Curious about design, UX, accessibility? Want to learn from colleagues about their design challenges and successes? 
We welcome you to join our UX Community and attend an upcoming Design & Dessert session!

You can also reach out to us directly and through our Slack channel - see details below. 

Design & Dessert

We host monthly lunchtime gatherings to discuss UX topics and to share your experiences and challenges with practicing UX design. Bring your prototypes. Share your stories. Ask user research, accessibility, usability, or web design questions we all wonder about! We offer a friendly audience for testing out your ideas. In addition we host a variety of guest speakers from Princeton University and beyond! Hope to see you at our next session!

Highlights from past sessions: 

Tool Tips & Hover Text

Key take away: Don't depend on hover text in order for the user to succeed in completing their task efficiently. If the information is required in order for the user to complete their task, then it should always be on the screen. If the help is extra guides or related information, a concise tool tip may be effective, as it appears upon user action. Use tool tips prudently. Consider why the user is on your page and make it easy!

FOCal Points: Design & Inclusion

We reviewed digital accessibility components of focus, color, and links.

Quote from Stevie Wonder: " We all have ability. The difference is how we use it."

Oops! We all make mistakes. 

How can we design forgiving user interfaces that anticipates those mistakes?

Game quote: Design is a process – an intimate collaboration between engineers, designers, and clients. – Henry Dreyfus

Not so fast!

Consider the push for everything 'instant' in our socio-technical environment where we have reduced attention spans. How does the process of user-centered design fit in? It is a more deliberate and thoughtful craft that takes time and produces fabulous, cost savings results. The outcomes are very worthwhile - yet they are not instant or immediate. In our session we discussed this theme, challenges of practicing UX, and we participated in a UX study.

Say What!?

Asking your end users to participate in your research or usability study is a craft that requires some thoughtful effort - especially when you need to gather authentic feedback for your project.   It helps to keep your email request short while conveying some key elements including: the goal of the study, the benefits of their input, and how long it will take.  We encourage expressing how you value your users time and input, as this email builds upon what hopes to be a strong relationship with your end-user community.

Session quote: "I can't write without a reader. It's precisely like a kiss - you can't do it alone." - John Cheever