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Qu’est-ce que la modélisation des données ?

La modélisation des données correspond au processus de création de diagrammes de flux de données. Lors de la création d’une structure de base de données, qu’elle soit nouvelle ou non, le concepteur commence par élaborer un diagramme illustrant la façon dont les données entreront et sortiront de la base de données. Ce diagramme est utilisé pour définir les caractéristiques des formats et structures de données, ainsi que des fonctions de gestion de base de données, afin de répondre efficacement aux exigences des flux de données. Une fois la base de données créée et déployée, le modèle de données servira de documentation expliquant les motifs de création de la base de données ainsi que la manière dont les flux de données ont été conçus.

Le modèle de données résultant de ce processus établit une structure de relations entre les éléments de données dans une base de données et sert de guide d’utilisation des données. Les modèles de données sont un élément fondamental du développement et de l’analyse de logiciels. Ils fournissent une méthode standardisée pour définir et mettre en forme les contenus de base de données de manière cohérente dans les systèmes, ce qui permet à diverses applications de partager les mêmes données.

Pourquoi la modélisation des données est-elle importante ?

Un modèle de données complet et optimisé permet de créer une base de données logique et simplifiée qui élimine la redondance, réduit les besoins en stockage et permet une récupération efficace. Elle dote également tous les systèmes de ce que l’on appelle une « source unique de la vérité », ce qui est essentiel pour assurer des opérations efficaces et garantir une conformité vérifiable aux réglementations et exigences réglementaires. La modélisation des données est une étape clé dans deux fonctions vitales d’une entreprise numérique.

Projets de développement logiciel (nouveaux ou personnalisations) mis en place par le service informatique

Avant de concevoir et de créer un projet logiciel, il doit exister une vision documentée de ce à quoi ressemblera le produit final et de son comportement. Une grande partie de cette vision concerne l’ensemble de règles de gestion qui régissent les fonctionnalités souhaitées. L’autre partie est la description des données : les flux de données (ou le modèle de données) et la conception de la base de données qui les prendra en charge.

La modélisation des données est une trace de cette vision et fournit une feuille de route pour les concepteurs de logiciels. Grâce à la définition et à la documentation complètes des flux de données et de la base de données, ainsi qu’au développement des systèmes conformément à ces spécifications, les systèmes devraient être en mesure de fournir les fonctionnalités attendues requises pour garantir l’exactitude des données (en supposant que les procédures ont été correctement suivies).

Analyses et visualisation (ou Business Intelligence) : un outil de prise de décision clé pour les utilisateurs

Avec l’augmentation des volumes de données et le nombre croissant d’utilisateurs, les entreprises ont besoin de transformer les données brutes en informations exploitables pour prendre des décisions. Sans surprise, la demande en analyse des données a augmenté de façon spectaculaire. La visualisation des données rend les données encore plus accessibles aux utilisateurs en les présentant sous forme graphique.

Les modèles de données actuels transforment les données brutes en informations utiles qui peuvent être transposées dans des visualisations dynamiques. La modélisation des données prépare les données pour l’analyse : nettoyage des données, définition des mesures et des dimensions, amélioration des données par l’établissement de hiérarchies, la définition d’unités et de devises et l’ajout de formules.

Quels sont les types de modélisation des données ?

Les trois types de modèles de données clés sont le modèle relationnel, le modèle dimensionnel et le modèle entité-association. Il en existe d’autres qui ne sont pas communément utilisés, notamment les types hiérarchique, réseau, orienté objet et à plusieurs valeurs. Le type de modèle définit la structure logique, à savoir comment les données sont stockées, organisées et extraites.

Type relationnel : bien qu’« ancien » dans son approche, le modèle de base de données le plus couramment utilisé aujourd’hui est le relationnel, qui stocke les données dans des enregistrements au format fixe et organise les données dans des tables avec des lignes et des colonnes. Le type de modèle de données le plus basique comporte deux éléments : des mesures et des dimensions. Les mesures sont des valeurs numériques, telles que les quantités et le chiffre d’affaires, utilisées dans les calculs mathématiques comme la somme ou la moyenne. Les dimensions peuvent correspondre à des valeurs numériques ou textuelles. Elles ne sont pas utilisées dans les calculs et incluent des descriptions ou des emplacements. Les données brutes sont définies comme une mesure ou une dimension. Autres termes utilisés dans la conception de base de données relationnelle : « relations » (la table comportant des lignes et des colonnes), « attributs » (colonnes), « nuplets » (lignes) et « domaine » (ensemble de valeurs autorisées dans une colonne). Bien qu’il existe d’autres termes et exigences structurelles qui définissent une base de données relationnelle, le facteur essentiel concerne les relations définies dans cette structure. Les éléments de données communs (ou clés) relient les tables et les ensembles de données. Les tables peuvent également être explicitement liées, comme une relation parent/enfant, y compris les relations dites un-à-un (one-to-one), un-à-plusieurs (one-to-many) ou plusieurs-à-plusieurs (many-to-many).
Type dimensionnel : moins rigide et structurée, l’approche dimensionnelle privilégie une structure de données contextuelle davantage liée à l’utilisation professionnelle ou au contexte. Cette structure de base de données est optimisée pour les requêtes en ligne et les outils d’entreposage de données. Les éléments de données critiques, comme une quantité de transaction par exemple, sont appelés « faits » et sont accompagnés d’informations de référence appelées « dimensions », telles que l’ID de produit, le prix unitaire ou la date de la transaction. Une table de faits est une table primaire dans un modèle dimensionnel. La récupération peut être rapide et efficace (avec des données pour un type d’activité spécifique stockées ensemble), mais l’absence de relations peut compliquer l’extraction analytique et l’utilisation des données. Étant donné que la structure des données est liée à la fonction qui produit et utilise les données, la combinaison de données produites par divers systèmes (dans un entrepôt de données, par exemple) peut poser des problèmes.
Modèle entité-association (modèle E-R) : un modèle E-R représente une structure de données métier sous forme graphique contenant d’une part des boîtes de différentes formes pour représenter des activités, des fonctions ou des « entités », et d’autre part des lignes qui représentent des dépendances, des relations ou des « associations ». Le modèle E-R est ensuite utilisé pour créer une base de données relationnelle dans laquelle chaque ligne représente une entité et comporte des zones qui contiennent des attributs. Comme dans toutes les bases de données relationnelles, les éléments de données « clés » sont utilisés pour relier les tables entre elles.

Quels sont les trois niveaux d’abstraction des données ?

Il existe de nombreux types de modèles de données, avec différents types de mises en forme possibles. La communauté du traitement des données identifie trois types de modélisation permettant de représenter les niveaux de pensée au fur et à mesure que les modèles sont développés.

Modèle de données conceptuel

Ce modèle constitue une « vue d’ensemble » et représente la structure globale et le contenu, mais pas le détail du plan de données. Il s’agit du point de départ standard de la modélisation des données qui permet d’identifier les différents ensembles de données et flux de données dans l’organisation. Le modèle conceptuel dessine les grandes lignes pour le développement des modèles logiques et physiques, et constitue une part importante de la documentation relative à l’architecture des données.

Modèle de données logique

Le deuxième niveau de détail est le modèle de données logique. Il est étroitement lié à la définition générale du « modèle de données » en ce sens qu’il décrit le flux de données et le contenu de la base de données. Le modèle logique ajoute des détails à la structure globale du modèle conceptuel, mais n’inclut pas de spécifications pour la base de données en elle-même, car le modèle peut être appliqué à diverses technologies et divers produits de base de données. (Notez qu’il peut ne pas exister de modèle conceptuel si le projet est lié à une application unique ou à un autre système limité).

