#User Experience in Mobile App Development Services

[tofupixel]

⭐ So you want to learn pixel art? ⭐

🔹 Part 1 of ??? - The Basics!

Hello, my name is Tofu and I'm a professional pixel artist. I have been supporting myself with freelance pixel art since 2020, when I was let go from my job during the pandemic.

My progress, from 2017 to 2024. IMO the only thing that really matters is time and effort, not some kind of natural talent for art.

This guide will not be comprehensive, as nobody should be expected to read allat. Instead I will lean heavily on my own experience, and share what worked for me, so take everything with a grain of salt. This is a guide, not a tutorial. Cheers!

🔹 Do I need money?

NO!!! Pixel art is one of the most accessible mediums out there.

I still use a mouse because I prefer it to a tablet! You won't be at any disadvantage here if you can't afford the best hardware or software.

Because our canvases are typically very small, you don't need a good PC to run a good brush engine or anything like that.

✨Did you know? One of the most skilled and beloved pixel artists uses MS PAINT! Wow!!

🔹 What software should I use?

Here are some of the most popular programs I see my friends and peers using. Stars show how much I recommend the software for beginners! ⭐

💰 Paid options:

⭐⭐⭐ Aseprite (for PC) - $19.99

This is what I and many other pixel artists use. You may find when applying to jobs that they require some knowledge of Aseprite. Since it has become so popular, companies like that you can swap raw files between artists.

Aseprite is amazingly customizable, with custom skins, scripts and extensions on Itch.io, both free and paid.

If you have ever used any art software before, it has most of the same features and should feel fairly familiar to use. It features a robust animation suite and a tilemap feature, which have saved me thousands of hours of labour in my work. The software is also being updated all the time, and the developers listen to the users. I really recommend Aseprite!

⭐ Photoshop (for PC) - Monthly $$

A decent option for those who already are used to the PS interface. Requires some setup to get it ready for pixel-perfect art, but there are plenty of tutorials for doing so.

Animation is also much more tedious on PS which you may want to consider before investing time!

⭐⭐ ProMotion NG (for PC) - $19.00

An advanced and powerful software which has many features Aseprite does not, including Colour Cycling and animated tiles.

⭐⭐⭐ Pixquare (for iOS) - $7.99 - $19.99 (30% off with code 'tofu'!!)

Probably the best app available for iPad users, in active development, with new features added all the time.

Look! My buddy Jon recommends it highly, and uses it often.

One cool thing about Pixquare is that it takes Aseprite raw files! Many of my friends use it to work on the same project, both in their office and on the go.

⭐ Procreate (for iOS) - $12.99

If you have access to Procreate already, it's a decent option to get used to doing pixel art. It does however require some setup. Artist Pixebo is famously using Procreate, and they have tutorials of their own if you want to learn.

⭐⭐ ReSprite iOS and Android. (free trial, but:) $19.99 premium or $$ monthly

ReSprite is VERY similar in terms of UI to Aseprite, so I can recommend it. They just launched their Android release!

🆓 Free options:

⭐⭐⭐ Libresprite (for PC)

Libresprite is an alternative to Aseprite. It is very, very similar, to the point where documentation for Aseprite will be helpful to Libresprite users.

⭐⭐ Pixilart (for PC and mobile)

A free in-browser app, and also a mobile app! It is tied to the website Pixilart, where artists upload and share their work. A good option for those also looking to get involved in a community.

⭐⭐ Dotpict (for mobile)

Dotpict is similar to Pixilart, with a mobile app tied to a website, but it's a Japanese service. Did you know that in Japanese, pixel art is called 'Dot Art'? Dotpict can be a great way to connect with a different community of pixel artists! They also have prompts and challenges often.

🔹 So I got my software, now what?

◽Nice! Now it's time for the basics of pixel art.

❗ WAIT ❗ Before this section, I want to add a little disclaimer. All of these rules/guidelines can be broken at will, and some 'no-nos' can look amazing when done intentionally.

The pixel-art fundamentals can be exceedingly helpful to new artists, who may feel lost or overwhelmed by choice. But if you feel they restrict you too harshly, don't force yourself! At the end of the day it's your art, and you shouldn't try to contort yourself into what people think a pixel artist 'should be'. What matters is your own artistic expression. 💕👍

◽Phew! With that out of the way...

🔸"The Rules"

There are few hard 'rules' of pixel art, mostly about scaling and exporting. Some of these things will frequently trip up newbies if they aren't aware, and are easy to overlook.

🔹Scaling method

There are a couple ways of scaling your art. The default in most art programs, and the entire internet, is Bi-linear scaling, which usually works out fine for most purposes. But as pixel artists, we need a different method.

Both are scaled up x10. See the difference?

On the left is scaled using Bilinear, and on the right is using Nearest-Neighbor. We love seeing those pixels stay crisp and clean, so we use nearest-neighbor. 

(Most pixel-art programs have nearest-neighbor enabled by default! So this may not apply to you, but it's important to know.)

🔹Mixels

Mixels are when there are different (mixed) pixel sizes in the same image.

Here I have scaled up my art- the left is 200%, and the right is 150%. Yuck!

As we can see, the "pixel" sizes end up different. We generally try to scale our work by multiples of 100 - 200%, 300% etc. rather than 150%. At larger scales however, the minute differences in pixel sizes are hardly noticeable!

Mixels are also sometimes seen when an artist scales up their work, then continues drawing on it with a 1 pixel brush.

Many would say that this is not great looking! This type of pixels can be indicative of a beginner artist. But there are plenty of creative pixel artists out there who mixels intentionally, making something modern and cool.

🔹Saving Your Files

We usually save our still images as .PNGs as they don’t create any JPEG artifacts or loss of quality. It's a little hard to see here, but there are some artifacts, and it looks a little blurry. It also makes the art very hard to work with if we are importing a JPEG.

For animations .GIF is good, but be careful of the 256 colour limit. Try to avoid using too many blending mode layers or gradients when working with animations. If you aren’t careful, your animation could flash afterwards, as the .GIF tries to reduce colours wherever it can. It doesn’t look great!

Here's an old piece from 2021 where I experienced .GIF lossiness, because I used gradients and transparency, resulting in way too many colours.

🔹Pixel Art Fundamentals - Techniques and Jargon

❗❗Confused about Jaggies? Anti-Aliasing? Banding? Dithering? THIS THREAD is for you❗❗ << it's a link, click it!!

