caption-text">Independent reviews provide social proof.</p></div>
<p id="2a0d" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph=""><strong class="gr he">5. Consistency</strong></p>
<p id="ee13" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph="">Customer loyalty is hugely important, if a customer has made a commitment to consistently do something with you there is a good chance they will stick to it as they will need to make a counter decision to stop doing it. Look at a service like Spotify, users signup and in a lot of cases unless they have a very good reason and make the effort they are unlikely to cancel the contract.</p>
<p id="2c02" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph=""><strong class="gr he">6. Authority</strong></p>
<p id="6864" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph="">When it comes to convincing someone about something it’s important to establish yourself as an expert or reference someone who is when making a statement. You can see this in a lot of online marketing with headlines that include phrases like “research shows”, “experts say”, or “scientifically proven”.</p>
<p id="d16a" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph="">After all, these 6 principles have been developed by Dr Robert Cialdini, the Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University!</p>
<p id="88b5" class="gp gq bz at gr b gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc" data-selectable-paragraph="">Let’s not forget about ethics, Cialdini is clear that these principles should come from a place of good, with influence being authentic, genuine, and leading others to making positive decisions, not only for themselves, but for everyone else. Use these principles the right way and reap the rewards.</p>


How to be Persuasive: The 6 Principles of Influence

<p>Our award-winning team here at Friday are proud to announce that we have won the much-coveted ‘Best Website’ Award at the annual Spider Awards. The award went to our work for the <a href="https://friday.ie/work/rkd-2/">RKD Architects</a> website that launched earlier this year.</p>
<p>This year marks the 24th anniversary of the prestigious Spider Awards. As the longest-running digital awards programme in Ireland, dedicated to recognising companies and individuals driving digital excellence in every aspect of their ethos.</p>
<p>RKD is one of Ireland’s largest and leading architectural firms. They employ design as a strategic tool, creating impeccably versatile spaces that work hard to meet the needs of the people who use them.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10344 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="522" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193.jpg 900w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-250x145.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-768x445.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-700x406.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-120x70.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-80x46.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" />
<p>Our website brief was to represent the new RKD brand digitally by bringing the user into a new experience of simplicity through visual communication. Our aim was to tell RKD’s story by showing the incredible work that they do and the talented people who do it.</p>
<p>There is no need to choose between creating an informative or aesthetically pleasing design—both can be achieved simultaneously. Key to this is keeping rich content concise as well as visual.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<blockquote><p>“Friday’s research-driven approach and their ability to creatively and constructively challenge helped us to identify assumptions early on and to maintain our focus on the user experience.”</p>
<p><strong><em>Barra Heavey, Director of Marketing, RKD Architects.</em></strong></p></blockquote>


Friday wins much coveted Best Website Award at the Spiders

<p>After working in UX design for many years (do I sound old?), you start to see patterns emerge. Mistakes, misconceptions, assumptions and bad processes employed by design professionals, project managers, developers and clients alike. So if I was to give some tips to someone starting out building a new website I would base these tips around the common mistakes I see being made. This list is not exclusive or ranked in terms of importance but it’s a good basis for starting a new web project.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4 style="padding-left: 40px;">1. Research is Key</h4>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">Until you intimately know your users and their goals, motivations, situations and frustrations, you won’t be able to deliver a great and effective user experience. Ultimately, user research is the difference between designing based on guesswork and assumptions, and creating something that solves an actual real user problem. Without research, there is no UX design.</p>
<h4 style="padding-left: 40px;">2. Challenge Assumptions</h4>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">You know your customers but don’t fall into the trap of making design decisions based on your own assumptions that have not been challenged or validated, this brings us back to research being key. You are not your user. Spend a little research time early on in the project rather than risk releasing something that may not meet your users needs. Fixing a problem in development costs 10 times as much as fixing it in design, and 100 times as much if you’re trying to fix the problem in a product that’s already been released.</p>
<h4 style="padding-left: 40px;">3. Understand the Difference Between UX and UI Design</h4>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">UX is how it feels to use your website, UX design is to create the experience. UI design is to design how it looks &#8211; colours, shapes, photography. They are closely linked but UI design is part of the UX design process. <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/whats-the-difference-between-ux-user-experience-and-ui-user-interface-design/">More about this here.</a></p>
<h4 style="padding-left: 40px;">4. Create your Content First<b><br />
</b></h4>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">Form follows function. Your content will shape the design and functionality of your website, don’t start design until you have your content ready.</p>
<h4 style="padding-left: 40px;">5. Focus on the first 80% of users<b><br />
</b></h4>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">If you aim to create a product that fits the needs of everyone who uses it you will more than likely fail, first you need to focus on the common needs of the first 80% of your users, everyone after that is an edge case and trying to fulfil the needs of edge cases will often have a negative effect on the experience of the first 80%. We call it feature bloat, historically Microsoft Word is a good example of software that has lacked simplicity because it was trying to be all things to all users.  This is not to say we ignore the edge cases, we just need to get things right for the majority of users first.</p>
<h4 style="padding-left: 40px;">6. Put Mobile First</h4>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">Too often business owners spend all their time judging websites on a big screen when the majority of their users will be using a smartphone. We always design for mobile-first.</p>
<h4 style="padding-left: 40px;">7. Optimise Readability</h4>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">Less is more &#8211; keep content concise, use headings and sub-headings so users can quickly scan your website for the content that is relevant to them. All content and functionality needs to add value and have a clear purpose. Users are time poor with low attention spans so cut down the waffle and get to the point quickly. The days of welcome messages, mission statements and long introductions are long gone. Concise well-structured content makes for a much more efficient, effective and enjoyable user experience.</p>
<h4 style="padding-left: 40px;">8. Avoid Relying on a Mobile Burger Navigation</h4>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">Discoverability is cut by 50% when a websites key navigation elements are hidden behind a burger navigation. Burger menus can be hard to avoid but key calls to action should be front and centre on your mobile website and not just behind a burger menu. <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/not-such-a-tasty-burger%E2%80%8A-%E2%80%8Athe-case-against-hidden-menus-in-web-design/">Mary has lots more to say on this here.</a></p>
<h4 style="padding-left: 40px;">9. Focus on Performance</h4>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">You may not link the two but website performance is user experience. Think of the last time a website you visited was too slow to load, you may have closed the tab after a few seconds and moved on. This is where good developers come in, they may not make the best UX designers but a good developer will build a website that is optimised to run fast and ensures the server it&#8217;s hosted on is managed to be fast and secure. Your users will thank you and Google will also thank you by taking performance into account when they are ranking your website.</p>
<h4 style="padding-left: 40px;">10. Give Users Feedback</h4>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">Users need to know that your site works, when a user does something like click a button, add a product to the cart or submit a form you need to tell them it worked. Give the user feedback via subtle animations, colour changes and simple text notifications to tell them it worked. Micro-interactions communicate to the user that everything is ok.</p>
<h4 style="padding-left: 40px;">11. Create Calls to Action That Set Expectations</h4>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">A button with the title ‘Click Here’ tells a user nothing about what happens when they click the button. Try and set expectations with button labels like ‘Add to Cart’, ‘Book now’ or ‘Register today’.</p>
<h4 style="padding-left: 40px;">12. Test, Test and Test again<b><br />
</b></h4>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">After research, <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/time-spoke-importance-usability-testing/">testing is the most important aspect of the UX lifecycle</a>. Test, iterate and test everything again from your ideas, prototypes, designs, betas to your live product &#8211; the cycle never ends but the road leads to success.</p>
<p>UX design is all about having an open mind, listening to your users and avoiding assumptions in order to gain real user empathy. If we understand exactly how our users feel then we are well placed to come up with a design solution that meets their needs and therefore is a success.</p>


12 UX Design Tips to Help you Build a Better Website

<p class="graf graf--p">I’m Dave, the UX director at the Friday Agency. Sitting beside me is Gavin and Martin, good guys and both very experienced digital marketing professionals. Naturally, we work very closely together and like to have the occasional laugh at the expense of each other! They provide me with a wealth of statistical information around user behaviour. I like to think I provide them with more attitudinal research-based user insights. This brings up all kinds of great discussions around usability. While we interpret data differently from our own perspectives, we all have the same goal in mind — to gain user empathy through research and not assumptions.</p>
<h4 class="graf graf--h4">Office banter</h4>
<p class="graf graf--p">A good discussion started last week about the use of title case vs sentence case in both digital marketing and UX design. Before I go into how I think the lads are wrong let me explain a couple of things.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">Title case means that the first letter of each word is capitalised, except for certain small words such as articles and short prepositions. With sentence case, only the first word and proper nouns have initial capitals, the Queens English so to speak!</p>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong">Title case: </strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">Gavin and Martin Think They are Right, Dave has Other Ideas.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong">Sentence case: </strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">Gavin and Martin think they are right, Dave has other ideas.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">Spending a lot of time working in Google Ads, Gavin and Martin need to write attention-grabbing headlines in 30 characters or less. Research has found that using title case for Google Ads is more effective for getting users attention, fair enough. The issue I have is that the lads seem to apply the same logic to almost all titles, subtitles, headings and sub-headings, lists and bullet points. This willy nilly approach upsets me, its all over the place — no rules, no control — it&#8217;s literary anarchy!</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">There is no doubt that title case works well online for headings, it gives a visual hierarchy to different text elements and helps guide the reader. You don’t want users starting with a sub-heading. My feeling is that title case works when there is less than 10–12 words, after that it just gets messy and hard to read. To my horror Gavin suggested that sub-titles should also be in title case, this is where I draw the line. There is no way the sub-text legibility in the Google Ad below benefits from being in title case… no way, sorry Gav!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="750" height="143" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-9342" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1gKbN40Wahe3K0qkQJo0ZmA.png" alt="" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1gKbN40Wahe3K0qkQJo0ZmA.png 750w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1gKbN40Wahe3K0qkQJo0ZmA-250x48.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1gKbN40Wahe3K0qkQJo0ZmA-700x133.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1gKbN40Wahe3K0qkQJo0ZmA-120x23.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1gKbN40Wahe3K0qkQJo0ZmA-80x15.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" />
<figure class="graf graf--figure"></figure>
<h4 class="graf graf--h4">A/B testing</h4>
<p class="graf graf--p">So, being the research nerds that we are, we decided to do some A/B testing around this. We created 2 almost identical Google Ads for our UX services. The only difference was that the sub-title was title case in one and sentence case in the other. We wanted to see which ad had the highest click-thru rate.</p>
<div id="attachment_9340" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-9340" class="wp-image-9340 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1jYvY4FzLSVSihw5qZN0MtA.png" alt="" width="600" height="78" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1jYvY4FzLSVSihw5qZN0MtA.png 600w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1jYvY4FzLSVSihw5qZN0MtA-250x33.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1jYvY4FzLSVSihw5qZN0MtA-120x16.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1jYvY4FzLSVSihw5qZN0MtA-80x10.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /><p id="caption-attachment-9340" class="wp-caption-text">Sub-title in title case</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div id="attachment_9340" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-9340" class="wp-image-9340 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1jYvY4FzLSVSihw5qZN0MtA.png" alt="" width="600" height="78" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1jYvY4FzLSVSihw5qZN0MtA.png 600w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1jYvY4FzLSVSihw5qZN0MtA-250x33.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1jYvY4FzLSVSihw5qZN0MtA-120x16.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1jYvY4FzLSVSihw5qZN0MtA-80x10.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /><p id="caption-attachment-9340" class="wp-caption-text">Sub-title in sentence case</p></div>
<figure class="graf graf--figure"><figcaption class="imageCaption"></figcaption></figure>
<figure class="graf graf--figure"><figcaption class="imageCaption"></figcaption></figure>
<p class="graf graf--p">To our surprise, there was only a 0.5% difference in performance between the two ads in favour of title case, marginal and inconclusive for most but huge for the likes of Amazon. This may hint that title case will grab slightly more attention but doesn’t offer us any insights into legibility. To be fair to Gav and Martin, we do it not because everyone else does — but because it gets higher click-through-rates and therefore more revenue for our clients!</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">This got me thinking about what the ‘rules’ are around this for marketing or UX. I did a bit of reading on the subject and it seems there are no rules. It’s highly subjective. There is a general consensus that titles do get more attention in title case but the jury is out on whether longer titles or sub-titles in title case are easier to read. Studies have found the difference in reading efficiency between title and sentence case is actually quite minimal. My views might be based on aesthetics, it looks choppy and for me it is harder to read but you may not agree.</p>
<h4 class="graf graf--h4">Laying down the law</h4>
<p class="graf graf--p">The hypothesis that I offer is that title case has a high level of prominence but the legibility suffers as a result, you’d never read a full book in title case, would you? The use case depends on what you want to achieve, do you want attention or have easy to read text.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">I found a great example below. These are different notification popups on iOS and Android screens. As you can see on the left Apple have a policy of title case on titles while Google uses sentence case throughout. While they are different messages, you can’t tell me the iOS message is easier to read, can you?</p>
<figure class="graf graf--figure"></figure>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="735" height="604" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-9339" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1JK5LEHfHgufxivS9AMmD0w.png" alt="" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1JK5LEHfHgufxivS9AMmD0w.png 735w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1JK5LEHfHgufxivS9AMmD0w-250x205.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1JK5LEHfHgufxivS9AMmD0w-700x575.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1JK5LEHfHgufxivS9AMmD0w-120x99.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1JK5LEHfHgufxivS9AMmD0w-80x66.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px" />
<p class="graf graf--p">While there are plenty of well-established rules for how to use title case, there are few rules about when to use it. Everything seems to be subjective and based on assumption. It’s the wild west out there! Somebody needs to take charge and make decisions.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">I am going to do what no UX designer should ever do, I’m going to make the rules based on my own opinions and assumptions. From this day forward I will be known as the self-appointed Sheriff of sentence capitalisation.</p>
<h4 class="graf graf--h4">Sheriff Dave’s 4 Golden Rules for Sentence Capitalisation</h4>
<ol class="postList">
<li class="graf graf--li">Only use in main titles</li>
<li class="graf graf--li">Only use in titles shorter than 12 words</li>
<li class="graf graf--li">Never use in sub-titles, lists, bullets or anything that is not a main title (see point 1)</li>
<li class="graf graf--li">Digital marketers may not be the best guide on the appropriate use of title case</li>
</ol>
<p class="graf graf--p">Take it or leave it.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">What do you think? Am I the Sheriff or are Gavin and Martin entitled to put a bounty on my head?</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="400" height="308" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-9347" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/giphy.gif" alt="" />


