#I typed it straight into Tumblr's mobile application and it was a mistake

[aeducanka]

Okay so my options so far are:

1) play through Awakening for the first time:

Pro: feeling nice, knowing that I play everything in the correct order; I won't have to avoid Awakening spoilers anymore and I'm slightly curious about the plot; it's good for conscience having it done; I can see how much Anders changed throughtout the series; I can get to know Sigrun and Velanna who are just The Coolest (Nathaniel Howe doesn't count because I will be playing as Orlesian Warden and she couldn't care less).

Contra: I will have to figure out how many Orlesian Wardens will be needed (and the answer is a lot because none of my Wardens want to stick around to rebuild Ferelden!); I will have to figure out my Orlesian Warden's name, character and appearance; I will have one more somewhat fleshed character to worry about on daily basis; it's debatable how much into DA:O I'm right now.

2) play through Dragon Age 2 for the first time:

Pro: I won't have to avoid spoilers anymore; I'm curious how all the spoilers I have gathered will play out and, of course, curious about the rest; I know that it's a very good game and I'm thrilled; if I play through it fast, I'll be able to appreciate @gremlinquisitor's amazing Sebhawke better than just with the help of Tumblr osmosis; I already have a Hawke and all I have to do is tweak her appearance a little.

Contra: I feel so guilty for not having played Awakening yet that I haven't read a single codex story and my first playthrough was 1 hour long; I'll need time to get used to the game's mechanics; the character creator and the dialogue options are The Worst; catch me worrying that my Hawke sucks and I'm Kathleen Kennedy The Younger with her army of morally decent dark blonde/light brunettes, even if I'm playing DA2 for fun and not to fulfill some great plan, and I most likely won't share my Hawke here so... it doesn't matter that much? The only lowkey similar characters are my Aeducan and Hawke anyway and it's only in terms of appearance, and it was somewhat a conscious decision because I wanted the sweet irony of "You remind me of Hero of Ferelden".

3) play through Witchhunt for the first time:

Pro: it's just a short DLC; I'll get to know Finn and Arianne; I'll get to see a snippet of my Emerald Aeducan with her BFF/adopted sister, Morrigan, even if I later strike their meeting as not belonging to my canon; no character creator needed.

Contra: it's the beginning of "Morrigan starts acting terrible and hurting the Dalish" and given how much I liked Morrigan in Origins... I'm not so thrilled to see it; I'll feel a bit awkward playing as Em because it's been a year, her being in The Witchhunt isn't canon and I'll have to finally remove her tattoo after months of ignoring the issue so that I get a few good screenshots with her so yeah.

4) finish Kallista's playthrough/my second DA:O playthrough that I started last November before the end of the year because the Landsmeet has been announced and literally all I have to do is a few leftover missions in Denerim and a few plot points so it won't take long!!!

Pro: it's the right choice and I know it; pretty much just the last part of the game and I'll know how exactly Kallista's playthrough ended; Kallista and I deserve a conclusion etc.

Contra: I have no save slots left and I'll have to delete even more of the older saves which makes me feel awful; I'm not that much in DA:O mood right now; I'll be playing the game with the knowledge that I'll have to replay Kallista sometime in the future because I changed her DA:O romance to "very awkward romance with Morrigan that didn't work out but pretty much kickstarted her long serious relationship with Leliana sometime after DA:O".

...which pretty much settles it that I should finish my second playthrough of DA:O and play through The Witchhunt first but doesn't tell me much what I should do later? Please, do something to break my "Who cares about Awakening? I'll have to play through it a few times in a row anyway, each with a brand new Orlesian Warden and I don't even like Grey Wardens!" mentality. At least I'm somewhat sure that I'm saving Leliana's Song and this one dwarven DLC that isn't The Golems of Amgarrak for later. And I know that I won't be touching The Golems of Amgarrak and the darkspawn DLC either. But I'm stuck because on one hand I want to be a good person and play through Awakening first, on the other I can't wait to play through DA2 because I need to know the plot, the characters and such.

[atravellersfootsteps]

Have you always wanted to start a blog but don’t know where to begin?

  I get it. There is so much information out there and it can get overwhelming. Extremely overwhelming. The great news is that you are in the right place.