Modèle de données physique

Le modèle de base de données physique décrit comment le modèle logique sera réalisé. Il doit contenir suffisamment de détails pour permettre aux techniciens de créer la structure de base de données dans les matériels et les logiciels pour prendre en charge les applications qui l’utiliseront. Il va sans dire que le modèle physique est spécifique à un système logiciel de base de données en particulier. Il peut exister plusieurs modèles physiques dérivés d’un seul et même modèle logique si plusieurs systèmes de base de données seront utilisés.

Processus et techniques de modélisation des données

La modélisation des données est par essence un processus descendant qui débute par l’élaboration du modèle conceptuel pour établir la vision globale, puis se poursuit avec le modèle logique pour s’achever par la conception détaillée contenue dans le modèle physique.

L’élaboration du modèle conceptuel consiste principalement à mettre des idées sous la forme d’un graphique qui ressemble au diagramme des flux de données conçu par un développeur.

Les outils de modélisation des données modernes peuvent vous aider à définir et à créer vos modèles de données logiques et physiques et vos bases de données. Voici quelques techniques et étapes classiques de modélisation des données :

Déterminez les entités et créez un diagramme entité-association. Les entités sont considérées comme des « éléments de données qui intéressent votre entreprise ». Par exemple, « client » serait une entité. « Vente » en serait une autre. Dans un diagramme entité-association, vous documentez la manière dont ces différentes entités sont liées les unes aux autres dans votre entreprise, et les connexions qui existent entre elles.
Définissez vos faits, mesures et dimensions. Un fait est la partie de vos données qui indique une occurrence ou une transaction spécifique, comme la vente d’un produit. Vos mesures sont quantitatives, comme la quantité, le chiffre d’affaires, les coûts, etc. Vos dimensions sont des mesures qualitatives, telles que les descriptions, les lieux et les dates.
Créez un lien de vue de données à l’aide d’un outil graphique ou via des requêtes SQL. Si vous ne maîtrisez pas SQL, l’option la plus intuitive sera l’outil graphique : il vous permet de faire glisser des éléments dans votre modèle et de créer visuellement vos connexions. Lors de la création d’une vue, vous avez la possibilité de combiner des tables et d’autres vues dans une sortie unique. Lorsque vous sélectionnez une source dans la vue graphique et que vous la faites glisser dans une source déjà associée à la sortie, vous pouvez soit la joindre, soit créer une union de ces tables.

Les solutions analytiques modernes peuvent également vous aider à sélectionner, filtrer et connecter des sources de données à l’aide d’un affichage graphique de type glisser-déposer. Des outils avancés sont disponibles pour les experts en données qui travaillent généralement au sein des équipes informatiques. Toutefois, les utilisateurs peuvent également créer leurs propres présentations en créant visuellement un modèle de données et en organisant des tables, des graphiques, des cartes et d’autres objets pour élaborer une présentation basée sur des analyses de données.

Exemples de modélisation des données

Pour toute application, qu’elle soit professionnelle, de divertissement, personnelle ou autre, la modélisation des données est une étape préalable nécessaire à la conception du système et à la définition de l’infrastructure nécessaire à sa mise en œuvre. Cela concerne tout type de système transactionnel, de suite d’applications de traitement des données, ou tout autre système qui collecte, crée ou utilise des données.

La modélisation des données est essentielle pour l’entreposage de données car un entrepôt de données est un référentiel de données provenant de plusieurs sources, qui contiennent probablement des données similaires ou liées, mais disponibles sous des formats différents. Il est nécessaire de mapper en premier lieu les formats et la structure de l’entrepôt afin de déterminer comment manipuler chaque ensemble de données entrant pour répondre aux besoins de la conception de l’entrepôt, afin que les données soient utiles pour l’analyse et l’exploration de données. Le modèle de données est alors un catalyseur important pour les outils analytiques, les systèmes d’information pour dirigeants (tableaux de bord), l’exploration de données et l’intégration à tous les systèmes et applications de données.

Dans les premières étapes de conception de n’importe quel système, la modélisation des données est une condition préalable essentielle dont dépendent toutes les autres étapes pour établir la base sur laquelle reposent tous les programmes, fonctions et outils. Le modèle de données est comparable à un langage commun permettant aux systèmes de communiquer selon leur compréhension et leur acceptation des données, comme décrit dans le modèle. Dans le monde actuel de Big Data, d’apprentissage automatique, d’intelligence artificielle, de connectivité Cloud, d’IdO et de systèmes distribués, dont l’informatique en périphérie, la modélisation des données s’avère plus importante que jamais.

Évolution de la modélisation des données

De façon très concrète, la modélisation des données est apparue en même temps que le traitement des données, le stockage de données et la programmation informatique, bien que le terme lui-même n’ait probablement été utilisé qu’au moment où les systèmes de gestion de base de données ont commencé à évoluer dans les années 1960. Il n’y a rien de nouveau ou d’innovant dans le concept de planification et d’architecture d’une nouvelle structure. La modélisation des données elle-même est devenue plus structurée et formalisée au fur et à mesure que davantage de données, de bases de données et de variétés de données sont apparues.

Aujourd’hui, la modélisation des données est plus essentielle que jamais, étant donné que les techniciens se retrouvent face à de nouvelles sources de données (capteurs IdO, appareils de localisation, flux de clics, réseaux sociaux) et à une montée des données non structurées (texte, audio, vidéo, sorties de capteurs brutes), à des volumes et à une vitesse qui dépassent les capacités des systèmes traditionnels. Il existe désormais une demande constante de nouveaux systèmes, de nouvelles structures et techniques innovantes de bases de données, et de nouveaux modèles de données pour rassembler ces nouveaux efforts de développement.

Quelle est la prochaine étape de la modélisation des données ?

La connectivité des informations et les grandes quantités de données provenant de nombreuses sources disparates (capteurs, voix, vidéo, emails, etc.) étendent le champ d’application des projets de modélisation pour les professionnels de l’informatique. Internet est, bien sûr, l’un des moteurs de cette évolution. Le Cloud est en grand partie la solution car il s’agit de la seule infrastructure informatique suffisamment grande, évolutive et agile pour répondre aux exigences actuelles et futures dans un monde hyperconnecté.

Les options de conception de base de données évoluent également. Il y a dix ans, la structure dominante de la base de données était relationnelle, orientée lignes et utilisait la technologie traditionnelle de l’espace disque. Les données du grand livre ou de la gestion des stocks d’un système ERP standard étaient stockées dans des dizaines de tables différentes qui doivent être mises à jour et modélisées. Aujourd’hui, les solutions ERP modernes stockent des données actives dans la mémoire à l’aide d’une conception en colonnes, ce qui réduit considérablement le nombre de tables et accroît la vitesse et l’efficacité.

Pour les professionnels du secteur, les nouveaux outils en libre-service disponibles aujourd’hui continueront à s’améliorer. De nouveaux outils seront également introduits pour rendre la modélisation et la visualisation des données encore plus simples et plus collaboratives.

Synthèse

Un modèle de données bien pensé et complet est la clé du développement d’une base de données véritablement fonctionnelle, utile, sécurisée et exacte. Commencez par le modèle conceptuel pour présenter tous les composants et fonctions du modèle de données. Affinez ensuite ces plans dans un modèle de données logique qui décrit les flux de données et définit clairement les données nécessaires et la manière dont elles seront acquises, traitées, stockées et distribuées. Le modèle de données logique donne lieu au modèle de données physique spécifique à un produit de base de données et constitue le document de conception détaillé qui guide la création de la base de données et du logiciel d’application.

