The Design Insider #1

In the News

Spotify Test Stories – Spotify have started testing their own stories feature with a select group of artists. Unlike Instagram and more recently fleets by Twitter, the feature will most likely remain limited to artists, labels and influencers.

Facebook Exploring Content Subscription – According to a recent patent filing, Facebook is looking to build a system where users will be able to discover new content by subscribing to topics of their interest.

Tik Tok adds Epilepsy Safety Feature – The video-sharing social platform is adding a warning and also giving users the choice to block photosensitive content completely, thus improving accessibility for those with epilepsy

Jony Ive to Lead Airbnb Re-Design – For their planned major redesign, Airbnb has enlisted the services of Love From, a silicon-valley based agency founded by the legendary former Apple CPO, Jony Ive.

Instagram Launches Guides – Following on from their controversial recent redesign, Instagram will be rolling out the guides feature, giving a new medium for users to share and consume content.

Google Pay Redesign – The Google Pay app is undergoing a facelift, keeping its core features, whilst adding new ones focused on helping users better plan and manage their finances.

Recommended Reads

The UX of Payments – A study on the UX of point of sale (POS) payment services.

9 Principles of UX Design Psychology – A brief guide to psychological phenomena and how you use them in UX design.

UX Guidelines for an eCommerce Websites Pages – Tips to help you design pages on your eCommerce websites that convert.

How Asana Redesigned Boards – Get a peek into the learnings, processes and strategy used by the Asana team to complete a significant redesign of their boards.

Why is Tik Tok’s Recommendation Engine so Good? – Eugene Wei dives deep into the concept of algorithm friendly design that fueled Tik Tok’s success.

Improve UX Design by Tracking Eye Movements – What does this mean, tips for tracking, how to interpret and strategies for implementing insights to build better products.

The UX of Surveys – Insights, tips and best practices create useful surveys.

What Did the Most Popular Websites Look Like? – Hop into the time machine and see what the most popular websites looked like in the early days.

SEO Friendly UX Design – Tips and strategies on designing a website UX that also gives you better visibility.

App of the Week – DROPS

DROPS makes the tough task of learning a new language both fun and exciting, with bite-sized daily puzzles and challenges. The app currently covers 42 languages and is free to download and use, with a paid version that has more powerful features and tools. Boasting 25 million users worldwide, DROPS was recently acquired by Kahoot.

Try it Out – App Store | Google Play

Useful Resources

Book of the Week – Sprint – How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days

Patent Drop – Stay updated and ahead of the game with this weekly newsletter that summarises cutting edge tech patents and innovations from some of the biggest companies in the world.

UXCEL – Improve your UI/UX skills with daily bite-sized exercises and challenges.

UX Podcast – Tune in to listen to thought-provoking discussions with industry experts on all things design.