Articles

We all love web badges. You might have spotted many of them in README of repositories, including the repository of my blog, The Cloud Blog. In general, web badges serve two purposes.

  1. They are visually appealing.
  2. They display key information instantly.

If you scroll to my website’s footer section, you will find GitHub and Netlify badges that display the status of the latest build and deployment. I use them to quickly check whether everything is fine with the world without navigating to their dashboards. In essence, a badge is an SVG image with dynamic content embedded in it.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers.

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.

15 Best Illustration Tools in 2020

 

Slidepage 1.0 – Create Engaging and Swipeable Stories-on-the-Web, for Free

 

Notion Timeline – More than Gantt, for all your Projects

 

Unslack

 

UX Lessons from Big Sur

 

Pattern Collect

 

Apple Silicon M1 Chips and Docker

 

Difference Between UI and UX Design

 

How Many WordPress Plugins Should You Install?

 

5 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting a Design System at Spotify

 

8 Pure CSS Games You Can Play in your Browser

 

We Can do Better than DuckDuckGo

 

Fulljar – Simple and Privacy Focused Analytics

 

Accessibility in User Experience: How to Include People with Disabilities

 

9 Common WordPress Myths Debunked and Explained

 

Impressive Pure CSS Drawings

 

I Took 21 Online Courses, Here’s What I Learned

 

User Experience: Insights into Consistency in Design

 

How to Use Emotion to Make your Brand’s Content More Compelling

 

25 Free Icon Sets You Can Download and Use Today

 

6 Ways 2020 has Changed the Landscape of Design

 

25 Inspirational Quotes for Web Designers

 

9 Tips to Keep You Sane When Working with Multiple Clients

 

Write Code like You Write a Recipe

 

UI Coach – UI Design Challenge Generator

 

Want more? No problem! Keep track of top design news from around the web with Webdesigner News.

Source


Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

This week on the Dev Interrupted podcast, I spoke with Cate Huston, Director of Engineering at DuckDuckGo. She’s an expert in asynchronous development and shared tons of interesting ideas: 

  •  How DuckDuckGo utilizes transient and permanent spaces differently
  •  How product feedback sessions are completed asynchronously
  •  How to help new remote employees feel a sense of belonging and accomplishment. 
  •  The unique relationship between asynchronous managers and developers  

Cate is really smart and has a super-awesome sounding accent so check it out! 

Source de l’article sur DZONE

For some time, products have been leaning towards NoSQL databases because of the number of advantages that they provide compared to Relational databases (RDBMS), especially in today’s distributed systemsThere is always a pressure of delivering things faster to make it live to end users. But does that mean relational databases won’t be able to compete with NoSQL databases, provided Relational Databases are still best-known for adhering to the ACID property?

Here, I am going to explore the possibilities from Relational Databases perspective and how they come a long way to compete with NoSQL Databases. I am going to compare two managed databases from AWS, DynamoDB and Aurora, to see if it’s really worth giving credit to one type of database over another.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

Since there are so many CMS plugins out there, it can be overwhelming to choose the best ones for your website. We’ve done the research for you; this list contains the top new CMS plugins for November 2020. You’ll find useful plugins for WordPress, Craft, Shopify, and Joomla.

Let’s get started…

WordPress

404 Page Editor

404 Page Editor is a simple WordPress plugin that helps you add custom text to the default 404 page on your website. The plugin comes with seasonal and industry-related 404 templates. One useful feature of the plugin is that it backups your current 404 page before changing it. So you can restore the backup page anytime you choose. The plugin duplicates your current 404.php page to wp-content/uploads/404-page-editor/ so you can easily find it. You can also change the text on the plugin to fit your local dialect. 

UnusedCSS Power-Up

Most WordPress themes and plugins load their CSS in the wrong areas of your website. This can slow down your site. A slow website will reduce user experience and lead to increased bounce rates.

UnusedCSS will help reduce the size of your website’s CSS files by up to 95%. The best part is that the plugin works automatically. It will remove any unused CSS when visitors view any page on your website. UnusedCSS will automatically reduce your website’s load times by reducing your CSS files and page size. The plugin also optimizes the performance of other WordPress plugins and extensions. UnusedCSS also works with WooCommerce themes and plugins.