Une bonne modélisation des données et une bonne conception de base de données sont essentielles au développement de bases de données et de systèmes d’application fonctionnels, fiables et sécurisés, qui fonctionnent bien avec les entrepôts de données et les outils analytiques, et facilitent l’échange de données entre les partenaires et entre les suites d’application. Des modèles de données bien pensés aident à garantir l’intégrité des données, ce qui rend les données de votre entreprise encore plus précieuses et fiables.

Découvrez les outils modernes de modélisation des données de SAP Data Warehouse Cloud

The post Qu’est-ce que la modélisation des données ? appeared first on SAP France News.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

6 mai 2021/par Service comm.

3 Essential Design Trends, May 2021

Actualités, Actualités

Spring and fresh designs are in the air. This month, it’s obvious that designers are feeling creative with new and interesting concepts that range from a new style for cards, homepage experimentation with multiple entry points or calls to action, and risky typography options.

Here’s what’s trending in design this month.

1. “Flat” Cards

Card-style design elements that allow users to click through to other content aren’t new, but the design of these cards is fresh and interesting.

Rather than more heavily designed cards with shadows and layers of content, flat styles are trending. Expect this trend to explode thanks to usage by Google for a shopping experience page.

The Google example below is interesting because Google’s Material Design guidelines are what helped card-style elements grow in popularity previously. However, those cards did include more layers, color options, buttons inside the cards, and shadows.

Today’s trending cards are completely flat. And beautiful.

Each of these websites does it in a slightly different way.

Heartcore, a consumer technology VC company, uses a series of flat cards as a navigation element to help users find their way through the website. Each features a bright color background with an illustration and a simple text block.

Each card has a nice hover state where only the illustration zooms inside the card frame. This is an interesting effect because it is exactly the opposite of the previous iteration of cards, which zoomed the entire card as a hover state.

Google Shopping uses that whole card bounce hover state (plus a not-so-flat shadow) for each card. The initial design is sleek with the pairing of white and image cards with simple text in each. You are enticed to click around to see what happens.

Click on Greece is a travel website design that uses simple cards with a minimal color and text overlay. The consistency of these cards makes the design pop and the beauty of the images draw you in. Each card also has a hover state with a darker color mask to guide navigation and make text elements easier to read.

2. Multiple Homepage Entry Points

For a long time, designers have been working off the philosophy that the homepage should have one direct entry point, creating a direct funnel for the user experience.

These designs throw that idea out the window, with multiple entry points and click elements.

You can think of it as the “create your own adventure” option for these designs.

It can be a risky concept if you are diving into analytics to pay attention to user paths. You want to make sure you know what choices users are making so that you can help them on the journey to the content and information that you want them to get from the visit.

But this type of design scheme does feel somewhat personalized, putting the user in more control.

Parcouse Epicuriens uses three flat card-style elements to help users pick what they want to see from the home page. There’s no other button or direct call to action, which is somewhat uncommon in today’s website design landscape. Users have to pick from one of the cards, scroll, or enter using the hamburger menu icon.

Tasty Find uses search options to help users start their journey. What’s interesting here are the choices – search for the food you want, pick something random, or (in the small print) find even more options. Users get three choices to begin their journey with the website.

What’s interesting is how simple this complex user journey looks. The design is easy to digest, but so many options could overwhelm users. This is one of those situations where you have to watch return search data and information and weigh the risk versus the reward of so much choice. It’ll be interesting to watch this design over time and see if the options decrease in number.

Accord also has several levels of user engagement opportunity. Option 1: Every block contains a click element. Option 2: Use the search at the top to narrow choices. This is an interesting configuration as the homepage for an e-commerce website because they get right to product selection and shopping without a softer sell or introduction.

3. Risky Typography

Typographic risk has been an ongoing theme for a little while. Designers are embracing experimental and novelty typefaces to stand out in the cluttered website space. Sometimes it works beautifully, and other times, it can fall short.

Here, each of these trending website designs uses a risky typography treatment. The risks are a little different for each design, from readability to comprehension to font delivery.

How Many Plants has duel typography risks: A funky typeface paired with odd word breaks. Interestingly enough, readability isn’t as big of a concern as you might think. This is likely because there aren’t many words, and they are short. Plus, the imagery ties in nicely.

Do you notice a similarity between How Many Plants and The Great Lake? The typography has the same style with a blocky, slab, sans serif with alternating thick and thin strokes. (It’s the same font.)

The risk in the typography design for The Great Lake isn’t in the homepage display, although you might wonder what the design is about. It is carrying this font throughout the design. While it looks great large and with only a few words, it gets a little more difficult the more you see it. This type of mental reading weight can be difficult for visitors over time, creating an element of risk.

Zmaslo uses an interesting typeface with a liquid effect on top of an unusual word. That combination of text elements makes you think hard to read the homepage, despite its neat looks. The risk here is weighing visual interest against comprehension. Depending on the audience, this risk can be worth the chance.

Conclusion

Spring always seems to be that time of year where designers start thinking about new, fresh design elements. That might explain some of the “riskier” design choices and experimentation here.

Regardless of the motivation, it is always fun to see the creative stretch happen. It can be even more interesting to see what elements from these trends continue to grow in the coming months.

Source

The post 3 Essential Design Trends, May 2021 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

3 mai 2021/par Service comm.

9 Tips for Better Live Logo Design

Actualités, Actualités

Have you ever wondered why we’re so amazed by motion? A moving image is more likely to grab your attention than a static one. Motion is exciting and attention-grabbing – plus, it allows us to access more information in a short space of time.

For a while now, companies have been experimenting with all kinds of motion and animation in their design choices. We’ve seen the rise of animated website backgrounds or live-playing videos instead of images on a home page. There are videos and 360-degree pictures on product pages to help people get a better view of certain items and immersive AR experiences on apps.

So why has the power of motion not made its way into the logo design landscape yet?

Sure, there are a few examples of animated logos out there, but they haven’t had the same long-lasting impact as animated websites. Perhaps that’s because people don’t have the right tools to bring their animated logos to life?

Today, we’re going to cover some top tips for live logo design.

1. Understand What “Live Logo” Means

An animated logo or live logo can be a powerful tool in a company’s branding strategy. Although there’s more to a company’s identity than its logo, it’s fair to say that logos make a huge difference to how we feel about brands and their identity.

A powerful logo can make an emotional connection with your target audience and help your brand to thrive in virtually any environment. Live logos, or animated logos, bring more attention to the brand image, by helping a customer to focus on the logo’s action. A live logo might tell a story about what the business does through motion, or just be eye-catching.

The level of animation varies depending on the designer, but it can go all the way from a short video presentation to a few simple moves. The Skype logo is an excellent example of something simple, that multiple designers have played with to great effect.

Today, there are plenty of open-access tools helping to create more immersive animated graphics in the logo design world. Additionally, the types of animation available are becoming more impressive all the time.

2. Explore the Types of Logo Animation

The next stage of properly leveraged live logos, is knowing what kinds of logo animation are available. There are plenty of different styles of animation to explore today, depending on the kind of impact you want to have.

For instance, sometimes the animation you choose will be connected to your business. A vehicle company might have a logo that seems to “drive” into the central space on the screen. An electricity company might choose a logo that pulses like an electric charge. This animated FedEx logo is an excellent example of how animation can show what a business does.

Options for animation might include:

Rotation: Make an emblem stand out by moving it to the sides or allowing it to move on its axis. Rotation gives a logo a sense of 3D space.
Appearance/Disappearance: You can make a logo grow on the screen by bringing to life one pixel at a time, or have it dissolve and disappear in a similar way.
Transformation: Your logo doesn’t have to start out in the shape it’s going to achieve. You might start with a seed that gradually grows into a tree-shaped logo for a gardening company, for example.
Replacement: Another great way to tell a story is to replace a graphic related to the company in question with the logo through an immersive animated experience.

