Having just completed an extensive ethnographic research project in the mobile space, my head is still chock-full of observations, findings and notes around how people use their mobile devices every day of their lives. But one thought bubbles to the…
Category: UX 101
UX 101, UX Articles
The immediacy of now: Designing for the reactionary user experience
One of the major design projects I worked on a few months back involved redesigning a financial management web application. As part of that initial work we created a concept that used a calendar as the system’s primary navigation. Users…
My Quora answers, UX 101
What are user research studies?
User research studies are activities that allow user experience practitioners understand how people think, work and act in a particular domain. By observing end users they can envision potential solutions or refine existing solutions to better align with what people…
UX 101, UX Articles
Boot-strap usability testing: How to test your designs with little or no money
This article is a short version of my presentation on the topic, which I can present to anyone interested. I do Bar Mitzvahs and weddings, but kids birthday parties are off the table. Sorry. I’ve tested a LOT of different…
UX 101, UX Articles
ROI and Usability: a case study
One of the many things that occurs in the life of a User Experience designer is the need to justify our advocacy, and ask the obvious questions that come our way: Why is design important? Why should the experience be…
UX 101, UX Articles
Building a pattern library for fun and profit
One of the most beneficial activities you can do on a large design project (especially if it’s a web application) is to define a pattern library. This architectural document details the framework that all the UI screens and screen elements…
My Quora answers, UX 101, UX Articles
User scenarios, user stories, use cases – what’s the difference?
The three are different, but not as much as you may think. Let’s talk about stories. No, not user stories… stories. We are wired to engage with and tell stories – it is a seminal part of the human species.…
UX 101, UX Articles
Twenty great #UX quotes
Here’s some of my favorite quotes about user experience design – some are directly about UX, others are about creativity and simplicity. Enjoy. “A picture is worth a thousand words. An interface is worth a thousand pictures.” Ben Shneiderman “Good…
UX 101, UX Articles
Get my book UX 101 as a free download!
After getting a lot of feedback (some good, some bad – all helpful) I have made some revisions to UX 101 and have finished up a second edition of the book. The new edition will soon be available on Amazon…
UX 101, UX Articles
#UX101: Letting go and finishing
As important as iteration is when it comes to UX design, it’s also important to know when to stop. Too many times I have worked with designers who didn’t want to finish, who tweaked and changed and refined so much…
UX 101, UX Articles
#UX101: Bringing UX to your organization
You’re passionate about UX, you’ve “drank the Kool-aid” and you know how much value user experience design can bring to your company. Now what? How do you promote UX to decision makers and stakeholders? here’s some thoughts and advice as…
UX 101, UX Articles
#UX101: Producing Design Documentation
How much design documentation do you need to produce? Do you make pixel-perfect wireframes that detail every single interaction and behavior? Or do you create mid-level documentation and leave the details to the development team? The answer, of course… depends.…
UX 101, UX Articles
#UX101: Best practices for gesture interaction
Gestural interaction has been around for a while now. Inspired by movies such as Minority Report, engineers and designers have made the ideas seen in that film a reality for millions of users. From the simplest “shake to play another…
UX 101, UX Articles
#UX101: Tools of the Trade
There are quite a few tools that you can use to create designs and then test said designs with users, and in my many many years as a UX professional I’ve tried out most of them. First, let’s cover design…
UX 101, UX Articles
#UX101: How to analyze user research data (and produce results)
Once you have gathered your user data, through either user interviews or usability testing, you need to analyze it. While some may consider this a daunting task, it’s not: it is, however, an activity that requires focus and objectivity. In…
UX 101, UX Articles
#UX101: Best practices in interface design
When it comes to designing user interfaces, there are a lot of factors to consider – the standards and conventions of the medium you are designing in, the usage patterns of the features you are implementing, and the goals and…