I was asked by Jay Fichialos, Sr. Director User Experience to redesign the “Join” page of Alliance Health’s DiabeticConnect.com. I needed to give it a more UX feel, making it more friendly and usable for the overall user.

Initial Thoughts

My intial thought of the site, was that I thought that overall; it is pretty easy to use, and simple for the user, but can be put together in a more user friendly way by using basic UX theory.

Header

As the user connects to DiabeticConnect.com, they are able to process everything and as the do so, I think that a funnel approach with the Header, Business Logo, Welcome Content would all look good as a funnel which leads the viewer’s eyes to the Sign Up form with minimal effort.

Left Align

In the time I have studied UX design, I have noticed that when filling out forms, it is a good idea at times to have the form and the content of the form to be flushed to the left, making it easier on the eyes for the viewer, as well as an easier read for the reader. With the content and the boxes to the left, the eye movement from the viewer from left to right is faster which allows for a more pleasurable experience, as well as a more simple design which in cases can help build trust from our viewers about the company.

Buttons and Dropdowns

Radio Button

I first had the radio buttons of the Gender question side by side, but upon further reading, I learned that by having them horizontally aligned, it can confuse the user, but by having them vertically aligned, one on top of the other, it is far more easy for the view to be able to make the correct decision.

Dropdown

I started with the Date of Birth as a simple mm/dd/yy form, but again, upon further research, I found that by having the date a mm/dd/yy you are leaving the viewer with a chance to make a mistake which could result in loss of conversion. The dropdown menus for the Day, Month, and Year are ideal, as they limit the chance the user will make a mistake.

Boxes

As far as forms are considered, the easier it can be for the viewer, the better off the company is, so when it comes to the input box for basic information; Email, Password, etc. It is easier in reading to use the boxes and limit the use of the space around them.. I put the descriptive content inside the boxes minimizing the visuals which makes for a better and quicker time for the viewer to fill out the form.

Side Column

The side column area was fairly simple as there is less content. I again moved the content inside the boxes, minimizing the overall flow of the viewer.

Overall Finish

Overall, I learned a great deal, and really watched my pixels. I feel that the redesign of the site makes for a faster, more welcoming approach to the current Sign Up page. I feel confident in my redesign, and feel that the site would benefit from the redesign in which I just finished.

current Site

My Page Redesign

I also added a slight gradient “glow” to try to “warm” up the site and the context of the site.

Sad that I have to “apply” for a job within my job… but gotta do what I gotta do.

Gorgeous Header from Merican Made.
MericanMade.com | @Mericans

As designers, regardless of our level of success, we are all similar in that we had to start somewhere, and regardless of the size of a boat, in order to get into the water, they had to start at the shore. I think we are all too familiar with the phrase “you gotta start somewhere” but as designers, that’s not as easy as it seems. In the world of web and graphic design, there are an endless supply of people chomping at the bit to be the next Abduzeedo, or Brian Hoff, and yet for most of us, we fall short, and don’t allow ourselves to do what it takes and make sure the we’re the next in line.

Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine! Then the fates will know you as we know you: as Albert Mondego, the man!

~The Count of Monte Cristo

As a young designer myself, it is very intimidating to set up my sail, and tread into the uncharted waters of the design world. and yet, as scary as it can be, I also find it to be exactly the opposite, it can be thrilling, and exciting!

As we all know that before we try anything new, we need to prepare, if we are to boat out into the ocean, we need to be wise and learn all we can about what lies ahead.  Just like design, it is important to be full of knowledge, knowing that regardless of what we know, we are sure to find things that we are unfamiliar with, but by continuing our education, and having that drive to learn, we are able to take those situations and turn them into opportunities, sometimes we may be learning just to swim, may end up saving our lives when the current of the design world tips us overboard. There are plenty of areas in the internet to learn and to study.

Be Prepared for the unknown:

As a designer, and especially as a new designer, fresh out of school, or… fresh off the boat, it can be very intimidating to get your feet wet. It is so important to be able to be prepared.

1. resume

Resumes in the business world, can be a very good thing to have, as some companies really depend on a good quality resume when the are looking to hire. There are many online websites that offer free resumes, such as LinkedIn that provide us with more than enough of an online presence to have a great resume. But, again, like the ocean in front of us, we area preparing for uncharted waters, so with that in mind, there are new sites up everyday to challenge and motivate us to do our very best to stay a float.

2. Portfolio

For designers, our portfolio is our bread and butter, the ship in which we make our voyage depends on strong and stable portfolios to get us safely to the direction we are heading. The meat of our whole existence as designers, bloggers, developers seems purely based on what we have to bring to the table, and if we are wanting others or potential clients to feel safe on our ship, we need to provide them with substance, “treasures” that may make them feel safe and comfortable about charting into dark waters with us.  The fun part for a designer, is our portfolio’s become part of our portfolio! And there are many great portfolios out there to give us inspiration, but at the end of the day, our portfolio speaks for us, and not for anyone else.

You wouldn’t be able to look at my portfolio and learn about someone else, as I would hope that if you looked at my portfolio that I wouldn’t steer you astray and look for someone else.

There are several ways to create a great looking portfolio, online, and off line, they are all important, but remember, that a portfolio isn’t “hey here’s EVERYTHING I’ve done so far” but more of a handful of your best stuff, show off, and really sell yourself here.

3. Website

While it’s important as designers to have websites, it’s not always needed, however it does help. There are plenty of sites out there such as Dribbble, Forrst, personal Blogs, even Facebook that really do a great job in promoting your work, Never the less, it’s important to start somewhere. If you are wanting to build the trust of your potential clients, you should have a great site, at least something. think of it this way, A great site, is VERY VERY good. but an okay site is better than nothing, so get out there, and start something up, there are great sites like WordPress that really help us who are learning, and wanting to get at least something. Remember in life, it’s better to know at least the basics of swimming than to not, cause as soon as we stop swimming, we sink.

4. Contacts

One of the scariest things as a designer heading into the water, is being unfamiliar, but luckily there are great sites for us to gain contacts, one of the best sites for meeting contacts is Twitter. Twitter is a great site that allows all walks of life to intermingle and get to know people on a somewhat personal level. I’ve found Twitter to be an amazing service in my learning experience, and one of the best ways to learn the ins and outs of the business, best part is: so many people want to help! so I say get going, you’re not on twitter, get on it, and if you! say hi!

Learn to tie knots

One of the first and most important things you can do before setting sails, is learning to tie knots,

This day and age, it’s almost impossible to not have access to learning something, have you ever used the phrase “Google it?” there’s nothing we can’t learn, and in our industry that is more prevalent than ever with sites like DesignMoo and Forrst, which allows us to learn how the designers/developers work, also Smashing Magazine and Abduzeedo which has great and always up to date tutorials for us to learn from.

Bask in the sun

While manning a boat and heading for the never ending horizon, setting sail as a designer can be a scary thing, BUT, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t sit back and enjoy the process. Every great journey begins with the first step, and as long as you’re moving forward, you’re doing great, don’t forget to drop anchor at times and reflect on how far you’ve come, because at the end of the day, that’s what’s most important. So when the waves seem to crash into you and you feel like there’s no way up, in or out, just remember to give it your all, and tell the seas of the design world to “Do your worst, for I will do mine.”

Beautiful rendition of leonardo Da Vinci’s famous Mona Lisa.
140 circles make up this picture, and it is absolutely amazing
Truly shows the power of imagination and color.

Hey everyone, I have been know to start a lot of different little ventures, well, my latest is Skoolige.com, so far it’s been a lot of fun, and it’ been a great way for me to learn about the process of design. CHECK IT OUT!