3. Set Goals for the Live Logo

If you’re not sure what kind of animations to experiment with, then it’s a good idea to start with some solid goals. Your goals will give you a direction to move in with your logo choices. An animated logo can be a dynamic and modern way to present a brand to an audience, but it’s only going to be effective when implemented carefully.

Let’s look at some of the goals you can choose for your live logo:

Differentiation: While it’s true that animation and live content is gaining more attention lately, it’s still relatively new as an overall concept. With an animated logo, you could help a brand to create a more unique image for themselves, which sets them apart from the other organisations in the same space.
Storytelling: As mentioned above, animated logos can tell a story about what the company or product actually does. In this example for Firefox, for instance, the logo mimics a loading wheel to demonstrate a speedy internet browser.
Brand awareness: Dynamic logos and animations are more likely to capture your audience’s attention than static images. They’re also more of a novel experience, which means that customers might want to share them with other people too.
Memorability: Today’s customers are bombarded by hundreds, if not thousands of logos all the time. They need something special to convince them that one image deserves a spot at the front of their mind. Animation can help to make a business more memorable.

4. Do Your Research

Doing your own research is an excellent way to get some inspiration for a live logo or animation. Ideally, you’ll want to focus on the industry you’re already working in, as this will give you some guidance as to the kind of movement that can attract the most attention from the correct audience.

Watch as intros to brand videos and check out as many live logos as you can. Check out the kind of animations that people use in their videos when they’re showcasing products online. You can learn a lot about what works just by evaluating what other people have done before. Just be careful not to simply copy what you’ve found elsewhere.

The aim of your live animation should be to tell a unique story about the company

The aim of your live animation should be to tell a unique story about the company in question. If you’re not sure how to start with differentiating the image, check out the brand guidelines for the company in question. The guidelines that the company used to choose the right brand colors, fonts, and other visual assets can work just as well for your animation strategy.

Remember, the aim here is to tell a specific story, send a message, or evoke a certain emotion. Don’t make the mistake of designing something that looks cool but doesn’t have much of a purchase. Most human beings will naturally look for the meaning behind the content that they see. If there isn’t anything there, it’ll just lead to confusion.

5. Use Live Logos on Brand Websites

The most obvious way to begin experimenting with animated logos in web design, is to implement live logos into a client’s website. Some companies have a “welcome screen” for their site which uses an animation to introduce visitors to the home page and other navigation options. There are also brands out there who love the impact that animation can have but want to use it more subtly.

In these cases, live logos can be an excellent way to draw the eye to a specific spot on a website, perhaps the area just above the “contact” button that encourages a client to reach out. Crucially, to avoid weighing down the website and distracting visitors, companies and designers will need to make some important choices.

Although it might be tempting to keep the animation looping at all times, just in case someone misses the first round, this requires a lot of extra processing power. Too much animation also makes it harder for businesses to push the focus of their visitors to other points on the website, like landing pages for products, or testimonial pages.

Often, as with most innovative decisions in web-design, the best bet is usually to start small and work your way up. Don’t over-do it with animation on day one. See how the visitors to the website respond first.

6. Find the Right Balance

Animations in a live logo are there to grab attention quickly, and effectively. They shouldn’t go on for too long, or you risk overwhelming your audience before they have a chance to browse the rest of the website or check out other content. A live logo should only be active for a few seconds at most, and in that time, it needs to say something valuable.

Often, the best strategy is to start by building up curiosity, and getting your viewer engaged so that they’re keen to see more. Every frame will count to pull the customer in and make them feel connected to the brand in question.

Make sure that the logo animation is dynamic so that it doesn’t just capture the attention of the viewer but maintain their interest for the full time required. During the motion, the viewer’s brain should be working to figure out what’s going to happen next.

Just like most logo design and graphic animation strategies, the key to success is finding the right balance between clever experiences, and simplicity. You want to do something meaningful that earns your viewer’s attention, but you need to compete with the fact that attention spans are plummeting all the time.

7. Explore Logo Animation in Video

One of the best ways to use logo animation, is to draw interest for a company at the beginning of a video. Video is gaining incredible levels of popularity lately, particularly in a world where you can view video content almost anywhere. Companies are adding videos to their product pages, social media accounts, applications, websites, and so much more .

For the majority of companies, a live logo at the start of a video can help their brand to seem more professional. It’s a reminder to viewers of the brand that they’re learning about with that video content. Plus, a logo at the beginning of a piece of video content can also build on the consistency that companies attempt to create by using the same brand assets in various mediums online.

(Starting a video with an animated logo is great for presentation, but it can also be frustrating to customers in certain pieces of content where they’re looking for quick answers to questions. If an animated logo is more than a couple of seconds long, it may be better placed at the back of a video instead.)

With videos for news reports or announcements where you want to get straight to the point and generate excitement about a new product or service, it can be better to jump straight into action. Ending a video with a live logo keeps the brand image front of mind for the customer for longer, even after the message has ended. On the other hand, ending a video with a logo could increase the chances that customers miss the animation, because they click away from the content too quickly.

If you’re new to adding live logos into videos, consider experimenting with different strategies to see which works best. Different companies might get unique results.

8. Bring Logo Animation to the Real World

Another interesting option for live logo design, could be to step outside of the computer screen for a while. In today’s digitally transforming landscape, it’s becoming more common to see the real and digital worlds converging. Most events and trade-shows come with presentations that rely on digital content, like animated presentations and slide shows.

Depending on the signage solutions available at industry events, companies could even use an animated logo above their booth to draw attention in a cluttered environment. Around 48% of exhibitors agree that a more eye-catching stand or booth is often the most effective way to attract visitors and customers at an event.

Animation and live logos may have started life on the computer screen, but they can appear in much more diverse environments today. Offices could use a live logo in the reception room or lobby to make their on-premises environment more appealing. Retail locations could display ads on digital signage, followed by live logos that work to both separate messages, and keep shoppers entertained when they’re enjoying the bricks-and-mortar experience.

9. Include Live Logos in Brand Signatures

Remember, a live logo doesn’t just have to sit on a company’s app or website until someone discovers it. Sometimes, the right logo can also be a powerful way to “sign off” on a message from a brand or its management team. For instance, email remains to be one of the most valuable tools for business marketing and customer relationship building today.

It’s the third most influential source of content and news for a lot of B2B audiences, and yet, most companies aren’t taking full advantage of what their email marketing software solutions are capable of. If you can display gifs and animated videos in an email (which most software solutions can), then you can also add a live logo to the brand signature.

The important thing to remember is that if you’re going to be adding a signature to a lightweight thing, like an email, it needs to be lightweight too. Don’t make the live logo too long and complicated, or it might prevent the email from loading properly.

Outside of email, don’t forget to consider options for live logos in things like social media profile pictures too. According to experts, around 80% of companies use visual assets in their social media marketing. A live logo is a great way to go beyond the basics with a company’s imagery. Motion grabs attention, and video content is quickly gaining steam on a lot of social media platforms.

Embracing a New World of Live Animation

Designers are only just beginning to scratch the surface of what’s possible with animated logos. For many companies, live logos are an excellent way to capture audience attention and encourage engagement with a brand.

A live logo at the beginning of a video, at the start of an app loading screen, or even at the top of a website can differentiate a company and make them stand out. As technology continues to evolve, and customer expectations continue to expand, the options for live animation could continue to grow. You might even be able to infuse live logos with elements of VR and AR, to impart brand essence in a brand-new digital world.

If you haven’t begun experimenting with live logo design yet, now could be the time to start.

Featured image, via Gav Five.

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14 avril 2021/par Service comm.