As far as I'm concerned, this is THE tutorial of all time for understanding pixel art. These are techniques created and named by the community of people who actually put the list together, some of the best pixel artists alive currently. Please read it!!

🔸How To Learn

Okay, so you have your software, and you're all ready to start. But maybe you need some more guidance? Try these tutorials and resources! It can be helpful to work along with a tutorial until you build your confidence up.

⭐⭐ Pixel Logic (A Digital Book) - $10 A very comprehensive visual guide book by a very skilled and established artist in the industry. I own a copy myself.

⭐⭐⭐ StudioMiniBoss - free A collection of visual tutorials, by the artist that worked on Celeste! When starting out, if I got stuck, I would go and scour his tutorials and see how he did it.

⭐ Lospec Tutorials - free A very large collection of various tutorials from all over the internet. There is a lot to sift through here if you have the time.

⭐⭐⭐ Cyangmou's Tutorials - free (tipping optional) Cyangmou is one of the most respected and accomplished modern pixel artists, and he has amassed a HUGE collection of free and incredibly well-educated visual tutorials. He also hosts an educational stream every week on Twitch called 'pixelart for beginners'.

⭐⭐⭐ Youtube Tutorials - free There are hundreds, if not thousands of tutorials on YouTube, but it can be tricky to find the good ones. My personal recommendations are MortMort, Brandon, and AdamCYounis- these guys really know what they're talking about!

🔸 How to choose a canvas size

When looking at pixel art turorials, we may see people suggest things like 16x16, 32x32 and 64x64. These are standard sizes for pixel art games with tiles. However, if you're just making a drawing, you don't necessarily need to use a standard canvas size like that.

What I like to think about when choosing a canvas size for my illustrations is 'what features do I think it is important to represent?' And make my canvas as small as possible, while still leaving room for my most important elements.

Imagine I have characters in a scene like this:

I made my canvas as small as possible (232 x 314), but just big enough to represent the features and have them be recognizable (it's Good Omens fanart 😤)!! If I had made it any bigger, I would be working on it for ever, due to how much more foliage I would have to render.

If you want to do an illustration and you're not sure, just start at somewhere around 100x100 - 200x200 and go from there.

It's perfectly okay to crop your canvas, or scale it up, or crunch your art down at any point if you think you need a different size. I do it all the time! It only takes a bit of cleanup to get you back to where you were.

🔸Where To Post

Outside of just regular socials, Twitter, Tumblr, Deviantart, Instagram etc, there are a few places that lean more towards pixel art that you might not have heard of.

⭐ Lospec Lospec is a low-res focused art website. Some pieces get given a 'monthly masterpiece' award. Not incredibly active, but I believe there are more features being added often.

⭐⭐ Pixilart Pixilart is a very popular pixel art community, with an app tied to it. The community tends to lean on the young side, so this is a low-pressure place to post with an relaxed vibe.

⭐⭐ Pixeljoint Pixeljoint is one of the big, old-school pixel art websites. You can only upload your art unscaled (1x) because there is a built-in zoom viewer. It has a bit of a reputation for being elitist (back in the 00s it was), but in my experience it's not like that any more. This is a fine place for a pixel artist to post if they are really interested in learning, and the history. The Hall of Fame has some of the most famous / impressive pixel art pieces that paved the way for the work we are doing today.

⭐⭐⭐ Cafe Dot Cafe Dot is my art server so I'm a little biased here. 🍵 It was created during the recent social media turbulence. We wanted a place to post art with no algorithms, and no NFT or AI chuds. We have a heavy no-self-promotion rule, and are more interested in community than skill or exclusivity. The other thing is that we have some kind of verification system- you must apply to be a Creator before you can post in the Art feed, or use voice. This helps combat the people who just want to self-promo and dip, or cause trouble, as well as weed out AI/NFT people. Until then, you are still welcome to post in any of the threads or channels. There is a lot to do in Cafe Dot. I host events weekly, so check the threads!

⭐⭐/r/pixelart The pixel art subreddit is pretty active! I've also heard some of my friends found work through posting here, so it's worth a try if you're looking. However, it is still Reddit- so if you're sensitive to rude people, or criticism you didn't ask for, you may want to avoid this one. Lol

🔸 Where To Find Work

You need money? I got you! As someone who mostly gets scouted on social media, I can share a few tips with you:

Put your email / portfolio in your bio Recruiters don't have all that much time to find artists, make it as easy as possible for someone to find your important information!

Clean up your profile If your profile feed is all full of memes, most people will just tab out rather than sift through. Doesn't apply as much to Tumblr if you have an art tag people can look at.

Post regularly, and repost Activity beats everything in the social media game. It's like rolling the dice, and the more you post the more chances you have. You have to have no shame, it's all business baby

Outside of just posting regularly and hoping people reach out to you, it can be hard to know where to look. Here are a few places you can sign up to and post around on.

/r/INAT INAT (I Need A Team) is a subreddit for finding a team to work with. You can post your portfolio here, or browse for people who need artists.

/r/GameDevClassifieds Same as above, but specifically for game-related projects.

Remote Game Jobs / Work With Indies Like Indeed but for game jobs. Browse them often, or get email notifications.

VGen VGen is a website specifically for commissions. You need a code from another verified artist before you can upgrade your account and sell, so ask around on social media or ask your friends. Once your account is upgraded, you can make a 'menu' of services people can purchase, and they send you an offer which you are able to accept, decline, or counter.

The evil websites of doom: Fiverr and Upwork I don't recommend them!! They take a big cut of your profit, and the sites are teeming with NFT and AI people hoping to make a quick buck. The site is also extremely oversaturated and competitive, resulting in a race to the bottom (the cheapest, the fastest, doing the most for the least). Imagine the kind of clients who go to these websites, looking for the cheapest option. But if you're really desperate...

🔸 Community

I do really recommend getting involved in a community. Finding like-minded friends can help you stay motivated to keep drawing. One day, those friends you met when you were just starting out may become your peers in the industry. Making friends is a game changer!

Discord servers Nowadays, the forums of old are mostly abandoned, and people split off into many different servers. Cafe Dot, Pixel Art Discord (PAD), and if you can stomach scrolling past all the AI slop, you can browse Discord servers here.

Twitch Streams Twitch has kind of a bad reputation for being home to some of the more edgy gamers online, but the pixel art community is extremely welcoming and inclusive. Some of the people I met on Twitch are my friends to this day, and we've even worked together on different projects! Browse pixel art streams here, or follow some I recommend: NickWoz, JDZombi, CupOhJoe, GrayLure, LumpyTouch, FrankiePixelShow, MortMort, Sodor, NateyCakes, NyuraKim, ShinySeabass, I could go on for ever really... There are a lot of good eggs on Pixel Art Twitch.

