#WebDesign Archives

What Makes An E-Commerce Sites Successful?

Posted on 12/06/2021 by Tushar

When it comes to selling online, the user experience is just as important as the products you stock and the prices you charge. If you want your eCommerce sites to meet user expectations and compete with your rivals, there are certain features which it has to have. Features that make shopping quicker, easier, safer and more convenient are, therefore, essential for today’s eCommerce sites. Here, we’ll look at what they are.

1. Clear menus

People visit eCommerce stores looking for specific items and one of the main ways they do this is through the menu. This is where they’ll expect to see the main product categories and their subcategories. Get the menu right and finding the right link will be quick and easy; get it wrong and the visitor will give up searching, perhaps so irritated by the menu that they never visit the site again.

Making the menu work on an eCommerce site, especially one selling a large variety of products, can be a challenge. You need to put it in the most convenient place, choose the right design and configure it to display in a way that customers can find what they want easily. There will also be a need to consider the titles for each category as this can be useful not just for SEO but for making sure you are using the same terms that a visitor would use.

You may also have to consider how you structure the actual website as a subcategory or individual product may need to be included in more than one main category. A pair of trainers, for example, might need putting in both sports and casual footwear categories.

2. Filtering search

Some users prefer using a search bar to the menu and a good website will make sure this preference is catered for. Indeed, search bars and filters are one of the most useful features on any store, enabling the visitor to type in the kind of product they are looking for and then filter the results to find the best one.

Today, there is a selection of plugins and add-ons that will provide this function, letting customers narrow down the range of products displayed by filtering attributes such as brand, price, colour, size, weight, age, condition, etc.

These features are found on many websites, usually with the search bar at the top and the filters at the left. As this has become the expected norm when visiting an eCommerce store, it’s a good idea to use the same layout on your site so that visitors are instantly familiar with how it works.

3. Product appropriate visuals

As shoppers cannot see the actual product, the images you display play a vital role in helping them decide. For many types of product, however, a single image won’t cut the mustard. While one photo might be ideal for a tin of beans on a supermarket store, for other products you may need to provide much more.

If you sell clothing, for example, customers will want a 360-degree view and the ability to zoom in and see fabric, stitching and pattern details. If you sell white goods, electrical items and similar, people often want to see videos that show them how the product is used. Other products may require images that give instructions, such as an illustration of how a device you’re selling is easily connected to a home wi-fi network.

4. FAQs

Customers may love your products and prices but if they can’t get an answer to a question, they’ll shop elsewhere. FAQ sections are essential because they allow you to answer those frequently asked questions that are key to helping customers make a purchasing decision.

For eCommerce sites, there are two types of FAQs you need to display: those for specific products and those relating to the services your business offers. The ones relating to the products need to be on the product page and the ones relating to the business, e.g. questions about delivery and returns, need to go on a dedicated FAQ page that is clearly linked to on all pages, such as in the footer.

Sites like Amazon, which have so many products that it would be impractical to write FAQs for all of them, get around this by enabling previous customers to answer questions posed by others.

5. Product recommendations

Personalised shopping is one of the most effective ways to improve the user experience and generate more sales. More advanced sites, like Amazon, use artificial intelligence powered product recommendation engines that analyse individual user behaviour to recommend products a customer is more likely to want. This type of technology is becoming increasingly more available and there are even WordPress plugins that provide it.

For visitors who are not logged in, other features, like ‘related products’, can help them find better items or even entice them to buy additional goods.

6. Mobile-first site

Mobile shopping is the fastest growing area of UK retail and over the next four years will be worth over £30 billion and account for 40% of all UK internet spending. More customers will visit your site from mobiles and will expect your site to be optimised to work on their device. If it does not, they’ll quickly go elsewhere.

Catering for today’s mobile users means going beyond using a responsive theme and making sure that when you develop your site, you use a mobile-first approach: i.e. you prioritise how the design will work for mobile users.

7. Trust, security and reputation

Trust, security and reputation are vital attributes when trying to convince visitors that your website is the best place to make a purchase. Vital features of such websites include making it easy for customers to get in touch by displaying addresses, phone numbers and contact details; installing an SSL certificate which encrypts users’ payment details and provides your site with the secure padlock icon on browsers; and reviews on sites like Trustpilot, which let new customers see independent and verifiable feedback from those who have purchased from your store in the past. Together, these provide customers with the confidence that your store is trustworthy, secure and has a track record for delivering great service.

Conclusion

E-Commerce stores are upping their game to meet the high expectations of the modern consumer and to ensure they provide a great user experience. The seven features mentioned here will help your website achieve these goals and make sure that your business remains competitive in today’s marketplace.

Top 6 Reasons to Choose Vue.js for Web UI Development

Posted on 07/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

“Design is the silent ambassador of your business”.

Not long ago, brands and developers were magnetized to the latest technologies and functionalities. They used to introduce all the latest elements into their app development process to give a one-stop shop experience to their users.

But, they failed most of the time.

It was then they realized that they were missing a core element, i.e, app design. They were overlooking the importance of UI/UX design while building an application. And thus, lowering down their chances to touch the hearts of the audience.

Now, coming back to the present, almost every business and brands is now focusing on creating an intuitive UI design and introducing the right interactive elements. They are also considering the latest mobile app UI trends while planning their app’s look and feel.

However, some of the questions they are still struggling with is – Which JavaScript framework to pick for developing their web app UI? Should they go with Vue.js for UI web development or pick some other?

Considering the importance of tech stack on the success rate of app, I will disclose here some of the factors why going with Vue is an ideal solution.

But first, let’s have a quick recap of what is Vue.js.

Vue.js – A Brief Introduction

Designed by Evan You in 2014, Vue.js is an open-source MVVM (Model-View-Viewmodel) JavaScript framework used to create UIs and single-page applications. Its latest version is Vue.js 2.6 and it is the second most loved framework as per Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2019

The framework offers a complete set of features that makes it easier for business enthusiasts and developers to enter the UI world.