7 Skills You Need To Thrive As A Web Designer In 2021

Actualités, Actualités

Web design is an ever-evolving field. Those of us that have been in the industry a long time (i.e., six months plus) have seen the launch of more products, the establishment of more ideas, and the promise of more growth than most industries see over a whole career.

While the tools we use, the terminology we employ, and the goalposts we shoot for are constantly changing, core skills are transferable and long-lasting and will ensure you not only survive in the industry but thrive in it.

These skills are characteristics that you can learn, that will help you grow in 2021, 2022, and beyond.

1. Decision Making

Life is a series of decisions, from which pair of socks to wear to which crypto to store your life savings in. Each of us has a finite amount of decision-making fuel in the day — the more decisions you make, the sooner you reach decision fatigue.

Most people burn their decision-making fuel by second-guessing themselves; they make a decision and then remake the same decision over and over as doubt creeps in.

The ability to make a decision, and stick to it, separates those people who still have the fuel to make strategic decisions after close of business and those people who can’t decide what to have for dinner.

2. Clarity of Purpose

It’s never a bad idea to brush up on design fundamentals. From color theory to typography to UI and layout, these core skills are not only beneficial to your design practice, but they help you think about design on a higher level.

Too often, designers fail to see the wood for the trees, focusing on the project at hand instead of a wider picture. The wider picture doesn’t mean your portfolio; it means the whole history, culture, and design context.

Many musicians can play multiple styles, but they tend to favor one instrument; they made a fundamental decision that freed them to explore music in greater depth

Despite the term, design fundamentals aren’t universal; they’re personal to you. For example, should you pair a script with a serif? Your answer is probably, “it depends” because you’re an awesome designer; my answer is “no,” because, for me, that is a design fundamental.

Design fundamentals can be limiting, but by providing default answers to common questions, they also free you to consider larger questions about what you’re doing and why, which leads to clarity of purpose.

Many musicians can play multiple styles, but they tend to favor one instrument; they made a fundamental decision that freed them to explore music in greater depth.

3. The Holy Trinity

The holy trinity in web design is HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Learn what they are and what they do.

You need to understand them well enough to hold an intelligent boardroom-level conversation about them. You don’t actually need to know how to code them — although I’ve never actually met someone who knew enough about their roles to hold a strategic conversation, who didn’t also know how to code them from scratch.

I’m not talking about frameworks, libraries, or the latest build tools. Those things are just macros for coders. I’m talking about understanding the building blocks of a site, so if someone asks you whether you really need the company logo in the site footer, you can answer, and back your answer up with facts.

4. Simple Presentation

No matter what field of design you’re in, you’re going to need to present your ideas to someone who doesn’t share your knowledge. Whether you’re explaining the basics to a client or explaining your decision-making to a colleague, presenting your ideas simply is the best way to be heard.

a pitch is most effective when you exclude extraneous detail

Often, a persuasive presentation utilizes the less-is-more approach. Just as a design is finished when you’ve removed everything unnecessary, so too a pitch is most effective when you exclude extraneous detail.

Often you’ll find metaphor useful, especially if you have a passing knowledge of the person’s own area of expertise because it translates a concept into a format the person understands and is comfortable with.

“We should…because it will improve [a metric] by approximately…%” is often the most welcome language. If the person you’re selling your decision needs more detail — and they probably don’t need to know details, that’s what they have you for — they can ask.

5. Strategic SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation, for the two people in the world who don’t know what that acronym stands for) is a vast field with as many sub-divisions as there are UX job titles.

There are various branches of SEO that a site needs to consider. Technical SEO is the stuff that coders do; if you’re not a coder, you can ignore that. Content SEO is the stuff that marketers do; if you’re not a marketer, you can ignore that. Strategic SEO is a macro-view of a site’s plans; everyone on every project should understand strategic SEO.

Strategic SEO covers topics like landing pages, single-page sites, whether a blog is necessary, how, if at all, social media is employed. Strategic SEO feeds all other branches of SEO. It is so fundamental that it informs the earliest decisions about a site. If you want to do more than make things look pretty, learn more about strategic SEO.

6. A Second Language

You’ve probably noticed by now that the web extends beyond your town limits. It’s a global force, which means billions of people who don’t speak the same language.

If you’re not a native-English speaker, then it’s a no-brainer to learn a little English. You don’t need to be fluent; you certainly don’t need to be poetic, but the vast majority of documentation, GUIs, blog posts, forums, conferences, and the Web itself are in English, and translation code only gets you so far.

If you are a native English speaker, then learn something relevant to your region or the industry you specialize in. It doesn’t really matter what you learn; picking up a language, and culture, makes you a more rounded human being. And provided you don’t pick something obscure, you’re opening yourself up to millions or even billions of users you were previously missing out on.

7. Saying, “No.”

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a freelancer sofa-diving for spare pennies to meet the rent or a seasoned in-house designer with targets to meet; everyone struggles to say, “no.”

The fear is that if we decline a project, or a feature request, that we won’t be asked next time; eventually, we’ll be passed over for all projects until we have no career left.

The problem is that we only have so many hours in a day. If we do too much, we end up doing it badly, so there have to be limits. Every time you say “yes,” you’re increasing the chances that you will have to say “no,” to a future opportunity that’s great for you.

By all means, decline gracefully. Do it politely. Be kind. Offer to refer the client elsewhere. But it’s better to say “no” than to have to say “no” to the perfect project because you’re over-stretched.

Featured image via Unsplash.

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7 avril 2021/par Service comm.

3 Essential Design Trends, April 2021

Actualités, Actualités

The best thing about writing about website design trends each month is looking at all the great sites that are being developed. Designers are stretching creatively and exploring new techniques and ways of doing things all the time.

It’s refreshing and inspiring. This month, some of those trends include a style that nods to brutalism, slide scrolling that’s interesting and fresh, and animated typography.

Here’s what’s trending in design this month…

1. Almost Brutalism

Brutalism can be a lot to handle and only really works for certain types of projects. That being said, some of the elements of brutalism can be the foundation for an interesting aesthetic.

So, it’s not surprising that an “almost brutalism” trend has emerged.

Designers are working with some of the design elements – slab fonts, simple color schemes with a lot of contrast, twitchy animation, mono typefaces, and overall design patterns that are almost over-simplified.

The result is a striking design that isn’t so harsh that it turns users away. It’s the right combination of brutalism and usability to create something with a harder-edge feel that people understand.

Good Garms uses a typewriter-style typeface, simple patterns, and one of the most streamlined designs you might find for an ecommerce store. It’s effective and makes you look because it is different.

Dockyard Social uses an unexpected color combination with high contrast, sharp shapes, and design elements, and bold slab typography to grab your attention right away. The theme continues on the scroll with new color combinations with equally brutal design elements. It feels a little tight and uncomfortable in places but still highly usable – exactly what almost-brutalism intends to do.

ZN Studio uses the same big, bold type elements as the previous example with a twitchy-style animation to draw you into the design. The entire design uses clever animation effects with a brutal aesthetic to keep you scrolling.

2. Beautiful Slide Scrolling

You can argue the value – or lack thereof – of website sliders as long as you want to. The reality, though, is that, for the most part, they are clunky and get in the way of the content. It’s a lazy option that keeps you from having to make a content choice.

Not with these beautiful slide-scrolling website designs.

Each of these designs uses side-scrolling as a design asset. Here’s the trick that makes it work: Slide scrolling isn’t a “feature” above a bunch of other content. It is how the content is featured.

These examples show you how to use the trend well and should get you excited about slide (or side) scrolling.