🔸 Other Helpful Websites

Palettes Lospec has a huge collection of user-made palettes, for any artist who has trouble choosing their colours, or just wants to try something fun. Rejected Palettes is full of palettes that didn't quite make it onto Lospec, ran by people who believe there are no bad colours.

The Spriters Resource TSR is an incredible website where users can upload spritesheets and tilesets from games. You can browse for your favourite childhood game, and see how they made it! This website has helped me so much in understanding how game assets come together in a scene.

VGMaps Similar to the above, except there are entire maps laid out how they would be played. This is incredible if you have to do level design, or for mocking up a scene for fun.

Game UI Database Not pixel-art specific, but UI is a very challenging part of graphics, so this site can be a game-changer for finding good references!

Retronator A digital newspaper for pixel-art lovers! New game releases, tutorials, and artworks!

Itch.io A website where people can upload, games, assets, tools... An amazing hub for game devs and game fans alike. A few of my favourite tools: Tiled, PICO-8, Pixel Composer, Juice FX, Magic Pencil for Aseprite

🔸 The End?

This is just part 1 for now, so please drop me a follow to see any more guides I release in the future. I plan on doing some writeups on how I choose colours, how to practise, and more!

I'm not an expert by any means, but everything I did to get to where I am is outlined in this guide. Pixel art is my passion, my job and my hobby! I want pixel art to be recognized everywhere as an art-form, a medium of its own outside of game-art or computer graphics!

This guide took me a long time, and took a lot of research and experience. Consider following me or supporting me if you are feeling generous.

And good luck to all the fledgling pixel artists, I hope you'll continue and have fun. I hope my guide helped you, and don't hesitate to send me an ask if you have any questions! 💕

My other tutorials (so far): How to draw Simple Grass for a game Hue Shifting

[paraminfosolutions]

Know Why UI/UX Design is the Secret Sauce Behind Mobile App Success

Great mobile apps aren't just built—they're designed with users in mind. 🌟

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🎨 Build Trust Through Design: 38% of users will leave an app that looks unattractive. A polished, professional interface = user loyalty.

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Want to know more about designing apps that users love? Let’s talk UI/UX!

[infusiontechnologies]

Importance of UX Design For Websites and Applications

Why is UX Design so Important?

(UX Design) User Experience design is essential for how people use digital goods and services. A well-designed website makes it easy for people to move around on websites or apps, making the experience fun and simple. User satisfaction and attention boost when the trip goes smoothly, making them more likely to be happy, stay longer, and return.

Conversion rates go up, too, when the UX design is good. Whether the goal is to get more sales, sign ups, or downloads, an easy to use design makes it simple for people to do what you want. By stopping problems, UX design makes the process easier for users, leading to more success.

Improves User Satisfaction

A well thought out user experience (UX) is essential to making users happier. If the website or app is easy to use and looks good, people are likelier to stay engaged and happy with their connection. A responsive UX design makes it easy for people to find what they're looking for, whether shopping, reading, or doing jobs. This clarity and ease make things less frustrating for users, improving the experience.

A smooth user experience also helps customers reach their goals more quickly, which makes them happier and more loyal. Users with good knowledge will likely return, tell others about the site, and trust the company. A better UX design makes users more interested and increases conversion rates. This means that any business that wants to make customers happier and thrive in the long term must have one.

Boosts Conversion Rates

Responsive UX design makes it easy for users to do what they want, like buy something or sign up for a service, improving conversion rates. Sites and apps that are easy to use and give clear instructions make people more likely to believe what they say. A clear CTA button, a friendly navigation system, and an easy checkout method help customers complete their work quickly.

However, people may leave the site without action if they see it as lazy loading and poor design. Responsive UX design keeps users interested and on track, removes barriers, and helps them reach their goals. This improves user experience and encourages more sales, sign ups, and other essential business results, bringing in more money with clients' happiness.

Enhances Usability

When a Responsive UX design is done right, it makes websites and apps much easier to use by simplifying scrolling. If the options and information are well laid out, users can quickly find what they need without any problems or confusion. Users can reach their goals more quickly when they don't have to deal with as many issues.

For instance, a website with a clear and helpful search bar makes it easy for people to find specific information, and an app with clear steps makes it easy for people to finish tasks. By taking away the need for users to think about how to get around, the whole experience is made more fun and less stressful. This makes users want to return because they associate the site with simplicity and quickness. Good UX design services make interactions smooth and make users happier, making them more likely to stick with the product or service for a long time.

Builds Brand Loyalty

Customers will be more loyal to a brand if the Responsive UX design improves their experiences, which keeps them returning. Users are happy with a brand and trust it more when they find a website or app that is fun and easy to browse. The trust instilled by a well designed UX makes customers feel secure and confident in the service, knowing it will meet their wants, making them return and stay loyal over time.

One example of a site that makes customers feel valuable and understood is a shopping site that remembers their choices and makes the checkout process more accessible. People with good experiences with a service are more likely to use it again and tell their friends about it, which helps the business, grow. Companies can build lasting connections with their customers by always focusing on what the users want and giving them a smooth experience. A well designed site makes customers happier and turns one time users into loyal fans who help the brand succeed in the long run.

Reduces Development Costs

Responsive UX design services can save on development costs by early investing. When possible problems are dealt with early on in the growth process, they don't have to be fixed later, which can be expensive. Companies can avoid significant design flaws that could take a lot of work to resolve by focusing on user needs and making designs that are easy to use

If the design of a website or app could be better, developers may have to redo significant parts of the project, which costs more money and takes more time. When these problems are fixed after the start, they can hurt the user experience even more, which hurts business goals even more. Putting responsive UX design first makes the development process go more smoothly and lowers the risk of mistakes and delays that cost a lot of money. Long-term, this method saves money and makes the product work well, which makes users happier and helps the launch go more smoothly.

Drives Competitive Advantage

Responsive UX design services gives you a decisive edge over other companies, especially in a market where many sell similar products. When two goods or services are identical, the way the user feels about them often makes a difference for them. If two apps have the same features, for example, people will automatically choose the one that is easier to use, looks better, and provides a more streamlined experience.

