azumbrunnen » Blog

Should designers learn how to code? If you feel like you want to stop reading right now, I don’t blame you. We have stumbled upon this question so many times that it has become as obnoxious as ...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/framer-is-dead/

Reaching the last page of a long and difficult book is a blissful moment. It’s when we get a sense of pride and fulfillment. Whether it’s announcing a product, wrapping up the design of a pro...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/the-power-of-unfinished/

Personal websites are usually like old books in a shelf. They languish, accumulate dust, and their wrinkles and cracks become more apparent over time. About 3 years ago I embarked on a simple exp...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/my-chatbot-is-dead-%C2%B7-why-yours-should-probably-be-too/

The Silent Rise of Apple Watch We Swiss take great pride in watch-making. It’s no secret that most mechanical clockworks and some of the most recognizable watch brands in the world are all made...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/from-clockworks-to-computers-on-our-wrists-the-rise-of-apple-watch/

Few inventions affected our relationship with technology as much as push-style notifications. Whereas before modern day notifications, most of us felt in charge to decide when we want to use and ...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/the-rise-of-anti-notifications/

The sculpture of David, one of the most famous sculptures of all time, surrounds itself by as much myth as its maker himself. When the Pope saw Michelangelo’s work for the first time, he looked...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/via-negativa/

Great products are made by people who care. As teams grow in size, ownership, responsibilities, and individual impact become abstract and blurred. As soon as ownership becomes ambiguous, products...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/why-small-teams-win/

Why do some people, some teams, some companies create outstanding work, while others seem stuck in mediocrity? Why do some of us excel in creativity, have better ideas, and find ways to make ide...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/the-vicious-circle-of-mediocre-work/

3 design take aways from Apple’s latest smartphone I’ve been playing around with the iPhone X for a couple of days now. The one thing that surprises me the most is how different it is from al...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/what-designers-can-learn-from-the-iphone-x/

How metaphors impact conversational experiences Bret Brautigam wrote a thought provoking article on how adding a human voice to a computer could be a form of skeuomorphism. This idea made me w...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/skeuomorphism-in-conversational-design/

Launching scares the shit out of me. No matter what it is. The sheer thought of hitting the publish button freaks me out every single time. Some people celebrate launches like a Gatsby themed N...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/taking-responsibility-for-the-things-you-launch/

Good designers are good listeners. They start by understanding, not solving. I recently found myself in a meeting with a designer who just started working on a design problem I had spent the las...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/stop-talking-start-listening/

I’ve been advocating motion in UX design for some time now. In fact, I even wrote poems about it: “If the motion curve isn’t right, the animation won’t delight.” Lately, motion has beco...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/caveats-of-motion-design/

Let me tell you a short story. Earlier this year, I turned my website into a chat bot. It was a fascinating experience that resulted in a lot of feedback and lively discussions. But the most...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/my-chatbot-found-my-wallet/

In April, I turned my website into a chat. The reactions were fascinating. At first glance, my website looks like a simple portfolio-hack: a conversational way to introduce myself and my work. Bu...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/introducing-the-ux-bear/

A couple of weeks ago, I ran an experiment on my website. I made it conversational. The feedback, responses and media coverage have been absolutely amazing. I received over 300 emails with...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/technical-and-social-challenges-of-conversational-design/

FastCompany wrote an article about my attempt of making my website conversational. You can read more about it here. “After relaunching his personal website, he’s no longer afraid of what chat...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/are-chatbots-really-the-future-of-web-design/

The wrath of the ugly chair I’ve been happily designing and pushing pixels for a couple of years now. Good times! I’ve seen new trends come and go in a relative short amount of time. Time ste...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/designing-with-purpose/

Some designers say hover is dead. Some say it’s cool. And some are downright confused about it. Hover has been around for ages and yet, many still struggle how to properly use it. At a recent I...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/hover-states/

This article currently lives on Medium.com.

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/the-illusion-of-time/

Everyone loves using simple and beautiful stuff. More often than not, we find ourselves pixel-fucking and obsessing about little details. We love the notion of “no user interface is the best us...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/deceptive-simplicity/

Forms are one of the most crucial constituents of the web. Designing and implementing them is both a delicate challenge in its own right. There are whole books available on form design but we rar...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/interactive-float-labels/

So you’re a designer. What a neat thing to say, congratulations, you made it. We’ll high five later. Oddly enough, I’ve struggled to understand what a designer actually is. The thing about ...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/the-self-actualizing-designer/

Reader notice: This is the summary of my talk at UXLS and WordCamp Zurich, Switzerland. Thanks again to the organizers for having me and all their effort. When I read Kenya Hara’s book, “whit...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/creating-distraction-free-reading-experiences/

There is probably no other UI element on the web that has witnessed such an intense and successful career as our well beloved friend: the hamburger button. Since it’s first appearance in the of...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/improving-the-hamburger-button/

Are you a Skype user? Probably. Lots of people rely on Skype today to hold meetings or call their family and friends. I use it mainly for sharing my desktop and have video chat with multiple peop...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/skypes-premium-strategy-no-strategy/

Irecently had a discussion with a client about why visual design is an inalienable asset in contemporary web/app design. I tried to explain how form follows content and how they mutually depend o...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/designing-expectations/

Everyone likes buttons. They are an essential part of a user interface, whether it’s in a physical product or in the digital realm. Apple put a lot of effort in creating beautiful buttons, or a...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/the-art-of-the-button/

There are websites that outperform others. Whether it's in terms of content, usability, design, features etc. I believe that details in interaction design and animation make a fundamental differe...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/transitions-in-ux-design/

Usability remains a key aspect of user experience. Parallax scrolling and other sweet stuff discussed in my last post have the potential to communicate creativity and innovation. Doing so at the ...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/simple-does-not-mean-boring/

Usability is a moving target. A user’s understanding of your application improves over time and your application’s interface should adapt to your user. While I understand and agree with the b...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/progressive-reduction-just-another-buzzword/

Have you ever heard of the song “Gangnam Style” by Korean music artist PSY? Yes you have. Did you go all crazy when it was played in your favorite club? Possibly. Do you still listen to it or...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/gangnam-design-vs-lasting-design/

This is about learnings using HTML5 pushstate, backbone.js and CSS transforms to progressively enhance the user experience without hurting SEO and wrecking up the user experience on older browser...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/building-progressively-enhanced-websites-with-bulletproof-backbone/

Relaxing happens when you do things, without expecting a certain outcome. Relaxing will get your creative juices flowing. You will rarely have world changing ideas while sitting on your desk.

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/how-to-work-on-weekends-without-losing-your-soul-and-your-friends-the-1-charge-cycle/

In a time where people access website in such an immense variety of devices, everything has changed. It isn't enough for websites to look good and scale for the screen anymore. They need to be un...

https://azumbrunnen.me/blog/redefining-the-online-identity-of-an-advertising-agency/