Simple Redirects

Simple Redirects is a WordPress plugin that helps you to automatically redirect requests to another page on your site or any other place on the web. The plugin allows you to easily redirect users from your old web pages to new pages using 301 or 302 redirects. You don’t have to worry about losing backlinks or page rank. Any incoming links to the old web page will be automatically passed along to the new page. The page rank on the old page is also transferred to the new page. The plugin is useful when migrating a WordPress site when don’t want to retain the URL structure. 

HTML Validation

HTML Validation plugin helps you identify any HTML validation errors on your website. The plugin works automatically in the background of your website and will send you regular reports. There is a progress bar on the report screen to show you the progress of the scan. The plugin uses WordPress Cron to scan the content of your website. There is also an option for the plugin to automatically fix any HTML validation issues on your website. You can also choose to fix the issues manually. 

Just Highlight

Just Highlight is a simple WordPress plugin that helps you highlight text in your posts or pages. You can use this plugin to highlight any portion of the page you want to draw the reader’s attention to. You can highlight the background of the page and also add animation to the highlighted text. In the WordPress admin area, you can change the speed and color of the animation. The plugin is compatible with Gutenberg, and the WordPress classic editor. 

DeviantArt Embed

DeviantArt Embed is a simple plugin that helps you embed any work from Deviant Art into a post. The plugin provides a block for the WordPress block editor so you can easily embed the image. It uses a DeviantArt oEmbed API to pull the images and their descriptions, and creates an embedded image. 

Static Optimizer

Static Optimizer is a static file optimization plugin that serves and optimizes static files on your website. The plugin will help you increase your website speed by automatically compressing your static files. It is easy to set up, you just need an API key to get started. Other useful features that the plugin offers include automatic JS and CSS minification, automatic image optimization, and processing of responsive images. You don’t have to worry about losing your files if their server is down. The plugin automatically backs up your files and will load your original files when their servers are down (either because of an upgrade, maintenance, or outage).  By default, only images are compressed when you activate the plugin; you can also choose to optimize fonts, CSS, and JS files. 

RankBear

RankBear is a keyword rank tracker plugin that helps you analyze your SEO efforts. With RankBear, you can track the keywords for each of the posts and pages on your site. While the plugin has a paid plan, you can track up to five keywords for free. On the free plan, you will receive weekly reports on each keyword you are tracking. You can search for the rank and volume of a keyword in every location supported by the Google search engine. RankBear is a lightweight software-as-a-service plugin hosted by Amazon Cloud Services. The plugin also offers the option to download the keyword reports to CSV. 

Table of Contents Block

Table of Contents Block is a plugin that allows you to easily create a Table of Contents for your WordPress posts. The plugin is lightweight and will automatically add a Table of Content in your website’s posts and pages. You can select the heading tags you want to add to the Table of Content. It also has a dedicated support team to assist you. The plugin works fine with all standard WordPress themes. 

Markease For WooCommerce

Markeaze is an all-in-one communication plugin that allows you to add live chat to your online stores. The plugin will help you improve your customer service by decreasing your response times. With the plugin, you can collect your visitor’s contact information via a widget. This feature is useful in building a subscriber database. You can also use the plugin to track customer behavior on your site, inform customers about new products, help customers with active orders, and collect customer feedback. You can also use the auto-reply function to answer commonly asked questions. 

Craft CMS

Image Toolbox

Image Toolbox is a Craft CMS plugin that offers image-related tools for your templates. The plugin will automatically create a WebP variant of the images you upload. It also has a fallback for browsers that do not support WebP images. Other useful features the plugin offers include automatic creation of placeholder images and generation of responsive images with multiple variants. The plugin also supports Imager-X (or old Imager). 

Element Panel

Element Panel plugin allows you to add elements and an eager-loading panel to the debug toolbar. This feature will help you benchmark your templates in Craft CMS. For elements, the panel has a dashboard that shows how many elements are populated. It also shows how many elements are duplicates. The plugin also shows you how many eager-loading elements are detected. Duplicate elements are grouped by field name. 

