style tiles: ready to wear for the ux designer
TRANSCRIPT
Style Tiles Ready to Wear for the UX Designer
© Rob Fitzgibbon 2015
So What is a Style Tile, Anyway?
No Nope
© Rob Fitzgibbon 2015
Well Let Me Tell You…
In a digital project, a Style Tile is…• A single deliverable of images, colors, words and UI elements that • Defines both “soft” design themes and “hard” front end UI elements
• Device agnostic• Resolution agnostic; doesn’t rely on fixed width• Responsive design-friendly• Described as paint chip or color swatch• Avoids the vagueness of a mood board and the literalness of a screen
comp• Popularized by Twitter designer Samantha Warren in a March 2012 List Apart
article
© Rob Fitzgibbon 2015
Here’s an Example
Rob Fitzgibbon 2015
http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/style-tiles-an-alternative-to-full-design-comps--webdesign-7232
Here’s Another Example
Rob Fitzgibbon 2015
http://badassideas.com/style-tiles-as-a-web-design-process-tool/
And Here’s a Third
Rob Fitzgibbon 2015
http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/style-tiles-an-alternative-to-full-design-comps--webdesign-7232
Annd…Another OneText• Text
Rob Fitzgibbon 2015
https://eringooddesign.wordpress.com/author/eringooddesign/
And Finally This One…
Rob Fitzgibbon 2015
http://alistapart.com/article/style-tiles-and-how-they-work
So How/When Is a Style Tile Used?
During a Design Phase• Useful when there is an already
established brand that needs to be ported to a new platform
• As a tool to focus design/brand discussions with client
© Rob Fitzgibbon 2015
The Advantages of Style Tiles
Lean Design• Less work than making screen comps, thus
efficient and cost effective• Pattern-centric as opposed to concept-
centric• Easy to apply to templates• Developer-friendly
© Rob Fitzgibbon 2015
Of Course Every Rose Has Its ThornMean Design; a Style Tile is also• Reductionist, reducing design down to a set
of Lego pieces• Lazy; easy to miss elements/states and leave
them undefined• It doesn’t work with lots of content• It’s rigid AND frigid (i.e. non-interactive)• It’s non-narrative
© Rob Fitzgibbon 2015
Style Tile Significance?
New Design Tool for the Ages?
UX equivalent of a coffee stirrer?
© Rob Fitzgibbon 2015
Time will Tell!