  I am going to break down the process of how to start a professional blog into 10 super simple steps for you, and I’ll leave the technical jargon behind.

  Step One: Picking a Good Travel Blog Name

  When it comes to picking a blog name, it is important that you pick a damn good one! One that stands out from the crowd.

  One of the first things you should do is write down several ideas or words that come to mind. Think about your niche and what you want to write about, but also allow yourself to dream big.

  What I mean by dream big is set yourself up to develop and grow as your blog does, and not restricting yourself in the years to come.

  Say for example you are a backpacker and decide to include that in your name but over time your travel style changes. You may have put yourself into a box as your blog clearly states you are all about backpacking, so working with 5-star resorts will be a challenge.

  The same goes for if you blog about Australia, so include that in your name. You have basically told the world that your blog is about Australia. What happens if you move to Canada?

  Rebranding and redesigning is expensive and time-consuming so make sure you take the time to come up with a name that you love, and that gives you the flexibility to grow with your blog.

  When choosing a name, you will also need to make sure the domain and social handles for that name are available.

  Key takeaways:

  Choose a unique and memorable name

Consider what you want to blog about

Allow yourself to dream big and avoid putting yourself in a box

Avoid Clichés

Confirm that the domain and social handles are available.

  Yes, a great name is essential, however, you can’t spend 6 months thinking about it! There comes a point where you just have to make a decision. A great name is important but it certainly isn’t as important as the content you produce down the track.

  To check if a domain is available you can use the Bluehost domain name checker. You don’t need to buy your domain, just make sure it is available. This tool will also suggest other domain names for you.

  For access to printable worksheets to help you decide on your name and niche, click here.

  Step two: Set up your domain and hosting

  After you have decided on a name and checked that your preferred domain (eg. www.yourblogname.com) is available, it is time to set up your hosting.

  Web hosting is the service that makes your website available to be viewed by others on the Internet and is something everyone has to do.

  Now I know what you might be thinking, why do I have to set up and pay for hosting when there are free options like Squarespace, Blogger etc?

  Well, the answer is simple. If you have decided you want to make money from blogging or at some point you think you might, you will need a self-hosted blog.  It is best to set your blog up correctly the first time to avoid technical challenges down the road if you do decide to transfer your website.

  That is why I recommend setting your hosting up with Bluehost

  Bluehost is the #1 most used and trusted hosting network on the internet and is very affordable for new bloggers.

The Perks of Starting a Blog with Bluehost

FREE Domain

24/7 Support

FREE 30-day Money Back Guarantee

One Click WordPress Install

  Now I know this may sound technical, and maybe it just sounds overwhelming and scary, but I am going to walk you through the process step by step. Bluehost makes it so simple that it is hard to screw it up.

  Ready to go? Click here!

  Instructions for setting up hosting with Bluehost

  Click here to start setting up hosting and you will be taken to the below screen

Click Get Started Now

  3. Select your plan

4. Choose a domain, either a new domain or one you already own! This should have been decided upon when you selected your blog name. Remember, .com is generally the best option!

5. Enter your personal and package information

  6. Enter your payment information and create a password.

And you have successfully set up your hosting, woohoo! Now it is time to install WordPress.

  For a step by step video tutorial, click here. 

Step 3: Install WordPress

  If you, in any way want to monetise your site and create a professional blog, it is essential that you use WordPress. After you create your password, you will be prompted to log in and select a theme. You can then start building your WordPress site.

  Finally, you will receive emails from Bluehost with your account and WordPress information.

  Welcome to your new blog!! Now it’s time to design!

  For a detailed video tutorial on how to install WordPress, sign up for my FREE e-course on How to create a professional blog.

  Step 4: Choose a theme and design your blog

  Finally, the fun part, making your blog look awesome.

  The first step is to pick a theme! What is a theme? It is the template for your website, that looks great and does not require coding.

  WordPress has heaps of free themes, however, I recommend spending some money and choosing a mobile-friendly theme you love. A good theme will allow you to easily customise your site and make it look great. You can search for premium themes via WordPress or Theme forest.

  So how do you install a theme?

Go back to your WordPress dashboard.

Hover over “Appearance” and click on themes.