Customers who have had good experiences with a brand are more likely to stay loyal and tell their friends about it, which helps the brand, grow naturally. If a company spends money on a better UX design, it can get more customers, make users happier, and get a more significant market share. Companies can set themselves apart from rivals and grow long term by creating easy to use and fun experiences. Putting UX design first isn't just a way to make things easier to use; it's also a way to stay ahead of the competition.

Boosts Accessibility

Responsive UX design service improves digital accessibility by ensuring cities can easily use websites and apps, improving digital mobility. Add accessibility features like bigger, easier-to-read fonts, clear navigation, and support for screen readers to your products so that no one can stop you from fully using them. Keeping accessibility in mind when making a site not only helps disabled people use it better but also helps everyone else use it better.

Acceptance grows when accessibility is a top priority. This helps businesses reach more people, build a good brand image, and gain customer trust. When companies make their products and services available, more people can use them. This helps the businesses grow their market. This method ensures that everyone can have a smooth digital experience, regardless of their skills. This makes people happy, keeps them returning, and helps the company grow. It would help if you made UX design accessible for everyone to use. It's also a smart business move that will pay off in the long run

Strengthens SEO Performance

Responsive UX design services are vital to improving a website's SEO. Search engines like Google give more weight to websites that are easy to use and run smoothly. Quick load times, mobile friendliness, and easy navigation help with higher search results. If a website is dashed and easy to use on all devices, people are likelier to stay on it longer, look at more than one page, and interact with the content. This lowers the bounce rate, a key signal for search engines.

By making these changes to the user experience, companies make users happier and show up higher in search results. When it comes to UX, a well-designed website is more likely to attract and keep users, leading to higher rankings, more traffic, and more business success. Investing in UX design is a smart way for businesses to improve their SEO and online presence. This will help them grow and be seen in the long run.

Conclusion

Any company that sells digital goods or services needs to use UX design. A good UX design makes users happier, boosts conversion rates, and makes the whole thing more straightforward. By making the experience smooth and fun, companies can increase brand trust and lower development costs by fixing problems before they become big problems.

Users are more likely to choose platforms that are easy to use, which gives great UX a competitive edge. By putting accessibility first, you ensure everyone can use the product, even people with challenges. Also, a good UX improves SEO by improving load times and mobile response, which search engines like. Overall, UX design helps businesses grow by creating a good user experience, getting them more involved, and ensuring they do well in the digital market.

Visit our website to read more about Responsive website Design.

[ajmishra]

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[flutterflowdevs]

Mastering Flutterflow: Tips and Tricks for Aspiring App Developers Why Every App

In today’s fast-paced digital world, app development is more crucial than ever. With millions of apps available, standing out is a challenge for aspiring developers. This is where Flutterflow comes into play. Imagine being able to design and build beautiful applications without the steep learning curve of traditional coding. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting your journey, Flutterflow offers innovative tools that can simplify the entire process. What if you could create mobile apps with minimal effort while maximizing creativity? That’s the magic of using Flutterflow as your go-to platform. It's not just about building an app; it's about mastering an art form that blends functionality with stunning visuals. If you're eager to dive into the world of app development and want to make waves in this vibrant ecosystem, let’s explore how Flutterflow can elevate your skills and help you become a proficient Flutterflow App Developer!

Benefits of Using Flutterflow for App Development

Flutterflow revolutionizes app development with its no-code approach, making it accessible for everyone. You don’t need extensive programming knowledge to create stunning applications. This feature empowers designers and entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to life quickly. The platform’s drag-and-drop interface streamlines the design process. It allows you to visualize your app in real time, reducing the back-and-forth typical of traditional coding methods. You can see changes instantly, enhancing creativity and efficiency. Another key advantage is the built-in integration with Firebase and other services. This means developers can add backend functionality without hassle, saving valuable time during project execution. Collaboration is seamless too. Flutterflow enables team members to work together effortlessly on a single project, ensuring that feedback loops are short and productive. With these benefits combined, it's clear why so many are choosing Flutterflow as their preferred development tool.

Designing Your App with Flutterflow

Designing your app with Flutterflow can be a seamless experience. The platform offers an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that simplifies the design process. You don’t need to be a coding expert to create stunning visuals. Start by exploring pre-built templates tailored for various industries. These templates provide inspiration and save time, allowing you to focus on customization. Utilize the extensive widget library available in Flutterflow. Widgets help you craft unique layouts while ensuring responsiveness across devices. From buttons to complex animations, there’s something for every vision. Pay attention to color schemes and typography; they define your brand's voice within the app. Consistency is key when it comes to user experience—ensure elements align well visually and functionally. Harness real-time collaboration features if you're part of a team. This ensures everyone stays aligned without losing creativity during the design phase.

Adding Functionality with Actions and Interactions

When it comes to enhancing your app’s capabilities, Flutterflow shines with its intuitive approach to adding functionality. The platform allows you to incorporate various actions and interactions seamlessly. Widgets are the building blocks for interactions in Flutterflow. You can easily set up buttons or gestures that trigger specific actions within your app. Whether it's navigating between screens, triggering animations, or launching external links, everything is straightforward. One of the standout features is the ability to add backend functionality without needing extensive coding knowledge. With just a few clicks, you can connect APIs or databases directly through Flutterflow’s interface. This opens up a world of possibilities for data-driven applications. Moreover, integrating third-party services like authentication providers is simple too. Set up user logins or social media sign-ins efficiently and securely using pre-built options available in Flutterflow. Testing these functionalities is equally hassle-free; you can preview changes instantly as you build your app. This iterative process helps refine user experience right from the start. Exploring these actionable elements will undoubtedly elevate your skills as a Flutterflow App Developer while also making your projects more dynamic and engaging for users looking forward to their next favorite application.

For More Information :

Flutterflow Application Development

Develop AI Apps in Flutterflow

Flutterflow Web Development Company

[nidhibhati12]

CORUSVIEW IT SERVICES

“Unlock Distinguished Digital Journeys with Corusview IT Services' UI/UX Design Insight”

What is UI/UX Design?

UI (User Interface) Design: This involves crafting visually appealing and interactive elements of a digital product, such as buttons, icons, spacing, typography, and color schemes. The goal is to create an intuitive and aesthetically pleasing interface that guides users effortlessly through the platform.

UX (User Experience) Design: This focuses on the overall feel of the user’s interaction with the product. It involves research, analysis, and testing to ensure the product meets the users' needs and provides a seamless and enjoyable experience. UX design is about optimizing the entire user journey, from the first interaction to the final action.