Characteristics of Vue.js

1. Virtual DOM

Vue.js operates using Virtual DOM. Meaning, any changes made while developing won’t be reflected directly on the DOM. Instead, a replica of the DOM is created which is usually present in the form of JS data structures.

This let developers experiment their design and see the changes in the UI design while having a scope of undo everything in a cost-effective manner. Something that makes it winner of Vue.js vs Angular war.

2. Data Binding

This feature of Vue enables developers to easily set values to HTML attributes, modify the style, and more using the binding directing called v-bind.

3. Animation/Transition

Vue.js also provides developers with multiple ways to implement transition to HTML elements when adding/updating something from the DOM. It also provides the option to add third-party animated libraries to the environment and build more interactive user interfaces.

4. Templates

Vue.js framework delivers a HTML-based template that binds DOM with the Vue instance data. It compiles templates into Virtual DOM render functionality, which simplifies the tasks of User Interface development.

5. Computed Properties

Last but not least, Computed properties is also one of the core functionalities of Vue.js. It encourages designers and developers to attend to the changes made to the UI elements and make required calculations. There’s no demand for additional coding anymore.

Now as you know what is Vue.js and what are its main features, let’s look into the brands which have embraced this JavaScript framework into their tech stack. And then move to reasons why you should prefer Vue.js for UI web development.

Popular brands trusting Vue.js for their development needs

Now as you know which companies use Vue.js, let’s move to the reasons that makes developers pick Vue.js for UI Web development.

Reasons Why to Choose Vue.js for Web UI Development

1. Small App Size

The foremost reason to use Vue.js for their application needs is that it is of 18-21Kb of size. However, despite the small size, it offers high speed, something that makes it easier for the framework to lead in the Vue vs Ember battle.

This, as a whole, encourages developers to pick Vue JavaScript framework for both small and large scale app projects.

2. Ease of Learning

Vue.js framework has a simple structure. This makes the learning curve of Vue less steep and thus, makes it easier for anyone to trace and eliminate errors in the coding environment and develop both small and large scale templates quickly. This is the prime reason why is Vue getting momentum in mobile market.

3. Higher Performance

Another pros of Vue.js for development is that it avails higher performance. And the reason behind is that it not works with Virtual DOM, but also pay more attention to the shortcomings. It also comes with the ability to manage high frame rate.

A result of which is that it provides better performance that React, when talking about Vue.js vs React.js.

4. Simple Integration

Since it is based on JavaScript, it can be easily integrated with any existing application where integrating JS is possible. This helps developers create app with Vue.js from scratch as well as introduce Vue.js elements into their existing apps.

5. Flexibility

Another advantage of going with Vue.js for UI web development needs is flexibility.

The framework enables every reputed app development company. to write templates in HTML and JavaScript and run them directly on different browsers.

6. Enhanced Documentation

Last but not least, Vue.js UI framework comes with a well-defined documentation that aids developers to understand the requisite mechanisms and build their own application effortlessly.

Now as you know why choose Vue.js for your UI web development needs, it is likely that you wish to contact the best UI developers.

But, wait.

Before you bring the team on board and step into the UI development with Vue, it is good to be familiar with Vue UI libraries that will bring more profits in the future.

So, taking the same thought into consideration, let’s wrap up this article with a list of prominent Vue UI frameworks and component libraries to consider in 2020 for UI development.

Top 12 Vue.js UI libraries to consider in 2020

1. Vuetify

The foremost UI library that you should look out for your app needs in 2020 is Vuetify.

Vuetify provides developers with 82+ components, server side rendering support, premium themes, and business and enterprise support. Also, it is implemented using the Google Material Design guidelines and offer support to different browsers like Safari 9+ and IE11. This encourages developers to consider Vuetify for their UI app project.

2. Element

Created by Chinese, Element is a Vue.js based UI toolkit for web.

The library, with 350+ contributors, provides developers with a complete selection of customizable components alongside a full style-guide. It is specifically used to build desktop and mobile app with Vue.js. However, it is not responsive in nature.

Also, it offers a version for React and Angular. This makes developers more inclined towards this UI development library for their project.

3. Vue Material

Another VUI-based UI web development components you can rely on in 2020 is Vue Material.

It serves UI/UX designers with different resources like upgraded webpack SPA, single HTML file for easier setup, a universal application with Nuxt.js for SSR, and more. However, it is required that professionals have a basic knowledge of JavaScript, Vue.js, and Vue Router to build engaging UI solutions.

4. Quasar Framework

Quasar is one of the most-mentioned frontend development frameworks for creating responsive sites, electron apps, and hybrid mobile applications.

Some of the features that are behind this popularity are:-

Cache busting,
HTML/CSS/JS minification,
Sourcemapping,
Tree shaking,
Code-splitting and lazy loading,
Linting,
ES6 transpiling, and
Out-of-the-box accessibility.

5. Buefy

Buefy is also one of the finest development tools to consider for your app project.

It is basically a lightweight UI library based on Bulma, a CSS framework. The library holds various similarities with SASS and even avails a large number of ready-made components. This makes it easier for developers to start their beginner-level project. However, it is not a right fit for a large-scale project, provided the elements are limited.

6. Bootstrap Vue

Blending together the power of Vue and Bootstrap – a popular CSS library, Bootstrap Vue has also become one of the UX/UI developers’ favorite tools.

The UI library provides a vast range of Vue.js UI components that are compatible with the WAI-ARIA guidelines for web accessibility. This makes it perfect to build a responsive and mobile-friend project easily and quickly.

Additionally, it has a robust community support and a comprehensive documentation that makes it safe for anyone to step into the UI development.