Choose and activate a theme, then go to “YourDomainName.com” to see it!

  For a detailed video on how to install a WordPress Theme, click here.

Step 5: Install Plugins

  Another great way to customise your site is with Plugins. If your theme doesn’t offer a customisation you would like, a plugin usually does.

  For example, you can get a plugin to have a Facebook pop up appear or your Instagram appear in your sidebar.

  So how do you install a plugin?

  Go to your WordPress Dashboard

Click Plugins from the side panel

Click Add New

Search for a plugin

Click Download

Activate

Edit settings (where applicable)

  Plugins are great, but too many plugins cause too many problems. Here are a few of my basic recommendations:

  Askimet – protects you from spam

Wordfence – website security

Jetpack – For website stats

WP smush – shrinks file sizes

Yoast – the BEST SEO plugin out there

W3 Total Cache – will help your site run faster

Insert Headers and Footers – to quickly add code to the header of your site

Broken Link Checker – Checks your blog for broken links and notifies you on the dashboard.

Google Analytics Dashboard for WP (GADWP) – Displays Google Analytics Reports in your Dashboard.

Pinterest Pin It Button – Pins images to Pinterest straight from your blog posts.

Social Warfare – Used to maximize social shares of your content.

  To see a quick video on how to install plugins, sign up for my FREE e-course on How to create a professional blog.

Step 6: Install Google Analytics

  Google Analytics is the industry standard for tracking traffic. Google Analytics tells you how many people visit your site, where they are from, how long they stay, what type of content is the most popular, etc, etc.

  The stats you get from Google Analytics are what you will use to pitch to brands and companies.

  You will need to sign up for Google Analytics and paste the tracking code into the header of the website. I recommend doing this via the Headers and Footers Plug In that we just installed.

  This is an example of what Google Analytics looks like.

    For a  detailed video tutorial on how to install Google Analytics, sign up for my FREE e-course on How to create a professional blog.

  Step 7: Claim your social media handles

  When choosing your blog name, you should have already looked into the social media handles to ensure they are available.

  I recommend signing up with:

Facebook Page (not a personal profile)

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

Google +

Youtube

Tumblr

Snapchat

  When you start out, it will be essential to only focus on one or two social media channels. If you try to succeed in too many, you may spread yourself to thin and succeed at none. Regardless, you will want to at least set up all your accounts and leave them sitting there for when you do decide to focus on them.

  For more information on how to set up your social media accounts, click here. 

  Step 8: Set up an email list

  One of my biggest regrets is not setting up an email list from the start. Your email list will become your greatest asset over time. Conversions via emails are much higher than via social media, and your email list is the one thing you own. It’s yours, unlike social media sites.

  Some email services include Mail Chimp and Convert Kit.

  You will need to create an account with an email service provider and then create pop-ups and forms to encourage people to sign up for your email list. The best way to do this is by offering incentives for your readers to sign up. For example a free checklist, worksheet, ebook, online course or webinar. These are just a few ideas.

  This is an example of the opt-in I use on A Travellers Footsteps.

    For a video tutorial on creating an account and building an opt-in, click here. 

  Step 9: Start writing

  The first place to start is with a solid about me page. Don’t overthink it. Grab yourself a coffee (or a glass of wine) and write. Don’t worry about mistakes, just write and edit it later! Once you have nailed your about me page, it is time to start on the content.

  You should already have a predefined niche, which you decided on when choosing your blog name. Write about topics in your niche. It can take some time to find your voice and unique style. Don’t be afraid, just keep writing and it will come.

Step 10: Publish and start sharing your content with the world

  FINALLY, I hear! You can hit the publish button! YAY!

  After publishing, it’s time to share your work with the world. You can do this through your social media networks and email list.

  I use Hootsuite to schedule my social media posts in advance, which helps me to stay consistent.

  If you want more information about what to do after you hit publish, join my free e-course on How to start a successful blog.

  Yay, you made it!

  By this point, you must be feeling just about every emotion under the sun. You really do deserve some congratulations because the hardest part is over. And by the hardest part, I mean starting. Starting is the biggest challenge, and now you have overcome that, you are well on your way to success.

  Make sure you pin this article for later!

  How to start a professional blog Have you always wanted to start a blog but don’t know where to begin? I get it.

