Figure ground is a funny thing. In essence, it simply mean "forground and background" which should be pretty obvious to have. However, what its all about is how the forground and background of anything plays together, so that you as a designer can use the mechanics of this to your advange.

A lot of people think of figure ground as something that is only for visuals, but in reality, it is for everything that you design. So, sit down, and listen, learn and become smarter as we go through all of the things you should be aware of when designing and how to take advange of figure ground.

You will learn

• What Figure Ground is
• That figure ground is more than what the eye can see
• When do we learn it as humans
• Where can you use this when designing

This is the last episode of the season, but we are going to return in the fall with some brand new episodes.

Recently, I wanted a cup of coffee from a coffee machine. I put my cup roughly where I believed that the coffee would come out, I then pressed the coffee I wanted, and then waited.. and waited.. and waited.. then looked at the panel, and found out that it asked me "Are you sure you want coffee?" .. I clicked yes.. and 40 seconds later I had my coffee.

This is an example of poorly placed friction.

In this episode we are discussing the 3 categories of Friction

1. Interaction friction
2. Cognitive friction
3. Emotional friction

You wil learn what they are, and how to use them

Prototyping is the art of creating early models to test ideas, emotions, and processes. To make it easier we have split it into three main types:

1. Bassive prototypes (like mood boards or soundscapes),
2. Business prototypes (minimum viable products for market testing)
3. Interactive prototypes (hands-on user interactions).

On of the main benefits of Prototypes testing, is that you get earyl understanding and you can iterate and refine concepts before committing resources. Overall making the whole thing a bit cheaper to develop.

We also talk about seeking truth in feedback, where one easy method is asking what to change and why.

Data collected through prototyping becomes valuable only when analyzed and understood.

Prototypes save time, validate ideas, and turn creative concepts into polished, functional designs.

In this episode you will learn

• What a prototype is, and what different flavours they come in
• When and what to use prototypes on
• How to listen to feedback and understand
• How to collect and use data

Resources

The lean startup - Eric Ries (yep, I looked it up :) )

How to win friends and influence people - Dale Carnegie