Eduardo del Fraile uses a side scroll to show different projects in his portfolio. In addition to scroll, each element also has a simple and beautiful animation that allows you to see each product he has designed. Everything about the scrolling motion is intuitive, and the site never scrolls vertically, which is where many side scrollers go wrong.

Jo Ash Sakula uses a similar concept for the side scroll here but with different design elements. The bold card elements are striking in terms of color, contrast, and design. You know the scroll will move horizontally because a third element sneaks into your field of vision on the right side. It’s simple, clean, and highly usable.

Crimea is interesting because it has an “almost brutalism” style design and uses a side-scrolling pattern. The design is bold and almost overwhelming, but the scroll works to tell a nice story with visuals and content.

3. Typography Animations

Web typography can make or break a design from font choice to size and color to animation, every detail with text elements matters.

This trend explores and pushes the boundaries of animation with text elements in website design. And it is so tricky. The difference between an amazing result and a design fail is a thin line that can be quite subjective.

Each of these examples does something unique with text and animation together to create just the right feel. The flow for each is seamless and text elements – while incorporating movement – maintain readability.

Visages Du Rhone has two layers of animation. The first happens as the words come onto the screen as the color and fade change within the letters. The second is a subtle hover state with a fluid feel for the letters that match the design’s underwater theme. What’s special about the typography animation is that it happens without distorting the letters, something many other liquid text animations do.

Poolhouse uses transparent letters with movement in a layer behind the words. What’s very neat here is the additional filtering so that the background motion still works while maintaining the integrity of each letterform. Again, the focus on keeping text readable is what sets this design apart and makes it trend-worthy.

Komnata takes a wholly different approach with letters that float and look like balloons. The motion mimics what you would expect from an element that looks and feels like something in the real world. The user doesn’t have to do anything for this motion to take place. The animation might be even more effective if the scroll and pointer did not have a tail that “draws” on the screen as a distracting element.

Conclusion

The good thing about looking at variations of different trends is that you can see the practical application and apply it to your projects. While you might not move to a full sliding scroll on your website homepage, you could use that concept in another part of the design.

Experiment, have fun and draw inspiration from trending website designs.

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5 avril 2021/par Service comm.

Getting Started With Feature Flags

Actualités, Méthodes et organisation des process IT

As a core component of continuous delivery, feature flagging empowers developers to release software faster, more reliably, and with more control. This Refcard provides an overview of the concept, ways to get started with feature flags, and how to manage features at scale.
Source de l’article sur DZONE

30 mars 2021/par Service comm.

Ebbs and Flows of DevOps Debugging

Actualités, Méthodes et organisation des process IT

Introduction

Ever since Patrick Debois coined the word DevOps back in 2009, teams and organizations have been clamoring to adopt relevant practices, tools, and a sense of culture in a bid to increase velocity while maintaining stability. However, this race to incorporate “DevOps” in software development practices has resulted in a perversion of the concept. This does not mean that there are no successful practices of teams adopting DevOps practices, but the word overall has become a buzzword. As per the DORA 2019 State of DevOps report, team managers are more likely to proclaim that their teams are practicing DevOps compared to the actual frontline engineers and developers.

Therefore, this piece aims to realign the meaning of DevOps as well as highlight the need for considering debugging as a core element of the practices and cultures that enable DevOps for teams. The argument for debugging as a core component in the DevOps pipeline is a result of the evident need for a shift-left in the way we build and release software, empowering developers to adhere to the intrinsic principle of you build it you run it.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

26 mars 2021/par Service comm.

SAP France accompagne La Ruche pour aider à réduire les inégalités femmes / hommes dans l’entrepreneuriat tech

Actualités, ERP & Applications, Ressources Humaines, SAP

SAP France poursuit son engagement en faveur d’une Tech au service de l’impact en accompagnant le programme, Les Ambitieuses Tech For Good, du réseau d’incubateurs La Ruche. Parce qu’en France, les femmes ne représentent que 9% des entrepreneurs dans le secteur des nouvelles technologies, La Ruche, avec l’aide de SAP, souhaite relever un défi de taille : réduire les inégalités femmes / hommes dans les nouvelles technologies.

Ce programme d’accélération à destination de startup à impact dirigées par des femmes, est soutenu par des mentors SAP qui les accompagnent et apportent leurs expertises pour les aider à se développer.

Au programme : parité, impact social et nouvelles technologies.

Via cette nouvelle collaboration aux côtés de La Ruche, SAP poursuit ses engagements en faveur de la parité Femmes/Hommes dans la Tech et compte sur ses collaborateurs volontaires pour accompagner pendant 9 mois une partie des 10 femmes entrepreneures retenues par La Ruche. L’objectif : les aider à développer leur startup sociale tant sur le plan opérationnel que stratégique grâce aux nouvelles technologies.

Les nombreux avantages du programme Les Ambitieuses Tech For Good :

Le programme se déroule à La Ruche, espace de travail collaboratif et spécialisé dans l’entrepreneuriat responsable.
Le programme d’accélération est sur mesure et assuré par La Ruche avec : 9 sessions de mentorat, 6 jours de workshop, des mises en relation avec des experts et une préparation intensive pour passer du business plan à la levée de fonds.
Un prix coup de pouce est décerné à la fin de l’accélération.

SAP France : un partenaire engagé et de longue date en faveur de l’entrepreneuriat tech au féminin.

Pour SAP, les technologies sont un facteur d’intégration et de développement au-delà de toute discrimination. Ainsi, le Groupe tire parti de son expertise et de ses talents comme effet de levier pour contribuer à résoudre des enjeux sociaux de premier plan et engage des partenariats diversifiés avec diverses structures associatives en impliquant ses collaborateurs. Sa participation au précédent programme Les Ambitieuses Tech For Good est une des nombreuses illustrations de l’engagement de SAP sur ces enjeux. Elle a permis le développement de plusieurs beaux projets comme celui de Ewen Life en 2019 qui vise à soutenir la valorisation et la formation auprès de personnes atteintes de maladies rares dans la gestion de la maladie de manière émotionnelle et sociale. En 2020, le projet Aaliatech a mis en place un chatbot de traduction de langues des dialectes du milieu médical pour faciliter les échanges entre les médecins et les patients étrangers.

« Le mentorat mis en place par les équipes de SAP autour de nos entrepreneures Tech for Good, est un vrai outil d’accélération pour nos startups sociales ! L’écoute, la bienveillance et la pertinence des mentors mobilisés ont permis à Samah fondatrice de Aaliatech de bénéficier de retours concrets et motivants lui permettant de structurer efficacement sa stratégie commerciale. À La Ruche, nous sommes convaincus que la valeur d’un bon accompagnement réside dans la mobilisation des bonnes ressources au bon moment et les équipes de SAP ont su être ces ressources précieuses pour nos Ambitieuses Tech for Good lors de la précédente édition. » Gaspard Lefèvre, Responsable de programme incubation, La Ruche Paris

« Ce que l’accompagnement SAP4Good m’a apporté est une grande dose de soutien et d’encouragement dans la poursuite de mon projet. J’ai pu recevoir de précieux conseils d’experts avisés pour mieux appréhender les enjeux et défis liés à l’entreprenariat. C’est toujours un plaisir d’échanger avec les mentors : après nos sessions je repars avec un boost d’énergie et de bonne humeur ! » Samah Ghalloussi, CEO AALIA.tech

A qui s’adresse ce programme et comment postuler ?

Toute femme entrepreneure à impact, utilisant le numérique ou la Tech pour avoir un impact positif, ayant une première preuve de concept ou une solution aboutie et souhaitant accélérer le développement de sa startup peut postuler à la nouvelle édition Les Ambitieuses Tech for Good.