Making the Case for Using Title Case or sentence case in UX Design and Digital Marketing

<h4 id="66c8" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--figure">Without research, there is no UX</h4>
<p class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--figure">Design is a solution based around an interpretation of a problem. Before design work begins we must identify, define and validate the problems that need to be solved. Problems that are highlighted to a designer are often from the clients own perspective and may not always reflect the end users views.</p>
<p class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--figure">In other cases, the designer will interpret a problem, but this is only their own point of view and may not match the users&#8217; feelings. Clients and designers, regardless of their viewpoint or experience do not have assumed empathy with users.</p>
<h4 id="59ed" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">Who are the UX experts?</h4>
<p id="bef6" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">We have studied and been working in UX design for many years. Recently there has been an increase in the awareness of the benefits good UX can bring to a product or service. As UX professionals we find the biggest pushback regarding UX research is usually down to time and/or budget constraints. Quite often there can be presumptions that as UX experts we can perfect the UX of their interface while working in a vacuum. If only this was the case.</p>
<p id="2e78" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">There is no such thing as a UX expert. If anything the only UX expert is the user of a particular product or service, they know what works for them and what they want. A good UX professional will be an expert on the process, techniques and research required in order to find out what the user wants from a particular UI. They will have mastered how to gain user empathy and the key to this is research, it is the foundation of any good UX lifecycle.</p>
<h4 id="c8d6" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">Assumptions can be the enemy of good UX</h4>
<p id="7888" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">An assumption is an informed guess. It might be biased and is definitively unproven. We all make assumptions every day, we have to. Assumptions are based on our own experience of the world and the more experience of the world we have the more accurate our assumptions might be. Most ideas for a business start life as a solution to a problem, this business idea stems out of the assumption that others will have the same problem.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">Assumptions are good and are often the birthplace of creativity. Where an assumption can be bad is when it is not properly challenged or validated, not everyone perceives the world in the same way.</p>
<blockquote><p>“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.”<br />
― <strong class="markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong">Isaac Asimov</strong></p></blockquote>
<p>A client may come to us with the assumption that they need us to create a new website with an improved design to drive more online sales. Through research, we might discover that the brand messaging is misleading or that the client has been targeting the wrong market demographics. All projects need to start with an open mind. Our design goal is to create a solution that is truly relevant to its users.</p>
<p>A mantra that we use within the Friday Agency and with our clients is <em><strong>“we don’t care what you think!”</strong></em>. All input is valuable, but the only assumption made throughout the UX research stage of a project is that nobody on the project team including the client is the end user.</p>
<h4 id="c43e" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">UX Research</h4>
<p id="2a27" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">There is no one size fits all UX research process. Every project requires a different approach and set of tools that are tailored around the product/service and overall project goals. In all cases, we need to gain empathy for the client and more importantly their user base. Research doesn’t have to be extensive or expensive but should never be avoided.</p>
<p id="84c0" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Client empathy:</strong> First off we need to understand the business behind the product or service, who the team is behind it and what their motivations are. We need to understand the brief we have been given and what the clients&#8217; expectation is. We need to understand the product or service ‘as-is’. The problems it is designed to solve, how it works and how effective it is.</p>
<p id="9426" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">User empathy: </strong>User empathy is the key to creating a good user experience. In order to gain empathy, we must understand our target audience intimately; what makes them tick, their goals, motivations and frustrations. It’s time to forget everything we know and listen. UX research encompasses a variety of qualitative and quantitate research methods to identify issues, requirements and add context, focus and insight into the design process.</p>
<blockquote id="1bb7" class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p"><p>“Research is formalised curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”<br />
― <strong class="markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong">Zora Neale Hurston</strong></p></blockquote>
<p id="1434" class="graf graf--p graf-after--blockquote">Here are some of the research techniques we use at the Friday Agency throughout the UX lifecycle. They are a mix of attitudinal and behavioural as well as qualitative and quantitative research methods. These are crossed checked against each other for better validation.</p>
<ol class="postList">
<li id="7fc8" class="graf graf--li graf-after--p">Heuristic Evaluation</li>
<li id="1b51" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Stakeholder Interviews</li>
<li id="8785" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Competitor Analysis</li>
<li id="2085" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">User Interviews</li>
<li id="f772" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Focus groups</li>
<li id="4bb3" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Analysis of analytics</li>
<li id="0ef0" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Analysis of reviews</li>
<li id="50a2" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Online Surveys</li>
<li id="8c2d" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Usability testing</li>
<li id="ffdb" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">A/B Testing</li>
<li id="4c27" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Personas &amp; scenarios</li>
<li id="12cb" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Card sorting &amp; affinity diagrams</li>
</ol>
<h4 id="2f14" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--li">Tales of the unexpected</h4>
<p id="2ee5" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">It’s well documented that in medicine, some of the biggest discoveries have been made while monitoring the unexpected side effects of the testing of new drugs. Viagra surfaced during clinical trials of a cardiovascular drug in the early 1990s. Looking for a solution to one problem can uncover an unexpected solution to another.</p>
<p id="ba6d" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">One of the greatest things that can come out of UX research is the unexpected, what we were not looking for. This can sometimes be terrifying to clients but is always both enlightening and positive. We have been involved in projects where a clients entire business strategy has changed as a result of UX research, something came to light that may have been overlooked or assumed and the new knowledge helped transform their business for the better.</p>
<p id="c02d" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--trailing">We’ve all heard that knowledge is power but don’t forget that research is an investment in knowledge.</p>


Why research is essential to the UX lifecycle

<p>I&#8217;m going to bring it back to basics for my blog post this week, being so immersed in the world of design and development I sometimes forget that what comes out of my mouth can sound like a load of jargon to some people. The general misunderstanding around the difference between UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) both inside and outside the industry is something that has bugged me for a while. People seem to use these terms interchangeably, without trying to distinguish them in any way. So its time to set the record straight.</p>
<h3>User Experience (UX)</h3>
<p>To most, user experience or UX is a bit of buzzword. It&#8217;s a relatively new phrase for something that has been around for longer than its name. Wikipedia put it well &#8211; &#8216;user experience design is the process of enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty by improving the usability, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the customer and the product.&#8217;</p>
<p>User experience comes first in the design process for almost anything displayed on a computer screen. The goal for a user experience designer is to eliminate friction and pain points users may come across when trying to complete a task on a website or App. The process for the user should be as clear, smooth and simple as possible.</p>
<p>As an example, let&#8217;s say we are redesigning an e-commerce website, we identify through website stats that people are having difficulty completing a purchase at the checkout stage and are leaving the website before they pay for anything. Users have given us feedback that they are confused about what they should enter into the checkout form and the wording it displays. This tells us that the checkout process has a poor user experience resulting in abandoned shopping carts.</p>
<p>A user experience designer will spend a lot of time working on strategic planning, competitor analysis, customer analysis, content development, wire-framing, prototyping and usability testing to ensure that the interface works for the user. This process all takes place before a UI designer begins using colour, fonts, photography and design elements to create what the final interface will look like.</p>
<p>Starting UI design without first carrying out UX design would be like starting construction of a building without any well-thought-out blueprints.</p>
<h3>User Interface (UI)</h3>
<p>If user UX design is the creation of how something will work, UI design is the creation of where something works. Its the design of the actual interface users will see when they are using a website or app.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="990" height="320" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6875" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/UIvsUX2.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/UIvsUX2.jpg 990w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/UIvsUX2-250x81.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/UIvsUX2-768x248.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/UIvsUX2-700x226.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/UIvsUX2-120x39.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/UIvsUX2-80x26.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 990px) 100vw, 990px" />
<p>UI design is carried out after the UX process has been completed. This is where we take sketches from the UX process along with a style brief and start applying graphic design techniques to apply look and feel and create finished artwork of what the interface would look like. We design compositions of buttons, headings, borders, links and shapes using colour, photography, brand elements, typography and styling that result in a finished artwork of the user interface.</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="6fb3" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure"><strong>UI</strong> — “What should be the colour of this button?”</p>
<p id="0b3c" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p"><strong>UX</strong> — “Do we need this button? If yes, why? What should be the position of this button?”</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>Designers</h3>
<p>I still see job listings by agencies looking for UX designers to create finished artwork or UI designers to design prototypes. Generally speaking, in the same way that web designers tend not to write code, UX designers would usually not style and UI designers would not usually plan an interface (there are exceptions to that rule). Instead, the two would usually work very closely together sharing ideas and knowledge to deliver the best possible finished result for the user.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s like Doctors and Nurses or Builders and Architects.</p>
<p>I hope that makes sense, if not let me know in the comments below, I might be too close to this to explain it well.</p>


Whats the difference between UX and UI design?

<p>Before I start &#8211; upon proofreading this post, Graham pointed out that I made an assumption that people reading this post would understand what usability testing is, he was right. Usability testing is a technique used in UX design to evaluate a product by testing it on users before it is launched. Users are asked to complete tasks on an app or website, typically while they are being observed by a researcher, to see where they encounter problems or confusion. Makes sense?</p>
<p id="0e81" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">A big part of our process is discovery, we spend a lot of time getting under the skin of our clients and their customers so we can work out how we can create something really effective &#8211; be it a website, app or marketing campaign. Our approach is centred around what works under the client&#8217;s customers as this in turn usually works for the client.</p>
<p id="fe88" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">As an agency, we are advocates for the end user. Our goal is to make everything we create as easy to use as possible and a big part of this is talking to the users about what they want, how they perceive what we have created and if they find it easy to use. The user&#8217;s opinion usually takes priority and ignoring their input is a mistake that is still made too often.</p>
<h4 id="b16b" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">Making Assumptions</h4>
<p id="f129" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">At Friday we work hard to align marketing and user experience. Marketing gives the user a push in the direction of a product or service and good user experience makes sure the user&#8217;s journey is as smooth as possible, they both need to be sharp and working together as they rely on each other. The only way to know if the journey is smooth is to ask the user — we try not to make assumptions and we always keep an open mind. Assumptions can be the enemy of good marketing and UX if they are not properly validated.</p>
<p id="5ce6" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Often the people working on a project can be working in a vacuum of familiarity being guided by the opinions of the people with the loudest voices or most influence. This can create a false reality and the focus moves away from what the end user actually wants.</p>
<p id="bef0" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">We have seen it time and time again, a client is so sure about what they are offering that they skip asking for input from the only people who matter, the customers. This is a big mistake and can be a very costly one.</p>
<h4 id="aa1d" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">Usability Testing</h4>
<p id="44dd" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">Usability testing would usually be carried out on a working prototype and/or a beta version of a website or app. We start by writing up a usability testing script where questions and key tasks are mapped out to ask the user to navigate through. We then recruit 5–7 users from a targeted demographic that is aligned with the client&#8217;s customer base.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">Each user would join us for a 30–40 minute session where we watch them interact with the material, complete tasks while asking them to articulate what they are seeing, what they think and what they expect. We record their face, the screen and take notes on any pain points they have throughout the user journey.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-4459 size-large" title="unislim usability testing" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/uni-1-1024x640.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="640" /></p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">You would be amazed how valuable this exercise can be to any digital project, we have discovered problems in key areas of websites and apps that everyone presumed were perfect. It can be a real eye-opener and only when you see it in action can you fully realise its value and how fundamental it is to the UX process.</p>
<h4 id="06aa" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">A False Economy</h4>
<p class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">Some level of usability testing is essential to the success of any digital project but unfortunately it can and has been overlooked in the past. There are 3 main reasons some clients have given us for wanting to skip usability testing, the first is that they say they already know the product works (we have just addressed this), the second is that it takes time and will slow the project down and the 3rd is the cost of usability testing.</p>
<p class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">The truth is that usability testing is actually designed to avoid overruns of cost and time as well as ensure what is created actually works at launch. Making changes at the design stage is much easier than after development has been completed, you will save both time and money here.</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="718d" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p"><em>It doesn’t make any sense to wait for your actual customers to find problems with your website or app?</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">In a lot of cases you have one opportunity to make a sale or conversion online, if there is an issue with UX the user will probably turn away, never to return. <a href="http://whatusersdo.com/blog/12-fascinating-ux-user-testing-stats-to-help-your-business-case/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Recent research</a> has found that 92% of consumers have had a poor customer experience online – one-third of these people will abandon a purchase because they couldn’t find the information they needed. Not only do you run the risk of missing a sale or conversion but a poor or frustrating experience can cause reputational damage, people talk, especially online.</p>
<p id="c6dc" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--trailing">You can probably tell by now that <a href="https://friday.ie/expertise/user-experience/usability-testing/">usability testing</a> is something we feel very strongly about, it is a fundamental part of our process and I know we can’t do the best job possible without users contributing to the end results. Imagine if drug companies didn’t run clinical trials on drugs before doctors started prescribing them or if automobile manufacturers didn’t test drive their cars before releasing them into the forecourts. Madness, right?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


It’s time we spoke about the importance of usability testing!