Shopify 

VStore Shoppable Videos

VStore Shoppable Videos is a Shopify plugin that allows your customers to shop directly from your videos. The plugin allows you to embed your products into any video. Since videos have a high engagement rate, this plugin will significantly improve your store’s conversion rates. 

ProofMotion Video Testimonials

ProofMotion Video Testimonials plugin helps you to easily collect video testimonials. The plugin sends an automated email or SMS requests to customers asking for their satisfaction feedback after making a purchase. The responses are analyzed to determine whether the customer had a negative or positive experience. Customers that offer negative feedback are sent to customer care to help them with the problem they encountered. Happy customers are prompted to make video testimonials of their positive shopping experience. ProofMotion guides the customer through the interview so they can give the best testimonial. They also offer an on-site widget so you can easily share your testimonials. 

Real ID

Real ID is a Shopify plugin that allows you to verify customers’ real identity using a photo ID and facial biometrics. The plugin is perfect for orders that have an age restriction, verifying flagged fraud goods, and selling expensive goods. Real ID will help you identify whether a government-issued-ID is fake during fulfilment. All the customer needs to do is take a selfie on their phone. This way, even if a customer has access to a stolen physical ID, they won’t still be able to make any purchase. The plugin can verify documents such as passports, visas, national IDs, driver licenses, and more. Real ID will help you handle GDPR compliance. The plugin is available in hundreds of countries around the world. 

Joomla

Accessibility

Accessibility is a Joomla plugin that allows your website visitors to easily access your website content. The plugin will remove any barrier between the visitor and your Joomla site. There is no coding required and you can customize the plugin directly from the module manager. The plugin has a useful feature called Dyslexic Readability; this feature allows your visitors to set the entire document font to a dyslexic-friendly font. Visitors can also grayscale the page, resize the fonts, and resize the word space. From the backend module, you can add any custom CSS and JS. The plugin is also available in 12 different languages. 

Reading Time

Reading Time is a simple plugin that will help you easily show the reading time of your Joomla articles. The plugin is easy to set up and does not require any coding. You can customize every parameter, including the text, in minutes. You can also choose to exclude categories, articles, and menu items. Reading Time also allows you to easily add custom CSS code from the plugin parameters. 

 

Featured image via Pexels.

Source


Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

COVID-19 is on the spree of spreading like a forest fire and ruining the countries’ economy worldwide. The pandemic situation of COVID-19 has suspended the business activities of several industries. Still, AI is one of the few sectors that has stood tall and explores ways to help the world overcome COVID-19. Artificial intelligence is the future, and it is contributing mainly to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. 

AI has been deployed in many ways to help overcome the coronavirus pandemic situation. Here is a list of 5 ways to use AI and overcome COVID-19.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

When I use map apps such as Google Maps, I often use Street View to display more detailed views of a street or inside of a building.  Although Google Street View is fantastic, there are many use cases where I want to control the development pipeline and assets without having to upload images to Street View. 

To control and optimize your business workflow, you can use open-source Marzipano to build virtual tours yourself and host the tours on your own web site.  This tutorial explains how to build the tour with open source software and host it for free on GitHub Pages. The technology and techniques can scale to large cloud businesses and are in production at commercial sites.   This tutorial focuses on a minimal simplified site to get you started with the basic concepts in minutes.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

Personalization; it’s probably one of the most important design trends to emerge in recent years.

As consumers in all industries become more demanding, they’re increasingly searching for online experiences that are customized to suit their individual needs and expectations.

Today, personalization exists in virtually every digital interaction, from adverts on social media to PPC campaigns and email marketing efforts.

Used correctly, the manipulation of demographic, behavioral, and other in-depth user-data can help designers to create dynamic, highly customized content for each website user. At the same time, these unique websites ensure that designers really make an impact on behalf of their clients, outshining the competition and driving amazing results.

What is Hyper-Personalization?

Basic personalization in web design involves making changes to a design based on what you know about your client’s target audience.