[webbygraphic001]

7 Design Myths That Will Wreck Your Site

When I was a junior designer I made plenty of mistakes. I believed false assumptions mostly because I did not have the experience yet to know better. I still don’t know it all. But, I am always eager to learn new things about design and to see which preconceived notions are accurate or a complete myth. That’s how this post came about. I want to address seven common design myths which I still see influencing design decisions.

Unfortunately, false design myths like these to lead to poorer quality design and poorer experiences for end users. We can avoid this by making smarter design decisions to improve the quality of our designs.

1. The homepage is your most important page

For a long time, people believed the homepage was the most important page. Way back when, it may have been the case when the homepage served as the main directory in getting around to the rest of the pages. It’s no longer the case. The way we browse, and even find web pages, has changed dramatically. Often, visitors will land on a web page from a direct link to a product page, missing the home page altogether. This direct access to other pages is largely due to SEO results or links shared on social media. 

Today, home pages serve one main purpose: to get you to the content, whatever it may be. For websites that are constantly filled with new content such as BuzzFeed or Darling Magazine, the home page serves to show the top stories. There are also websites that show off products or services, like Maison Deux. In both of those cases, the user is bound to enter the content specific page because they are not there for the homepage, the directory, they are there to consume information or make purchases. Next, there are services like Mailchimp or InVision where users are interested in using web apps instead. There are plenty of websites out there whose homepage you don’t see as a logged in users, such as Facebook.

Viewing many design gallery sites such as Dribbble, Behance or Awwwards by the sheer number of showings of creative and amazing home pages. There is nothing wrong with having a great looking and well functioning homepage. However, let’s get one thing straight: compared to other pages on a website, a homepage is not as important. 

2. Minimalism is the only way to achieve simplicity

Minimalism is a style, while simplicity is about the overall feel and functionality of an application or website. A complicated and extensive design can be made simple. The goal of simplicity isn’t to have the minimal amount of things such as steps, UI elements or interactions.

Steven Sinofsky put it well. He explains that minimalist design decreases the visual surface of a design and its experience, whereas simple design—which he calls frictionless design—decreases the energy required for the experience.

Let’s take for instance the UX of a form with no labels but only placeholder text. We all know this infamous pattern. So although having less visual elements, in this case missing a label, is more minimal the interaction is often confusing for users filling out the input. The interaction is no longer simple. Adding the extra UI element, the label, even providing an example outside of the placeholder, adds to the quantity of UI elements. But, the interaction becomes simpler, easier and more intuitive for the users. That’s a great differentiation between minimalism and simplicity. They are not one and the same.

3. Limit the number of navigational choices

Many people misinterpret George Miller’s theory that the human minds can keep track of 7 (plus or minus 2) bits of information at a time. His theory still holds true but it’s exclusive to the human cognitive condition regarding short term memory. Somehow this theory made its way into web design, specifically to navigation and menus.

Additionally, there is research on limiting the number of choices, which was popularized by Barry Schwartz. Barry Schwartz’s research was referring to choices in product. In his research, Schwartz was referring to jams where the customers had a harder time picking, committing and therefore purchasing a jam if there were a multitude of options. The customers were purchasing jams at a significantly higher rate if they were presented with just a few choices. This can apply to any other product like cars, phones or online subscriptions. They key here is still products.

The job of a navigation is to help a visitor explore what a website has to offer.

Neither of those two pieces of research has anything to do with navigation. The job of a navigation is to help a visitor explore what a website has to offer. Back in 2006, Jared Spool wrote on the topic of link-rich websites which are sites filled with many links and pages. In the article he uses an old version of the Dove website to demonstrate his point, and although the website has changed, the conclusion still stands. Dove’s sitemap was more usable to a visitor than their own homepage’s navigation. The reason for this is that is allowed anyone looking for a specific product to find the necessary product page.

Navigation can be large but still allow the user to browse to the product they are looking for. Good navigation won’t hide the multitude of pages. Instead, it will cluster and group them into similar categories to be findable by a visitor. Now, if the groups and clusters are poorly made that’s also not helpful to the user. The bottom line is, hiding pages from the navigation is not beneficial to the user.