7. iView

iView is a high-end UI library that caters the needs of designers with ample of UI components and widgets, offline documentation, command line interface (CLI) tool called iView-CLI, and more.

If you are planning to step into the UI web development arena using this library, this starter kit will help.

8. Muse – UI

Muse-UI is a Vue 2.0 based Material Design library that will gain momentum in 2020 too.

It is easy to install and use, and serve designers with around 40 Vue.js UI components and themes that offers higher customization possibility.

9. Vuikit

Vuikit is another responsive library preferred by developers for Vue UI web development.

This library is created as a ‘monorepo’ governed by Yarn workspaces. It keeps icons and themes published as distinct packages, and delivers a clean and consistent design.

10. Mint UI

Mint UI is a light-weight mobile UI library comprising of JS and CSS elements to introduce in your app development plan.

It is a chinese project, but comes with a well-translated broad documentation. This makes it easier for UI developers to employ it in their mobile application development plan.

Here’s a demo that will give you a better understanding of how to implement it into your app.

11. VuePress

Another Vue.js UI web development library that you can opt in 2020 is VuePress.

It is primarily a minimalistic, Vue-backed static site generator, but can also be considered for introducing dynamic Vue components in normal pages and posts.

Here, each created page has pre-rendered and static HTML components after which Vue combines all the static content to form a single-page application.

12. Ant Design Vue

Last but not least, Ant Design Vue is yet another UI library that you can watch out for while planning your next app project.

The library is a good choice for development when you wish to build an enterprise-class UI design, share Ant Design of React design resources, and introduce a set of high-quality Vue components. But, one has to first ensure that Node.js 9 or above are already installed on your device.

Outsourcing App Development? Here’s how!

Posted on 13/05/2021 by Anteelo Master

App Development

Maybe you have a great idea for a stand-alone app, or that you’ve decided your existing business could use one. Either way, there’s a big difference between having an idea and seeing it through, especially when it comes to mobile apps.

App development is not a simple process. A successful app must perform a useful function, boast appealing design features, and be easy for users to navigate. Understanding these goals is easy; achieving them is not.

If you don’t have much experience in technical design, it’s often smart to outsource your app development project to a web design firm. While you could hire people on a full-time basis, this poses a significant risk: You can’t be completely certain that your app will excite users. If it fails, you’ll be stuck with a department that’s of little use to you, and will cost significant money.

Better to collaborate with professionals who have a track record of delivering quality products to their clients. However, in order to find the right web design firm for your needs–and to ensure that you meet your goals–it’s important to keep certain, key points in mind.

Prepare Thoroughly

When you’re enthusiastic about a new app idea, it’s easy to forget that not everyone will share your vision exactly how you imagine it. You may have detailed plans for how the finished product will look and what it will do, but if you don’t effectively communicate those details to the people actually involved in creating it, there’s a good chance that you’ll wind up with something that misses the mark.

Before meeting with a web design agency, prepare thoroughly. Determine exactly what your app will offer users. If it resembles other popular apps, elaborate on the similarities and how you plan on differentiating.

When you plan to outsource your app development needs, it’s essential that your goals are made clear to the developers. You should also decide whether or not you want the app to be available on iOS, Android, Windows, etc. early on in the process, so you’re not stuck with a team that can’t accommodate your plans.

With the app market as highly competitive as it is currently, it is best to have your app function across multiple platforms. Try to source a development team that has expertise across more than just iOS, and have them show you how each platform will perform to meet your goals.

Establish Timelines & Communication Procedures

If you don’t know much about developing an app, you probably don’t know how long the process generally takes. Save yourself any confusion be establishing milestones and timelines with the team you hire for the job.

Agree upon communication procedures. Even though you won’t be actively working on the project, it’s still yours, and you should be kept in the loop. Know when and how you can reach out to the vendor for updates.

Using a collaborative, organization software can come in handy here or virtual communication methods (e.g. Skype). Whatever the method you choose, make sure it’s easy for you to communicate with each team member throughout the process, and be able to keep track of development goals.

Stay Involved

When you outsource your app development work to a web design firm, you’re most likely not going to participate on a day-to-day basis. That said, along with project milestone timelines, you should put in place timelines for reviewing and testing the product at various stages in its development. This is necessary to confirm that certain key features work properly before moving forward to the next stage in the process.

During these review sessions, you should be involved, especially as the developers get closer to finishing the work. Sometimes, a potentially groundbreaking app fails because issues or problems got overlooked due to lax review processes. You want the opportunity to address these types of issues early.

Be Understood

Just as you may not know a lot about app development, it’s also likely that the team you hire doesn’t know a lot about your business. However, if they’re developing an app related to your brand, it’s important that they have a reasonable familiarity with it.

When considering which design agency to hire, pay attention to how clearly they seem to understand your industry. There are a number of ways to do this: You could seek out development teams that have created similar apps before. You can deliver a thorough presentation explaining the field in as much detail as possible. Or you could simply pay attention to the questions they ask when discussing your project; if they’re truly comfortable with your industry, they’ll often ask the types of questions people in that vertical would ask.

Review Previous Work

When you hire a contractor to paint your house or remodel your kitchen, you look at examples of past work to determine if they’re right for the job. It’s the same with app development.

After you’ve decided upon a list of potential candidates for the project, find out what apps they’ve created in the past and spend some time using them. Ideally, you should find apps that are reasonable similar to the one you’re planning.

Many vendors can tell a good story about their experienced programmers and dedicated approach to customer satisfaction. The ones worth your attention can also supply you with proof that they’ve delivered quality results in the past.

A good place to start are the case studies listed on a developer’s website or profile. Delve into these to really gauge what they’re capable of, and how their past experience can apply to you.

This is an especially important point to remember if you have very little experience or familiarity with the process of developing an app. In order to confirm that your design team understands your thinking and knows how to execute on a concept, it’s useful to test out other apps they’ve developed. This will give you a better idea of how their products work when they’re actually completed.