<p id="9fa2" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h2">I first wrote a post covering this topic in 2015 but things have changed a lot in terms of technology and our process has evolved accordingly, so I wanted to revisit my article and update it for 2018.</p>
<p id="d579" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">It’s not easy starting a new web development project if it&#8217;s not an industry you already work in, most people who create websites are usually not web designers or developers. It can be a minefield of technical and marketing jargon and there is a long list of things to consider throughout the project as well as after the website goes live.</p>
<p id="9ac9" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">If you don’t have a lot of experience in creating websites the chances are you haven’t considered everything that needs to be done in order to make sure you get the best possible results and the process to use. It is important to choose the right team to collaborate with and develop the right <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://friday.ie/blog/web-design-process" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">process</a>, not just for design and development of your website but in marketing and support when the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://medium.com/r/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.friday.ie%2blog%2Fwordpress-websites-10-things-to-do-before-going-live%2F" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">website is live</a>. Good website development planning is key to successful project delivery.</p>
<p id="4279" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The aim of this list is to make sure you are informed and have realistic expectations of what’s ahead. These steps form part of what we do for any web development project at The Friday Agency but if you can start considering this stuff it will go a long way in helping you get an informed proposal and quote to help you get the best possible results.</p>
<h4 id="e019" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">1. Research</h4>
<p id="8e8c" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">No matter how confident you are about what you are creating, you need to back it up with research. First off you need to sense check and find out if there is a market for your product or service. How will users want to engage with it online and when you have planned and designed your website? You will want real users to give you feedback (especially if you are selling directly online), more about this later.</p>
<h4 id="4912" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">2. If you have an idea, then have a plan</h4>
<p id="9096" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">Planning is everything in this business. The more attention given to the detail before design and development are carried out, the faster it can become a reality and it will show in the quality of the execution. We would spend roughly 30–40% of our time on a website project in the planning stages.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">Give your website careful thought, create a roadmap and establish your goals and objectives. If you are selling online make sure your offering has a unique selling point.</p>
<h4 id="f279" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">2. Create a sitemap</h4>
<p id="7ade" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">Create a sitemap, this can just be a list of the web pages or sections showing a hierarchy of content and functionality, a bit like a family tree with the homepage on the top. Also think about the user journey, how they will navigate through the website and the experience you want them to have.</p>
<h4 id="aaad" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">3. Think about content</h4>
<p id="d21e" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">Your sitemap will give you an idea of the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://medium.com/r/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.friday.ie%2blog%2Fmixing-a-great-content-marketing-strategy%2F" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">content</a> you need to create but when you start to drill down into it you may find gaps or it will spark a great idea for something you didn’t consider before. Content should always be created before any wireframe or design is looked at, see my post about this <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://friday.ie/blog/content-first-approach-creating-website" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">here</a>. Also, think about who is going to create the content — be it text, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://friday.ie/blog/photography-web-design" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">photography</a> or video, will you do it yourself or will you need your agency to help with this? Also, have you considered <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/seo-if-you-think-best-expensive-wait-hire-bad-one/">SEO</a> as an integral part of your content plan?</p>
<h4 id="5c04" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">4. Listen to your audience</h4>
<p id="c06d" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">Too many times we have seen websites or apps created on what the business owner(s) think will work, the reality is that they, and even the web development agency, will be too close to the project to see some of the most obvious issues in terms of the offering, user experience and messaging. Try to avoid making assumptions, in the end it doesn’t really matter what you think, it only matters what the end user thinks. Usability testing on any project is essential. Real users in front of the actual interface will tell you so much and will often surprise the creators, its well worth the time and effort &#8211; I can’t stress this enough. More about usability testing <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://friday.ie/blog/usability-testing-fancy-why-should-we" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">here</a>.</p>
<h4 id="4531" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">4. Marketing</h4>
<p id="c3ea" class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithSingleQuote graf-after--h4">&#8220;If you build it they will come&#8221; — unfortunately, it doesn’t always work like this, there is a lot of noise out there and, like anything, you need to shout for attention. Any website launch should be coupled with <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://friday.ie/blog/the-digital-strategy-battlefield" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">marketing activity</a> — social media, SEO, PPC, online display, email marketing, press releases, sponsorship…and that&#8217;s just the off-site activity you should look at. We’d advise you to also have an on-site content creation strategy — it doesn’t have to be a big deal but some activity with regular website updates will help keep the site fresh for your users as well as the search engines (they love active websites). If you don’t tell people about your website it won’t get any traffic and that would ultimately be a waste of time and money. Marketing your website is as important as building it so talk to us about how we can help you drive traffic to your new creation.</p>
<h4 id="4688" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">5. Ongoing website management</h4>
<p id="161d" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">Your website is live, what now? Web development isn’t just for Christmas, its for life! The software will need to be updated, backups made, security scanning and hosting will need to be managed, and that’s just on the technical side. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://medium.com/r/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.friday.ie%2blog%2Fmixing-a-great-content-marketing-strategy%2F" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Content</a> will need to be freshened up, products updated, QA testing, enquiries responded to and regular activity to promote good SEO is also very important for your website&#8217;s visibility in the long term. Take all of this into account in terms of time, resources and budget.</p>
<h4 id="4234" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">6. Have a timeline</h4>
<p id="fd54" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">When does your website need to be live? We can guide you on this based on the brief but it helps if we know your expectations at the start. Try to avoid rushing a project. We would usually split a website project into 4 main stages (with sub-stages within each). Planning, design, development and testing.</p>
<h4 id="4909" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">7. Establish your budget</h4>
<p id="bdd7" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">Which comes first, budget or brief? Well both, you need a brief in order to get a quote but keep in mind how much you want to spend. If you have a budget, make sure it meets your ambition — for example, a budget of €2,000 for a custom e-commerce website is unrealistic, if you can communicate this within the brief it can help save a lot of time. However, if you have no idea, that&#8217;s ok too &#8211; we can help to guide you.</p>
<h4 id="63cc" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">8. Write a brief</h4>
<p id="c0ec" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">If you have followed the steps above, well done — you are organised and ready to write or discuss a concise yet detailed brief that any digital agency can read and get a really good insight into your requirements. This will also start the collaboration process, when there is no confusion the ideas will flow and your project can only benefit from this. Showing this level of thinking and organisation may also bring your costs down, often when everything is laid out clearly the task at hand looks easier.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4"><strong>The Friday Agency is here to help if you need any advice or assistance in creating a brief or collaborating on a website project, <a href="https://friday.ie/contact/">talk to us</a>, we’d be delighted to add real value to what you have in mind.</strong></p>
<p class="graf--p">


The Essential Website Development Planning Checklist

<p class="graf graf--p">Over the years I have written a post or two about our process for planning, designing and developing a website or app. It’s always evolving as technology changes, we learn new techniques and come across fresh challenges. I find looking back at how I used to do things is a bit like looking at old photos of myself &#8211; cringe! Time highlights how experience has given us new tools, expertise and knowledge that we didn’t have before, such as the content first approach.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">While the core of our process hasn’t changed dramatically, what is always changing is what’s happening inside each of the main stages. What I find is that the sequence of events is critical to the success of a web project. Each stage feeds the next and working ahead without completing a previous step can often have a negative effect on the project and the quality of the output.</p>
<h2 class="graf graf--h3">Prioritise Content First</h2>
<p class="graf graf--p">Content is the life blood of a website or app, it’s what your audience come for, whether it&#8217;s a brochure, eCommerce, data capture, information or entertainment. Content creates the design, functionality and purpose of your website or app. Form follows function and the function is usually based on the content.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">It’s not uncommon for us to be asked by some clients to begin the UX and design process before the content is ready, a requirement usually created by project time constraints. The problem with this is that we are creating the information architecture, wireframes and design by guessing what the content might be and how much of it there is. Using “lorem ipsum” as placeholder text and through wireframes and dummy images in design is no substitute for actual content. In fact its not uncommon to still see placeholder text go unchecked on a live website. It&#8217;s a mistake to create content to fit a design. You make a shoe that fits the foot, not find a foot that fits the shoe.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">From experience the design first approach will usually result in multiple design changes being required after the website or app has been built. This is a counter productive way of working and can effect the project timings and the budget. We also find that if the design is not tailored to suit the content it can often end up looking less bespoke, more generic and not fit for purpose.</p>
<h2 class="graf graf--h3">Why Content First?</h2>
<p class="graf graf--p">When we use a content first process we are taking the content centre stage, this ensures we consider the opportunities, constraints and implications of content on our designs. We can think about how to display the actual content so it’s easy to digest, especially on mobile. The content will inform and drive the design and that’s when good UX design takes the delivery and communication of content to the next level of experience.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">Content creators should be closely involved in the planning stages of any project and they should work closely with the UX designers, project managers and developers. It’s key that everyone understands what is expected and what the common vision is.</p>
<h2 class="graf graf--h3">Jamie&#8217;s Story</h2>
<p class="graf graf--p">Jamie, one of our UX designers here in the studio told me a story about a client he was working with when he was in a previous company, the client had a new product they wanted to launch online and he asked Jamie to work with him on creating a promotional landing page for the product. Their initial conversation went something like this.</p>
<blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote"><p><strong class="markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong">Client:<br />
</strong><em>“I need a design for a web page that explains how our new subscription product works, I want to put it live next week.”</em></p></blockquote>
<blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote"><p><strong class="markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong">Jamie:<br />
</strong><em>“No problem, can we get together and look at your content. I can sketch a wireframe and then I’ll come up with a first draft of the design.”</em></p></blockquote>
<blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote"><p><strong class="markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong">Client:<br />
</strong><em>“I don’t have any content yet, I was hoping you could design something that I could look at before I work on the content.”</em></p></blockquote>
<blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote"><p><strong class="markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong">Jamie:<br />
</strong><em>“But if I don’t know what the content and functionality is, how can I create a design for it?”</em></p></blockquote>
<p class="graf graf--p">I have heard people suggest that the choice between content or design first is an eternal question, like &#8220;which came first, the chicken or the egg&#8221;? This simply isn’t the case, it&#8217;s always content first, there is no debate.</p>
<h2 class="graf graf--h3">Best Practice</h2>
<p class="graf graf--p">Copy should be written with an idea of how it will be displayed on-screen. It should be written with many questions in mind — should there be a more concise version of the content for mobile devices? Does it need accompanying graphics or icons to get the point across? How will a piece of content work with the other content on the rest of the page? When it comes to images, if we are supplied images after the site has been designed are they going to work and fit into our layout and will they work across responsive screens?</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">All this detail needs to be worked out through close collaboration between the UX designers and the content creators and the final wireframes should always feature content that is as close to approved as possible in order for a final design to begin in earnest.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">Timings can be a challenge for any project, it may sound like a good idea to work on content and design in parallel and in isolation to save time but from experience the opposite is true, it&#8217;s simply counter-productive. Using actual content (both text and images) throughout the design process will inform and guide design decisions and result in designs that scale well and communicate effectively as the content intends. Everybody wants the best possible output.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">What is your process? How do you handle content creation in the mix of UX, design and development? Let us know in the comments below.</p>


The “Content First” Approach to Creating Your Website

<p>We are delighted to have picked up an award at the 2017 IIA Net Visionary Awards for <strong>Best use of Video </strong>in<strong> Digital Marketing</strong>.</p>
<p>The award went to the &#8216;Know your Rights&#8217; video and campaign we created for the Data Protection Commissioner.</p>
<h3>The Campaign</h3>
<p>The campaign was launched to create awareness amongst individuals and businesses in Ireland around rights in relation to electronic marketing messages and the opt-in / opt-out system.</p>
<p>The campaign was a huge success, with our video reaching 350k watches in the first 4 weeks of it&#8217;s release.</p>
<p>A big thanks in particular go to Robin and Mary who put a lot of work into the production of the video. Watch below.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="Data Protection Commission Ireland - Know Your Rights" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CMsfK-G6AFM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Friday is has been working closely with the Data Protection office on a number of new digital marketing campaigns, including the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (<a href="http://gdprandyou.ie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GDPR</a>) which will come into force across Europe in May 2018.</p>
<p>The GDPR is the most important change in data privacy regulation in 20 years and brings significant changes for B2C marketing.</p>


Friday lands award for Best use of Video in Digital Marketing

<p>Over the years we have approached UX design using a variety of different processes and techniques in order to perfect our service. That’s the beauty of working in a relatively new and fast-moving industry, to a certain extent you need to learn through trial and error, you learn from how other people work and take away what you think will work for you, your clients and their users. We are never finished learning and developing our process, we are always improving how we work.</p>
<h3>Not to be confused with content first design</h3>
<p>Before I launch into an article about content led responsive website design I want to be clear that this is not about content first design. Content first is a methodology that sits alongside form follows function. The structure and layout of a website or app will be determined by the content it is going to display. Designing software without content is a flawed process, if the content comes first then the layout and UX will flow from this. All clear? Great, let&#8217;s get to the topic in question.</p>
<h3>Mistakes of the past (and present)</h3>
<p>It was about 6 or 7 years ago when responsive web design became the standard. For us, the process of creating a great user experience across the variety of devices and screens sizes has improved dramatically. New technology has helped along the way with better usability testing, responsive grids, frameworks and a more fine-tuned process. Designers are getting better at this by working more closely with developers but there are 2 issues I am seeing come up again and again. The first is that there are UX designers still not designing for mobile first, I continue to be stunned by this fact and you can read my rant about this <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/designing-websites-mobile-first-for-a-better-user-experience/">here</a>. The only time you should start designing desktop first is when the majority of your users are using desktop PC’s and in most cases, this is a very small amount of websites.</p>
<p>The other key mistake I see UX designers making is designing websites using the same 3 fixed size templates for mobile, tablet and desktop. Mobile sizes have changed since the days of the 4&#8243; phones, there are phones the size of small tablets and tablets the size of big phones, tablets range from 7.9&#8243; all the way up to 12&#8243;, this is around where laptops and desktop screen begin and they can go beyond 80&#8243;. So in terms of pixels, you can be sure your website will be viewed on screens with any width from about 320 pixels all the way up to desktop monitors with 5,000 pixels running across the screen. Designing for 3 fixed sizes of mobile, tablet and desktop simply isn’t good enough anymore.</p>
<h3>What screen sizes do we design for?</h3>
<p>The answer is that you shouldn’t design for any screen size. The layout should be fluid and the content should decide the layout of the screen. When the content needs space, give it space. When the content won’t fit, change the layout. When the content is breaking, add a breakpoint. Start by designing for the smallest mobile (320 px) and see how the content adapts by quickly testing your designs with a wider and wider canvas until it reaches a point where it needs a new layout to adapt to the increase in screen space. Pick 3–4 break points from the smallest up to your max screen size. Using this technique your website will look good on all devices now and into the future. Use the screens real estate but also use the white space to highlight the content and calls to action.</p>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2898" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/all.png" alt="" width="620" height="313" />
<p>The website examples above are displayed on a large 5.5&#8243; iPhone 7 Plus. The phones here are displaying website content that was designed for a much smaller 4&#8243; phone that was more popular maybe 3 or 4 years ago. You can see the content sits in a narrow single column where in some cases there is only about 50% of the screens real estate being utilised. If they let the content decide the layout you would have a much richer and more engaging user experience with less scrolling.</p>
<h3>Bootstrap and other frameworks</h3>
<p>Some developers have become reliant on frameworks with older pre-defined breakpoints like Bootstrap and Foundation. Unfortunately, these frameworks can age and become obsolete very quickly. You can change the breakpoints but people are lazy and tend to use the defaults that were set maybe 3 or 4 years ago. Good testing will highlight the issues very quickly and you will be found out but with little effort and good collaboration between designers and developers you can future proof a website in a way that won’t come back to haunt you.</p>
<p>Your clients probably won’t thank you, they probably won’t even notice but at least they won’t come back to you in 3 years time complaining that their website looks crap on the brand new 24 ft holographic cinema screen that they just set up in their back garden.</p>
<p>Let us know what you think, what&#8217;s your process and how do you work?</p>


