The hottest User Experience Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

Turning NPS into action: how to make the most out of a... dubious metric*

UX Psychology • 218 implied HN points • 14 Dec 22
💼 Business Metrics User Experience Research Analysis Strategy
  1. NPS (Net Promoter Score) measures customer loyalty based on likelihood of recommendation. Responses are categorized into Promoters, Passives, and Detractors.
  2. To make the most of NPS, ensure it is measured properly by defining target audience, using standardized surveys, analyzing data regularly, and avoiding biases.
  3. Despite NPS limitations, leverage its open-ended question for uncovering user pain points, recruiting research participants, involving all team members, complementing with other metrics, and using it strategically.

Your Feature is Not a Product

Nathan’s Substack • 79 implied HN points • 26 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Product Development Artificial Intelligence Tech industry Software Development User Experience
  1. A common mistake is mistaking a feature for a product, leading to incomplete solutions in the market.
  2. Customers care more about how a product solves their problem, rather than the specific technology used.
  3. Start with the customer experience and work back to the technology when designing products, a lesson exemplified by Steve Jobs.

Can AI Identify an Author’s Background from a Writing Sample?

Jakob Nielsen on UX • 5 implied HN points • 09 Jan 25
🕹 Technology AI Writing User Experience Data Analysis Language processing
  1. Current AI tools struggle to accurately determine someone's background from their writing. They often miss subtle clues that could reveal a person's origin.
  2. Different AI models can give varying guesses about an author's background. Some might guess English native speakers or Americans when the real background is different.
  3. To test AI's ability, you can try analyzing your own writing through an AI tool. It can be fun to see if the AI gets your background right!

The new anachronism

Sunday Letters • 39 implied HN points • 14 Apr 24
🕹 Technology AI User Experience Applications Digital Media Innovation Future Trends
  1. Technology changes fast, and things we think are normal now might seem really strange to future generations. For example, the idea of using rotary phones or only having a few TV channels is hard for young people to imagine.
  2. Apps and documents may seem outdated soon. In the future, instead of using fixed apps or linear documents, we might have AI that creates personalized experiences and lets us interact in more flexible ways, like having conversations.
  3. As technology evolves, we will have more control over our digital experiences. Just like how TV shifted from networks to streaming, the way we create and share digital content will also change, making it easier and more accessible for everyone.

The unhindered growth of bad mobile app product management

system bashing • 137 implied HN points • 05 Jun 23
🕹 Technology User Experience Quality Assurance
  1. There is a rise in poorly made mobile apps due to the growth of bad mobile app product management.
  2. Many mobile apps have similar features and design flaws, showcasing repetitive mistakes by product managers.
  3. Consistency in user experience, from technical aspects like rotation to design elements like button styles, is lacking in many apps, pointing to a need for improvement.
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Google Maps UX: The India Conundrum

Elizabeth Laraki • 2 HN points • 05 Sep 24
🕹 Technology User Experience Product Design
  1. Google Maps struggled in India because people didn't use street names for navigation. They relied on landmarks instead.
  2. The team did hands-on research to understand how locals used landmarks for directions. This included talking to people and observing their navigation.
  3. By focusing on landmarks, Google Maps improved its directions to better fit India's needs, making it a popular navigation tool over time.

Brazil Bailed on Twitter, and So Did I: The Vibes Are Off

What the Blurb • 2 HN points • 05 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Social media Internet culture Tech Trends Digital Platforms User Experience
  1. Brazil's Supreme Court banning Twitter led to a big drop in users there, and many are trying out other platforms like Bluesky.
  2. Bluesky is gaining popularity because it has cool features that users find fun and engaging, unlike some other social media apps.
  3. The writer feels stuck between using both Threads and Bluesky, realizing social media is becoming more divided and siloed.

UX Roundup: AI Video Editing | AI Avatars Compared | NotebookLM Team Leaves

Jakob Nielsen on UX • 11 implied HN points • 05 Dec 24
🕹 Technology AI Tools Video Editing Product Development User Experience
  1. CapCut is an AI video editor that, while powerful, is not as easy to learn as people say. Users can edit videos by working with AI-generated transcripts, which can improve the final cut.
  2. Creating AI avatars can be done through different services like Humva, D-ID, and HeyGen. Humva is the easiest to use, while HeyGen offers the most features but is also the most complex.
  3. It's smarter to subscribe to AI services monthly rather than yearly. AI changes quickly, and you want to be flexible to switch to better tools as they become available.