Outsourcing app development to a software design firm is frequently a better choice than sourcing in-house. In order to get the best results, you need to take the time to properly vet the developers.

Once you have, you also need to remain involved to some degree. While they’ll handle the details, you’re still the one whose vision fueled the project in the first place. With a collaborative approach, you’ll boost your odds of success.

Responsive Web Design : Let’s peek in

Posted on 13/05/202114/05/2021 by Anteelo Master

Tablet and smartphone use is growing rapidly. This means that there is a huge paradigm shift in web design, and for digital agencies focused on keeping up-to-date with web design and development practices, there is a need to adapt to the growth in mobile website traffic. Mobile websites need to look, and function, just as efficiently as desktop websites.

Prior to the birth of modern responsive web design techniques, designers needed to create several different versions of a website and code each specifically for different web browser sizes. For example, creating a separate file of code that applies to Nexus tablet browser sizes, a separate file of code that applies to iPhone browser sizes, a separate file of code that applies to iMac Desktop browser sizes, and so on.

Additionally, since there are several different browsers — Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, etc.– it is necessary to design according to the levels of code support each browser offers. This requires the designer to create several design prototypes, developers to code all of those different designs, and the client to pay that much more per version. With the number of devices and browsers that currently exist, you can see how time-consuming and costly this ended up being. This is where responsive web design comes into play.

RESPONDING TO YOUR VISUAL NEEDS

Responsive web design (RWD) allows designers and developers to carry out multiple design styles with just one set of code. When coding a website, a developer creates one set of code that applies across different window sizes and browsers. In order to create this type of coding scheme, the developer has to make sure, among other thing, that all images and media are flexible, the columns or tables are movable, and elements can be hidden. The developer is able to achieve this by using dynamic sizing, specific CSS styles, and media queries.

When viewing the website on your desktop or PC, you can make the browser window bigger and smaller to see how the content changes in size and layout depending on the dimensions of the window. Also, if you view either site on your smartphone or tablet, the content will display differently as well. For a better understanding of RWD in action, a great working example to refer to is The Next Web’s site.

On the desktop version of The Next Web’s site, as shown in the image above, the content is spread out based on the amount of space it has to use. The screen size for this is 1280 x 1024, which is the average screen size of a laptop.

When viewing the site on a tablet, which has an average screen dimension of 1024 x 768, the content shifts according to the amount of space it has. The content still looks great, is very user friendly, and the shifted design eliminates the margins of blank space that you could see on bigger screens.

Thanks to responsive web design, when viewing this site on mobile, which has an average screen dimension of 320 x 480, all of the content can still be displayed in an orderly fashion. While the content is mostly all the same, it’s optimized to look aesthetically pleasing, no matter what you’re using to view it.

As each day goes by, technology evolves to make our lives more efficient and easier. As web developers, designers, or even strategists, we need to make it a point to keep track of all of the major changes that are happening with technology, and adapt to them to provide the user with the best possible web experience.

Responsive web design is one of the latest, and most important, design changes that is buzzing through the developing world and making cross-platform browsing seamless and beautiful.

UX Designer Role and Duties

Posted on 19/04/202131/05/2021 by Anteelo Master

The UX designer role occupies an exciting place in businesses today. In today’s marketplace, the customer is the KING! Every business needs to ensure that its customers are having the time of their lives with their products and services. The User-Experience domain is continuously climbing up on the ladder of priority of organizations. This has given the UX designer role a very prominent place in the industry. It has become one of the most sought-after jobs and has opened the gates of enormous scope for anybody who can shine in this niche. However, the definition of how a UX Designer should be like differs from company to company as each of them has different requirements and different customer bases. Nonetheless, the primary aim of a User Experience Designer is to ensure that the customer is not just satisfied but delighted with their services/products. They work towards improving the overall experience of the customer with the brand. It comprises of improvements like making the product more intriguing, engaging, and user-friendly. User-Experience designers think from the perspective of the customer to create the finest UX and solve any problems that a customer might face will indulging with the brand. Although the expectations from a UX Designer can vary from company to company, the general duties of the UX Designer include the following:

User Experience Designer Role:

Generally, the duties of a User Experience Designer includes the following:

1. Finding Innovative Ways To Solve Common UX Problems

A good UX designer is expected to think and move as a user would. He is responsible for figuring out the general issues that a user might face while using the product or indulging with an app. For instance, if the font is too small on your website or if the sign-up process of your mobile application is just too long and tedious. All these parameters come under the UX Designer role.

2. Product testing

A very crucial part of a UX designer’s job is to test various products to see how they are working with the users. A UX designer can conduct multiple surveys, interviews, usability tests, or take thorough feedback from the customers regarding their experience with the products/services and then gather the data and analyze it accordingly. The whole process of being with the users while they use your products creates a better sense of understanding and gives an in-depth knowledge of the customers’ experience with the product.

3. Conducting Comprehensive Product Research

This step is the most initial one while beginning a project. Detailed product research makes a firm ground for the designers to start building their projects and avoid assumptions and work with more factual data. This research enables designers to understand exactly what a user is looking for. It provides them with information about market requirements, customer expectations, and customer behaviour. It helps UX Designers to fathom industry models and perceive prospects for the product/service in a given region. It additionally boosts the planning and prioritizing of various parts of the products.

4. Describing Information Architecture

The primary task involved with Information Architecture is organizing the data and information athwart the product in a way that enhances the whole user experience. They ensure that the information is displayed across the product in a manner that is easily comprehended by the users. IA is the development of a framework for an application, site, or whatever that product/service that empowers users to know where they are on a site or an application, and data about the present location the user is. IA brings about the formation of routes, arrangements, and hierarchies.