The Power of UI/UX Design

Unlocking Customer Needs: User research offers crucial insights, guiding designs that meet customer expectations.

Establishing Trust: A well-crafted interface builds trust, encouraging user engagement with your product or service.

Driving User Engagement: Intuitive, visually appealing designs keep users invested, boosting time and money spent.

Cultivating Loyalty: Great user experiences create a loyal customer base, supporting long-term growth.

Data-Driven Growth: Insights from customer research drive improvements, enhancing user-friendliness and business expansion.

Common UI/UX Challenges and Our Solutions

Poor Navigation: We design intuitive navigation systems for effortless user experience.

Android Fragmentation: Our designs are responsive and adaptive for a seamless experience across devices.

Cluttered Interfaces: We prioritize simplicity and clarity for a pleasant user experience.

Inconsistent Design: We maintain a consistent design language for enhanced user trust and satisfaction.

Elevate Your Digital Presence

At Corusview IT Services, our UI/UX design services transform your user experience into something extraordinary. In today's fast-paced digital world, a seamless and engaging user experience is crucial for retaining and attracting users. Our team of experts is dedicated to crafting visually appealing and interactive elements that create an intuitive interface, guiding users effortlessly through your digital platform.

What You'll Get with Corusview's UI/UX Design Services

- Cutting-Edge Innovations: Modern and innovative UI/UX solutions.

- Versatile Adaptability: Designs that perform well across devices and platforms.

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5. Deployment & Support: Assisting with deployment and providing ongoing support.

Tools & Technologies We Use

Frameworks: Industry-leading frameworks for robust UI/UX designs.

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Let's create something extraordinary together!

[travellingclouds]

Spark Technologies is an INDIA based digital marketing agency with expertise in web and mobile app development. Mobile application development is the process of designing software applications that operate on mobile devices. Spark Technologies offers enhanced, expert service to businesses in INDIA that are looking to reach a wider customer base via the use of a smartphone. We can help with all aspects of the mobile development process, which includes building installable software bundles (code, binaries, assets, and so on), integrating backend services such as data access through an API, and testing apps on target devices.

[swayaminfotech]

The Art of Push Notifications: Engaging Users Effectively

In the rapidly evolving landscape of mobile applications, push notifications have emerged as a potent tool for engaging users and driving app retention. When wielded effectively, push notifications can be a catalyst for user interaction, app conversions, and brand loyalty. However, in the age of information overload, the art of crafting and deploying push notifications requires finesse and strategic thinking.

Push notifications are the digital lifelines that connect app developers and businesses with their user base. They have the potential to deliver timely and relevant information, updates, and promotions directly to users’ devices, but they also tread a fine line between being welcomed and becoming an annoyance.

In this article, we will explore the art of push notifications, delving into the strategies and best practices that can help app developers and businesses engage users effectively, enhance user experiences, and ultimately, achieve their app retention and conversion goals. From personalization and timing to the psychology behind user engagement, we will unravel the intricate web of push notification effectiveness in today’s mobile-centric world.

Understanding User Behavior

To craft effective push notifications, it’s essential to delve into the intricacies of user behavior. Every app user is unique, and their preferences, habits, and expectations vary. By gaining a deep understanding of how users interact with your app and respond to notifications, you can tailor your messaging and timing to resonate with their needs and desires. Analyzing user data, such as preferences, activity patterns, and time zones, allows you to send notifications that resonate with your audience.

Personalization is Key

In the world of push notifications, one size does not fit all. Generic, mass-blasted messages are often ignored or, worse, lead users to disable notifications entirely. The key to effective push notifications lies in personalization. When notifications are tailored to individual preferences, behaviors, and demographics, they become highly relevant and engaging. Personalization can encompass everything from addressing users by their name to recommending products based on their browsing history. 

Timing Matters

Sending a well-crafted message at the wrong moment can lead to missed opportunities or user annoyance. To captivate and engage your audience effectively, you must understand the nuances of timing in the context of your users’ daily routines and behaviors. 

Crafting Compelling Copy 

Crafting compelling copy is an art that involves brevity, clarity, and a deep understanding of your audience. Your notification copy should not only convey the message effectively but also elicit a desired response, whether it’s a click, a purchase, or simply heightened user engagement. Grab users’ attention with enticing headlines and clear calls to action.

A/B Testing

Experimentation is crucial. Use A/B testing to fine-tune your push notification strategy. Test different content, images, and delivery times to identify what resonates most with your audience.

Providing Value

Your push notifications should offer real value to users. Whether it’s a discount, exclusive content, or important updates, make sure users gain something from each notification.

Segment Your Audience

Segmentation allows you to target specific user groups with tailored messages. Whether it’s based on location, user behavior, or preferences, segmentation ensures your notifications are relevant.

Avoid Overload

While push notifications can be a powerful tool for engaging users, there’s a fine line between informative and overwhelming. App users are bombarded with notifications from various sources throughout the day, and too much noise can lead to frustration and notification fatigue. Find the right frequency that keeps users engaged without feeling inundated.

Analyze and Iterate

Regularly analyze the performance of your push notifications. Which messages have the highest click-through rates? What can you learn from user responses? Use this data to refine your strategy.

Conclusion

Push notifications have the potential to significantly impact user engagement and app success. However, mastering the art of push notifications requires a combination of data-driven decision-making, personalization, and a deep understanding of user behavior. By following these best practices, you can create push notifications that captivate users and keep them coming back for more.

[kickrtechnology1]

Crafting Seamless Experiences: UI/UX Excellence by Kickr Technology

At Kickr Technology, we redefine digital interactions through unparalleled UI/UX design. Elevate user experiences with our innovative approach, blending intuitive design with cutting-edge technology. Discover the art of user-centric interfaces – choose Kickr Technology for a journey into seamless, visually stunning digital realms.

[tech-ahead-corp]

Flutter App Development

Elevate your digital presence with our expert Flutter app development services, crafting high-performance cross-platform solutions!

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Top Mobile App Development Strategies for Seamless User Experiences Find game-changing mobile app development strategies that guarantee user engagement and a seamless experience. Dive into UI optimization techniques and unlock the full potential of your app. Read this blog for more information.

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WEB DESIGN & APP DEVELOPMENT COMPANY in Bangalore

WebUniversals, a premier web design and app development company in Bangalore specializes in crafting cutting-edge digital solutions. With a focus on innovation, creativity, and user-centric design, they offer a range of services including website development, mobile app creation, and e-commerce solutions. Their expert team combines technical prowess with artistic flair, delivering engaging and functional websites and applications. By incorporating the latest technologies, responsive design, and intuitive user experiences, WebUniversals ensures that clients receive tailored solutions that resonate with their target audience. With a proven track record of delivering successful projects, WebUniversals stands as a reliable partner for businesses seeking to establish a strong online presence and harness the power of technology for growth.

