When I first heard that there would be a vintage computer show in Atlanta on March 20th and 21st, I was excited. Then, I read that a traveling Apple “Pop-Up” Museum would also be there. Being an Apple fanboy, this…
The Space:1999 Eagle 1 Spaceship from Mattel may be the coolest toy ever
by Joseph Dickerson • April 19, 2013
I am a rabid toy collector, and I am particularly interested in science fiction toys of the 70s and 80s. I have a whole storage/display area behind my home office filled with Star Trek, Micronauts, G.I.Joes, and Star Wars collectibles.…
#UX101: On working with developers and project managers
by Joseph Dickerson • April 18, 2013
No man is an island – to be an effective UX professional you need to work and partner with people with different backgrounds, skills, and priorities. If you don’t build solid relationships with the many people responsible for executing the…
What makes a really good charity website?
by Joseph Dickerson • April 16, 2013
I think there are four things that make a good charity website: A clear mission statement. What does the charity do? What is the mission of the charity? A clear statement of the charity's goals right up front tells potential…
Helvetica is a celebration of typography and design
by Joseph Dickerson • April 7, 2013
Everything is designed. Everything we engage with and use, everything we read and drive and throw away… it was designed. Someone at some point sat down and created those multitude of things that surrounds all of us, and there is…
#UX101: A few words on Content Strategy and Service Design
by Joseph Dickerson • April 7, 2013
User experience design is a pretty broad discipline, with many different areas of focus you can align your career to. There’s information architecture, user research, usability testing, requirements modeling, wireframing, prototyping… each with a different focus, approach and outcome. I…
The long con: Why The Doctor can never lose
by Joseph Dickerson • April 7, 2013
Take a moment and imagine you are a being who can travel through all of space and time, someone who that can go from the Big Bang to the end of the universe. Then, putting yourself in that position, you…
What are the parameters for user experience audit?
by Joseph Dickerson • April 5, 2013
You can’t go wrong by starting out using the 10 Usability Heuristics for User Experience Design, as created by Jakob Nielsen: http://www.nngroup.com/articles/… They are “best practices” for interaction design, and they are (in summary): Visibility of system status Match between…
Celebrating Roger Ebert
by Joseph Dickerson • April 5, 2013
I have to add my thoughts to the many many voices who have expressed grief about the passing of writer and film critic Roger Ebert. These few words are just a few drops of the oceans of “ink” that have…
#UX101: The User Centered Design Process
by Joseph Dickerson • March 31, 2013
One of the things I get asked a lot by people interested in user experience design is “How do you do what you do?” The sometimes want specifics, but often the question is broad… what is your process? So, let’s…
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: a cult film that contains geeky multitudes
by Joseph Dickerson • March 31, 2013
When the film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension came out in 1984 I bought into the crazy world that director WD Richter and writer Earl Mac Rauch created hook, line, and sinker. The idea of a…