5. Wireframing

Wireframing is essentially a mock display of how the final product will look like. This strategy is very crucial to envision the product design and augmenting the entire UX. Wireframes depict each and every phase of the product and give comprehensive information about what a user might go through while interacting with the product. It provides an upper hand to the brand as it can figure out the drawbacks without actually presenting the product to the users. It saves time and maintains the brand’s reputation. However, wireframes are not used for actual product testing.

6. Designing

UX designers sketch the item’s plan dependent on the persona made toward the finish of exploring the target client. In this stage, the UX designer structures the substance per the situations/scenarios. Scenarios are narrative methods for speaking to the client’s excursion or a day in their life. They clarify how the item (regularly a site or application) fits into the client’s life. It is essential for a UX designer to precisely consider every phase of the client venture. In such a manner, UX designers regularly utilize the design practice of information architecture.

7. Testing

At this stage, UX designers find out about any issues that may emerge when clients connect with the product/services. Product testing might be as straightforward as observing clients or it might incorporate complex test strategies, for example, exhibiting differing renditions of the product to realize which performs the best. Designers may likewise conduct overviews and polls. Additionally, UX designers may talk with clients on the off chance that they recognize issue territories. The least difficult of all the client testing techniques is watching clients while they connect with the product/services.

8. Implementation

On the off chance that you’ve not had a lot of experience working with web developers, at that point, it’s critical to think about this pivotal part of the job. During implementation, you will be working personally with engineers to arrive at your ultimate objective for a venture. The engineers will be striving to change your thoughts and ideas into a genuine, working website; how you approach this relationship will decide the achievement or disappointment of your task. Keeping your engineers tuned in all through the procedure will make this last stage simpler for everybody included; you as the UX designer will have realistic expectations of what the developers can deliver (and in what time period) and the designers won’t get any terrible stuns ultimately.

A UX designer is answerable for this whole procedure, and its execution. In any case, bigger organizations will segregate this task into a couple of smaller jobs so that that attention is not divided.

Conclusion

UX Designing is a very vivid field as it does not just cover developing a product or selling it; it involves the through-out journey of a user with the brand. A different approach to the UX Designer role is to ensure that when a user uses the services/products, each component should be efficiently optimized and emerge as extremely easy-to-use and very practical. A company depends on its users, and ensuring that they have a pleasant experience is a serious business. Being a multidisciplinary field, UX Designing has an extensive scope. UX designers come from diverse backgrounds like psychology, engineering, designing, and even hospitality. To structure for human clients also implies that you need to work with an elevated degree of responsibility in regards to as inclusive as possible and consider the limitations and expectations of the masses. A User Experience (UX) Designer must have a solid comprehension of user conduct and business objectives and must be equipped for a wide assortment of aptitudes, going from psychology to structure and innovation. Even though UX designing is a field that feels essential to product improvement, its inherent capacity stays unidentified to numerous in light of its relative freshness.

A tour to Web Application Security Testing

Posted on 13/03/202127/05/2021 by Anteelo Master

What is Web Application Security Testing?

Applications are the most favorable medium for cybercriminals who seek to steal data or breach user’s security defenses. Being available 24/7 to users, web applications hold high chances of becoming a target for hackers trying to seek access to the confidential back-end data. According to the cybersecurity research, there were more than 3,800 publicly disclosed data breaches, exposing 4.1 billion compromised records. A huge amount of data is stored in web applications. With the increasing number of transactions taking place on websites lately, the need for comprehensive web application security testing must be considered a mandatory step.

But what actually the term ‘Web Application Security Testing’ means? Basically, it is the process of checking the security of confidential data from being exposed to unauthorized individuals or entities. The purpose of this security testing is to ensure that the functionality of the website is not being misused or altered by any user. Apart from that, it also ensures that no user holds the authority to deny the functionality of the website to other users.

In order to have the best web application security practices, it is important to have knowledge of the following main key terms:

Vulnerability

A flaw, weakness or misconfiguration in a web-based application code that empowers attackers to gain a certain level of control of the website or possibly over the hosting server.

Website Spoofing

Act of creating a hoax website to mislead users or target audience of the authenticated website for fraudulent intent.

URL Manipulation

The act of altering or manipulating information in the URL to get access to the confidential information and this information is passed on through the query string.

SQL injection

A computer attack in which malicious code is inserted in a weakly-designed web application and is then passed on to the backend database. As a result, malicious data produces a confidential database query result.

XSS (Cross-Site-Scripting)

A security breach where the malicious scripts are injected into the otherwise trusted websites. This attack occurs when a cyber-attacker uses a web application to send malicious code to different end-user in the form of a browser-side script.

Types of Web Application Security Testing

When it comes to web application security, there are more than one standard ways to perform:

1. Vulnerability Assessment

Done through automated software, this type of testing is performed to scan web applications against known vulnerability signatures. It is the process of identifying and prioritizing vulnerabilities in the web application whereas it provides the knowledge, awareness, and risk background check which is necessary to understand.

2. Dynamic Application Security Test

This automated application security test includes dynamic scanning of a live running web application for analyzing the common vulnerabilities which are susceptible to attack. This process of dynamic vulnerability scanning requires a proper set up of the OWASP ZAP testing standard.

3. Static Application Security Test

SAST solutions analyze the web application from “inside out” in a static form. Under this security application approach, both manual and automated testing techniques are involved. It is helpful in identifying bugs without requiring to execute applications in a production environment. Also, Static Application Security Testing, developers can scan the source code to systematically identify and eliminate existing application security vulnerabilities.

4. Penetration Test

Penetration testing or ethical hacking is the practice of testing web application security in order to identify the security vulnerabilities that can be easily exploited by attackers. It can be performed either automatically or manually. This security testing is best for critical web applications and especially for those that are undergoing major alterations.

5. Runtime Application Self Protection

Under this approach, various techniques are applied to instrument a web application to detect and block attacks in real-time. When an application runs live, RASP ensures to protect it from malicious input or behavior by inspecting the app’s performance behavior.

