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Best Practices For Animated Progress Indicators

Best Practices For Animated Progress Indicators



 


 

Visibility of system status is one of the most important principles in user interface design. Users want to feel in control of the system they’re using, which means they want to know and understand their current context at any given time, and especially when a system is busy doing work. A wait-animation progress indicator is the most common form of providing a system status for users when something is happening or loading.

An adorable animated kitten on blue background

While an instant response from an app is the best, there are times when your app won’t be able to comply with the guidelines for speed. A slow response could be caused by a bad internet connection, or an operation itself can take a long time (e.g. install an update for OS). For such cases, in order to minimize user tension, you must reassure users that the app is working on their request and that actual progress is being made. Thus, you should provide feedback to the user about what is happening with the app within a reasonable amount of time.

The post Best Practices For Animated Progress Indicators appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

True Lies Of Optimistic User Interfaces

True Lies Of Optimistic User Interfaces



 


 

Three user interfaces (UIs) go to a pub. The first one orders a drink, then several more. A couple of hours later, it asks for the bill and leaves the pub drunk. The second UI orders a drink, pays for it up front, orders another drink, pays for it and so on, and in a couple of hours leaves the pub drunk.

True Lies Of Optimistic User Interfaces

The third UI exits the pub already drunk immediately after going in — it knows how the pubs work and is efficient enough not to lose time. Have you heard of this third one? It is called an “optimistic UI.”

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Getting The Sketch Workflow Right: Meet “The Sketch Handbook”

Getting The Sketch Workflow Right: Meet “The Sketch Handbook”



 


 

Do you use Sketch, too? If you’re designing for the web today, you probably are. Well, we do, too, so we created The Sketch Handbook, our brand new Smashing book that will help you master all the tricky, advanced facets of Sketch. Filled with practical examples and tutorials in 12 chapters, the book will help you become more proficient and fast — with Sketch.

A photo of the new Sketch Handbook

Sketch offers a wealth of tools and features to make it the perfect application for today’s designers: It lets you design interfaces, websites and icons with ease. To help you get the most out of this mighty tool, The Sketch Handbook will show you every aspect of it. Not in theory, but backed up by practical examples that you can follow along, step-by-step.

The post Getting The Sketch Workflow Right: Meet “The Sketch Handbook” appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

You, Me And The Emoji: Character Sets, Encoding And Emoji

You, Me And The Emoji: Character Sets, Encoding And Emoji



 


 

We all recognize emoji. They’ve become the global pop stars of digital communication. But what are they, technically speaking? And what might we learn by taking a closer look at these images, characters, pictographs… whatever they are 🤔 (Thinking Face). We will dig deep to learn about how these thingamajigs work.

You, Me And The Emoji: Character Sets, Encoding And Emoji

Please note: Depending on your browser, you may not be able to see all emoji featured in this article (especially the Tifinagh characters). Also, different platforms vary in how they display emoji as well. That’s why the article always provides textual alternatives. Don’t let it discourage you from reading though!

Now, let’s start with a seemingly simple question. What are emoji?

The post You, Me And The Emoji: Character Sets, Encoding And Emoji appeared first on Smashing Magazine.