Les candidates peuvent déposer leurs dossiers de candidature ici jusqu’au 23 mars 2021 minuit. Les dossiers pré-sélectionnés pourront participer à des formations gratuites dédiées à booster la stratégie de développement, les 6 et 7 avril 2021, à Paris. Après des sessions de pitch en régions, les 10 startups sélectionnées commenceront leur programme d’accélération le 12 avril jusqu’au 31 décembre 2021.

The post SAP France accompagne La Ruche pour aider à réduire les inégalités femmes / hommes dans l’entrepreneuriat tech appeared first on SAP France News.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

17 mars 2021/par Service comm.

Getting Started With Inclusive Web Design

Actualités, Actualités

A key part of designing successful websites for clients is making sure that as many end-users as possible can access and enjoy that site.

So, what if you discovered that around 1 billion people couldn’t enjoy your designs? Even if those people manage to click on a link and visit the website that you create, they might not be able to understand what’s being sold or navigate to the checkout page.

According to statistics from the World Bank, there are 1 billion people with disabilities worldwide. That’s 15% of the total population of the globe.

Despite this, many designers fail to consider customers with differing abilities when creating an engaging app or website. Unless your client explicitly tells you that they’re supporting customers with disabilities, you might even not think about those users at all.

Learning how to embrace the concept of inclusive web design means that you deliver better results to your clients; the more customers your clients can reach, the more praise and positive reviews your designs will get.

So, how do you introduce accessibility in your design choices?

What Is Website Accessibility?

In broad terms, inclusivity refers to activities or behaviors that empower marginalized people in society. Designing for inclusivity means making your content more accessible to anyone dealing with a mental or physical issue that may make it harder for them to use a traditional site.

Ultimately, accessibility is one of the main goals of an inclusive design strategy. When you make websites or applications more accessible, you tweak aspects of your UI and code to make the site as approachable and usable as possible to people with certain limitations.

According to the Web Accessibility Initiative, many modern sites and web tools are designed without the needs of those with disabilities in mind. This creates accessibility barriers that make websites almost impossible for some people to use.

Here are just some of the different types of disability that can affect the way end-users interact with a website or app:

Cognitive issues: Affecting understanding and making it harder to navigate sites;
Auditory issues: Preventing customers from listening to videos and audio content;
Neurological issues: Making certain terms and actions more difficult on your site;
Physical issues: Making it hard to swipe or tap certain tools;
Speech problems: A common issue with voice UI designs;
Visual issues: Preventing a positive experience on highly visual sites.

Web accessibility can also be about making life easier for people who encounter problems in particular situations. For instance, those with muscular problems might have a harder time using buttons and links on a small screen.

So, how do you make your designs more accessible?

Know Your Audience

There’s more to inclusive web design than making your fonts a little bigger and hoping for the best. To deliver a truly accessible experience, you need to know the people and groups that your client is targeting. Spending some time going through your customer’s user personas and asking them questions about those with a disability can help you make informed decisions.

For instance, the Microsoft Inclusive Design toolkit asks designers to recognize exclusion, examining the parts of their website that might be inaccessible, and learn from diversity.

Before designing anything, ask yourself whether you can:

Address any unique needs, like sight issues or hearing problems;
Replace traditional solutions with something more unique. For instance, rather than relying on colors to highlight a portion of text, could you use font-weight instead? This might be ideal for someone with color blindness;
Create something that appeals to both customers with and without disabilities.

Design a Clean and Clear Layout

Any website design should be focused on clarity first.

Whether you’re designing for inclusivity or not, the aim should be to deliver as much of a simple and straightforward experience as possible, avoiding any web design sins along the way.

For instance, no-one likes a messy design full of unreasonable navigational signs. You need a site full of understandable links, buttons that are easy to click on any screen, and large fonts that are easy to read.

Whenever you’re creating a new element for a website or app, ask yourself how you can make life easier for customers from all backgrounds. For instance, Parramatta park uses excellent contrast, clear fonts, and ideal element sizing to ensure that its website feels as easy to use as possible for customers.

Notice how the buttons are clear and easy to press. The colors are bright and engaging on any screen, and the navigation is simple to follow too. Remember, when you’re designing an inclusive prototype:

Test navigation options and ensure they’re easy to use;
Don’t overcrowd the screen, remember that less is more when reducing cognitive load;
Make sure that your design remains easy to use on any screen.

Simplify Language

The visual elements on an inclusive website need to be as simple and easy to understand as possible. However, it’s important not to forget about the way that you handle the written word too.

Using simple terms instead of complex industry jargon can make a massive difference to those with reading issues. There’s also typography to think about, from the color and contrast of your words against your chosen background to the font’s clarity.

Remember, suboptimal design with both imagery and language affects those without disabilities too. Following basic rules for simplicity delivers a better experience for anyone that visits your site.

Make sure you:

Underline, bold, or re-size links for visual contrast;
Enforce proper line spacing with around 1.5x the font size;
Enable consistent paragraph spacing;
Use simple language to reduce cognitive load;
Describe abbreviations when using them;
Use clearly-worded headings to structure content logically;

Look at the design choices for text on the Nomensa website, for instance. Plenty of white space makes content easier to read. Simple words are understandable and engaging. Even the font choice mimics the logo while offering readability.

Optimize Web Design Colors

Inclusive web design trends will come and go. However, color and contrast will always be essential to your decisions.

By making sure that your design elements meet the minimum color contrast ratios defined by the WCAG means that you’re supporting readability for visually-impaired users and improving experiences for customers that aren’t visually impaired as well.

For designers who need extra help in this area, tools like Stark help measure color contrast. This tool also offers a range of other tools intended to support accessibility too.

Remember, the minimum ratio you need to access will depend on the element that you’re designing. The WCAG recommends the following guidelines:

3:1 ratio for graphical objects (charts);
3:1 ratio for focus, active states, and hover;
3:1 ratio for clickable items and form components.

While you’re working on your color contrast strategies with apps like Stark, make sure that you consider the needs of users with color blindness too. 4.5% of the world doesn’t see color the same way as everyone else. If you’re finding it difficult to achieve the right contrast while sticking to your customer’s brand guidelines, try underlining and bolding elements too.

Consider Video and Audio Elements

Finally, these days, more companies are opting to embed video and audio content into their sites. These visual and auditory tools can offer useful information about a brand and what it does. However, you could struggle to deliver vital information to some customers through video and audio alone.

Captions for video content could be essential for those with hearing loss. You may need to think about adding transcripts to pre-recorded videos that people with hearing impairments can access. These transcripts and captions are also helpful for anyone who doesn’t have access to audio on smartphones or computers.

Transcripts can also help those with visual impairments by giving a text-to-speech tool something to describe to your user. That way, everyone gains useful information. Look at this captioned video from the University of Washington, for instance. It ensures that everyone can understand what’s going on in the content. If you add transcripts to your website pages for clients, you could also help them benefit from improved SEO too. Transcripts deliver more keyword-ranking opportunities than videos and podcasts on their own.

Design for Accessibility First

For designers to excel at delivering truly inclusive UI environments, they need to become as good at creating websites for people with disabilities as they are at creating interfaces for people like themselves. As designers, we try to be as inclusive as possible, but it’s easy to get caught up thinking about making a website easier to use for us.

If you can step into the shoes of someone that isn’t like you, and think about uncommon needs first, then you may find that you deliver a stronger, more engaging experience for every user.

For instance, rather than designing a website for someone with the same visual needs as you, then thinking about making tweaks for those with color blindness or vision issues, think about the needs of those with disabilities first.

You can learn more about putting uncommon needs first by checking out Vasilis Van Gemert’s blog post on the “Method of Crisis.”