Responsive UX Design: Let the content lead the layout

<p class="graf graf--p">I‘ve written a few posts in the past with advice for businesses who are taking on web design and development projects. I have <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/web-design-process/">outlined our processes</a>, <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/the-essential-website-development-checklist/">advised on planning</a> and given tips on <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/how-to-give-good-feedback-to-your-creative-agency/">how to give good feedback to your creative agency</a>.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">I have to admit, my reasons for writing these posts are somewhat self serving. Clients who understand and buy into our process will ultimately end up with a more successful project and it will allow us to do our best work. Expectations, responsibilities, communication, clarity and timings will be aligned in a way that the client and agency can collaborate in a very effective and efficient way. The end result will be a body of work with higher standards of quality and effectiveness.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">I could write a medium sized book about this but I don’t have the writing skills and you don’t have the time or the will to read it. So to save us both pain, here are my 10 tips for businesses creating a new website.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Know your goals and objectives</strong></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">Any good agency will help you with this, you will have your own ideas but its worth spending a bit of time exploring your goals and objectives with your agency for independent insight and advise. Why are you building this website. What are the KPI’s (key performance indicators). Who is the target market? What value does it have and how will you achieve a ROI? More often than not this process can change the focus of the project by the questions it raises and answers. Working on goals and objectives may end up being about more than just building a new website but how the company presents itself, how you talk to people and who your market is, keep an open mind and see where this goes. Its as much about the journey than the destination.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Work with an agency</strong></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">Of course I would say this but how else could you build a website? We have seen a lot of home made websites out there created by company MD’s who have a passing interest in HTML or a in house print designer who wanted to try their hand at designing a website. There is information architecture, UX, understanding the CMS and the limitations of HTML and CSS to consider not to mention the need for a comprehensive knowledge of responsive web design and mobile breakpoints. In most cases a print designer designing a website is like an architect designing a jumbo jet. You are a professional business, you need a professional online presence.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Create a brief</strong></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">Over the years we have seen briefs of all shapes and sizes. Even the most vague brief written on the back of a napkin gives us more insight than no brief at all. We are often commissioned to create briefs for businesses so they can put projects out to tender to agencies like us. Our approach is always to take a clients brief and work with them through our discovery process to uncover the detail, contribute our thoughts and ideas to add value to the project. We help shape the clients goals and objectives into a website spec or statement of work covering all the detail and requirements.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Understand the process</strong></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">We have spent years working on our ever evolving process, we customise it for every client based on their needs to give the best results. Process promotes efficiency, understanding, clear lines of responsibility and a more collaborative project flow. Take time to understand the agency process, make sure it is comprehensive and compatible with how you like to work, one size does not fit all so work with the agency to tailor the process around your requirements.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Give content priority</strong></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">We’ve all heard that “content is king” and I can only agree. Content will shape the structure of your website and its purpose. Users are not coming to your website for its nice design, intuitive UX or its solid code base. Copywriting and imagery need to be prioritised. Your agency can help with this, don’t try and write your own copy unless you are a professional copywriter with experience in writing for the web, the same goes for photography, that shot you took on the beach with your iPhone last summer looks great but should it be used for your company website? Time and effort are needed in this area and it will show in the end results.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Set realistic timings</strong></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">Great work takes time. Don’t rush the process. Let the agency set out the timings and while they should be adhered to, make sure that you are comfortable with the pace as feedback and collaboration will need to take place within the process, the agency are not the only ones doing the work. A typical website for us would have a 12 week process (3 weeks planning, 3 weeks UX and design, 3 weeks development, 3 weeks testing and deployment). In most cases we can work faster than this, but we find clients can’t even if they think they can. Ideas need time to develop and collaboration with key stakeholders can cause delays. Give the project room to breathe.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Appoint a decision maker</strong></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">The agency will obviously have a project manager working closely with you but you will also need a clear point of contact on your side for the project. We have all been involved in projects with too many cooks and it leads to frustration and poor output. When it comes to &#8216;design by committee&#8217; usually the person in the room with the loudest voice gets their points across but they are not always making the best decisions. In most cases a website project should be managed on the client side by a small group of people, all of whom should be stakeholders and decision makers, I’d suggest 1–3 people depending on the size of the project. If the boss has the final say then the boss should be collaborating directly with the agency and attending the meetings and workshops.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Listen to your agency and your users</strong></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">You have hired an agency because of their experience, approach, reputation and past work. Listen to them as much as they will be listening to you, they will have a lot more expertise than you do in this area. In general you wouldn’t tell surgeons how to perform an operation. Design and UX can be subjective but a good agency will know what works and what doesn’t. When it comes to your website and marketing it doesn’t always matter what you think, its all about your target audience, a good agency will be user focused and will have the confidence to push back on ideas they think will not work. In cases where you are not agreeing with your agency have the agency put the question out to your users and see what they think. User testing is essential and any good agency will work with testing as a central part of the process.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Collaborate</strong></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">Form a good working relationship with your agency. The best work we have done has been and always will be the work where the client gets stuck into the project with us. Feed the agency as much relevant information as you can about your business and spend time understanding the process they are using. Sense check everything with them, ask questions, have debates and share your honest thoughts and ideas all the way through the project.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Set a realistic budget</strong></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">The cost of a website can vary from agency to agency, its hard to compare one quote with another. Most of the time a quote will be created based on the interpretation of the brief and the process the agency is proposing. Its possible that a more comprehensive process will have higher costs but will often yield better results. My advise here is to go back to the brief, maybe hire someone qualified to help you write the brief so you can inform the agencies pitching exactly what your requirements are. This way nobody is in the dark about what the ask is, the quotes will be realistic and there will be no problems down the line with the agency looking for more money because a essential feature wasn&#8217;t mentioned in the brief. We tend to be upfront about money and ask clients for a budget if they have one, transparency about this can save both the client and agency a lot of time. From experience we tend to give lower quotes to potential clients who have a good brief, its shows they have spent time and effort putting the brief together which means they are informed and involved. This usually means the project will be well run from the client side and will make for smoother collaboration. Lastly, don’t forget to factor ongoing running costs into your budget, a website is not just for Christmas! There will be hosting, domain and SSL cert fees. The websites software will need to be updated regularly, backed up and scanned for malware or vulnerabilities plus you may need on going support and development.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">As you can tell, my feelings are that a well run project is all about planning, good communication and transparency between client and agency.  I could keep going but these 10 points are key for me. Let me know what you think and what else you would add (or remove) in the comments section below.</p>


10 tips for businesses creating a new website

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<p id="04a4" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Design is going through a resurgence of appreciation and as a design focused agency, this makes us very happy! We are finally reaching a time where the value of design is starting to be realised by the business mainstream and this allow us to work using a smarter process that clients now buy into.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Businesses from law firms and restaurants to grocery stores and banks are employing design in a way they never did before. The public are starting to demand it and business owners are starting to take notice.</p>
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<p>In the past, design had been undervalued. It was seen by some as a luxury, and was usually reserved for the few who understood its business potential. Businesses focused on their product or service and not so much on their brand or customer experience. They still made a profit and probably didn’t realise the potential of employing design through the user journey both offline or online.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--h2 graf-after--p">When design becomes a priority</h3>
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<p id="0652" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">Imagine there was a burst pipe in the head office of your business. This is an emergency, right? You call a plumber immediately, don’t question them and pay whatever it takes to fix the issue as quickly as possible. This is a no brainer.</p>
<p id="cd35" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">So, if a business has poor branding, design and in turn a substandard customer experience, why is this not seen as an such a pressing issue? Why do some businesses cut corners on design, leave their websites out of date and lack attention to detail in all corners of their business activity?</p>
<blockquote id="0298" class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p"><p><strong class="markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong">“If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the costs of bad design.”<br />
</strong> —  Dr Ralf Dieter Speth</p></blockquote>
<p id="2d9f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--blockquote">A business may still run and even make a profit without good design, if a business has never employed design thinking they will never know the added value it can bring.</p>
<p id="09e8" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">I&#8217;m not saying you should throw money at design without questioning it, you need to be smart about what what your goals and objectives. Unlike a burst water pipe needing to be fixed, good design can be subjective. What may look ugly to one person, may look adequate to another or great to someone else. What is not as subjective is consistency of design application and this is where a lot of companies fall down.</p>
<p id="7f79" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">A business can employ watered down design, maybe create a good brand/logo with brand guidelines and let the admin people apply the new branding across the company while probably ignoring the guidelines. Application of good design should always be managed by someone who has experience in and understands design. This is where a good agency comes into the mix.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--h2 graf-after--p">Design led companies</h3>
<p id="56ff" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">In recent years design led companies have shown the world how design can enhance their brand, create loyalty and extract maximum potential from a product. Sometimes the product may not even be the best in terms of features but if its well designed with a focus on the detail of customer and user experience it can stand out from the competition. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.wired.com/2015/01/airbnbs-new-head-design-believes-design-led-companies-dont-work/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" data-href="https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wired.com%2F2015%2F01%2Fairbnbs-new-head-design-believes-design-led-companies-dont-work%2F">AirB&amp;B is a good example</a>, they sell experiences and have perfected the customer experience as much as they can along the way through design and careful attention to detail.</p>
<p id="936e" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Since the 1970’s <a href="http://www.apple.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple</a> has always been design-led, and this has come from the top down. Its a huge part of the company culture. From the days of Steve Jobs arrogant insistence on his vision being executed to the tiniest detail to today where Jonny Ive pretty much oversees all visual aspects of every Apple product in both software and hardware. Apple is now the biggest company in the world. You can be pretty sure there are few people working in Apple that do not have at least a basic appreciation of design.</p>
<p id="2951" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Due to the remarkable success of design-led companies, design has evolved beyond products. Design thinking is at the core of effective company strategy. Companies are learning how to think like designers, and apply design principles to all areas of their business and its workings. The only way this can happen is if it comes from the top. If a MD or CEO does not use design thinking it will be very hard to create a design led company culture.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--h2 graf-after--p">Research led User Experience</h3>
<p id="adfc" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">While user experience (UX) has been around since the dawn of time its only in recent years that it has come to the forefront of digital design and a new process is still evolving. We are a research driven agency and its part of our culture to have all design decisions qualified through research. Large companies are now insisting on research driven user experience work to be carried out on their websites, Apps and UI’s before final visual design starts.</p>
<blockquote id="04c9" class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p"><p><strong class="markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong">“Like all forms of design, visual design is about problem solving, not about personal preference or unsupported opinion.”<br />
</strong><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">— Bob Baxley</em></p></blockquote>
<p id="e1ff" class="graf graf--p graf-after--blockquote">When it comes to design everyone has an opinion, who is to say which opinion is the right one? In some cases it can often seem to be the person in the room with the loudest voice or the person paying the bill. As rude as it may sound we have often had to tell clients that it doesn’t matter what they think. The only people that matter are the users, the customers. They are the ones using the product so they are the only voice that really matters. Its not us as the design agency or the client, we are not the target market. Ignoring user feedback is a huge mistake but listening to their views and needs can give valuable insights.</p>
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<p id="927f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">UX doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming. With research there is nothing to debate, it creates proof and makes for quick decisions, meetings don’t turn into debates and the end product will always perform better.</p>
<blockquote id="c0bc" class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p"><p><strong class="markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong">“Design based on data brings us back to the essence of design and will leave out all unnecessary decoration.”<br />
</strong><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">— Jeanne de Bont</em></p></blockquote>
<p id="e074" class="graf graf--p graf-after--blockquote">This culture is slowly starting to trickle down to SME’s and budgets are slowly increasing to allow the design work to be done the right way using a comprehensive process.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--h2 graf-after--p">Iterative design</h3>
<p id="db97" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">Another great change in how the design process is changing is the iterative approach. We are coming to the end of the days where a product is created, the design work is done, its released everybody walks away and its left unchanged.</p>
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<p id="9195" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">The process of <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">‘Research — Design — Test — Build’</strong> should be a repeating cycle of continuous development. You’ll never get it 100% right the first time. Even if you do how will you know unless you do the research and testing.</p>
<p id="6782" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Iterative design is in some respects starting to replace planning documentation. Iterative prototyping is a good route if you want your project to hit the ground running. Prototyping allows designers and developers to quickly transform their creative vision into a reality, and then perfect it through iterations. This approach can be a hard sell especially to clients who are used to the traditional waterfall way of working but it works and we have found that people quickly adjust and like working in this way. This approach can save clients time, money and resources. The process makes exploring what the user needs and how to get it to them generally much quicker than documentation.</p>
<p id="df97" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The future is bright and good design is starting to get the recognition it deserves. Its refreshing to see clients demanding that design done the right way, using right the process. Designers have spent years trying to push this process and its starting to become expected. Long may it last, at the moment it does feel like there is no turning back.</p>
<p id="f94a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.</strong></p>
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Why design led companies are winning