[aaksconsulting]

The Power Of A Well-Designed Website: Boosting Your Business Success

In today’s digital age, having a well-designed website is no longer just an option for businesses, it’s a necessity. Your website is often the first point of contact between your business and potential customers, and in many cases, it can make or break a sale. A poorly designed website can lead to frustration and confusion for visitors, ultimately pushing them towards your competitors. On the other hand, a well-designed website has the power to capture attention, build trust with your audience and drive conversions like never before. In this blog post, we’ll explore why investing in a well-designed website is critical to boosting your business success and provide tips on how you can create one that truly stands out. Visit More - https://aaksca.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-power-of-well-designed-website.html

[exeggcute]

the great reddit API meltdown of '23, or: this was always bound to happen

there's a lot of press about what's going on with reddit right now (app shutdowns, subreddit blackouts, the CEO continually putting his foot in his mouth), but I haven't seen as much stuff talking about how reddit got into this situation to begin with. so as a certified non-expert and Context Enjoyer I thought it might be helpful to lay things out as I understand them—a high-level view, surveying the whole landscape—in the wonderful world of startups, IPOs, and extremely angry users.

disclaimer that I am not a founder or VC (lmao), have yet to work at a company with a successful IPO, and am not a reddit employee or third-party reddit developer or even a subreddit moderator. I do work at a startup, know my way around an API or two, and have spent twelve regrettable years on reddit itself. which is to say that I make no promises of infallibility, but I hope you'll at least find all this interesting.

profit now or profit later

before you can really get into reddit as reddit, it helps to know a bit about startups (of which reddit is one). and before I launch into that, let me share my Three Types Of Websites framework, which is basically just a mental model about financial incentives that's helped me contextualize some of this stuff.

(1) website/software that does not exist to make money: relatively rare, for a variety of reasons, among them that it costs money to build and maintain a website in the first place. wikipedia is the evergreen example, although even wikipedia's been subject to criticism for how the wikimedia foundation pays out its employees and all that fun nonprofit stuff. what's important here is that even when making money is not the goal, money itself is still a factor, whether it's solicited via donations or it's just one guy paying out of pocket to host a hobby site. but websites in this category do, generally, offer free, no-strings-attached experiences to their users.

(I do want push back against the retrospective nostalgia of "everything on the internet used to be this way" because I don't think that was ever really true—look at AOL, the dotcom boom, the rise of banner ads. I distinctly remember that neopets had multiple corporate sponsors, including a cookie crisp-themed flash game. yahoo bought geocities for $3.6 billion; money's always been trading hands, obvious or not. it's indisputable that the internet is simply different now than it was ten or twenty years ago, and that monetization models themselves have largely changed as well (I have thoughts about this as it relates to web 1.0 vs web 2.0 and their associated costs/scale/etc.), but I think the only time people weren't trying to squeeze the internet for all the dimes it can offer was when the internet was first conceived as a tool for national defense.)

(2) website/software that exists to make money now: the type that requires the least explanation. mostly non-startup apps and services, including any random ecommerce storefront, mobile apps that cost three bucks to download, an MMO with a recurring subscription, or even a news website that runs banner ads and/or offers paid subscriptions. in most (but not all) cases, the "make money now" part is obvious, so these things don't feel free to us as users, even to the extent that they might have watered-down free versions or limited access free trials. no one's shocked when WoW offers another paid expansion packs because WoW's been around for two decades and has explicitly been trying to make money that whole time.

(3) website/software that exists to make money later: this is the fun one, and more common than you'd think. "make money later" is more or less the entire startup business model—I'll get into that in the next section—and is deployed with the expectation that you will make money at some point, but not always by means as obvious as "selling WoW expansions for forty bucks a pop."

companies in this category tend to have two closely entwined characteristics: they prioritize growth above all else, regardless of whether this growth is profitable in any way (now, or sometimes, ever), and they do this by offering users really cool and awesome shit at little to no cost (or, if not for free, then at least at a significant loss to the company).

so from a user perspective, these things either seem free or far cheaper than their competitors. but of course websites and software and apps and [blank]-as-a-service tools cost money to build and maintain, and that money has to come from somewhere, and the people supplying that money, generally, expect to get it back...

just not immediately.

startups, VCs, IPOs, and you

here's the extremely condensed "did NOT go to harvard business school" version of how a startup works:

(1) you have a cool idea.

(2) you convince some venture capitalists (also known as VCs) that your idea is cool. if they see the potential in what you're pitching, they'll give you money in exchange for partial ownership of your company—which means that if/when the company starts trading its stock publicly, these investors will own X numbers of shares that they can sell at any time. in other words, you get free money now (and you'll likely seek multiple "rounds" of investors over the years to sustain your company), but with the explicit expectations that these investors will get their payoff later, assuming you don't crash and burn before that happens.

during this phase, you want to do anything in your power to make your company appealing to investors so you can attract more of them and raise funds as needed. because you are definitely not bringing in the necessary revenue to offset operating costs by yourself.

it's also worth nothing that this is less about projecting the long-term profitability of your company than it's about its perceived profitability—i.e., VCs want to put their money behind a company that other people will also have confidence in, because that's what makes stock valuable, and VCs are in it for stock prices.

(3) there are two non-exclusive win conditions for your startup: you can get acquired, and you can have an IPO (also referred to as "going public"). these are often called "exit scenarios" and they benefit VCs and founders, as well as some employees. it's also possible for a company to get acquired, possibly even more than once, and then later go public.

acquisition: sell the whole damn thing to someone else. there are a million ways this can happen, some better than others, but in many cases this means anyone with ownership of the company (which includes both investors and employees who hold stock options) get their stock bought out by the acquiring company and end up with cash in hand. in varying amounts, of course. sometimes the founders walk away, sometimes the employees get laid off, but not always.