For instance, if you knew that you were designing for an audience that spends more time on their smartphone than their computer, you’d concentrate on building hyper-responsive experiences for small screens. For instance, the Canals-Amsterdam.nl website is specifically designed to support people using smartphones to swipe, tap, and scroll.

If you’re aware that your customer’s target market is other businesses, you might put more testimonials, free demo CTAs and other enticing components on the website to encourage investment.

Hyper-Personalization is an emerging trend for 2020 that focuses on going beyond the basic understanding of a target audience, to look at genuine customer data. Hyper-personalization is all about leveraging in-depth omnichannel data to drive more advanced customer experiences on every page of a website.

For hyper-personalization to be genuinely effective, designers need access to virtually unlimited data, from CMS systems, sales teams, marketing experts, and more. When you have that data handy, you can use it to:

  • Design websites that showcase dynamic CTAs, featuring content relevant to each user;
  • Implement sign-in screens for customers vs. demo requests for new leads on home pages;
  • Showcase products similar to past pages when repeat customers return to a site.

Why is Hyper-Personalization Important?

Personalized experiences have always been important to the sales journey.

However, in an era where companies are constantly competing to grab user attention, you can’t just cater to your site designs to a group of people anymore. Increasingly, users are expecting specific interactive moments on websites, made just for them.

Amazon is an obvious example to consider here. As one of the world’s leading online shopping sites, Amazon’s efforts with website personalization are incredible. The Amazon website uses tools integrated into the back-end of the marketplace to watch everything a customer does on its platform.

As users browse through the website, the site jots down each category that you look at, and which items interest you. Thanks to this, Amazon can suggest which products you may be most interested in.

Websites like Madebyhusk also offer an incredible insight into hyper-personalization, allowing users to browse for the products that appeal to them based on in-depth filters like edging and color.

The result is a higher chance of conversion.

When customers feel as though they have complete control over their buyer journey, and that each step on that journey is tailored to them, they’re more likely to buy.

Better Converting CTAs

A call to action is an excellent way to move things along when you’re encouraging the buying process with your target audience.

Used correctly, your CTAs can encourage more than just cart conversions. They can also convince people to sign up for your newsletter via a subscription form, take a survey, or begin a free demo.

Regardless of the CTAs that you choose to implement, personalization will quickly make your requests more effective. According to studies, CTAs that are personalized are 202% more effective than generic alternatives.

For instance, Byhumankind.com uses a crucial statement: “Great personal care products don’t have to come at earth’s expense.” Followed by an engaging CTA to drive positive action from their audience. The company knows that they’re appealing to a customer interested in saving the planet, so they make the benefits of “Getting Started” obvious immediately.

Using data provided by clients, designers can figure out exactly how to position CTAs and offers for customers. For instance, notice that Humankind has a green colored CTA button.

Most buttons take advantage of bold colors like red and orange, but the green shade for Humankind further highlights the nature-driven personality of the brand.

Relevant Product Recommendations

Repeat customers are infinitely more valuable than people who purchase just one item from your site.

However, convincing a standard customer to become a repeat client isn’t easy. Sometimes, clients need a push to determine what they want to buy next.

Fortunately, as a website designer, you can help with that. Using dynamic modules in the product pages of your customer’s website, you can show individual end-users what they might want to purchase next from a specific brand.

These dynamic modules can use information about what each customer has purchased in the past, to suggest a new product or service. Amazon do particularly well in this regard, leveraging a vast marketplace and treasure trove of information to make quality recommendations. But you don’t need to be designing a considerable website for a global business like Amazon to take advantage of dynamic suggestions. Any business with a focus on hyper-personalization can benefit from this strategy.

Increased Time on Site

Any form of personalization on a website can significantly improve the amount of time a customer spends in that digital environment.

Imagine walking into a restaurant that seems as though it was designed specifically for you. The décor, the seating arrangements, and even the menu are customized to your taste. You’re more likely to spend your time and money there than on any generic food place you find on the street.

The same rules apply to website design. The more hyper-personalized you can get with your client’s design, based on what you know about their customers, the easier it will be to keep customers engaged.