UX Roundup: Cookie Banners Waste Time | Building AI Infrastructure | Bigger AI Training Clusters | AI Avatar Keynote Summary

Jakob Nielsen on UX • 11 implied HN points • 02 Dec 24
🕹 Technology User Experience E-commerce Digital Media Data Privacy
  1. Cookie consent banners waste a huge amount of time for users, costing billions in productivity. Most people ignore them or find them useless.
  2. NVIDIA's approach to building AI infrastructure allows for significantly faster performance improvements compared to traditional methods, promising exciting advancements in AI capabilities.
  3. Virtual try-on technology is becoming more accessible, allowing users to see how clothes look on them without needing a photoshoot, which can change the shopping experience.

Understanding the Hawthorne Effect in UX Research

UX Psychology • 138 implied HN points • 06 Feb 23
🕹 Technology UX Research Human behavior User Experience Research Methods
  1. The Hawthorne Effect is when individuals change their behavior because they know they are being observed, impacting various behaviors from dietary habits to research study results.
  2. Possible explanations for the Hawthorne Effect include people conforming to expectations when observed and feeling pressured to perform better.
  3. To mitigate the Hawthorne Effect in UX research, steps like using control groups, minimizing feedback during studies, focusing on cause-and-effect relationships, and creating judgment-free environments can help obtain more accurate data.

Striking the Right Balance: Anthropomorphism in AI Assistants

UX Psychology • 119 implied HN points • 04 Aug 23
🕹 Technology AI User Experience Design Research
  1. Incorporating anthropomorphic design elements can improve user experience and satisfaction with AI systems. Humanlike voices and natural conversational abilities in chatbots lead to more positive user perceptions and emotional connections.
  2. Not all humanlike cues in AI elicit positive reactions - some may cause unease or revulsion. Factors like the uncanny valley effect and privacy risks need to be considered when designing anthropomorphic AI.
  3. Emotional and auditory anthropomorphic cues like humor and natural-sounding voices can increase user satisfaction and strengthen connections. These cues are more impactful for entertainment purposes than utilitarian tasks with AI assistants.

چرا بسیاری از کسب و کارهای کوچک در کانادا، وب سایت‌های بی‌مصرف و تاریخ گذشته دارند

DiGiTalk Newsletter • 117 implied HN points • 13 May 23
💼 Business Website Design Email Marketing User Experience
  1. Publishing superficial content on a website can hinder its mission, copy-pasting content can be detrimental to credibility and online presence.
  2. Ensuring a website is mobile-friendly is crucial since a significant portion of visitors use mobile devices.
  3. Having an effective email newsletter and not focusing excessively on website appearance can make a significant impact on reaching and engaging with potential customers.

Optimising costs to enhancing UX - it is all engineering

system bashing • 117 implied HN points • 18 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Cost Optimization User Experience Cloud Services Engineering System Design
  1. In a tech company, engineering involves balancing cloud costs and user interface to optimize costs and enhance user experience.
  2. Reducing costs significantly is crucial for a company's profitability regardless of other measures like discounts or marketing strategies.
  3. Engineering decisions impact user experience constraints and cloud costs, requiring a balance between the two for system efficiency.

Big impact can be small

Sunday Letters • 39 implied HN points • 24 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI User Experience Software Development Innovation Product Design
  1. Small actions can have a big impact over time. Just think how turning on a light used to be a big hassle, but now it's super easy.
  2. Making tasks easier leads to wider use. If a product is simple to use, more people will adopt it without thinking twice.
  3. Focus on common problems and make solutions accessible. Like how we turned on lights without much thought, your solutions should be just as easy for everyone to use.

5 learnings from making UX less annoying for 20M+ users

CommandBlogue • 19 implied HN points • 28 May 24
🕹 Technology User Experience Product Design Data Analysis Software Development Customer Engagement
  1. Users don't easily forget bad experiences, like annoying pop-ups. Once trust is lost, it's hard to regain, so it's important to be careful with how you present information to them.
  2. Beautiful design attracts users and keeps them engaged. Nowadays, a nice look matters just as much as solving a problem, since many products are similar.
  3. Users prefer having multiple options. If they feel like they don't need help at first, they might still end up needing it later, so providing a way for them to revisit guides is key.

Card Insights

Pine • 19 implied HN points • 18 Jun 24
🕹 Technology Software Data Analytics User Experience Improvements
  1. Pine now has cool analytics tools to help you understand your data better. You can break down and show your information in different ways.
  2. They've made some neat improvements, like showing summary insights and helping you create better connections between cards. This makes using the app more user-friendly.
  3. You can now open links in new tabs easily and get notifications for actions you take. These small updates improve the overall experience when using the app.

What is a Founding Engineer?