Does Web App Security Testing Help in Reducing the Organization’s Risk?

Every organization has got either one or multiple website applications, which eventually become the scope of potential data and security exploitation on an extremely broad level. Moreover, with developers working day and night on introducing the latest technology and frameworks with the code deployed, they often fail to think of security as a priority.

Any organization’s web application in today’s date can be easily affected by a wide array of security issues. Cyber attacks like SQL injection, Remote Command Execution, Path Traversal, and XSS can lead to harmful results like access to restricted content, installation of malicious code, compromised user accounts, loss of customer trust, damaged brand reputation and much more.

Knowing that such attacks not only make web applications vulnerable but also lead to potential damage to the security, best web application security practices offer to preemptively address the security vulnerabilities and take action against them accordingly.

On the other hand, users now are becoming more aware of securing their data and therefore will trust secured web applications with their personal records and financial details, so it is up to the organization to provide them with robust security.

Therefore, continuous security testing is highly crucial for regularly running web applications in order to mitigate potential vulnerabilities by fixing and improving security. As more secure the web application is, better will be the brand reputation of an organization.

Always remember that web application is 100% secure and it takes only one small vulnerability for a hacker to exploit everything that comes in its reach. With web application security testing tools, one can minimize cyber risks and can have the full trust of customers.

UX Designer vs UI Designer vs Web Designer

Posted on 16/01/202124/05/2021 by Anteelo Master

To the laymen, digital design can be a puzzling world of systems, acronyms, and programs. Web creation is not just about making a landing page and adding content anymore but a complex world of coding for site function and protection. It is also a fun and artistic adventure to create something visually alluring. If you combine this with the psychology behind all the systems of a webpage, and you have the basics of web development. Sounds simple enough, right? Not for everyone. The software industry has skyrocketed, and many people are still trying to understand key differences in standard terms. Terms like UI design, web design, and UX design are often thrown around and are incorrectly interchanged. However, following the aim of each tool is as simple as knowing the various parts of a house. Web design is the base or the foundation, UI design is the architecture, and the UX design is the electric, plumbing, and other wiring needed. Before we get into defining these terms, we can say there can be a lot of overlap between them. UX, UI, and Web Designer difference is nothing but a fine line but can have great impacts on your project. However, to excel in any of them, you must have a comprehensive knowledge of all three of them.

UX, UI, and Web Designer differences:

Web Designer	UX Designer	UI Designer
A web designer is a professional who generates content for a website following the latest trends. They are responsible for designing the layout of the website, along with its aesthetics, utility, and functionality.	UX is the abbreviation for User Experience. It brings in creativity. A UX designer handles the whole procedure of obtaining and coordinating a product, including parts of marking, development, convenience, and utility. It is a process that starts before the product reaches the customer.	UI stands for User Experience. A UI Designer is responsible for creating the interfaces between the user and the product and ensure that the interaction between the customer and the product is a seamless one.
The role of the web designer is to compile everything, including the UI and UX, and turn it into a highly-functional and efficient website that people can easily interact with using their smartphones or computers. A web designer might emphasize more of the aesthetics of the site rather than how a user might deal with it.	UX design is all about having a deep understanding of the customer, which includes their preferences, behaviors, habits, requirements, and feelings. UX designers must comprehensively understand the issue along with the client whom they are working for so as to design an optimal and streamlined solution.	The UI design is the complement of UX Design. UI designers work on the point of interaction between the user and the service/device and try to improvise the product in a way that is user-friendly and adds value to the users. UI designers work on the look, design, and especially the feel of the product.
A web designer must have in-depth knowledge of programming languages like HTML and CSS, Scripting languages like JavaScript and PHP, web designing packages like Flash, Photoshop, etc.	A good UX designer is expected to have fluent communication, agile and lean development skills, rapid prototyping, revising skills, crowdsourced designing, and relevant soft skills.	In contrary to UX designers, UI designers are in charge of making UX designers’ dreams a reality. Numerous UI designers have a decent comprehension of front-end development along with some coding abilities.
Contemporary Web designers are usually modern era graphic designers trained in visual design to be experts in: Color theory Creative conceptualization Diagrams Interactivity, rollovers, drop-down menus, digital slideshows, call-to-action-buttons, and forms. Icon development Info-graphics Typography	A UX Designer plays a very crucial role in an organization. They have to make sure that a customer is having a good time with the brand. They primarily focus on: Understanding user psychology Comprehending product specification Finalizing the right interaction model Create personas through user surveys Collaborate with UI designers to create attractive and useful designs	A UI designer primarily focuses on: • Color and typeface choices. • Designing the monotonous but necessary stuff: buttons, icons, sliders, and scrollbars. • Forming a style guide for the app or website to ensure consistency for the user. • Responsive designing • The interactive parts • The layout of each screen
Website designers might be visual designers or engineers who have built enough aptitudes to make beautiful and aesthetic websites or applications. Website designers do not tend to adopt the human-focused strategy of UX design. Most website designers don’t dive as deep to consider every element that a UX designer remembers. A website designer will, in general, be less iterative, while UX design is tied in with coordinating persistent enhancements by interacting with users.	UX applies to whatever that can be experienced—be it a site, a cup of tea, or a visit to the supermarket. The “client experience” part alludes to the connection between the client and service or product. UX structure, at that point, considers all the various components that shape this experience. A UX designer considers how the experience makes the client feel and how simple it is for the client to achieve their ideal errands.	UI design is simply a digital approach. It considers all the visual, intuitive components of a product interface—including buttons, symbols, checkboxes, typography, color scheme, and responsive design. The objective of UI design is to outwardly guide the client through an item’s interface. It’s tied in with making an intuitive encounter that doesn’t require the user to think excessively! UI design delivers the brand’s qualities and visual resources for a product’s interface, ensuring the design is predictable, intelligible, and tastefully satisfying.