Accessibility is Good for Business

Inclusive web design, or designing for accessibility, is all about maximizing the potential audience that your clients can earn. Whatever situation end-users find themselves in, you should ensure that you’re taking advantage of inclusive design.

If you can prove to your clients that you can deliver for all customers’ needs, you can unlock a much larger audience and many more opportunities.

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15 mars 2021/par Service comm.

12 Tips to Improve Your Web Design Skills in 2021

Actualités, Actualités

There are many reasons you might be wanting to improve your design skills this year. Perhaps you have extra time on your hands and want to put it to good use. Or maybe you’re new to web design and finding that there’s a lot you still don’t know how to do. It could also be that you recognize that the web is changing, and your skills could use some refreshing to keep up.

Whatever the reason, there are many ways to level up your web design skills in 2021. Here are 12 ideas to get you started:

Tip 1: Niche Down If You Haven’t Already

Jack-of-all-trades designers might be able to say “yes” to everyone. However, they’re going to be stretched very thin as they attempt to strengthen every skill needed to keep up with demand.

It’s much easier to become a trusted designer and to improve your skills if you have a smaller and more specific skill set to develop.

Just keep in mind that niching down doesn’t necessarily mean focusing on a particular industry. For instance, you might choose to be a UX designer instead of a web designer. Or you might specialize in designing ecommerce websites instead of monetized blogs. Just find something that you’re passionate about and will be good at doing, and zero-in on the skills needed for it.

Tip 2: Play Around in the Sandbox

Local development environments are useful for staging websites, doing redesigns, and testing updates safely away from live sites. But you can also use them for experimenting with new design techniques, trends, templates, plugins, and more.

Local by Flywheel is the one I prefer to use:

Here’s a good exercise to start with:

Take a website you like — something you’ve looked at in awe and couldn’t imagine ever building on your own. Then, put yourself to the test. See if you can recreate it in your sandbox.

Don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t figure it out right away. Consult your resources and give yourself time to make sense of what’s going on and implement it with the available skills and tools.

Tip 3: Redesign One of Your First Projects

There’s always a clear evolution in a designer’s skill set, from the day they begin designing to the present day. And that’s a good thing. If your work doesn’t improve or change with time, then you’re going to have a lot of catching up to do when the stagnation begins to hurt your business.

Want to see how much progress you’ve made so far? Revisit one of your first projects and look at it with fresh eyes. I bet you’ll see a big change in how you design today from how you designed that site then.

Now, ask yourself what you would do differently. And then, go to your sandbox and do the redesign.

Tip 4: Work on a Passion Project

A friend of mine is taking a UX design course and needed some users to run through a prototype he created for the class. He could create anything he wanted, so he designed an app related to his other love: Music.

While he could’ve easily thrown together some carbon copy of Spotify or SoundCloud, he came up with a completely new concept. And it was really impressive, to the point where I urged him to put it into production and see if he could list it in the app stores.

I think it’s when we’re really passionate about something that we’re willing to push past our limits. So, carve out some time to tackle that passion project you’ve been toying around with and see where it takes you.

Tip 5: Share Your Designs on Dribbble and Ask for Feedback

One of the reasons UX designers do user testing is how valuable users’ raw input is. While it would be nice to think that design is a completely subjective matter, that isn’t really the case when usability becomes compromised due to design choices.

Understanding what users like and dislike is an important part of taking your design skills to the next level. And a good way to do that is to share your designs on Dribbble.

Here’s an example of UI8 asking for feedback:

Tip 6: Create a Design Toolbox

I’m a huge fan of automation and shortcuts powering things behind the scenes in business.

After all, one of the reasons you become a web designer is so you can design, right? When you’re bogged down with administrative and logistical tasks, that’s time spent away from doing what you enjoy.

One way in which you can streamline your backend processes is by putting together a design toolbox. Your preferred CMS. Flexible templates or apps you use from project to project. Website testing tools. And so on.

As you do this, it’ll force you to examine how you build websites. Are you really working as efficiently as possible? Are there newer apps or systems that’ll help you design better sites? And as you improve your design toolbox, you’ll improve your design skills.

Tip 7: Subscribe to Your Favorite Blogs

I have a hard time recommending this one, only because I’m reluctant to sign up for yet another newsletter. That said, I do see the value in subscribing to some blog newsletters as I don’t always remember to revisit their websites and check out the latest content.

What I’d suggest you do is pick one or two design blogs that have a good variety of content and publish regularly. And then pick one small business or freelance blog.

WebdesignerDepot, of course, is a good one to start with as it comes at a good frequency, recommends great reads from all around the web, and is fluff-free:

I’d also recommend signing up for one that’s focused on your niche as well as one for business.

As a freelancer, I’d vote for the Freelancers’ Union newsletter. There’s always something timely and useful in there.

Tip 8: Listen to a Podcast

I just adopted a second dog, so I’ve spent a lot more time on walks while house-training her. At first, I was stressed about it because it was time spent away from work. However, I started to fill that time with podcasts and found that it helped me work better for the rest of the day.

One reason is that I’ve been listening to work-related podcasts, which are always chock full of helpful tips. Another reason is that it gives my eyes a rest from looking at the screen so that when I come back 15 or so minutes later, I feel refreshed and ready to go.

Rebekah Carter has a good set of web design podcast recommendations to get you started.

Tip 9: Take a Free Online Design Course

There’s an overabundance of information online. If you want to brush up on CSS, there are hundreds of YouTube courses that cover it. If you want to learn how to use a new WordPress plugin, you’ll find dozens of great tutorials across various online course platforms, YouTube channels, and even people’s blogs.

There’s no need to go back to school to become a better designer. Here are five places where you’re bound to find free courses for web designers.

Tip 10: Read a Book on Design Principles or Theory

It’s easy to lose sight of design principles when your clients are clamoring for a website that will make them a lot of money, get them a lot of readers, and so on. Sure, you can design a UI and UX that works, but do you remember why the design choices you made are effective?

Choose a book — just one to start — that’ll help you reconnect with the roots of good web design. Not only will you get a good refresher on web design principles or design theory, but you might learn something brand new.

Here are some of my favorite books for web designers:

Tip 11: Find Your People

Now more than ever, finding a community of like-minded web designers, developers, or freelancers is important. It’s not just about having a group of people to vent to when clients drive you nuts (though that’s great, too).

It’s about finding a group that brings something new to the table and enriches your understanding of web design and what it means to be a web designer.

If you’re on Facebook or LinkedIn, start there. There are tons of web design and freelance groups that have productive discussions every day. If you prefer to meet up with local designers and developers, check out Meetup.

You may be surprised by how many groups there are and the kinds of meetups they have planned.

Tip 12: Attend a Virtual Conference

Did any of you attend a design conference last year? I did. I virtually attended Adobe MAX — from the comfort of my home, in my pajamas, for three days.

I scheduled my assignments around the sessions I wanted to attend and didn’t have to pick one over the other (i.e., “Do I make money or do I learn something new?”).

Some of the sessions showed us how to do more with Adobe’s tools, while some of them featured design and business leaders who shared personal insights on how to work more effectively. It was a great way to shake up my normal routine and to get a ton of information about the future of web design in a short period of time.

Which of These Tips Will You Use to Improve Your Design Skills?

Like I said before, there’s a lot you can do to improve your design skills. Just be careful not to overdo it.

Pick one or two things on this list to start with. If you have more time in your schedule and you’re excited about what you’ve learned so far, add a couple more.

Just take it slowly. Your brain will only be able to absorb so much at once. Plus, the last thing you want is to burn yourself out on skills training and not have the energy to complete your work.

Featured image via Unsplash.

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The post 12 Tips to Improve Your Web Design Skills in 2021 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

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24 février 2021/par Service comm.