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Dropdowns Should be the UI of Last Resort by Luke Wroblewski July 17, 2015 All too often mobile forms make use of dropdown menus for input when simpler or more appropriate controls would work better. Here's several alternatives to dropdowns to consider in your designs and why. Expectations impact conversion No one likes filling in forms. And the longer or more complicated a form seems, the less li

There Is No Fold by Luke Wroblewski April 29, 2015 On the Web, people use the concept of “above the fold” to support layout decisions, call to action designs, ad placements, and more. Here’s why most of these arguments don’t fly. Placing elements at the top of the screen does not guarantee they are visible because people often scroll right away. So just because something is “above the fold” does n

Obvious Always Wins by Luke Wroblewski April 27, 2015 It’s tempting to rely on menu controls in order to simplify mobile interface designs —especially on small screens. But hiding critical parts of an application behind these kinds of menus could negatively impact usage. Out of Sight, Out of Mind In an effort to simplify the visual design of the Polar app, we moved from a segmented control menu to

Showing Passwords on Log-In Screens by Luke Wroblewski January 22, 2015 In 2012 I outlined why we should let people see their password when logging in to an application -especially on mobile devices. Now two years later with many large scale implementations released, here’s a compendium of why and how to show passwords and what’s coming next. Why Show Passwords? Passwords have long been riddled wi

Designing for Large Screen Smartphones by Luke Wroblewski October 26, 2014 As smartphones continue to get larger but our hands don’t, what kinds of design solutions can ensure mobile interactions remain comfortable, quick, and easy on our thumbs? Here's a few options to consider... Designing for Thumbs In his analysis of 1,333 observations of smartphones in use, Steven Hoober found about 75% of pe

An Event Apart: SVG is for Everybody by Luke Wroblewski September 23, 2014 In his SVG is for Everybody talk at An Event Apart in Austin TX 2014, Chris Coyier walked through the current state of SVG and how Web designers and developers can use it on their sites today. Here are my notes from his talk: No matter where you display an SVG file, it will render with the right size & resolution: flexible

Video: Simplifying Input with Steppers by Luke Wroblewski June 25, 2014 All too often mobile forms make use of drop-down menus for input when simpler, more appropriate controls would work better. In this quick 4 minute video I highlight how simple stepper controls can be a useful alternative.

Responsive Web Design: Relying Too Much on Screen Size by Luke Wroblewski October 30, 2013 As people continue to go online using an ever increasing diversity of devices, responsive Web design has helped teams build amazing sites and apps that adapt their designs to smartphones, desktops, and everything in between. But many of these solutions are relying too much on a single factor to make importan

Designing for iOS7: Perils & Pluses by Luke Wroblewski September 26, 2013 Like many other companies building mobile applications, we’ve spent a lot of time recently redesigning our iPhone app, Polar, for Apple’s newest operating system. Through what turned out to be a rather lengthy process, we learned a lot about the good, the bad, and even the blurry parts of designing for iOS7. As we began adap

New Layouts for the Multi-Device Web by Luke Wroblewski May 13, 2013 Most Web page layouts rely on design patterns created for laptop and desktop computers equipped with a mouse and keyboard. As the variety of devices being used to access the Web has grown, these patterns haven’t been keeping up. Designing for today’s Web means considering single-handed thumb use on smartphones, two handed touch i

Mobile Sign Up Forms Must Die by Luke Wroblewski January 15, 2013 It’s hard to get people to download your mobile application. But if they do, what greets them when they open it up for the first time? A step by step tour? A sign up form? Both might be missed opportunities to get people engaged and interested in your service. In fact, you might want to consider a gradual engagement approach instead

An Event Apart: Buttons are a Hack by Luke Wroblewski November 13, 2012 In his Buttons are a Hack presentation at An Event Apart in San Francisco CA, Josh Clark made the case for moving beyond GUI controls on touch devices and the Web. We can do better! Here are my notes from his talk: You can't be a futurist without being a historian. History has a big role in the future. Touch interactions will

Responsive Navigation: Optimizing for Touch Across Devices by Luke Wroblewski November 2, 2012 As more diverse devices embrace touch as a primary input method, it may be time to revisit navigation standards on the Web. How can a navigation menu be designed to work across a wide range of touch screen sizes? In these demos, Jason Weaver and I decided to find out. The Demos Split Screen Navigation Mu

Cross Device Design Patterns by Luke Wroblewski July 25, 2012 In a few years, there will be more connected devices in people’s hands than people in the World. That means multiple devices per person: a smartphone, a tablet, a connected TV, and perhaps lots more. Cross device patterns look at how people, content, and services will flow between these devices. Here’s my attempt at defining a useful re

Off Canvas Multi-Device Layouts by Luke Wroblewski June 21, 2012 Most multi-device layout patterns for the Web are designed to rearrange page elements within a visible browser window. Off canvas multi-device layouts, on the other hand, use the space outside a browser’s viewport to hide secondary elements until people need them. Jason Weaver and I put together demonstrations of several new off canv

Data Monday: As Tablet Size Decreases... by Luke Wroblewski April 30, 2012 Though Apple's 9.7 inch iPad commands over 60% of all tablet sales worldwide, tablets of all sizes are emerging around globe. But as tablets get smaller people's use of the Web drops. Why? 10 inch tablets (like Samsung's Galaxy Tab) average 125 page views in the browser per tablet. (source) 9 inch tablets (like Apple's iPad

Multi-Device Layout Patterns by Luke Wroblewski March 14, 2012 Through fluid grids and media query adjustments, responsive design enables Web page layouts to adapt to a variety of screen sizes. As more designers embrace this technique, we're not only seeing a lot of innovation but the emergence of clear patterns as well. I cataloged what seem to be the most popular of these patterns for adaptable

Which One: Responsive Design, Device Experiences, or RESS? by Luke Wroblewski February 29, 2012 As more organizations realize they need to invest heavily in multi-device Web designs, the inevitable question of “how” comes up. Responsive Web design, separate sites, or something in between? Here’s how I’ve tried to simplify this decision: Responsive Web Design Responsive Web design is a combination

RESS: Responsive Design + Server Side Components by Luke Wroblewski September 12, 2011 There's no shortage of debate about the best way to develop Web sites that work well across many networked devices. Some teams favor a client-side approach while others lean towards server-side solutions. But I'm increasingly interested in solutions that try to bring together the best of both worlds. RESS (Respo

Why Separate Mobile & Desktop Web Pages? by Luke Wroblewski September 1, 2011 As use of mobile devices continues to skyrocket across the globe, we're seeing more ways to tackle the challenge of creating great Web experiences across multiple devices. But which approach is right for any given project? In an effort to help answer that question, I've compiled the reasons we opted to use a dual (separa