<h4 class="graf graf--h3">Over the last 3 years, we have had the luxury of working from an amazing studio space on the north side of Dublin’s Ha’penny Bridge. The time has come for us to move onwards and upwards to a bigger studio so we recently made the decision to start looking for a new Dublin office space we can grow into.</h4>
<p class="graf graf--h3">We work in what used to be an old mill, its an open space full of character, atmosphere and history. This plays a huge part in encouraging creativity and collaboration for both us and our clients. Its a place people love coming to visit, we love working here and have had a lot of fun doing great work in this studio. If you have seen our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-DQrz4antM">Friday People</a> video you will get a sense of our studio and what a special place it is. We&#8217;ve been spoiled to date and we realise we may have to compromise but we didn’t realise to what extent.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--h3">Starting out</h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">With a positive spring in our step, we took on the exciting job of finding a new Dublin office space. We put the word out, contacted dozens of estate agents and hit the usual suspects online hoping to get together a shortlist of places we could view and fall in love with, who wouldn’t want to be our landlord?</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">We&#8217;re not a big agency, our needs are basic enough and we would probably prefer to style a space ourselves then get our hands on a turnkey office with beige walls, suspended ceilings and blue carpets. What we are looking for is a space around 800–1,200 ft sq to put our stamp on and create a new home for ourselves.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--p">The reality</h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">To our horror, we quickly found out that Dublin City has almost zero to offer in terms of office space for small businesses. There is literally almost nothing available. Even if you wanted beige walls, suspended ceilings and blue carpets. Over the last few weeks we have been patiently awaiting Daft.ie email alerts that fit our wide criteria to arrive but our inboxes remain empty. The few places we have viewed are either overpriced or unsuitable.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--p">Serviced offices and co-working spaces</h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">We have looked at a number of serviced offices but what they see as a 6–8 person office most would consider a 3–4 person office. Some of them are really beautiful but the small spaces and build up of overpriced extra charges make them extraordinarily expensive. In one serviced office I was quoted €10,000 a year for 24 MB broadband. Currently, we get 10 times that speed for 10% of the price!</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">We also looked at co-working spaces and there are some great options out there based around open plan hot-desks like Dog Patch Labs, Do Space and Digital Depot but most of these would only be temporary solutions, we really need our own space to move around in without annoying others.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--p">Top 10 Tips</h3>
<p class="graf graf--p">We have learned many valuable lessons in the process so I decided to share the love and put together my top 10 tips for anyone looking for Dublin office space under 200 m sq in and around Dublin City. Anyone reading this before they set out to look for a space owes me a drink!</p>
<ol>
<li>Give yourself as much time as possible, weeks turn into months quickly. Be proactive, tell everyone regardless of whether you think they might know a space or not, you never know.</li>
<li>Don’t expect all estate agents to call you back when you leave a message. Unfortunately, they don’t need you as much as you need them. You need to chase.</li>
<li>The commercial property industry is not as transparent as I would like. You will be expected to ask questions, nobody will offer all the information you need. You have to work for it and know what to ask or you may get nasty surprises.</li>
<li>Few mention prices in online ads and if they do you need to get your calculator out to get a final figure. Everyone prices real estate differently, there is no standard and you have to learn to ask the right questions. Or you may get a nasty surprise of extra charges you forgot to ask about. When rent is quoted it can be a mix of per week, per month per year or per sq foot. There are no standards.</li>
<li>In online ads, save time by learning how to spot the difference between serviced offices and lease based offices. Serviced offices in Dublin are run by a handful of companies that show up again and again. Unfortunately, Daft.ie do not separate them from the leased based offices.</li>
<li>You’ll find many spaces listed online have already been let. Estate agents are slow to remove old listings.</li>
<li>Not all agents have gone metric, its a confusing mix of square meters and square feet.</li>
<li>Ask about heating. Is there heating? What type of heating? Avoid storage heating or it will hurt your wallet.</li>
<li>If you have a company, don’t personally guarantee the lease. If another recession came along and your business went to the wall you would be personally responsible for paying the rent for the remainder of the lease, you don’t want that.</li>
<li>Learn how to calculate the final price. In most cases, you will be given a rental figure based per sq ft per year. So you take this and multiply it by the total area to get the annual rent. Hang on, service charges may also be quoted per ft sq so that needs to be added on. Not there yet, you will also need to add on council rates which is also calculated per ft sq so ask what the rates were last year. Now see if you need to add insurance and any other extras and you should have your final figure. An example would be a 1,100 sq ft office could be quoted at around €35,000. But with rates and extras it added another €10,000. Bringing the total up to €45,000 per year before you get any bills.</li>
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<p class="graf graf--p">I know we‘ll find something eventually but we are preparing ourselves to make huge compromises. Maybe we’ll get lucky like we did 3 years ago when we started out. But the way things are looking I wouldn’t advise anyone to set up a small business in Dublin if you need to be in and around the city centre, unless you already have a premises ready to go.</p>
<h2 class="graf graf--p">The wider problem</h2>
<p class="graf graf--p">This has gotten me thinking about the wider problem for Dublin, how can new SME’s do business here? How can the economy grow? SMEs account for 99.7 per cent of all active businesses in Ireland. Significantly, over 90 per cent of these SMEs were classified as “micro-enterprises” with less than 10 employees. The government need to start thinking about where are all the so-called children of the Brexit going to work when they move their businesses to Dublin. Apparently, there is a similar problem with larger scale commercial property? And lets not forget the shortage of residential accommodation.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p">Leave a comment below if you have anything to add or want to share your experiences.</p>


The trouble that is finding Dublin office space

<p>As they say in Hollywood “its awards season” and we are delighted to announce what we hope are the first of many nominations for our work in the best Irish and International award shows.</p>
<h3><b>IIA Dot IE Net Visionary Awards</b></h3>
<p>3 of our projects have been shortlisted in this year’s IIA Dot IE Net Visionary Awards and we need your help as 2 out of the 3 categories partly take into account the public vote on top of the judging panel.</p>
<h4><b>Best Website – Most joyous to look at and splendid to use</b></h4>
<p><strong><a href="http://stpatrickscathedral.ie">stpatrickscathedral.ie</a></strong></p>
<p>This visually stunning website was designed for St.Patricks Cathedral in Dublin with careful, thorough planning and UX design along with great content and photography. The multilingual website features event calendars, rich content and online ticketing.</p>
<h4><b>Best Social Media Campaign</b></h4>
<p><strong><a href="http://tder.ie">TDer.ie</a></strong></p>
<p>We are very proud of everyone here at Friday for coming up with the concept and developing this campaign of Tinder for TD’s within a week around election time earlier this year. It was all a bit of fun and shameless self promotion, a win win for everyone.</p>
<h4><b>Best eCommerce Execution by a Retailer</b></h4>
<p><strong><a href="http://iclothing.com">iClothing.com</a></strong></p>
<p>We worked closely with Abbas in <a href="http://iclothing.com">iClothing.com</a> to create a new interface and UX where users could really get immersed in the products.</p>
<h3><b>Awwwards.com</b></h3>
<p>Our own web site <a href="https://friday.ie/">friday.ie</a> has been shortlisted for the high profile Site of the Day on <a href="http://www.awwwards.com/">awwwards.com</a>. Our site is currently being voted on by the judges. <b>Awwwards</b> aims to recognise and promote the best of innovative web design and showcases some of the best web and UX design in the world and is a place of inspiration for designers across the world.</p>
<p>Fingers, arms and toes crossed, getting a Site of the Day nod would be huge for us on a international level. Here is our public score so far, the public only counts for 12% of the overall vote with the judges: <a href="http://www.awwwards.com/sites/the-friday-agency">http://www.awwwards.com/sites/the-friday-agency</a></p>
<h3><b>The Irish Web Awards</b></h3>
<p>We have 4 projects shortlisted in this years Irish Web Awards. Our own web site friday.ie is in the Most Beautiful Site category and is up against <a href="https://www.stpatrickscathedral.ie">St.Patricks Cathedral</a>, pity both can&#8217;t win! Our 3D Halloween promotional website <a href="https://friday.ie/3d/">The 7 Deadly sins of Digital Marketing</a> is up for Best Microsite and <a href="https://www.stpatrickscathedral.ie">St.Patricks Cathedral</a> is also up for Best Arts &amp; Culture.</p>


Friday shortlisted for Awards

<blockquote><p>Everything UX designers do should be based around making the experience for users as fast as possible.</p></blockquote>
<p>If you were to boil down the purpose of a UX designer into one concise sentence it should be “A UI designer who works to save the end user time”. It’s as simple as that, everything designers do should be based around making the experience for users as fast as possible. If it’s not easy, intutive, simple, clean and clear its not going to be quick.</p>
<p>Users will complain if what they want to do online takes longer then expected and things will only take a long time if the user doesn’t understand something or cannot find what they are looking for.</p>
<p>I could write a book on this but to make things easy and quick for the people reading this I am just going to list 10 mistakes UX designers make that waste your time and create a bad user experience.</p>
<h3>1. Newsletter popups</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-2153 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/newspop.jpg" alt="UX time wasting - news popup" width="673" height="340" />
<p>I’m starting with my biggest gripe, I go to a website to find out about a product and before I can blink a giant popup covers the homepage asking me to signup for the company newsletter so I don’t miss out on anything. I’m already missing out on what I came to the website for. First impressions last and the first thing I am presented with is slightly annoying me. This is a guess but I don’t think I’d be exaggerating by saying that I’m not alone here, dare I say 99% of users would agree with me? You can still have a newsletter signup on your homepage, just don’t force me to interact with it if I don’t want it.</p>
<h3>2. Instructional overlays</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-2151 size-medium" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/instructional-169x300.jpg" alt="UX time wasting - instructional overlay" width="169" height="300" />
<p>Often the first time we open a new mobile app a semi-transparent overlay appears over the UI giving us instructions on how it use it. Sometimes this can be necessary but not always if the UI was designed to be intuitive. Before you add something like this ask yourself why this is necessary and if it can be avoided by tweaking the UI to make it more user friendly.</p>
<p>Mandatory fields that don’t need to be<br />
Every now and again I fill out a form that has mandatory fields that I just can’t fill out for various reasons, make sure that any mandatory field you add to a form is both required and applicable to all users. Anyone from Ireland will tell you that we didn’t have postcodes until last year, yet every form online requires a Postcode.</p>
<h3>3. Meaningless icons</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-2150 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/icons.png" alt="UX time wasting - meaningless icons" width="672" height="65" />
<p>A picture says a thousand words… icons are great and can be used to create a really intuitive, visual and uncluttered UI but key to this is that users understand the meaning of the icons you use. Users have a limited visual vocabulary when it comes to icons so only use icons that are obvious and everyone understands. Nobody will interact with an icon if thye don’t get it. Stick to the conventions and it should be fine. A fancy navigation may make your site or App stand out, but it may confuse users.</p>
<h3>4. Sliders that don’t slide with touch</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-2154 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/OwlCarousel.jpg" alt="UX time wasting - Carousel" width="590" height="289" />
<p>Sliders are often overused but are a fact of life on websites, especially on mobile where sometimes all the content we want to present to users won’t fit on one page without it looking ridiculous. On desktop we are used to clicking a little arrow to move to the next slide but sometimes on mobile these arrows are too small for our big fat fingers, mobile uses multitouch so I should be able to slide the slider with my finger, there is no excuse for this not being enabled.</p>
<h3>5. Asking users for too much information</h3>
<p>Users are lazy and impatient when they are online. When asking users to fill out a form only ask them for the information you really need, most of the time its just their name and email. Ask yourself, do you really need their home address and phone number, will you be calling them or posting anything to them? Users are far for likely to fill out a form if its quick and easy.</p>
<h3>6. Make the most common action the most obvious</h3>
<p>Users often move around a website without reading everything they click, instead, they click what they feel is or should be obvious. See below, this is a payment popup that I interact with regularly for a service we use. Every time I pick Visa and MasterCard from the dropdown and I intuitively click on ‘Close’ because it looks like it should be the ‘Pay now’ button, it&#8217;s bigger, darker and stands out. I have literally made the same mistake dozens of times over the last year or two.</p>
<p>A small ‘x’ in the top right would work for close and making the big grey ‘Close’ button a big green ‘Pay Now’ button would make a big difference to the UX, problem solved!</p>
<h3>7. Canned email replies</h3>
<p>Keep auto responses to a minimum. Sometimes they help but I don’t need you to send me an email everytime I do something online. For example when I unsubscribe from a email list and I get sent an email to say I have unsubscribed from the list, need I say any more?</p>
<h3>8. Use video but not exclusively</h3>
<p>Online video is very powerful, with broadband and mobile data speeds getting better, video can easily be accessed quickly by more and more people. I see lots of businesses using video exclusively on their websites to explain their product or service and not having much text alternative for those who don’t want to or can’t watch a video.</p>
<p>Your users could be on a bus or in a office without headphones, they might not have the bandwidth or might just want a few lines of text summarising what you do instead of a 3 minute video presentation.</p>
<h3>9. For input, show the appropriate keyboard on mobile</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-2152 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/keys.jpg" alt="UX time wasting - mobile keyboards" width="672" height="117" />
<p>This one is easy. You know when you are on a touch devise and you tap a text entry field and your keyboard pops up? If you tap into a field that requires a number but a text keyboard pops up, you have to find the buttons that switches the keyboard to numbers, all a bit painful. A simple line of code on the form field stating the input type <em>&lt;input type=”email”&gt;</em> would make the correct keyboard popup and keep everyone happy.</p>
<p>A well built website with a bit of attention to detail from the developers will make sure the appropriate keyboard pops up to make it faster for inputting text, email addresses or numbers. Developers, all you need to know is <a href="http://mobileinputtypes.com">here</a>.</p>
<h3>10. Links too small for your fingers</h3>
<p>Responsive websites have been around for a long time at this point but we still come across websites where the links have tiny tap targets that are just too small for our fingers. Fingers are just not as precise as a mouse pointer is on desktop. The rule of thumb (pardon the pun) is that are area around a tap hotspot should be at least 44 x 44px. Please, don&#8217;t make me use my pinky!</p>
<p>Thats it, I could go on, its good to get this stuff out of your system, let us know how UX designers are wasting your time in the comments below.</p>


