Participatory design is a great way to have an engaging conversation with users about a particular task or situation. The main thing to remember about participatory design is this obvious point: Users aren't designers. During the design session they are…
Category: UX Articles
Family, UX Articles
Process or talent? Companies can’t focus on both…
“The Most Important Document to ever come out of Silicon Valley” was released last week… at least, that’s what Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg called it. This Most Important Document wasn’t a cutting-edge business plan, or a product roadmap… Far from…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
What is the next frontier in mobile UX/UI design?
Three things that are going to be a big focus for mobile UX/UI designers in the years to come: Voice Interaction: Accessing information from your mobile device or the cloud through speech is here now, but we "turn it on"…
My Quora answers, UX 101, UX Articles
What user experience means to me, and how I approach the design process
I may sound like Pollyanna, but to me user experience design is a way to make the world a better place. OK, so it's not like we UX folk are curing cancer, or finding new sources of energy, or stopping…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
What are the big topics in mobile user interface design discussions in 2013?
Web vs. native apps. Still. While the majority of companies are pretty firmly in the "native app" space, there are still debates and discussions taking place around HTML 5 and it's capabilities. The problem is, HTML 5 can't do everything…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
What are the different design approaches/UX considerations between designing an iPad app and an iPhone app?
First, and most obviously, you need to consider the constraints of both platforms. The primary constraint when you are designing an iPhone app is screen size. You have a smaller "canvas" to work with, and that constraint means that you…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
Why has the general interface of operating systems evolved but the cursor has remained relatively unchanged?
Joseph Dickerson Because the cursor just works. When a user is typing, he or she needs an indication as to where the next letter or character will display. The cursor does a fantastic job of providing that "system status" with…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
What are pleasant ways to move the user through a technical support request, if they are not very tech savvy?
Joseph Dickerson Combine visuals with text in a balanced and useful way. If users have to find a product to solve a problem, then have images of the products along with the names and provide a filter to quickly "shorten"…
Apple, Technology, UX Articles
The connected home is Apple’s for the taking
There’s a huge battle taking place between tech companies, one that doesn’t getting nearly the attention it deserves. It’s not the fight between Google and Apple in mobile, or Facebook versus Twitter in social… It’s the fight for our living…
My Quora answers, UX 101, UX Articles
What does a lead UX designer do?
Hate to pull this old chestnut out, again, but I must…. it depends. There is no one definitive definition of "lead UX designer." In some companies he or she may "own" the entire design of a product or a domain,…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
What is the most astonishing fact about design or innovation you ever heard?
That little things can make a big (sometimes VERY big) difference. Two examples: Example one: Jared Spool wrote a great often-cited essay about the $300 million dollar button, which I will summarize: A major online e-retailer (I suspect Amazon) redesigned…
Technology, UX Articles
Design Mobile First? Not necessarily…
Over the past year, a lot of user experience designers have advocated a “Mobile First” design strategy. The primary idea behind this strategy is when you design the mobile UI and experience first you are able to focus on the…
My Quora answers, UX 101, UX Articles
What is the daily work of a UX designer like?
It depends on several factors, primarily the stage of the project(s) being worked on and the type and size of company. I have found that the typical design process traditionally has four stages: Analysis and Research, Conceptual Design, Design Testing…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
What would it take to make a mobile banking application outstanding?
Joseph Dickerson Well, my "day job" is designing mobile and online banking apps, so I've spent some time thinking about this question (a couple of years, in fact). The most important thing I've learned (through various iterations, user tests, and…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
What are some best practices that can increase the usability of long (20 question+) web forms?
Well, the first thing I would do, when looking at a long web form, is question why it was long in the first place. Do you really NEED to ask all the questions that you are presenting? Is there anyway…
UX Articles
Lessons in #UX: It’s not about “channels”, it’s about doing things
I’ve been in lots of business meetings discussing mobile and/or tablet “strategies” lately, and I often shake my head at what I hear proposed by people who, frankly, should know better. Too many of these proposals are about features and…