Jake [Building in NYC] • 59 implied HN points • 25 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Engineering Product Development Startups User Experience Leadership
  1. Founding engineers have to work really fast. They need to handle problems quickly and keep feedback flowing between users and the business.
  2. Empathy is key for founding engineers. They should think about how users will respond to their work and make it as easy and enjoyable as possible.
  3. A founding engineer always seeks the truth. They are curious and unafraid to ask questions to understand problems better and find effective solutions.

Discussing the present and future of visualization with Jon Schwabish

Alberto Cairo's The Art of Insight • 39 implied HN points • 15 Mar 24
🪑 Design Data Visualization Graphic design Information Design User Experience
  1. Visualization is changing fast, and it's important to keep up with new ideas and methods. This evolution makes it exciting to learn and grow in the field.
  2. There isn't a main online place where designers can share their work and chat about it yet. Having a common space could help everyone connect and improve together.
  3. The approach to design should focus on flexibility rather than strict rules. This mindset can benefit not just design work but also how we teach others about it.

The rebirth of Xiaohongshu

Tech Buzz China Insider • 159 implied HN points • 17 Feb 23
🕹 Technology E-commerce Marketing Influencers Live Streaming User Experience
  1. Xiaohongshu has significantly changed its user profile and doubled its monthly active users since mid-2020.
  2. The platform's monetization strategy has shifted, focusing on new advertising formats and easier ways for content creators to monetize.
  3. Balancing commercialization and user experience remains a key challenge for Xiaohongshu.

#1 - How to make our game colors accessible to everyone

A Good Interface • 99 implied HN points • 27 Jul 23
🎨 Art & Illustration User Experience
  1. Consider color blindness when designing games - 8% of boys and 1% of girls are affected by some form of color vision disorder.
  2. Check the contrast between text and background colors to ensure readability and understandability of game content.
  3. Accessibility in game design goes beyond color - include other visual elements and gather user feedback to enhance user experience.

Non-technical API Design Should Be Possible

The API Changelog • 9 implied HN points • 15 Nov 24
🕹 Technology API design Product Management User Experience Technical Writing
  1. API design doesn't have to be technical. Non-technical people can focus on understanding what users need and planning the API without coding.
  2. Involving non-technical individuals early in API design can help identify user challenges and improve API functionality, making them more aligned with user needs.
  3. With the right tools, like Flotiq, non-technical people can create and test APIs easily, allowing for immediate feedback before handing off to developers for more complex tasks.

UX Roundup: Design Metrics | Users Don’t Like to Read | Kids and Dark Design | Chinese Design | Single Name Field | Stop CAPTCHA

Jakob Nielsen on UX • 15 implied HN points • 21 Oct 24
🕹 Technology User Experience Artificial Intelligence Design principles Digital Culture
  1. Design metrics should focus on user value, such as how quickly they can complete tasks. Faster completion times lead to happier users and more engagement.
  2. Most users prefer to get straight to the point and often skip reading long instructions or explanations. Keeping things simple and clear is essential.
  3. Children are becoming more aware of misleading design patterns online, but many still struggle to identify them accurately. Educating kids about digital design can help them navigate online spaces more safely.

Choosing the right UX metrics - Part 2

UX Psychology • 158 implied HN points • 03 Oct 22
🕹 Technology UX Design Metrics Product Management User Experience Data Analysis
  1. Identifying clear goals is crucial in choosing the right UX metrics, involving team and stakeholders can help define meaningful and actionable metrics.
  2. Mapping goals to signals helps track progress towards goals; gathering user feedback and reviews can be essential signals to measure UX success.
  3. Refining signals into specific metrics is the final step, where data scientists can assist in ensuring metrics are measured accurately; focus on key metrics and avoid adding unnecessary data.

Toasts and Theming

Pine • 19 implied HN points • 23 May 24
🕹 Technology User Interface Product Design Software Development User Experience
  1. Pine now gives you fun little toast messages when you keep a daily streak or reach card milestones. This helps give positive encouragement while you work.
  2. You can now customize the appearance of each deck with different themes and styles. This makes it visually unique and easier to switch between decks.
  3. Many improvements have been made to the user experience to make using Pine more enjoyable overall. This should enhance how you create and review your cards.

E5 - Roles and Responsibilities of an AI Product Manager

The Product Channel By Sid Saladi • 6 implied HN points • 08 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Product Management Data science Tech industry User Experience
  1. AI product managers play a key role in creating and managing AI-powered products. They need to combine technical knowledge with an understanding of user needs.
  2. Their responsibilities include researching AI applications, creating product strategies, and leading development teams. They ensure that products are both viable in the market and valuable to users.
  3. To succeed, AI product managers should have skills in AI, business, and user experience. A mix of education in tech, business, and design helps prepare them for this role.