IPO: short for "initial public offering," this is when the company starts trading its stocks publicly, which means anyone who wants to can start buying that company's stock, which really means that VCs (and employees with stock options) can turn that hypothetical money into real money by selling their company stock to interested buyers.

drawing from that, companies don't go for an IPO until they think their stock will actually be worth something (or else what's the point?)—specifically, worth more than the amount of money that investors poured into it. The Powers That Be will speculate about a company's IPO potential way ahead of time, which is where you'll hear stuff about companies who have an estimated IPO evaluation of (to pull a completely random example) $10B. actually I lied, that was not a random example, that was reddit's valuation back in 2021 lol. but a valuation is basically just "how much will people be interested in our stock?"

as such, in the time leading up to an IPO, it's really really important to do everything you can to make your company seem like a good investment (which is how you get stock prices up), usually by making the company's numbers look good. but! if you plan on cashing out, the long-term effects of your decisions aren't top of mind here. remember, the industry lingo is "exit scenario."

if all of this seems like a good short-term strategy for companies and their VCs, but an unsustainable model for anyone who's buying those stocks during the IPO, that's because it often is.

also worth noting that it's possible for a company to be technically unprofitable as a business (meaning their costs outstrip their revenue) and still trade enormously well on the stock market; uber is the perennial example of this. to the people who make money solely off of buying and selling stock, it literally does not matter that the actual rideshare model isn't netting any income—people think the stock is valuable, so it's valuable.

this is also why, for example, elon musk is richer than god: if he were only the CEO of tesla, the money he'd make from selling mediocre cars would be (comparatively, lol) minimal. but he's also one of tesla's angel investors, which means he holds a shitload of tesla stock, and tesla's stock has performed well since their IPO a decade ago (despite recent dips)—even if tesla itself has never been a huge moneymaker, public faith in the company's eventual success has kept them trading at high levels. granted, this also means most of musk's wealth is hypothetical and not liquid; if TSLA dropped to nothing, so would the value of all the stock he holds (and his net work with it).

what's an API, anyway?

to move in an entirely different direction: we can't get into reddit's API debacle without understanding what an API itself is.

an API (short for "application programming interface," not that it really matters) is a series of code instructions that independent developers can use to plug their shit into someone else's shit. like a series of tin cans on strings between two kids' treehouses, but for sending and receiving data.

APIs work by yoinking data directly from a company's servers instead of displaying anything visually to users. so I could use reddit's API to build my own app that takes the day's top r/AITA post and transcribes it into pig latin: my app is a bunch of lines of code, and some of those lines of code fetch data from reddit (and then transcribe that data into pig latin), and then my app displays the content to anyone who wants to see it, not reddit itself. as far as reddit is concerned, no additional human beings laid eyeballs on that r/AITA post, and reddit never had a chance to serve ads alongside the pig-latinized content in my app. (put a pin in this part—it'll be relevant later.)

but at its core, an API is really a type of protocol, which encompasses a broad category of formats and business models and so on. some APIs are completely free to use, like how anyone can build a discord bot (but you still have to host it yourself). some companies offer free APIs to third-party developers can build their own plugins, and then the company and the third-party dev split the profit on those plugins. some APIs have a free tier for hobbyists and a paid tier for big professional projects (like every weather API ever, lol). some APIs are strictly paid services because the API itself is the company's core offering.

reddit's financial foundations

okay thanks for sticking with me. I promise we're almost ready to be almost ready to talk about the current backlash.

reddit has always been a startup's startup from day one: its founders created the site after attending a startup incubator (which is basically a summer camp run by VCs) with the successful goal of creating a financially successful site. backed by that delicious y combinator money, reddit got acquired by conde nast only a year or two after its creation, which netted its founders a couple million each. this was back in like, 2006 by the way. in the time since that acquisition, reddit's gone through a bunch of additional funding rounds, including from big-name investors like a16z, peter thiel (yes, that guy), sam altman (yes, also that guy), sequoia, fidelity, and tencent. crunchbase says that they've raised a total of $1.3B in investor backing.

in all this time, reddit has never been a public company, or, strictly speaking, profitable.

APIs and third-party apps

reddit has offered free API access for basically as long as it's had a public API—remember, as a "make money later" company, their primary goal is growth, which means attracting as many users as possible to the platform. so letting anyone build an app or widget is (or really, was) in line with that goal.

as such, third-party reddit apps have been around forever. by third-party apps, I mean apps that use the reddit API to display actual reddit content in an unofficial wrapper. iirc reddit didn't even have an official mobile app until semi-recently, so many of these third-party mobile apps in particular just sprung up to meet an unmet need, and they've kept a small but dedicated userbase ever since. some people also prefer the user experience of the unofficial apps, especially since they offer extra settings to customize what you're seeing and few to no ads (and any ads these apps do display are to the benefit of the third-party developers, not reddit itself.)

(let me add this preemptively: one solution I've seen proposed to the paid API backlash is that reddit should have third-party developers display reddit's ads in those third-party apps, but this isn't really possible or advisable due to boring adtech reasons I won't inflict on you here. source: just trust me bro)

in addition to mobile apps, there are also third-party tools that don’t replace the Official Reddit Viewing Experience but do offer auxiliary features like being able to mass-delete your post history, tools that make the site more accessible to people who use screen readers, and tools that help moderators of subreddits moderate more easily. not to mention a small army of reddit bots like u/AutoWikibot or u/RemindMebot (and then the bots that tally the number of people who reply to bot comments with “good bot” or “bad bot).

the number of people who use third-party apps is relatively small, but they arguably comprise some of reddit’s most dedicated users, which means that third-party apps are important to the people who keep reddit running and the people who supply reddit with high-quality content.

unpaid moderators and user-generated content

so reddit is sort of two things: reddit is a platform, but it’s also a community.

the platform is all the unsexy (or, if you like python, sexy) stuff under the hood that actually makes the damn thing work. this is what the company spends money building and maintaining and "owns." the community is all the stuff that happens on the platform: posts, people, petty squabbles. so the platform is where the content lives, but ultimately the content is the reason people use reddit—no one’s like “yeah, I spend time on here because the backend framework really impressed me."

and all of this content is supplied by users, which is not unique among social media platforms, but the content is also managed by users, which is. paid employees do not govern subreddits; unpaid volunteers do. and moderation is the only thing that keeps reddit even remotely tolerable—without someone to remove spam, ban annoying users, and (god willing) enforce rules against abuse and hate speech, a subreddit loses its appeal and therefore its users. not dissimilar to the situation we’re seeing play out at twitter, except at twitter it was the loss of paid moderators; ��reddit is arguably in a more precarious position because they could lose this unpaid labor at any moment, and as an already-unprofitable company they absolutely cannot afford to implement paid labor as a substitute.

oh yeah? spell "IPO" backwards

so here we are, June 2023, and reddit is licking its lips in anticipation of a long-fabled IPO. which means it’s time to start fluffing themselves up for investors by cutting costs (yay, layoffs!) and seeking new avenues of profit, however small.

this brings us to the current controversy: reddit announced a new API pricing plan that more or less prevents anyone from using it for free.

from reddit's perspective, the ostensible benefits of charging for API access are twofold: first, there's direct profit to be made off of the developers who (may or may not) pay several thousand dollars a month to use it, and second, cutting off unsanctioned third-party mobile apps (possibly) funnels those apps' users back into the official reddit mobile app. and since users on third-party apps reap the benefit of reddit's site architecture (and hosting, and development, and all the other expenses the site itself incurs) without “earning” money for reddit by generating ad impressions, there’s a financial incentive at work here: even if only a small percentage of people use third-party apps, getting them to use the official app instead translates to increased ad revenue, however marginal.