CONCLUSION

So a UX designer chooses how the UI functions while the UI designer chooses how the UI looks, and the web designer puts it all together into a cutting-edge website. This is a community-oriented procedure, and these three domains will, in general, work intently together. While the UX group is working on the flow of the application, how buttons guide you through your website, and how the interface effectively presents the data that the client’s need, the UI group is chipping away at how these interface components will show up on the screen and the web designers are integrating it all.

If Web Design is the umbrella, then UX and UI design are specialties and focuses on it. Anyone who regards themselves as a web designer should be well-versed in UX and UI. These terms are also industry-specific. Startups and tech companies mostly hire specifically for UI/UX roles. Every so often, a UX role will focus more on research and information architecture. Occasionally, a UI role will include UX. Sometimes, companies are looking for a web designer who can do it all. It’s all a bit of a mess unless the aim is precise. Whichever direction you take, it’s vital to remember that design is not just about making things look pretty, but it’s about problem-solving communication and people.

Simple Principles for Creating Better Designs

Posted on 09/09/202010/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

After countless tiring discussions, intense debates, exchange of verbal volleys and people yelling things in design standups like –

Huh…Whatya mean by the button should be smaller?
Have you heard of the word? hmm..whatyamacall it – hmm… consistency!
Step away from the design please…
What on the earth is wrong with using Lorem Ipsum…I love those profound Latin words

I exaggerate but our design standups highlighted the difference in our group’s design philosophies and what we valued. It’s not that designs were bad but they weren’t following our core design principles.

What led to a more frustrating experience was that the feedback sometimes even didn’t highlight the context and someone would blurt, “It just doesn’t feel right”.

Someone would ask – “What do you mean that it doesn’t feel right?”

Followed by silence, scratching of one’s beard, intense gazing at the ceiling, and then silent shrugging of the shoulders.

They knew one of the things was wrong with the design in discussion – lack of consistency or complexity or any such thing but they weren’t able to verbalize it well.

It was turning out to be a big problem – how do you lead effective design feedback standups without having a common language?

That led to the codification of our design principles to create a shared understanding of our design approach and what we value as a team. These principles enable us to have a common design philosophy and approach. It also facilitates in having meaningful conversations and giving each other valuable feedback about the design.

Not that our intense discussions have subsided but they have become more meaningful now

Reasons Home Improvement Service Firms Need a Website

Posted on 27/04/202016/06/2021 by Tushar

The home improvement service sector provides essential services to homeowners and landlords, covering everything from building and gardening to bathroom and kitchen installations. It’s a sector that includes interior design, decorating, window replacement, flooring installation and more. The demand for home improvement service also means that there is considerable competition, not just from other local companies but from national DIY chains that are adding design and installation to their retail services. This, together with the change in how consumers now shop for home improvements means its more important than ever for local suppliers to have a website. Here, we’ll explain why.

Online convenience

The reality of the modern market is that everyone looking for a home improvement service wants a convenient way to find it. This means they will begin by looking online. Some may find you in local printed directories or the classifieds, however, even if they do, they’ll want more information than the ad can deliver. The most convenient way to find out more is to visit your website and they will expect you to have one.

Having a website, first and foremost, means your business will appear in search results so more new customers can find you. From here, they can visit your site where they can easily access all the information they need to decide whether you are the right company for their project. Without a website, you make finding this information inconvenient, increasing the likelihood that customers will simply find a competitor that does provide that information.

An online showroom

Customers with home improvement projects want to be able to visualise the finished product and see the standard of installation work that your company can deliver. What’s more, they want to see this from the comfort of their own homes and before getting in touch.

A website enables you to provide a portfolio of your previous work and if you sell products like kitchens and bathrooms, a gallery of the items you offer. This will give them a clear idea of the standard of your services and the quality and design of your products. Such portfolios play a vital role in establishing leads with potential customers or in convincing them to visit your physical showroom.

Offer other online services

The modern website can do so much more than provide information about your products and services. There is now a multitude of website tools and add-ons that can be installed to provide exceptional customer experiences, such as price calculators, design and measurement tools and virtual tours of previous work. Indeed, virtual and augmented reality tools are increasingly used to help customers create the designs they want to achieve.

Customers also want the ability to book services online, such as reserving a slot for you to visit their homes or schedule the delivery of products. They also want the convenience of being able to pay online and have access to user accounts where they can see the progress of their order.

All these things can be achieved with a modern website. What’s more, they are available 24 hours a day, even when your physical business is closed, so that regardless of when a customer is looking, everything they need is always there.

These additional online services can make your business far more competitive in today’s market where 82% of consumers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience.

Build your company’s reputation

Online reputations play a critical role in purchasing decisions. Customers no longer take a company’s marketing at face value and will look to verify what they say by checking out reviews and asking for recommendations on social media.

The star ratings, reviews and recommendations you receive are solely down to what your previous customers think. However, many companies getting excellent feedback fail to take full advantage of it. Although they can be found on Google, Facebook and sites like Trustpilot, these independent reviews that have so much influence on customers can also be linked to and displayed directly on your website.

If you have great reviews, let your visitors know by displaying them prominently on your site and providing a link to the independent site where they can read them for themselves. Here’s what we display on our website.

Such a move can immediately put cautious customers at ease and ensure them that your company and the work it does is highly regarded by its previous and existing customers.

Dispelling myths about websites

Some of the reasons business owners don’t have a website include the expense of building and running a site and the belief that they need highly technical skills to run one. This, however, is definitely not the case.

A business domain name (e.g. yourbusiness.co.uk) can be registered for around £10 – £20 a year, web hosting can cost from just a few pounds a month and the software used by the vast majority of the world’s websites is free. Such software, like WordPress, has been created to be used by those with only basic computer skills. Indeed, building a professional website is no more difficult than creating a PowerPoint presentation.

