In its own terms, Ello is "a simple, beautiful, and ad-free social network". How easy-to-use and attractive is it really? To find out, UID conducted a survey with potential users focusing on registration and privacy settings. Based on the survey, UID stated suggestions to improve Ello.

1. UX
User Experience ofEllo: Ello! orMellow?

2. UX OFELLO
ELLO! ORMELLOW?
ELLO SAYS:
“Ellois a simple, beautiful, and ad-free social network […].”
WE SAY:
We like Ello! Its straightforward design and the clear navigation are appealing. The Ellovision and its user experiencemake a good match. Tip to the hat, chaps!
Sorry, however, and even if that sounds old-fashioned: There are some usability flaws left.
https://ello.co/wtf/post/about

3. Simple design –simple challenges

4. USERS FEEDBACK
34 respondents (Non ElloUsers) had a short look at Ellosprivacy settings and answered one simple question:
Which of the switch button below do you think is saying “YES”?
UX OFELLO
OPINION POLL: PRIVACY SETTINGS
or
https://ello.co/settings

5. OPINION POLL: PRIVACY SETTINGS
68%
32%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
grey (activated)
white (activated)
UX OFELLO
RESEARCH FACT
Only 68 % of participants stated that the grey coloured switch button is activated. So one third of all users in our random sample was wrong or at least insecure about the actual privacy settings.
THE REASON: Lacking self-descriptiveness of the button design
THE RISK: The UX might be weakened by this gap between the Ellovision and its design reality.
SUGGESTION
The design of switch buttons is frequently discussed in the design community. We assume that less errors would occur when the contrast is higher or if the activated buttons are highlighted.
Which “Switch Button“ do you believe is activated?

6. UX OFELLO
REGISTRATION PROCESS REVISITED
We did not attempt to review the whole UX of Ello.
It intrigued us, however, if the ‘open sesame’ AKA ‘registration process’ reflects the Ellovision –or if it needs veritable gate crashing qualities to enter.

7. UX OFELLO
REGISTRATION
WE THINK…
—During registration, it can happen that users make errors when…
»the user name wasn’t available anymore
»the password didn’t match security requirements
—None of this was obvious first, so we had to try again and again.
—No helpful feedback what was wrong, was providedFun. Not.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxx
https://ello.co/enter

8. UX OFELLO
REGISTRATION
WE THINK…
The “prove you are a human“ game rigorously breaks with Ellosvisual style. It thus does not appear to be part of the process and can be overseen despite its visual dominance. A sudden stop at registration can be the result.
»We saw users struggling and stop the sign up, because they did not see the game
»So, will users sign up, once they have to stop for a few seconds?
—Once this barrier is taken, the “Create Account“ button seems to lack affordance.
»The game is fun, and draws a lot of attention.
»Will users step out of the game and resume the sign-up process? Will they see the “Create Account” button?
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxx
https://ello.co/enter

9. UX OF ELLO
100 % AWESOME
RESPONSIVE DESIGN
We tried Elloon different devices and OS. On all mobiles it is amazing.
In our experience, Ello’sresponsive design is state-of-the-art. We can easily recognize key features across devices, feel at home immediately and don’t have to learn many new interactions.
Thank you, Ellofor responsive design
and flexibility.

10. UX OFELLO
OURCONCLUSION
ELLO IS SIMPLE AND BEAUTIFUL
Ello’sfocus is on content. The design is clear and crisp, and doesn‘t distract from the content.
But sometimes we need the design to help us find the right way -and give us feedback, when we need help.
DEARELLO!
SIMPLE, BEAUTIFUL AND AD-FREE – BUT SOME UI POLISHING STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE.
.
Great design experienceneedsgreatuserexperience.

11. www.uid.com
Malte Krökel
USABILITY ENGINEER
malte.kroekel@uid.com
Tobias Limbach
TEAM MANAGER USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN
tobias.limbach@uid.com

12. UX OFELLO
SOURCESFORPICTURES
1)https://ello.co/friends(„sayEllo“ on slide1)
2)https://ello.co/wtf/post/about(Abouton slide2)
3)https://ello.co/settings(Settings on slide4)
4)https://ello.co/enter(Registration processon slide6 and 7)
5)Slide 8 © Tobias Limbach