For instance, the WarnerMusic.no website entices visitors with various high-quality images of popular bands and artists, before providing them with endless information about the brand and what it does. The designer of this site knew that it needed to appeal to the visual demands of the audience first, before offering useful information like featured artist lists, News, and blog posts to keep the users on site.

Hyper personalization is all about figuring out what kind of end-user you’re designing for, so you can build the digital environment that’s more engaging and compelling to them. Some designers even create dynamic pages that change depending on whether a customer is a repeat client or a new visitor.

Improved Loyalty and Affinity

Finally, it’s human nature that we all want to spend time with the people that treat us best.

We all value excellent customer service, which is why customer experience is the most significant differentiating factor for any organization today.

Web-based personalization works in a similar way. When you use your design tools to make the site experience that you give to each visitor warm, individualized, and welcoming, then your clients are sure to see a boost in customer loyalty.

Around 89% of consumers say that they’ll only consider buying from brands that care about them. As a designer, you can convince every website visitor that they’re going to get the experience they deserve. Just look at how TheHappyHero.com instantly lets clients know that they can expect a fun and friendly interaction on every page.

Accessing useful data from the companies that you’re working with before you begin developing and designing a website could be the key to creating happier customers and higher conversions.

The more delighted end-users are with the experience that a website gives them, the happier that your client will be with you – increasing the impact of your design portfolio.

If you can create customer loyalty and affinity for your client, then you will be able to develop the same feelings between yourself and your client. This could mean that you earn more recommendations as a designer and build your position as a leader in the industry.

Hyper-Personalization is Crucial for 2021

As companies continue to worry about how they can safely use data without crossing the line when it comes to customer privacy, hyper-personalization has stayed just out of the mainstream. While it may be a while before we see every website designer starting their process with piles of in-depth data, it seems that we are heading in that direction.

Customers in 2021 and beyond will undoubtedly want a more advanced and customized experience from the brands that they interact with – particularly in an era where it’s becoming much easier to deliver meaningful moments online.

Source

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

Autre source / On the same theme

Serverless computing, which is commonly referred to as just Serverless, is a promising cloud-based technology model that has emerged on the app development and software architecture horizon in recent years. Trying to avail themselves of the huge serverless framework potential, many big-time market players have been quick to jump on the cloud services bandwagon. Such software giants like Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon already offer the customers to migrate all the local business operational efficiencies to be hosted on their flagship serverless platforms like AWS Lambda and Azure Functions.   

Simply put, serverless architecture is an event- and request-driven tech solution allowing application developers to create actionable working environments in the cloud that have all the necessary computational resources needed for a smooth coding flow. This framework comes in handy especially when time is an issue and the tasks assigned are quite resource-intensive.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

La transparence numérique transforme les décisions des clients (autrefois considérées comme des choix personnels ou esthétiques) en choix moraux.

L’essor des décisions d’achat morales

Avant, les clients prenaient des décisions en fonction de critères comme la qualité et l’utilité. Aujourd’hui, ils se basent de plus en plus sur les valeurs et actions de l’entreprise.

Considérons cela comme l’essor des décisions d’achat morales.

Les réseaux sociaux et plateformes numériques permettent aux entreprises de savoir de manière rapide et transparente ce qui importe le plus aux clients. Les nouvelles tendances mode, par exemple, se propagent à travers le monde en seulement quelques heures, et non plusieurs jours ou semaines. Les réseaux sociaux aident aussi les clients à interagir facilement les uns avec les autres, où qu’ils soient dans le monde, du moment qu’ils partagent les mêmes croyances et idéologies.

Les plateformes technologiques ont donné naissance à une prise de conscience mondiale sur des problématiques internationales comme le changement climatique, la violence et les droits de l’Homme. Parallèlement, les réseaux sociaux et technologies numériques offrent une transparence toujours plus grande sur les opérations des entreprises, permettant ainsi aux clients de se renseigner plus facilement sur leurs valeurs. Les clients se tournent ensuite vers les marques et produits qui incarnent leurs valeurs.

Accroître la transparence numérique aide les clients à évaluer les valeurs des entreprises à travers trois grandes catégories :

Les valeurs esthétiques

Elles influencent le plaisir et le mécontentement que nous procurent différentes choses comme la musique, la mode et le design. Les plateformes sociales diffusent les choix esthétiques des gens plus loin et plus vite, ce qui accélère comme jamais les tendances en matière d’esthétique.

