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15 Dec

Why Passphrases Are More User-Friendly Than Passwords

by TBSCategories: News

A user’s account on a website is like a house. The password is the key, and logging in is like walking through the front door. When a user can’t remember their password, it’s like losing their keys. When a user’s account is hacked, it’s like their house is getting broken into.

Nearly half of Americans (47%) have had their account hacked in the last year alone. Are web designers and developers taking enough measures to prevent these problems? Or do we need to rethink passwords?

The post Why Passphrases Are More User-Friendly Than Passwords appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Smashing Magazine

Assembla-Portfolio-cloud-based-project-management-software-2

10 Dec

How to Keep Your Client Happy and Make More Money

by TBSCategories: News

I hear a lot of frustration lately from web development and web design firms. Their project managers do not know what all team members are working on. Even worse, their clients do not understand their progress.

A new breed of project management tools have made it easier for all team members to track and update the status of the tasks they are working on, thus improving transparency and visibility, resulting in greater productivity.

But clients are still in the dark.

With the Assembla cloud-based project management software, agencies provide clients on-demand access into their workflow and begin a trusting relationship with their clients. Even if the client never actually bothers to drill down into the agency workflow, just the fact that they have access is suffice for clients to have higher trust with their provider.

Productivity increases when team members feel that they are a part of a mission bigger than themselves. In fact, making an effort to boost company morale is still one of the aspects of workplace motivation that money cannot buy. Collaboration on Assembla continues to help employees and clients working on a project together feel significant.

The sense of togetherness occurs most when employees and clients regularly communicate with one another. When a clients and teams connect on Assembla Portfolio, they get the tools that connect workers and clients, regardless of where they are on planet earth.

Everybody immediately knows what someone on the other side of the world is doing, says Arisnova R+D+I Leader Pau Garcia i Quiles.

Garcia also states his enthusiasm concerning Assembla’s stream feature, which allows all team members keep track of project activity and shows the times and dates people were last online. However, that is not the only benefit that attracts users.

Sinclair Schuller, CEO of Apprenda, Inc., says, Assembla replaces traditionally bulky tools with lean, powerful, and easy to use solutions.

Other users say that the absence of screen clutter makes this work collaboration platform easy to use. The Messages, Files, Tickets, Wiki, and other widgets are everything a firm needs to manage its design or development projects end-to-end.

Powerful Collaboration Features

While Assembla Portfolio includes features like code repositories, large file versioning, project information wikis, internal messaging systems, and support ticket forums, these functions are not just for the internal team members. Clients also can keep in touch with project managers and employees during all task phases. This gives them the peace of mind that the work is being done. Additionally, it tracks process and allows for changes in delegation before important deadlines pass.

Time tracking is another function provided by Assembla. Clients can keep record of team members hours worked against each task and easily filter these time entries to create the timesheets for each client or each milestone. These timesheets can also be exported to .CSV format for use with other programs including Freshbooks or Harvest.

Tools like Assembla Portfolio may help companies who hire full time employees, but they have super powers for the 34 million Americans who currently work from home at least occasionally. Telecommuting positions are expected to increase by 43 percent in 2016 and Assembla POrtfolio provides a framework for them to operate as if they are in the same room as their teammates and clients.

Online collaboration makes projects easier. Probably one of the biggest benefits is the ease of project reporting. Workers can submit completed tasks from a remote location without having to take an expensive business trip. It also makes oversight of projects easier for the managers in charge.

Virtual project completion is also said to increase customer satisfaction because of the ease of turning in completed projects without requiring travel. All finished work including artistic designs, code, research reports, and multimedia productions can be submitted in the platform. When a project is completed and accepted, its ownership can easily be transferred from agency to client.

Using online collaboration tools like Assembla is an upward trend that is gaining traction. Part of the reason is because virtual workers are 50 percent less likely to quit. Furthermore, people who work at home are said to be at least 13% more productive as reported by Stanford University and Ctrip. In addition, using cloud-based project management tools and remote teams can save businesses significant overhead expenses.

Why not find out what Assembla can do for you with a free trial today.

Onextrapixel – Web Design and Development Online Magazine

26 Sep

Less Click, More Touch – Extra Functionality of Long Websites

by TBSCategories: News

It seems that the minimalist approach cannot be applied to navigation patterns, since this integral part should always be all-embracing and universal. However, as practice shows, it is possible to hide it from prying eyes under the hamburger button, get rid of the scrollbar or any standard type of pagination, and leave users with nothing more than just tiny visual cues that show the direction.

Surprisingly, users will not get lost. They are much smarter than you think. For decades, we have been used to scrolling down to explore the project, more rarely to move horizontally or up. So that today we do not need extra signs or navigation aids, we intuitively know what to do. Developers of parallax-powered websites leverage this notion to make their websites more native and handy for touchscreen devices. They unify interfaces by ditching elements that would be useless in tablets and cell phones such as scroll bars or tiny controls and rely on our insight. Today we have rounded up 20 examples of long page websites that require more touching than clicking.

