UI design and impressive solutions

Algorithmic design, automobile and voice interfaces are gaining more interest, the demand for virtual and supplemented reality is increasing every year. Such trends in UX/UI were called the head of the portal design command in Mail.ru Group Yuri Vetrov .

In an interview with the greenhouse , the expert , the expert, told the greenhouse of the greenhouse, the expert told the criteria now the sites are being developed and what Russian experience in creating products design is noteworthy. Yuri Vetrov also advised the companies to be equal to, and called the curious educational courses.

- You are conducting a product design digest , choose the current news every month and make collections on the topic of interfaces. How do you think UX/UI has changed in a couple of years? What are the trends?

- Active interest in the professional community is caused by several trends. Firstly , this is an algorithmic design . How to use algorithms to build an interface, prepare auxiliary graphics and content, as well as personalization. Secondly , automobile interfaces. How to make them modern, especially since their method of ownership and use on the threshold of large -scale changes.

Thirdly , design system. How to unify the design of the product line in order to improve their quality and accelerate the market access. Fourth , these are voice interfaces. And, fifth , mixed/supplemented/virtual reality. It is not clear whether they will survive in the consumer market, but in a professional environment the potential demand is huge.

Another interesting trend in recent years-the design command of grocery companies massively opened blogs and they have become one of the most interesting sources of information.

At the same time, Hype very quickly came down about smart watches, wearable devices (manufacturers collapse one by one) and bots in messengers, which are in demand only in a corporate environment.

- Does Russian experience differ from the world? What features do we have?

-In Russia, a rather powerful Internet market. There are few, except for the United States and China, there are Mail.Ru Group and Yandex level companies that can compete with Facebook and Google. And where there are interesting real tasks, there is also the growth of specialists, including the design of digital products. Moreover, the growth of awareness that good design is important for products began six years ago-plus or minus simultaneously with the rest of the world.

Of course, in Silicon Valley, many times more Internet companies and money, so they can afford to solve more niche problems, which means grow faster. But compared to Europe, we are more cheerful.

More on the topic: 6 popular UI frames, with which you can make a convenient and responsive site

Another thing is that our designers are either lazy or fear of telling about their work, therefore, in a global professional space they know about us poorly. And worse than that is a significant part of the articles that we read are translated, although there is so much experience on the market that it is a sin to hide it.

- What versions of sites are now customary to develop? What is their main criterion?

- Universality is an important criterion. It can touch differently. Firstly , support for different platforms and devices. More or less dealt with this. Secondly , users accounting with physical and technological restrictions. There is often lack of understanding or resources. Another thing is that you need to understand how great the proportion of these situations is in your product.

For example, although mobile, in general, overtook a large web, some narrow -professional tools are almost not used from smartphones and it is better to solve their more priority problems than spending strength on this mandatory tick.

Support for accessibility requirements will always have a small audience in appearance, but for large companies, even a small percentage will be significant if you look in absolute numbers. Yes, and for the middle and small ethical side, over time, it will become more important.

- What food solutions have surprised you lately?

- I will give several examples of algorithmic design in practice, this is what is now impressive. Netflix script - cuts out characters for posters, imposes texts and makes automatic experiments with all this. Real magic!

An interesting experimental tool from the University of Stanford and Adobe , which greatly simplifies the work of the film installer. He himself offers a ready -made piece of the film based on the scores.

Wolff Olins introduced a completely living identity of the Brazilian mobile operator OI , which reacts to sound. This is definitely impossible to do without creative partnership with algorithms.

These are new professional horizons in which tools allow you to work real miracles.

-What companies and organizations should be equal by making IT products?

- on those who solve complex product problems, moving the market and the profession as a whole.

• Microsoft . Despite the arrogant attitude of many designers towards the company, they attached a hand to the huge number of the most important ideas and concepts for interfaces and computers in general. In 2010, their Metro design determined the modern approach to the visual design of digital products, and now they solve a new ambitious task-to connect the unified Fluent design screen interfaces and mixed reality.
• Google . Material Design showed how to unify products on a wide variety of platforms, and the Google Ventures investment wing does important work, re-equipping design processes with the same design sprints .
• IBM . The company is more than a hundred years and she constantly manages to re -call herself. Now they solve the super -intact problem - scaling the design in the organization of 350,000 employees. They have a chic visual language , adapted design methodologies and a lot of other developments.

• Mail.Ru Group . Our company is overlapping itself and actively changes in terms of design. Although there is still something to put up for, it is difficult not to notice a qualitative breakthrough over the past five years-a huge number of products have been restored, many new services have entered the market, the ParadigM design system has been launched, our conferences and competitions help develop the professional community.
• Yandex . The company greatly updated its products a few years ago in a single visual language, develops a design school, supports the most important font magazine and makes many other initiatives for the community.
• Shopify . One of the most balanced design commands with the best blog. They launched one of the best Polaris design systems in the market, use an impressive systematic approach to illustrations, and very competently integrate user research into product work.
• ustwo . One of the most striking design studios, which, in addition to its cunning game, Monument Valley is engaged in automobile interfaces and virtual reality. Google helped with Android Wear design and Cardboard development. Their approach to work is great inspiring.
• Ex-Daptive Path / Capital One . The purchase of this famous UX company was one of the first-in recent years, dozens have accumulated. In addition to interesting projects, they organized one of the best conferences: MXConFERENCE on design management, UXWeek, Service Design Week, UX Intensive master class. The format of work inside the corporation has changed, but they still tell interesting things and continue to make conferences.

-Now there are many training courses on the UX designer, which of them would you advise?

- It is difficult to talk about the whole market as a whole, because I, rather, participated in other people's programs, but did not do mine. Therefore, it is easier to talk about those initiatives where I participate myself:

• Coursera . In the spring of 2017, we launched an online interfacial design course, which conducts students from theoretical foundations to real skills through two educational tasks. Thanks to strong methodological work, a very good structure from short lessons turned out, which are easily absorbed or squeezed, if necessary. For beginners, this is a great way to acquire skills, and for more experienced it is to close in knowledge gaps. 8 thousand people passed through the middle of summer.
• Intensive in the British Higher School of Design . We have collected a holistic program based on the design of design sprints. Within 8 days, students solve the educational problem, gradually approaching the understanding of the problem to the final solution. The approach is interesting with its involvement - dense team work helps to learn theory in practice.
• Future London Academy . Within a week in London, we go to visit the leading British design studios and grocery companies: for example, Ustwo, Unit9, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, FJord, Moving Brands, BBC, IDEO. In their natural working environment, they talk about approaches to work, fresh projects and new directions. For me, this is one of the best ways to expand professional horizons. When you see live on how one of the best design commands in the world work-it motivates to move forward. Even if, it would seem, you know so well. This is rather a course for experienced designers and design managers.

- How would you formulate the mission of UX/UI design?

- I would say that the task of the interfaces designer is to make commercial products earn money, given the needs and interests of users. And after that, provide developments created in such work for non -profit services that are often deprived of the attention of professionals.

Blog Yuri Vetrova .