10 ways UX designers can waste your time

<p class="graf--h3">We recently opened 2 new positions at The Friday Agency for both a digital designer and a web developer. Both positions have been filled and we are very excited about the 2 great new additions to our team here at the studio.</p>
<p class="graf--h3">We received hundreds of applications and halfway through looking at the potential candidates I decided to share some of the common mistakes people make in their applications, hopefully, it might help some of you looking for a new adventure.</p>
<p class="graf--p">We don’t tend to use recruitment agencies when hiring so there is no triage, unchecked applications come directly into our inboxes so we see them all, the good, the bad and the ugly.</p>
<p class="graf--p">So in no particular order, here are some of the top tips I think need to be said to anyone who is applying for a job. With us or anyone else, you may find this useful, a lot of it seems obvious but you’d be surprised how many people overlook the basics when applying for a job.</p>
<p class="graf--p">Obviously, this is my humble opinion and doesn’t apply to everyone who looks at CV’s so take from it what you will.</p>
<h3 class="graf--h4">1. Cover letters</h3>
<p class="graf--p">Personally, I don’t see the value in an attached cover letter, the body of an email is a fine place to introduce yourself and give a very brief description of you, your skills, experience and why you want the job. Give me enough so I want to find out more but keep it concise, be personable and show your enthusiasm.</p>
<p class="graf--p">One candidate sent their cover letter laid out in the font Comics Sans, I wasn’t sure if they were being ironic, but it probably wasn’t worth the risk!</p>
<p class="graf--p">One of the most common mistakes is dead links on a CV or cover letter. At least 10% of the links to LinkedIn profiles on a CV or cover letter linked to linkedin.com and not the direct URL of the profile page. I had to go searching for the profile from there, others have URLs that are not hyperlinked at all.</p>
<h3 class="graf--h4">2. Your CV</h3>
<p class="graf--p">I have looked at thousands of CV’s over the years and the ones I like the best are simple and clear. Designers can really go to town making their CV’s a work of art but to be honest your design skills will be judged by the portfolio you have and not how your CV is designed. Over-designed CV’s can be too busy and hard to read. A nice clear layout on 2 pages that&#8217;s easy to read is what we are after.</p>
<p class="graf--p">Stay away from the infographic style CVs. There is a current trend where a lot of candidates from both the design and development side add visual charts describing their skills and experience. Bar charts, graphs and pie charts illustrating experience in tools and technology, for example PhotoShop = 92%, HTML5 = 66% PHP = 78%….</p>
<p class="graf--p">This looks great but tells us very little. If your Photoshop is 92% does that mean you know 92% of all the tools and techniques in Photoshop? Maybe you spend 92% of your time in Photoshop or is it that you love Photoshop 92% of the time? How did you get to this figure? What is the 8% you are missing?</p>
<p class="graf--p">Charts like this raise more questions than give answers, they are a bit of a fad. Keep it simple, just list your skills under headings &#8211; advanced, intermediate and beginner. We’ll get into the detail in the interview.</p>
<div id="attachment_1910" style="width: 307px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1910" class="wp-image-1910 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/charts.png" alt="Design Job CV Example" width="297" height="281" /><p id="caption-attachment-1910" class="wp-caption-text">Your life’s work summed up in pie charts</p></div>
<p class="graf--p">Some people think that adding hobbies and interests to your CV is pointless, I disagree, we want to know who you are, what you do in your spare time and if you will fit in with the team in our studio. Its all about personality, we want to know what type of person you are.</p>
<h3 class="graf--h4">3. Create a design portfolio</h3>
<p class="graf--p">I was surprised to see many digital designers did not have a portfolio website, <a href="https://www.behance.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Behance</a> is not enough in my view. Some sent us PDF’s of their work, others used portfolio services like Wix, we got some off the shelf pre-designed WordPress themes but very few had a custom website they created and built themselves.</p>
<p class="graf--p">If you are going to make a career out of creating a bespoke digital design you should have a bespoke website. This is what you do on a daily basis and it will tell us a lot about how you work, your design style and UX expertise not to mention illustrating your enthusiasm for what you do by the fact you went to the trouble building your own website.</p>
<p class="graf--p">I can understand people that we contacted ourselves about the position not having a portfolio ready, they are not necessarily looking for a job but those who are, have no excuse.</p>
<p class="graf--p">If you have a portfolio, test it and test it again on all devices and browsers. Ask your friends to help with this too. We received a lot of buggy websites with dead links and missing content. If you designed or built a website don’t forget to link to it, you’d be surprised how many just show small screenshots with no links.</p>
<h3 class="graf--h4">4. Explain gap years</h3>
<p class="graf--p">When looking at a CV we want to see what you have been doing over the last 6 or 7 years, keep it clear and show both start and end dates for education and positions you have held in the past.</p>
<p class="graf--p">We all like to travel and if you took a year or two out let us know, unexplained gaps in your CV make us wonder, so don’t keep us guessing. Travel, education or a year off to work on a large origami project is great and worth mentioning.</p>
<h3 class="graf--h4">5. Communication</h3>
<p class="graf--p">Communication is key if we are liaising over email or the phone be enthusiastic, be clear and show your interest. Ask questions and build rapport with whoever you are dealing with.</p>
<p class="graf--p">If you are engaging with someone get back to them in a timely fashion, don’t leave us hanging. Don’t say you are going to send your CV in and take 2 weeks to do it.</p>
<p class="graf--p">We often ask people for their salary expectation before we interview (no point in wasting your time). Be upfront about this, it&#8217;s important but be realistic and aware of industry salary standards.</p>
<p class="graf--p">If a company contacts you over LinkedIn to see if you are interested in the position, get back to them and be polite even if you are not interested in the role, you never know, you may cross paths again in the future (especially in Ireland).</p>
<p class="graf--p">So that&#8217;s it, simple and obvious to some and maybe not to others. One of the biggest things we look for is attention to detail for any position, so focus on every area of your initial contact/presentation, first impressions last and all that.</p>
<p class="graf--p">Best of luck.</p>


How to Get a Design Job: 5 Essential Tips

<h3 class="graf--h4">It’s 2016 — how users behave</h3>
<p class="graf--p">I want to cover a topic that Ash already <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/mobile-first-thinking/">touched off last year</a>, the reason I&#8217;m writing a similar post it is because I still see designers taking the wrong approach to design. We are now 2 years past the tipping point where mobile web browsing overtook desktop PC’s as the most common way users access websites. In 2015 mobile usage has soared above 2 billion users, that&#8217;s over a quarter of the world’s population. By now, every website should be mobile friendly (<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.ie/2015/04/faqs-april-21st-mobile-friendly.html" data-href="https://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.ie/2015/04/faqs-april-21st-mobile-friendly.html">or Google will penalise you in its search rankings</a>), this is a given but in a lot of cases, the process used to design a responsive website is the same as it was 5 or 6 years ago.</p>
<p class="graf--p">The old ways die hard, creating a mobile-friendly responsive website has long been part of the web design and development process but how designers approach designing for the best possible user experience hasn’t changed much. A designer might start designing a website for desktop browsers first, even though it is not the most common way most users will access the website — it&#8217;s just how they have always done it.</p>
<p class="graf--p">Some designers use a website design process called (*buzzword warning!!) ‘Graceful Degradation’. Using this approach they start by designing a website for the largest possible screen size that will contain all content, images, features and functionality for the best possible user experience in a desktop browser. They then start shifting and removing page elements as they work through designing for smaller screens and slower bandwidth, only being careful to keep the website functional. It’s almost inevitable that the mobile website will be a watered down, compromised user experience when placed beside the desktop website.</p>
<h3 class="graf--h4">New year, new ways</h3>
<p class="graf--p">It’s a new year and a good reason to put learnings from life experience into practice. Mobile first design is in my view the only way to create the most responsive websites. I have a new buzzword for you, ‘Progressive enhancement’. Progressive enhancement is where you put your best foot forward on the mobile platforms, providing users with an amazing experience that both looks great and functions perfectly on their device, serving lean and concise content with the features and functionality they need.</p>
<p class="graf--p">The next step is to bring this design to the desktop, unlike graceful degradation where the designer decides on what to cut out to water down the product they can instead work on making it even more robust.</p>
<p class="graf--p">We’ve all heard the expression ‘content is king’, well this is very much the case when it comes to mobile <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://friday.ie/expertise/user-experience/ux-design-dublin/" data-href="https://www.api.friday.ie/ux-design-dublin/">UX design</a>, the content will inform the layout, functionality and site style. Mobile first often lends itself to a linear layout, designing mobile first will force a designer to make important decisions about the content hierarchy and what is to be displayed or hidden. The most important content is usually on the top of the screen, followed by the next and so on. This is unlike a desktop approach where you can put two blocks of content side by side for equal impact.</p>
<p class="graf--p">Often we see websites full of waffle, too much text to crawl through, people don’t read websites, they scan them for relevant information. Who wants to read a 400 word mission statement on your homepage? The mobile first approach will help us keep content in check simply because there simply isn’t enough room for waffle, this can only have a positive effect on the user experience across all devices.</p>
<p class="graf--p">The mobile-first principle can also apply to how your site is built from a technical point of view. Using the old ways we would have loaded all the content from the full desktop page and hidden what we are not showing on mobile, this results is a unnecessarily long load time. Using a mobile-first development approach we load only what we need on the mobile platforms with the rest loading on an as-needed basis. This leads to faster load times and a better user experience.</p>
<p class="graf--p">Progressive Enhancement is not religion, it works in a lot of cases of UX web design but there are always exceptions and we look at every project individually before deciding on an approach. For example a recent project we worked on was designing a new responsive MS SharePoint intranet for AIB, a resource that would always be accessed primarily on desktop PC’s by over 15,000 users on a daily basis so obviously we used a desktop first approach.</p>
<h3 class="graf--h4">The challenge</h3>
<p class="graf--p">The aim of mobile first responsive web design is not to reverse the underlying problem, creating a poor desktop experience instead of a poor mobile experience. Both mobile and desktop solutions will benefit, your users will be happy and sales, engagement and goal conversions will follow.</p>
<p class="graf--p">Designing for mobile first is far from a natural transition, it&#8217;s not comfortable. Designing on mobile is restrictive in terms of space but its a challenge that needs discipline, especially when it comes to content, it&#8217;s not easy but it does give you a better result in the end. If you are not convinced, give it a go and let us know what you think.</p>


Designing websites mobile first for a better user experience

<h3>2015 Web Awards</h3>
<p>Its the morning after the night before&#8230;</p>
<p>Last night our creation for <a href="http://www.dublintown.ie">DublinTown.ie</a> won Best Web Only Publication at the 2015 <a href="http://www.webawards.ie">Web Awards</a> in Dublin&#8217;s RDS.  Well done to Clyde, Ann Marie, Gerry and everyone in DublinTown, especially Daniel Fortes for creating a really rich stream of content about whats on in DublinTown. We have had great fun working with DublinTown over the last few years and look forward to working with them in the future to build on what is already a digital presence that we are all really proud of.</p>
<p>What a night, the craic at the Web Awards just leaves all the other award shows in the dark. No glitzy nonsense, just a great bunch of designers, developers and producers who do the real work coming together for a fun celebration of the industry.</p>
<p>Apart from winning the award my highlight was the gang from Waterford Whispers News accepting their award wearing Denis O&#8217;Brien masks, brilliant.</p>
<p>Looking forward to <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/friday-shortlisted-at-2016-eir-spider-awards/">2016</a> already.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


Win at the 2015 Web Awards

<p>A year has already passed since our <strong><a href="https://friday.ie/blog/friday-agency-wins-2014-web-award-best-sme/">big win</a></strong> at the 2014 Web Awards. This year we are up for a record 12 nominations in the final round of the <strong><a href="http://webawards.ie/2015-finalists/">2015 Web Design Awards</a></strong>.</p>
<p>The awards ceremony will take place on October 15th in Dublin&#8217;s RDS. Check out the Web Awards nominations below and see who we are up against <a href="http://webawards.ie/2015-finalists/"><strong>here</strong>.</a></p>
<p><b>Best Web Only Publication<br />
</b><strong><a href="http://dublintown.ie/">dublintown.ie</a></strong></p>
<p><b>Best Website of a Startup<br />
</b><strong><a href="https://friday.ie/">friday.ie</a></strong></p>
<p><b>Best Microsite<br />
</b><strong><a href="http://dff.ie/">dff.ie</a></strong></p>
<p><b>Best eCommerce Medium<br />
</b><a href="http://irishlandmark.com/"><strong>irishlandmark.com</strong><br />
</a><strong><a href="http://javarepublic.com/">javarepublic.com</a></strong></p>
<p><b>Best SME (Medium)<br />
</b><strong><a href="https://friday.ie/">friday.ie<br />
</a><a href="http://marathonsportstravel.ie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">marathonsportstravel.ie</a></strong></p>
<p><b>Best SME (Large)<br />
</b><a style="line-height: 1.5;" href="http://nesta.ie/"><strong>nesta.ie</strong><br />
</a><strong><a href="http://pallasfoods.com/">pallasfoods.com</a></strong></p>
<p><b>Most Beautiful Website in Ireland<br />
</b><strong><a href="https://friday.ie/">friday.ie</a></strong></p>
<p><b>Most Innovative Website<br />
</b><strong><a href="http://dublintown.ie/">dublintown.ie</a></strong></p>
<p><b>Agency of the year<br />
</b><b><strong><a href="https://friday.ie/">friday.ie</a></strong></b></p>


Friday Agency Bags 12 Web Award Nominations

<p class="graf--p"><em>Updated July 2020</em></p>
<p class="graf--p">
One of the most common things I get asked about by clients is why a website might not look the same on different screens. Its something that I have always found challenging to explain in a simple and concise way. I understand the subject in great detail but I often struggle to articulate it in a way that a non-technical person can understand. So I’m using this blog post to try and work out a way of explaining screen resolution without losing you in the second paragraph.</p>
<p class="graf--p">To understand resolution you need to understand how a screen works. Screens are made up of thousands of tiny dots all bunched together called pixels, each one has the ability to change colour and when you zoom out all the dots joined together make up an image.</p>
<p class="graf--p">Screen resolution is the measure of the number of pixels a screen can display. This would be measured by width and height. For example, a screen that has 1,024 pixels horizontally, and 768 vertically would have a resolution of 1,024 x 768.</p>
<p class="graf--p">These days we have many different screens sizes all with different resolutions &#8211; TV’s, desktop monitors, laptops, tablets, mobile phones and even smart watches. Its a mine field.</p>
<h2 class="graf--h3">Forget the physical size of a screen</h2>
<p class="graf--p">So the first thing you need to understand about resolution is that the physical size of a screen bares no relation to the screens resolution. You can have a 27” HD TV screen that has a resolution of 1,440 x 1,080 pixels or a 5.8” phone that has a higher resolution of 2436 x 1125. Whats important is the number of pixels the screen can display.</p>
<p class="graf--p">You may have a 27” Dell display and I have a 27” LG display, they can have different resolutions. The Dell display has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 and the LG display has a 5k resolution of 5,120 x 2,880. While they both have the same physical size the LG display has more pixels so it can show more detail.</p>
<h2 class="graf--h3"><strong class="markup--strong markup--h3-strong">Your website</strong></h2>
<p class="graf--p">So this is where it becomes relevant to most people who ask about computer monitors. Most websites we design have a maximum width of about 1,900 pixels — if your screen has a larger pixel width than 1,900 you may see blank space to the left and right of our website depending how how the site was coded. If your screen has a width lower than 1,900 you won’t see any space on the left and right.</p>
<p class="graf--p">The screenshots below show our website on 2 different displays. The top one has a high resolution of 1,900 x 1,069 and below is a smaller 1,024 x 768 display. You can see the top screen shows about 45% more website real estate and the website has blank space on the left and right as the site was designed to work on maximum width of 1,500 pixels. The lower resolution monitor has less real estate to display information and the website adapts to the lower width of 1,024. <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">(I don’t want to over complicate things by going into responsive websites but you can <a href="https://www.api.friday.ie/blog/responsive-web-development/">read more about that here in Jonno&#8217;s post from a while back</a>)</em></p>
<p class="graf--p"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-1348" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/screens-905x1024.png" alt="screens" width="905" height="1024" /></p>
<h2 class="graf--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--h3-strong">There’s more?</strong></h2>
<p class="graf--p">Now, if the year was 2010 we could leave it there, simple right? Well things have changed, and I encourage you not to read on if you are already confused, the previous paragraph is probably all most people need to understand. I’m going to ramble on because I’m a bit geeky like that.</p>
<p class="graf--p">Pixel density has now been thrown into the mix. Until recently most screens would display 72 dots per inch or DPI but now we have screens with a much higher pixel density, for example the iPhone 6 has has a pixel density of over 400 DPI, this is what is known as a Hi-DPI or Retina screens, a marketing term coined by Apple because the human eye is not be able to discern the individual pixels at a normal viewing distance.</p>
<p class="graf--p">The goal of Retina or Hi-DPI displays is to allow a highly crisp display of text and images, allowing computer screens to rival the smooth curves and sharpness of printed text and photography. Hi-DPI monitors are stunning and a pleasure to work on.</p>
<p class="graf--p">They are not just available on smartphones but higher end Mac’s and PC’s now come with Hi-DPI monitors. Everything looks so smooth and clear but it also means as web designers we need to output higher resolution and vector graphics to take advantage of the extra pixels.</p>
<p class="graf--p"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1349" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/retina.png" alt="retina" width="585" height="361" /></p>
<p class="graf--p">We could go into 4k &amp; 8k TV’s but I think its best we don’t dig too deep or everyone will just get upset.</p>
<p class="graf--p">So did I explain screen resolution in a concise and easy to understand way? Maybe not, I&#8217;m starting to wonder if that is possible.</p>