About Data User Experience

timo's substack • 78 implied HN points • 28 Sep 23
🕹 Technology User Experience Data Analytics Metadata
  1. Agile approach works for quick insights but can fail for user experience
  2. Data user experience includes utility, usability, findability, credibility, desirability, and accessibility
  3. Improving data user experience involves naming conventions, SQL style guides, ownership clarity, metadata, architecture, data consistency, and regular user feedback

Inflection AI Is A Sleeping Giant

Teaching computers how to talk • 73 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Tech Companies Product Design AI Ethics User Experience
  1. Inflection AI announced Inflection-2.5, a competitive upgrade to their large language model.
  2. Despite having a smaller team than tech giants like Google and Microsoft, Inflection AI focuses on emotional intelligence and safety in their AI products.
  3. Pi, Inflection AI's personal assistant, stands out with its warm, engaging, and empathetic design, making it an underrated gem in the AI space.

#9 - Creating an intuitive in-game menu

A Good Interface • 59 implied HN points • 16 Nov 23
🕹 Technology UI Design User Experience Game Development Visual Design Gaming
  1. Understanding player expectations is crucial for designing intuitive in-game menus. Players have certain expectations for content and structure, deviating from which can lead to frustration.
  2. Menu navigation and flow are essential in creating a user-friendly experience. Design clear paths, group similar items, and prioritize important actions for quick and easy navigation.
  3. Consistency in iconography, terminology, and design elements, as well as testing with real players, feedback, and iteration, are key to crafting a well-crafted in-game menu that enhances the player experience.

Good brittle

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 99 implied HN points • 28 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Software AI User Experience Adaptation Design
  1. Situated software is made for specific needs in small groups. It may lack polish but works well for those it helps.
  2. Good brittleness means being tailored to a specific situation and easily adapting when things change. This makes systems and products more responsive.
  3. We should focus on building things that are both suited to situations and able to change easily, rather than just aiming for large, flawless systems.

Summer 2024

Optimism (for the web) • 10 implied HN points • 19 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Web Development Programming Languages User Experience Open Source
  1. The author became a dad and is really grateful for having a happy family. It's a big change in life that brings a lot of joy.
  2. They created several new apps, including a SaaS template and a music player, using updated tech like React and Next.js. These tools make it easier to build and use applications.
  3. The author learned to use Vim and switched from VS Code to Neovim, finding it faster and more customizable. They even created a free course to help others learn Vim too.

UX Roundup: OpenAI Canvas | Evaluating AI Video | AI Podcast | AI Translation | AI Adoption & Retention | Flux 1.1

Jakob Nielsen on UX • 13 implied HN points • 07 Oct 24
🕹 Technology AI User Experience Video Generation Podcasting Translation
  1. OpenAI's new feature, Canvas, lets users interact directly with text in a document instead of just chatting. You can now point at specific text and tell the AI exactly how to change it.
  2. Meta has introduced a video generation model called Movie Gen that rates the quality of videos by having people compare them side by side. This helps to figure out which AI creates better videos.
  3. AI is being adopted quickly, with many people using it regularly for tasks at work. It's even being used at a faster rate than the internet was when it first started.

How to optimize your free trial

Kyle Poyar’s Growth Unhinged • 236 implied HN points • 10 May 23
💼 Business Marketing User Experience Product Management Conversion Onboarding
  1. Collaborate with experts to conduct a thorough audit of your product-led growth strategy.
  2. Implement best practices at each stage of the free trial experience such as creating a compelling sign-up page and a goal-oriented onboarding checklist.
  3. Utilize personalized templates, value-add empty states, and contextual guidance to enhance user experience and increase conversion rates.

Optimizing Performance: How Our Extension Became Lightning Fast

Casca’s Substack • 59 implied HN points • 19 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Performance optimization Web Development User Experience
  1. Casca Extension prioritizes speed for a smooth user experience and optimized resource usage.
  2. They utilized technologies like React, Tailwind, and IndexedDB to enhance performance.
  3. Strategies like optimizing images, dealing with slow requests, and minimizing re-renders helped make the extension faster and more efficient.

The Region-Beta Paradox and its Impact on Product and Experimentation Thinking

CAUSL Effect • 119 implied HN points • 12 Apr 23
💼 Business Product Development User Experience Psychology Market fit Experimentation
  1. The Region-Beta Paradox shows that people often tolerate mild discomfort until they reach a more intense state, which can lead to faster recovery. In simple terms, we might ignore small problems until they become serious.
  2. This idea can change how product teams think about improving customer experiences. Instead of aiming for perfect satisfaction, it might be okay to allow for some mild frustration, as it can be a signal for customers to take action.
  3. Not all products need to be perfect to be successful. Sometimes, a product that fits well in the market is more important than one that delivers an ideal experience but lacks user interest.