(also worth mentioning that chatGPT and other LLMs were trained via tools that used reddit's API to scrape post and content data, and now that openAI is reaping the profits of that training without giving reddit any kickbacks, reddit probably wants to prevent repeats of this from happening in the future. if you want to train the next LLM, it's gonna cost you.)

of course, these changes only benefit reddit if they actually increase the company’s revenue and perceived value/growth—which is hard to do when your users (who are also the people who supply the content for other users to engage with, who are also the people who moderate your communities and make them fun to participate in) get really fucking pissed and threaten to walk.

pricing shenanigans

under the new API pricing plan, third-party developers are suddenly facing steep costs to maintain the apps and tools they’ve built.

most paid APIs are priced by volume: basically, the more data you send and receive, the more money it costs. so if your third-party app has a lot of users, you’ll have to make more API requests to fetch content for those users, and your app becomes more expensive to maintain. (this isn’t an issue if the tool you’re building also turns a profit, but most third-party reddit apps make little, if any, money.)

which is why, even though third-party apps capture a relatively small portion of reddit’s users, the developer of a popular third-party app called apollo recently learned that it would cost them about $20 million a year to keep the app running. and apollo actually offers some paid features (for extra in-app features independent of what reddit offers), but nowhere near enough to break even on those API costs.

so apollo, any many apps like it, were suddenly unable to keep their doors open under the new API pricing model and announced that they'd be forced to shut down.

backlash, blackout

plenty has been said already about the current subreddit blackouts—in like, official news outlets and everything—so this might be the least interesting section of my whole post lol. the short version is that enough redditors got pissed enough that they collectively decided to take subreddits “offline” in protest, either by making them read-only or making them completely inaccessible. their goal was to send a message, and that message was "if you piss us off and we bail, here's what reddit's gonna be like: a ghost town."

but, you may ask, if third-party apps only captured a small number of users in the first place, how was the backlash strong enough to result in a near-sitewide blackout? well, two reasons:

first and foremost, since moderators in particular are fond of third-party tools, and since moderators wield outsized power (as both the people who keep your site more or less civil, and as the people who can take a subreddit offline if they feel like it), it’s in your best interests to keep them happy. especially since they don’t get paid to do this job in the first place, won’t keep doing it if it gets too hard, and essentially have nothing to lose by stepping down.

then, to a lesser extent, the non-moderator users on third-party apps tend to be Power Users who’ve been on reddit since its inception, and as such likely supply a disproportionate amount of the high-quality content for other users to see (and for ads to be served alongside). if you drive away those users, you’re effectively kneecapping your overall site traffic (which is bad for Growth) and reducing the number/value of any ad impressions you can serve (which is bad for revenue).

also a secret third reason, which is that even people who use the official apps have no stake in a potential IPO, can smell the general unfairness of this whole situation, and would enjoy the schadenfreude of investors getting fucked over. not to mention that reddit’s current CEO has made a complete ass of himself and now everyone hates him and wants to see him suffer personally.

(granted, it seems like reddit may acquiesce slightly and grant free API access to a select set of moderation/accessibility tools, but at this point it comes across as an empty gesture.)

"later" is now "now"

TL;DR: this whole thing is a combination of many factors, specifically reddit being intensely user-driven and self-governed, but also a high-traffic site that costs a lot of money to run (why they willingly decided to start hosting video a few years back is beyond me...), while also being angled as a public stock market offering in the very near future. to some extent I understand why reddit’s CEO doubled down on the changes—he wants to look strong for investors—but he’s also made a fool of himself and cast a shadow of uncertainty onto reddit’s future, not to mention the PR nightmare surrounding all of this. and since arguably the most important thing in an IPO is how much faith people have in your company, I honestly think reddit would’ve fared better if they hadn’t gone nuclear with the API changes in the first place.

that said, I also think it’s a mistake to assume that reddit care (or needs to care) about its users in any meaningful way, or at least not as more than means to an end. if reddit shuts down in three years, but all of the people sitting on stock options right now cashed out at $120/share and escaped unscathed... that’s a success story! you got your money! VCs want to recoup their investment—they don’t care about longevity (at least not after they’re gone), user experience, or even sustained profit. those were never the forces driving them, because these were never the ultimate metrics of their success.

and to be clear: this isn’t unique to reddit. this is how pretty much all startups operate.

I talked about the difference between “make money now” companies and “make money later” companies, and what we’re experiencing is the painful transition from “later” to “now.” as users, this change is almost invisible until it’s already happened—it’s like a rug we didn’t even know existed gets pulled out from under us.

the pre-IPO honeymoon phase is awesome as a user, because companies have no expectation of profit, only growth. if you can rely on VC money to stay afloat, your only concern is building a user base, not squeezing a profit out of them. and to do that, you offer cool shit at a loss: everything’s chocolate and flowers and quarterly reports about the number of signups you’re getting!

...until you reach a critical mass of users, VCs want to cash in, and to prepare for that IPO leadership starts thinking of ways to make the website (appear) profitable and implements a bunch of shit that makes users go “wait, what?”

I also touched on this earlier, but I want to reiterate a bit here: I think the myth of the benign non-monetized internet of yore is exactly that—a myth. what has changed are the specific market factors behind these websites, and their scale, and the means by which they attempt to monetize their services and/or make their services look attractive to investors, and so from a user perspective things feel worse because the specific ways we’re getting squeezed have evolved. maybe they are even worse, at least in the ways that matter. but I’m also increasingly less surprised when this occurs, because making money is and has always been the goal for all of these ventures, regardless of how they try to do so.

[nidhibhati12]