Touch or Scroll Navigation

We Are Top Secret

We are top secret goes for modest ways in terms of navigation. There is no obvious vertical scrolling or eye-catching arrow button that points down that as a rule sits on the bottom. There is just tiny lettering ‘scroll down’ that blends into the environment.

Fixed Group

Fixed Group has a fantastic website with the main navigation hidden under a hamburger button in the top left corner. There is an ultra-narrow arrow that gently invites readers to scroll down. The decorative effect of slight overlapping also forces users to move fingers up and down.

Giampiero Bodino

The website offers an excellent experience for touchscreen devices. The whole project is intended to be explored through th drag and drop technique or with your fingers. You can move both vertically and horizontally.

Lois Jeans

Lois Jeans boasts of a refreshing and vibrant design, the beauty of which lies in a skillfully executed chaotic appearance. There is a sticky top navigation bar that follows users while they are moving down. There is no traditional vertical slider, so that you need to use your fingers or the space bar for traveling around the project.

Think Less Love More

Think Less Love More is a cutting-edge project with mind-blowing interactivity. You do not have to traditionally move vertically or horizontally; you just need to go deep inside. There are two tiny buttons ‘zoom in’ and ‘zoom out’ for exploration. The mouse wheel or fingers will be the best choice for exploring.

Weltrade

Weltrade has a matchless landing page with a gorgeous, brutal atmosphere that is much more convenient to experience through touch screen devices. Relatively huge rhombus style buttons are ideal for the fingertips.

The Boat

The Boat offers a great visual storytelling experience that is filled with splendid illustrations. Like the majority of such types of projects, everything is driven by the scrolling effect. So that all you have to do is just move down. Notice, there are no indicators for the next chapters.

Well Storied

Well Storied employs round shapes to enhance navigation. It is much easier to hit such types of controls. There is no additional aid, only pins and graphics that help to lead you through the project.

Urban Walks

Although Urban Walks implies the standard navigation that is presented via a set of line style circles on the right side, it is more optional. Use your fingers to comfortably move around and find out more.

House of Borel

House of Borel gets rid of everything excessive and unnecessary, even including navigation. The landing page features the title, several CTAs, and a tiny animation. The latter indicates that to delve deep into the project you need to use your mouse or a finger.

Melanie F Lookbook

Melanie F Lookbook owes its matchless and refreshing appearance to gorgeous coloring, complementary graphics that are scattered throughout the page and an unbalanced layout. There is a primary menu, but there is no regular scroll bar on the right side, just a microscopic word ‘scroll’ and a thin line that points out the direction.

La Region des Musees

The website strongly relies on the visual impact produced by photos. There is a tiny menu button on the top and a small yet eye-catching outline diamond that shows the way.

Giacomorelli

Giacomorelli offers a quite interesting and memorable user experience. You can feel the whole power hidden in it with the help of your tablet or cell phone.

Born

Born breaks away from conventional long-page websites and removes vertical scrolling. Thanks to excellent contrast every foreground item strikes the eye. So that the small circular button with an arrow on the bottom specifies the direction without difficulty.

Nothing but Thieves

Nothing but Thieves has a dark yet captivating and engaging design. The way to move around is quite evident, just scroll down and you will find out everything. A tiny arrow shows you the way.

Planetary Scientist

Planetary Scientist implies that the user will navigate with a finger, space bar or mouse wheel since a set of tiny circles on the right side is quite difficult to interact with. There is also a line that is aimed to indicate a current position and an arrow that serves as a visual cue.

Shaker Brand

To not confuse online visitors, Shaker Brand does include a microscopic arrow button that serves as some kind of sign. There is no habitual scroll bar or pagination, just move right to the bottom and see what the team has prepared for you or hit the ghost button in the middle.

Relatos Salvajes

The website gently lures visitors into a pleasant storytelling adventure. Without an obvious control center and extra indicators you will get an opportunity to fully enjoy the project.

Brice Darmon

The Portfolio of Brice Darmon utilizes several accompanying effects that make shifting between sections a pleasant experience. It looks more natural and appropriate on tablets and cell phones where your fingers are in control.

Little Big Room

Little Big Room is based on a horizontal parallax effect. The portfolio should be explored with the help of arrow keys or just with the help of your fingers. There is no scroll bar. However there is a set of relatively huge circles that show your position.

Conclusion

Developers risk removing obvious visual cues that serve as navigation aids for online readers. They exclude scroll bars or pagination presented via circles or numbers, and provide greater freedom of action to online readers, leaving them just with their intuition and, as a rule, a tiny button that shows the direction. This elegant solution has proved to be efficient and intelligible.

Onextrapixel – Web Design and Development Online Magazine

26 Sep

Less Click, More Touch – Extra Functionality of Long Websites

by TBSCategories: News