Les valeurs personnelles

Elles déterminent les sentiments relatifs à la santé, au mode de vie et aux relations. Les clients s’attendent à ce que les entreprises adaptent leurs produits à leurs valeurs personnelles, d’autant que la personnalisation est de plus en plus facile.

Les valeurs morales

Comme l’honnêteté, l’équité et la compassion. Elles définissent ce que les individus pensent être bon ou mauvais. L’alignement des marques sur les valeurs morales joue un rôle de plus en plus important dans les décisions des clients.

***

Les plateformes sociales sensibilisent davantage aux défis humains à travers le monde, tels que l’accès à la nourriture et à l’eau, le changement climatique et la violence. Cette prise de conscience donne plus de poids aux valeurs morales dans les décisions des clients. Par exemple, si l’on choisissait avant nos chaussures pour des raisons esthétiques, aujourd’hui, nous entendons davantage mettre fin au travail forcé et marquer une différence.

La transparence incite les entreprises à prendre position. Les clients réalisent que, grâce à leur pouvoir d’achat, ils peuvent inciter les entreprises (voir « Des marchés aux communautés ») à soutenir clairement les valeurs qui leur tiennent à cœur. Les deux tiers des consommateurs affirment qu’ils soutiendront les entreprises qui, selon eux, font une différence positive dans la société (1). Et un nombre croissant de consommateurs condamnent les entreprises dont ils ne partagent pas les valeurs –(2). Il ne fait aucun doute que, pour les entreprises, les enjeux sont énormes et ne cessent de croître.

Pour aligner votre entreprise sur les décisions d’achat morales :

Comprenez les valeurs morales du marché

Les entreprises doivent intégrer en profondeur les valeurs morales de leur marché cible dans la conception de leurs produits et fournir aux clients des moyens de partager ces valeurs en faisant des déclarations. Mettez en avant et exprimez vos valeurs à chaque étape de l’expérience, de l’emballage ou des matériaux indiquant l’origine du produit, jusqu’aux scorecards numériques reflétant l’engagement de l’entreprise à l’égard de causes majeures.

Appliquez les valeurs morales à toute l’entreprise

Les clients savent si les entreprises sont sincères. Tirez parti des technologies émergentes pour assurer la transparence sur les sources d’approvisionnement, les conditions de travail, l’impact environnemental et la gérance adaptée des communautés locales. Par exemple, la blockchain peut aider à garantir la conformité au sein des réseaux de fournisseurs.

Prenez position ensemble

Revendiquez des positions claires et publiques sur des questions qui préoccupent collaborateurs et clients. Élaborez des programmes qui encouragent les partenariats sur une mission commune, et utilisez des plateformes numériques pour accroître l’impact. Par exemple, les compteurs intelligents des services publics entendent aider les clients à économiser l’énergie. Les programmes de type « Buy one, give one » intègrent le partenariat directement dans la transaction.

Faites de vos clients de vrais héros

Communiquez le succès en mettant l’accent sur l’impact produit par les clients et sur le rôle de soutien de votre entreprise. Développez des plateformes qui permettent aux clients de voir directement leur impact. Par exemple, les capteurs IoT sont capables de surveiller l’utilisation d’un produit de sorte que les clients puissent partager leurs accomplissements sur les réseaux sociaux.

Publié en anglais sur insights.sap.com


Références :

(1) Raphael Bemporad, « Brand Purpose in Divided Times » (La mission d’une marque en ces temps incertains), BBMG, 5 octobre 2017, http://bbmg.com/brand-purpose-in-divided-times/.

(2) Britta Wyss Bisang, « Five Key Sustainability Trends for 2018 » (Cinq grandes tendances en matière de développement durable pour 2018), Ethical Corporation, 12 mars 2018, http://www.ethicalcorp.com /five-key-sustainability-trends-2018.

The post L’expérience client future : les valeurs déterminent la valeur appeared first on SAP France News.

Source de l’article sur sap.com