4. Everything must be no more than three clicks away

On computer interactions, the rule is said to be three clicks but this rule has also been extended to mobile devices in the form of two taps. Multiple usability studies prove that this is bogus.

Visitors and users don’t care about the exact amount of clicks or taps. They care about obtaining the information they are looking for, they care about finishing the task they are doing. Additionally, it’s relevant to the user whether clicking through will get them to the desired information. If the user feels they won’t find what they need in their journey, they may leave without clicking just once even though the information might be revealed after a single click. Users will keep on going through as many as 25 clicks, as found by UIE, in order to complete their tasks. The UIE research also states the importance of user satisfaction is also irrelevant to the three click rule.

5. Mobile device users are always on the go and are always distracted

When speaking about mobile apps or responsive websites, both of these points are mentioned. First, mobile device users are presumed to be on the go. Second, they are also presumed to be distracted. Way too often, these two assumptions seem to go hand in hand with one another. Someone who is on the go is bound to be distracted. The fact of the matter is, neither is actually the case.

68% of mobile page views happened at home…mobile interactions such as reading articles or shopping, is mostly done at home

Let’s tackle the first assumption first. A 2012 Google study found out that majority of smartphones were used at home, 60% to be exact. Another study in 2012, this time by InsightsNow on behalf of AOL,  found that 68% of mobile page views happened at home. InsightsNow’s study excluded texting, calling and emailing. But, as you can imagine, playing games, browsing Tumblr or Facebook, and any other mobile interactions such as reading articles or shopping, is mostly done at home. Although we should still keep designing for on the go use, it’s not the primary way most of us use our mobile devices now.

Next is the assumption regarding distractions. Distractions are eminent everywhere, albeit it working, watching tv, driving or using a mobile device. That’s just a fact of life. Just because someone is using their smartphone instead of a desktop computer does not make them more distracted. I will point to the same 2012 Google study which found that while using a PC 67% of the time a user is also using another device compared to 57% while using a smartphone.

6. Good usability is good enough without aesthetics

Don Norman devotes a whole book to explain how emotions and design go hand in hand. That’s because while great usability may be a great start and it’s certainly necessary, it still may not actually be good enough. Don Norman’s book centers around emotional connections created through design. Positive emotions can be powerful in helping sell products. There are numerous studies to show that more attractive products appear to perform better than products with poorer designs. Not to mention that first impressions are excessively made through appearances.

More importantly, looks and design are often related to credibility. Stanford University’s Credibility Project proved just that. They presented people with websites to learn about the correlation of credibility. They found the 46% of people based the credibility of a website by its appearance. Emotional responses play a greater role in connecting with people than usability. Emotions are human while usability is technological. Therefore, great visual design and aesthetics is a competitive advantage and a differentiator within a marker. Ultimately aesthetics help enhance usability as mentioned in Don Norman’s book, Emotional Design.

7. Your users will tell you what they want

This one is my favorite. Asking your users for feedback is important. It’s equality important not to take their feedback literally. Noah J. Goldstein wrote:

people’s ability to understand the factors that affect their behavior is surprisingly poor.

And he couldn’t be more right. This type of thinking goes back to days of Henry Ford where he famously said: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” That’s because people are bad at explaining their own behavior patterns, intentions, and behavior predictions. This phenomenon is also known as introspection illusion, in psychology. It’s okay, I’m bad at it too.

Another reason why listening blindly can lead to trouble is that people often speak only about the solution to the problem they might be facing. As a designer, I’m sure you’ve received design feedback such as “make the text bigger” with no explanation as to why. A client or a colleague might have a hard time reading the text with a smaller font or they might feel that the smaller font is less noticeable compared to everything else in the section’s design. The same goes for user feedback. Like I said, it’s important to listen to customers and users. But, it’s more important to get to the bottom of the problem first. Do further research based on user feedback, requests or complaints to figure out what the problem at hand might be, and solve it for that instead of their comments alone.

Conclusion

There are still many more design myths and assumptions out there. These are the seven most common ones I see other designers cling to, especially junior designers or design students. We’ve all been there—I’ve been there. It’s important to realize that these assumptions are baseless and be smart about them moving forward. Hopefully, exposing these seven will help you make better and smarter design choices.

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