Screen Resolution Explained

<p class="graf--p">The term “sitting is the new smoking” has been bandied about the place recently. Researchers have found that prolonged sitting increases the risk of developing several serious illnesses like heart disease, various types of cancer, diabetes, digestion problems, bad circulation and of course back and neck problems.</p>
<p class="graf--p">A reason the smoking analogy is relevant is that studies have repeatedly shown the effects of long-term sitting are not reversible through exercise or other good habits. Sitting, like smoking, is very clearly bad for our health and the only way to minimise the risk is to limit the time we spend on our arses each day. Technology is tying us to our desks more than ever, we no longer get a break by running to the fax machine or photocopier and face to face meetings are becoming less frequent. It wouldn’t be uncommon for someone to spend 3 or 4 hours sitting without moving a muscle. We are all told to take a break every 20 minutes and get up for a stretch but in reality this just isn’t workable.</p>
<h4 class="graf--h4">My Story</h4>
<p class="graf--p">Like most in this industry I spend a lot of time sitting in front of my computer, too much time and its impossible to avoid. As a project manager and web designer, long hours would be spent leaning into my screen to focus on the fine detail of our creations. I always keep good posture and it was never a problem until a few years ago when I started to notice I was getting a stiff neck, I got temporary relief by stretching it to a point where I could hear a cracking noise. After leaving the office I often spend time looking down at my phone or tablet, my 10 pound head leaning forward is putting up to 60 pounds of pressure on my back. Few things I was doing were helping me.</p>
<p class="graf--p">Over the last year my back problems have gone from bad to worse. I spent about €800 on a posh Herman Miller chair, everyone should have a good chair and ergonomic setup at work but it doesn’t change the fact that we are still sitting for too long. An MRI showed that over time I had developed bulging disks and a trapped nerve in my neck that was causing arm pain and numb fingers. Sitting in any position was uncomfortable, I pretty much had constant pain or discomfort. So I started my journey of trying a mixed bag of expensive treatments — Massage, Chiropractors, pills, Osteopaths, acupuncture — things were so bad I would try anything I could, it cost a fortune, while I got some temporary relief the fact thatI went back to work to sit for 8 hours just made any treatment redundant. There is no point in treating something while you are still causing the problem.</p>
<h4 class="graf--h4">Standing Desk</h4>
<p class="graf--p">I realised if I didn’t stop sitting for 8 hours a day my problem would never go away. This brought me to standing desks, working at a PC but on my feet, sounds exhausting! I didn’t want to spend the full day standing, I wanted to be able to switch between standing and sitting easily. I came across the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.varidesk.com" data-href="http://www.varidesk.com">VARIDESK</a>, its a retrofit adjustable platform that sits on top of your existing desk, you put your monitor, keyboard, mouse and anything you want on top of it and move it up and down easily as you need to. When you feel the need to stand just raise the Varidesk up using the handles on either side, the springs take the weight of the equipment. I have a 15&#8243; Macbook Pro, a 27&#8243; Apple Thunderbolt display and usual bits and pieces &#8211; a child could lift the lot when its on a Varidesk. I got the Varidesk Pro Plus (36&#8243;), it is a 2 level design where your screens are on a higher level than your keyboard. I’m just about 6 foot tall, if I was any taller this may need to be put on a higher table but its perfect for me.</p>
<p class="graf--p"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1051" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DaveStanding.jpg" alt="DaveStanding" width="780" height="473" /></p>
<p class="graf--p">This is is the single best thing I have done for my back and neck. Within a week of reducing my sitting time I felt much better. Starting out I would spend maybe a few hours a day standing at the desk, my feet, legs and lower back got tired. Now, 3 weeks in I probably stand for up to 5 hours a day, in fact I’m more comfortable standing than I am sitting. My legs still get a bit tired but its nothing compared to the problems I was having before.</p>
<h4 class="graf--h4">The future</h4>
<p class="graf--p">This is the future folks, “sitting is the new smoking” sounds dramatic but after what I have been through I believe that in 5 or 10 years a lot more people are going to have serious spine issues when the smartphone effect kicks in. Don’t waste money like I did on expensive treatments, this will give you temporary relief but you need to address the cause of the problem first. If I had done this sooner I would have easily saved multiples of the price of the Varidesk.</p>
<p class="graf--p">It does look strange, me standing with everyone else around me sitting but I think this is going to become a lot more common. Its also great when a few people come to see something on your screen, everyone can stand around it and view it at eye level instead of bending over a screen.</p>
<h4 class="graf--h4">Where to get one</h4>
<p class="graf--p">In Ireland, the Varidesk Pro Plus (36&#8243;) cost €405 + VAT , delivery was fast, free and Mark was very helpful in my dealings with him.</p>


Is sitting the new smoking? Try a standing desk.

<p>We all want to be more productive, anything that claims to make our lives easier is worth exploring. In 2015 we will spend a lot of time using tools and methods to improve productivity and efficiency and will increase our capacity to get things done. I wanted to share some of the tools and methods we use here in The Friday Agency that we feel are worth a look.</p>
<p>Software has become a utility, a lot of the good services out there have recurring fees and monthly bills can mount up if you don’t keep an eye on it. Make sure everything you pay for is adding value, do an audit every few months to make sure you are not wasting your cash.</p>
<p>As a digital agency, we have an ever-evolving process for how we develop websites and manage digital marketing campaigns, we are always reviewing our processes and there are a number of software tools that help us on our way. We have a checklist of criteria before we take a look think about employing a new tool or method.</p>
<ol>
<li>The net result between time spent managing the tool and the time it saves needs to be positive.</li>
<li>Any software should be cloud-based. We try and stay away from anything that is only present on a single device as we all work from a number of devices depending on where we are at the time.</li>
<li>Collaboration is key, if the tool will allow you to share data and knowledge then it’s a big plus.</li>
<li>Limit the amount of GTD apps (Getting Things Done) you use, how many lists do you really need?</li>
</ol>
<h3>Basecamp</h3>
<p>Basecamp is a web-based project management tool where team members and clients can collaborate. It’s a single place to share files, have discussions, assign &amp; track tasks, and keep up to speed on deadlines. We have been using Basecamp for a number of years and we find it great for projects big and small. If used correctly it can be a really powerful tool for any type of project. Costs start at about €17 a month but we use the package that&#8217;s €42 as it allows us to manage more projects.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.basecamp.com">www.basecamp.com</a></p>
<h3>Zero Inbox Policy</h3>
<p>This one isn’t about a specific product but more a way to manage email. We all spend too much time with our heads in our email, my feeling is that people are too quick to hide behind it and a lot of typing time could be saved with a quick call or face to face (remember that?), you don’t save time or build real relationships by only communicating by email.</p>
<p>I use a zero inbox policy, this means that my ongoing goal is to have an empty email inbox, I archive every email that I have read or actioned. This way I know that anything that is still in my inbox needs action. My inbox becomes my to-do list. I have been using this policy for about 6 months and I couldn’t recommend it more. Emails don’t get missed, I never forget to reply to an email and the satisfaction of getting to the end of the day with a clear inbox is great.</p>
<p>Dropbox have a mobile and desktop App called Mailbox (update Dec &#8217;15, now <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/help/mailbox-shut-down">defunct</a>) which will help with this, it has some great features but the search in the desktop Beta I tested was very poor so I quickly went back to Apple Mail until they fix the bugs.</p>
<p>If you do nothing else this year, take on a zero inbox policy, it gets things done and relieves email fatigue.</p>
<h3>Base CRM</h3>
<p>We recently took on Base CRM as a tool for tracking leads and our sales pipeline, its a little too early to give a full review of this web-based service but based on a few months usage it seems to be working for us and is worth the €13 a month. It has great real-time reporting, sends reminders and organises leads based on stages. The UI is clean, intuitive and easy to move around — being visual people this is key to any of the tools we use.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.zendesk.com/sell/">www.getbase.com</a></p>
<h3>Bullet</h3>
<p>There are no fulltime accountants working in Friday just yet but we like to be very organised and keep on top of our finances. Bullet is a cloud-based accounting web app that claims to automate your accounting and payroll. Bullet has all the features we need and makes everything from billing, payroll, VAT returns and estimates easy to manage. The Bullet team is always there to help and have even implemented some of the UI and feature suggestions we have shared with them. It has a nice UI and the best part is that Bullet is an Irish company.</p>
<p>Your accountant won’t like Bullet, you will rely on accountants less and less as you get used to the system. The other reason your accountant will not like Bullet is that it is not as flexible as some of the more complicated tools such as Sage, simplicity always requires compromise of features and Bullet are working to get this balance right based on customer feedback.</p>
<p>Bullet is not a not for everyone but it has made running our business much easier. We get great reporting, credit control has improved and payroll is a breeze. Pricing for Bullet starts at €4 a month and builds depending on the features you need.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bullethq.com">www.bullethq.com</a></p>
<h3>Reminders</h3>
<p>Apple have a very simple and usable Reminders App that comes pre-loaded on all iOS and OS X devices. It&#8217;s a To-do list app where reminders can be set based on time or location. So let&#8217;s say I walk out of the office it can remind me not to forget my keys. Lists can be shared and reminders can be set with Siri. I use this every day. Reminders sync beautifully between devices using iCloud and its free to all Mac and iOS users.</p>
<h3>Browserstack</h3>
<p>Testing is a huge part of our day, everything we create has to be tested, retested and tested again on multiple devices, platforms, and browser versions.</p>
<p>Browserstack.com provides a paid service where we can test our work on all the main platforms, browsers and relevant verisons using a single browser. This is a huge time saver. In the old days, we had to jump from PC to Mac to tablet loading up different OS and browser versions. At €30 a month its not cheap but cheaper and faster than having multiple testing stations.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.browserstack.com">www.browserstack.com</a></p>
<p>We’d love to hear your views on this and if you know any other tools that do a better job than the ones we covered. Please leave your comments below.</p>
<h3>Update September 2015</h3>
<p>Since writing this post we have started using a whole new batch of productivity services and Apps and I wanted to share them with you. Thanks to <a href="https://disqus.com/by/disqus_QS93RzVyQp/" data-action="profile" data-username="disqus_QS93RzVyQp" data-role="username">Melanie Gardner</a> who posted a comment below we have discovered <a href="http://www.invisionapp.com">InVision App</a>, this is a game changer for presenting and collecting feedback on UI and UX artwork to clients remotely. This really has changed how we collaborate with our clients, well worth the money, check it out.</p>
<p>We have also started using a time tracking App called <a href="https://timelyapp.com">Timely</a> which allows us to see how much time the team here in the studio are spending on a project and it gives us great reporting that shows us if our pricing is working for us and our clients as well as where we can become more efficient in how we use our time on projects. Works great via your browser as well as the mobile app and if you are lucky enough to have an Apple Watch there is an App for that too.</p>
<p>The last is <a href="https://slack.com">Slack</a>, this is a widely used messaging app for team collaboration. This is used by us all every day to collaborate and share thoughts, links, and visuals on what we are working on internally. It&#8217;s like Skype or any other IM client but on steroids with the features you always wanted such as organising chat topics into subjects or projects, Drag and drop file sharing, private groups and it&#8217;s all highly searchable.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


