Issue 3

Welcome

Welcome to Nice UX Design: a celebration of the small details found in products that elevate them and make them greater than the sum of their parts.

Each issue features some examples of nice details from the digital and physical worlds, along with the occasional not-so-nice detail where things could have been improved.

To submit content for inclusion, message me on Mastodon @[email protected], Twitter @shauneba or email.

For more of my work, check out my iOS apps Personal Best and Taylor's Version.

Nice Details

Ask for Angela

'Ask for Angela' is a safety initiative found in some bars and clubs in the UK. In places that are part of the scheme, you can ask for Angela at the bar and a member of staff will discreetly help you – whether that's putting you in a taxi, asking somebody who's threatening you to leave, or something else.

While it's sad that this is necessary in the first place, I think it's a great piece of design in that it's memorable, easy to explain, and is intended to do some good.

Cloudflare's 'Under Attack?' button

Cloudflare offers a range of services for running online services. I really like how their homepage has a prominent 'Under Attack?' button. Not only does it make it easy to find for visitors whose services are under attack, it's also a nice bit of subtle branding, by making it clear to everyone who visits their homepage that Cloudflare is somebody who can help stop cyberattacks.

Not-so-nice details

Renault Zoe's engine on/off button

Zoe is an electric vehicle made by Renault. Being electric, it doesn't have an engine. But it does have a button that says "engine start/stop".

This is most likely a cost saving where Renault has repurposed the start/stop button from their other, non-electric cars, but it feels a bit careless and detracts from the experience.