What’s more, at eukhost, you’ll be able to install WordPress with a single click and our 24/7 technical support team, knowledgebase and customer forum provide all the help you need to overcome any challenges. Our cPanel control panel also means you’ll be easily able to carry out any website management tasks and even automate many of them.

Conclusion

In the digital economy of the 2020s, having a website is essential for home improvement service businesses that want to stay relevant to today’s consumers and remain competitive. Hopefully, the points raised here will have convinced you of the benefits of creating a site and shown you that doing so is not an overly difficult or expensive process.

What Are App Containers, and Do You Really need Them?

Posted on 20/04/202015/06/2021 by Tushar

App containers have helped transform the way companies run their software, but despite being around for almost a decade, for many people, the term ‘app container’ remains one of those obscure pieces of IT jargon. Here, we aim to give you a clear understanding of what app containers are, what they’re used for and whether they might be a solution that’s useful for your business.

What are app containers?

An app container is like any other form of container, it’s what you put something in to keep it separate from what’s around it and to move it from place to place. In IT, what you put in a container is software. The idea is that putting an application in a container prevents it from conflicting with other applications or not working properly when move to a different environment.

How are containers useful?

One of the biggest benefits of a container is that they enable the software within it to work independently from the environment in which they are located and this prevents issues from arriving when they are moved from one environment to another.

A typical example is an app developed using one version of an operating system (OS) and then moved to an environment with a different version. Without a container, the app might work flawlessly in development but when moved might hit problems that prevent it from working as expected. It’s not just operating systems that can have this effect, so too can programming languages, PHP versions, SSL libraries, network structure and various other differences.

A container prevents this from happening by placing the software in a self-contained environment of its own where it can be moved without issue. In other words, a container is a complete runtime environment for the software and contains all the other things it is dependent on to run. In a sense, it works like a submarine or a spacecraft, supporting the life inside regardless of what alien environments they travel to.

Additional benefits of containers

Virtualisation can be used as an alternative to containers as applications and their operating systems running on virtual machines can also be easily moved across different hardware. The key difference is that containerised applications usually require smaller storage, enabling a company to host more containers than virtual machines on a server. This can help reduce the costs of running applications in a cloud environment. Another advantage containers have over virtual machines is that they can be booted almost instantaneously, whereas a virtual machine takes several minutes.

From a development and management point of view, another benefit is that applications can be separated into their individual parts (microservices) and each of these placed in their own container, for example, the front-end in one container and the database in another. This approach is useful as it enables each microservice to be modified independently without the developer having to rewrite the entire software. It also means companies can save money as they don’t need to run the full application at all times. By providing instant availability, containers can be used to turn different microservices on and off as and when the application needs them.

A well-established technology

After almost a decade, containers have become an established part of the IT landscape and some prominent organisations are helping to develop them. The Open Container Project (OCP), run by the Linux Foundation, is the key initiative in the field, with the aim of standardising container formats and runtime software across different platforms so that they can benefit everyone. In addition, this open-source approach has led to improvements in container security and management systems and the development of freely available container management systems, such as the well-known Kubernetes that was kickstarted by Google. The OCP is supported by industry giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, VMware and many others.

Would app containers be useful for my company?

The fact that containerised applications tend to use less storage and because individual microservices can be turned on and off as needed so they use fewer resources means their adoption could help companies reduce the cost of their cloud services – especially because cloud services are charged for on a pay per use basis. Whether this could be a significant saving depends, of course, on the size of the overall application and the extent of the resources it uses.

Another value is that containers help prevent vendor lock-in. In the past, companies have felt tied to a vendor because they have been concerned that moving their application to a new provider with a different environment might cause their applications to falter. Containers prevent this from happening. They also make it far less problematic to move applications across environments for any other reason and make it easier to modify microservices in isolation from the rest of the application.

Conclusion

Today, many companies use containers to house their applications in the cloud and, with most platforms being free to use and their formats standardised, they look certain to remain part of the cloud landscape for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, from reading this article you’ll now be aware of what app containers are, what they are used for and how they could benefit your business.

1. Clear menus

2. Filtering search

3. Product appropriate visuals

4. FAQs

5. Product recommendations

6. Mobile-first site

7. Trust, security and reputation

Conclusion

Vue.js – A Brief Introduction

Characteristics of Vue.js

Popular brands trusting Vue.js for their development needs

Reasons Why to Choose Vue.js for Web UI Development

1. Small App Size

2. Ease of Learning

3. Higher Performance

4. Simple Integration

5. Flexibility

6. Enhanced Documentation

Top 12 Vue.js UI libraries to consider in 2020

1. Vuetify

2. Element

3. Vue Material

4. Quasar Framework

5. Buefy

6. Bootstrap Vue

7. iView

8. Muse – UI

9. Vuikit

10. Mint UI

11. VuePress

12. Ant Design Vue

App Development

RESPONDING TO YOUR VISUAL NEEDS

User Experience Designer Role:

1. Finding Innovative Ways To Solve Common UX Problems

2. Product testing

3. Conducting Comprehensive Product Research

4. Describing Information Architecture

5. Wireframing

6. Designing

7. Testing

8. Implementation

Conclusion

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter" src="https://mk0appinventiv4394ey.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/1/2017/10/Ways-in-Which-Web-Application-Development-is-Changing.png" alt="Different Ways In Which Web Application Development Is Changing" width="471" height="236" />

What is Web Application Security Testing?

Types of Web Application Security Testing

Does Web App Security Testing Help in Reducing the Organization’s Risk?

CONCLUSION

Online convenience

An online showroom

Offer other online services

Build your company’s reputation

Dispelling myths about websites

Conclusion

What are app containers?

How are containers useful?

Additional benefits of containers

A well-established technology

Would app containers be useful for my company?

Conclusion

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