The top 6 productivity tools for a digital agency in 2015

<p>We are still basking in the glow of the fact that at only 6 months in, we can call ourselves an award-winning Digital Agency. To celebrate this, we have decided to share some insight into how we work and the process we use for web design and development.</p>
<p>Our web design process is everything to us, it provides our team of designers and developers and our clients with a transparent and highly collaborative path to launch. Processes establish lines of responsibility, create timings and deadlines, explain costs to the client and because it&#8217;s based on a system where one stage cannot be started until the previous stage is complete, it provides very clear approval milestones.</p>
<p>One size does not fit all&#8230; every project is different and our process is always tailored to suit. However, this is the base process we use to start a project.</p>
<h3>Planning and Requirement Planning</h3>
<p>Planning is the most important stage of any project. All the stakeholders in a web design project need a comprehensive understanding of the work that needs to be done, when it will be done and who is going to do it.</p>
<p>If you have a comprehensive plan when you start something it gives the whole process clarity, a shared vision, increases efficiency, reduces the chances of error and marks out areas of responsibility.</p>
<p>We kick off any web design project by meeting with our client, establishing the team and developing the requirements. We look at the goals and objectives of the new website and any problems with the client&#8217;s current online presence. We look at the competition and where possible, we carry out research by talking to the people who will be using the website.</p>
<p><strong>Output: </strong>A detailed website spec and information architecture sitemap</p>
<h3>Website Wireframes</h3>
<p>A website wireframe is like a blueprint. It is the <a href="https://friday.ie/expertise/user-experience/ux-design-dublin/">user experience (UX) design</a> without the distraction of colour, typography, photography and style. It allows us to focus on the user&#8217;s journey through the website, the functionality, content structure and interactivity.</p>
<p>Only after we have agreed the website wireframes with the client can the design process begin.</p>
<p><strong>Output: </strong>Wireframe sketches for each main web page template in various devise sizes</p>
<h3>Design Brief</h3>
<p>As part of the design process we collaborate closely with our clients to explore design direction. This is usually done through a design workshop where everyone brings ideas, examples and thoughts to the table and we discuss what the best direction is for the look and feel of the website.</p>
<p>We explore the brand, it&#8217;s personality and how it should to be presented online. We look at the competition&#8217;s web presence as well as unrelated websites. Notes are taken and opinions are collated.</p>
<p><strong>Output:</strong> A written design brief with visuals to explain design direction, layout, typography, colours and photography</p>
<h3>Artwork</h3>
<p>We don’t believe in surprises at The Friday Agency. With close collaboration, the output of the design stage shouldn’t be a surprise as the client has had input and we have communicated our direction clearly. The expectation of quality is set by our previous work and what we referenced throughout the planning stages. The usual outcome would be that because of collaboration and detailed planning the first design iteration would be very close to the final design and layout.</p>
<p>Design is produced by referencing the wireframes and design brief. We usually start with the homepage on both mobile and desktop sizes and work through the website page by page.</p>
<p><strong>Output: </strong>Artwork for each main web page template in various device sizes</p>
<h3>HTML/CSS Markup</h3>
<p>The first stage of development is HTML and CSS markup: this is where we take the website&#8217;s artwork and carry out what we call &#8216;slice &amp; dice&#8217;. The website pages are marked up in clean and efficient HTML and CSS that is responsive across current and future devices.</p>
<p>Images are optimised to load as quickly as possible. We also future proof quality by optimising images for HiDPI or Retina displays. Vector SVG’s are used where possible to maximise load time and image quality.</p>
<p><strong>Output:</strong> Browser tested responsive HTML/CSS files for each page template</p>
<h3>Development</h3>
<p><a href="https://friday.ie/expertise/technology/web-development-dublin/">Web development</a> is when we build the website with the assets already produced. Design and markup is integrated into the backend technology. Databases are set up, functionality is created through code, web servers are configured, security is locked down and content is migrated.</p>
<p>This is the stage of the project with the least amount of collaboration between agency and client: all the planning has led up to this point &#8211; we are building exactly what the client has requested so we combine this with our own input and expertise.</p>
<p><strong>Output:</strong> Beta website</p>
<h3>Testing</h3>
<p>When we have a beta website we carry out our first stage testing. This covers user testing, layout, functionality, server, script efficiency and load time as well as multiple browser and device tests. The second stage is to share a beta link with the client so they can carry out their own review. Feedback is collated and changes are made if required.</p>
<p><strong>Output: </strong>Final Alpha website</p>
<h3>Website Launch</h3>
<p>When everyone is happy we migrate the website to the live server and launch. In some cases we may do a soft launch, this is when the website is put live but is not announced or advertised. This allows us to get feedback from the public without it being seen by the masses.</p>
<p>Only after a website is launched can a <a href="https://friday.ie/expertise/digital-marketing/search-engine-optimisation/">Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)</a> campaign be carried out. There is an entire blog post that could be written about how we manage this stage of a website project and we will cover this at a later date in detail.</p>
<p><strong>Output:</strong> Live website</p>


The Web Design Process

<p>Well, it&#8217;s the morning after the night before and we are all feeling a little fragile in The Friday Agency but still very excited after winning an Irish web award for the best SME. For an agency that&#8217;s just 5 months old, it feels pretty good to get this sort of recognition. We&#8217;ll be patting ourselves on the back for a while yet.</p>
<p>Hosted by Rick O&#8217;Shea in Dublin&#8217;s <a href="http://www.ballsbridgehotel.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ballsbridge hotel</a>, in Dublin 4, the event was really fun and casual. A highlight was seeing one of our clients dressed in a bubble suit pushing a tiny trolley around the ballroom in a bid to win a disco ball. You don&#8217;t see that at many awards ceremonies!</p>
<p>We had a total of <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/7-final-nominations-fridays-work-years-web-awards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7 nominations</a> for client work, our own website and Best Agency. The standard was very high, and we&#8217;d like to congratulate all of last nights nominees and winners on a job well done.</p>
<p>Once we&#8217;ve agreed on a suitable spot for our lovely hand crafted award (the bathroom was one suggestion), it&#8217;s back to reality, and back to creating more award worthy work (fingers crossed!). There&#8217;s only a year to go until the next Web Awards, we&#8217;d better get cracking!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


Friday bags Web Award for best SME

<p>Final nominations for the 2014 Web Awards have just been announced and 7 of our websites are still in the running with Friday.ie making it into the Best Agency category. The Irish Web Awards take place on October 22nd in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4,  so see who we are against <strong><a href="http://webawards.ie">here</a></strong>.</p>
<p><strong>Online Only Publication</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.dublintown.ie/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">dublintown.ie</a></p>
<p><strong>Most Innovative website</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.dublintown.ie/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">dublintown.ie</a></p>
<p><strong>Best SME website (Medium)</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.koh.ie/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">koh.ie</a></p>
<p><strong>Best SME <strong>website (Small</strong>)</strong><br />
<a href="https://friday.ie/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">friday.ie</a></p>
<p><strong>Best eCommerce Medium</strong><a href="http://carlscarpa.com/"><br />
</a><a href="http://irishlandmark.com/">irishlandmark.com</a></p>
<p><strong>Best Microsite<br />
</strong><a href="http://www.dff.ie/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">dff.ie</a></p>
<p><strong>Best Agency</strong><br />
<a href="https://friday.ie/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">friday.ie</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Cross your fingers for us! We&#8217;ll keep you posted&#8230;</p>


The WEB AWARDS: 7 Finalists

<p>Online personalities bug me. See how I use the word ‘personalities’ and not ‘people’. More often than not, people use their alter egos online instead of their real personality. Maybe it’s because they don’t like themselves, but let&#8217;s not go there right now.</p>
<p>So let&#8217;s look at some extremes on social media channels.</p>
<p>Trolls bug me, but not as much as they used to. They are easy to spot, easy to get angry with but just as easy to ignore. I get the feeling trolling will be a thing of the past in a few years&#8230; once everyone learns how to spot a troll and if we ignore them, they won’t have anything to feed from. I have had to stop reading the comments on thejournal.ie as they make me want to smash things. If you wanted to put anyone off coming to Ireland, let them loose on thejournal.ie for 10 mins and they will change their travel plans pretty quickly and ask why Irish people can be so nasty and negative.</p>
<p>Then we have the big mouths. They’re always controversial, arrogant, use bad language and can be aggressive. They will do anything to get attention, it’s an attention addiction. These people are hungry for numbers. They collect numbers likes nerds collect stamps. As many followers, likes, retweets, impressions as they can get. They will say or do anything just to add to the numbers, at any cost, even if it means people hate them, even if they hate themselves&#8230; “FEED ME”.</p>
<p>On Facebook it’s a different world. This is where everyone is exposed and presented in front of the real people they see on a regular basis. Everyone is so nice and polite! This is a troll free zone and everyone is so positive. The issue here is the self branding that is going on. “Look at me, I’m so happy!”. “Look at me, I’m so cool”. “Look at my amazing life”. “Luv ya hun”.</p>
<p>So before I start sounding very cynical, I just want to ask the question; why don’t I actually know anyone who is like any of these 3 examples in real life? I quite like real people, so why do a lot of people not choose to be real online?</p>
<p>I think of all the online channels, Twitter is probably the most real but at the same time far from it. You are not trying to impress your mates because all the other people who follow you will think you are strange. You won’t troll because people won’t follow you and you won’t be a big mouth because people will think you are a big mouth.</p>
<p>We are all guilty of being fake online to a certain extent, including myself but let&#8217;s all make an effort to get real online. It will give us a renewed faith in humanity.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


Social media: Big mouth strikes again

<p>You have an idea for a new business, it&#8217;s exciting and you just want to jump in and get going before someone else steals the idea. You think you are 100% clear about your goals and strategy, the business plan is all in your head. “Stop holding me back!!”</p>
<p>I’ve been involved in many startups over the years and every time it&#8217;s a completely different experience. No two businesses are the same but all have a lot in common in terms of the process of setup. Here are a few words of wisdom that I would give someone about to start this process.</p>
<ol>
<li><b>Create a business plan</b><br />
At number one, because its probably the most important. A business plan helps you make decisions you have not thought of yet. It forces you to ask yourself valuable questions and may even change the direction of your business. The process gives you the opportunity to take a close look at what the business will be; who it will be targeting; how you will manage your finances, establish goals, responsibilities and strategy. This will save you from making rash decisions when things get crazy. You may even find that writing the business plan will make you abandon the idea.. better now then 6 months after the business is set up.</p>
<p>There are plenty of business plan templates out there, find a good one and try to complete as much as you can. You will need this if you are looking for investment but even if nobody reads it apart from yourself, it&#8217;s an invaluable exercise and something you should read back over every few months to make sure you are on the right track when things get going.</li>
<li><b>Know your market</b><br />
This is obvious but you’d be surprised how many jump in without doing the research. Look at who you are selling to, ask the questions:<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#8211; Who needs this product/service?<br />
</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#8211; What are they willing to pay for it?<br />
</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#8211; What is the overall market worth for this product/service?<br />
</span>&#8211; What share of the market are you after?<br />
&#8211; Who else is offering this, how are they getting on?The best thing The Friday Agency did as part of our business plan was ask our clients about what they wanted. Use Survey Monkey and get as many one to one chats with people in the know as you can. People will be happy to help if you ask them, don’t be shy.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></p>
<p></span></li>
<li><b style="line-height: 1.5em;">Have a USP<br />
</b><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">You either have a completely original idea (very rare) or there is already someone else doing want you want to do. You need to stand out from the competition, what&#8217;s the point in being the same? It doesn’t have to be ground breaking &#8211; it could be price, process, how you communicate or the after service you offer. Look for gaps in the market in terms of how people are doing what you want to do. One of the USP’s of The Friday Agency is knowledge and experience. Everyone has that, right? You’d be surprised. Having worked in the digital marketing industry for a combined 60 years we have met a lot of people who hold high positions and may have good management or people skills, but what&#8217;s missing in a lot of cases is real knowledge and passion for how they create what their client wants.</p>
<p></span></li>
<li><b>Be realistic about timing<br />
</b><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Patience is a virtue. Don’t rush into it, think it through. This brings me back to my first point about creating a business plan. What we learned from the process of developing our business plan was that it took about 3 times longer than we thought. We are glad it did because it helped us lay a solid foundation that will continue to hold value for us in the future.</p>
<p></span></li>
<li><b style="line-height: 1.5em;">Choose your partners wisely<br />
</b><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In this day and age most people in serious relationships move in together before they get married (unless of course like me you are Catholic, that would be living in sin!). It gives couples a chance to get to know each other in a more intimate way and find out if they can live together without someone being murdered. The same principles should apply for business partners. Before you set up a business with someone, you should have experience of working closely with them. The Friday Agency came to be by 2 digital marketing companies coming together with a similar vision. We shared an office for almost a year before we launched the agency and worked on several client projects together. This allowed us to establish roles based on the knowledge of each other&#8217;s strengths and because of this we have a great company structure, transparency and solid relationships.</p>
<p></span></li>
<li><b style="line-height: 1.5em;">Get a good solicitor and accountant<br />
</b><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Don’t just go for someone you know, talk to a few accountants and solicitors before taking one on. This should be the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Every company needs an accountant but you should do as much of the company accounting as you can yourself at the start. Don’t rely on an accountant to do everything for you, stay on top of it and not only will you save money on fees but you will have a clear picture of where the company is going financially. I have heard stories from accountants about their clients being genuinely shocked when they are told that their businesses were in financial trouble. Until they had their end of year accounts done, they had no idea how their own businesses were doing financially.</p>
<p>Solicitors are a necessary evil, nobody likes paying them but if you are going into business with anyone you need contracts and agreements in place. Conflict resolution processes need to be hammered out, prepare for the worst. We found ourselves in strange conversations discussing things like, what might happen if one of us died &#8211; morbid I know but it&#8217;s likely that if we agree these points in writing now there will be no problems if something bad happens, nobody wants to end up in court, where solicitors are the only winners.</p>
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<li><b style="line-height: 1.5em;">Brand is everything<br />
</b><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">We are a design focused marketing agency, so we are obviously going to spend time on our brand and we can do it ourselves without much cost. No matter what you are doing this is one of the most important parts of the set up process. Your brand tells people who you are, what you do, your personality type and the quality of your work. You could be highly skilled in what you do, a master of your craft, but if your brand is telling the wrong story it could undervalue what you do to a point where it may reduce your business&#8217;s real potential. Invest in your brand.</p>
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<li><b style="line-height: 1.5em;">Keep costs down<br />
</b><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">You have to spend before you earn. Sense check every bit of spending you do. Ask yourself if what you are paying for is going to add real value and help increase turnover in the short to medium term. Don’t splash out to look flash, you don’t need a hot tub in the office! Only hire the talent you really need, each staff member should be earning their salary, expenses plus profit. They should be busy otherwise you are wasting your money. Running a tight ship will ensure you will maximise your potential to grow as a company.</p>
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<li><b style="line-height: 1.5em;">Recognise your strengths and do what you love<br />
</b><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I have been self employed for 13 years so I have had to work on every aspect of my businesses whether I liked it or not and whether I was good at it or not. This had to change in order give this new business the best possible start, as well as keeping me in a good supply of fun and enjoyment. I wanted to focus on doing the things that I enjoyed, and of the things I liked doing I wanted to focus on only doing what I was good at. There are plenty of things I am good at but I don’t enjoy and visa versa. I forced myself to recognise these areas and my goal where possible was to hand the responsibility to someone who both enjoyed and was good at carrying out these tasks. This basic principle will allow you to have fun at work while working efficiently and also minimise messing things up.</p>
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<li><b style="line-height: 1.5em;">Have fun<br />
</b><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Ok, number 10 may be repeating what I said in number 9 but its important and who wants to read a Top 9! You have to have fun at work, it&#8217;s not going to be a lol-fest all day everyday but it should be enjoyable, you shouldn’t dread going into work. The only way to have fun at work is to take control of your own destiny and steer yourself in a direction that gives you real satisfaction. Passion is a good place to start: if you don’t have passion for what you do, STOP and do something else if you can.</span></li>
</ol>
