Had an interesting observation in a recent series of usability tests. We were testing a design concept that had a lot of information – one section detailed data in a pie chart, another section next to it showed a different…
I love movies. Obviously, that’s not a distinguishing characteristic – lots of people love movies, and many are far more rabid and knowledgeable about cinema than I am. But it’s part of my personal DNA – I sometimes randomly quote…
“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” I think that phrase sums up how many marketing and brand managers feel about social media. If you are a company of any size, you HAVE to have a presence in social…
The key is to understand the difference between data and information. Data is just that: data, which can tell you absolutely nothing without applying some sort of focus or filter. Once that focus or filter is applied, then you MAY…
This is a guest post I did for UserZoom.com, and I am reposting it here. Several years ago I attended a presentation on Agile and UX at the Agile Australia conference, and about ten minutes into the talk I started…
I think UX design is headed in three different directions: The first direction is more about process and experience design and less about screens. There are design standards and frameworks established, and because of this UI design “maturity” designers can…
Late last year, I was asked to write on UX Trends for Content Science Review – I happily agreed, and they posted my article in early January. With their permission, I’m reposting it here: One of the great things about…
In construction, there are “weight bearing” support structures – if this support is knocked down or otherwise compromised, the whole building can come down on your head. Also, if you “overload” these weight-bearing supports with two much weight… well, same…
I recently tested some designs for my company and thought that a screen design I came up with (a UI module that gives users better visibility into their finances – in a sense, “how are things going?”) was rock solid.…
Had the great opportunity to talk to Lauren Ventura for her UX Practitioner series – you can see the interview here – but I also wanted to crosspost the interview here – “for the record”, as it were. To start,…
One of the interesting trends I am seeing in tech is the idea around “Minimal Viable Product.” This concept is all about Return on Investment: What the product that can be offered to consumers that provides the highest return on…
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…
One of the many conversations I had early in my career as a UX professional was, basically, “Why UX?” That is, why are UX designers and processes needed on a project? The initial way I and others responded to that…
Say you have a project that requires user experience design, but you don’t have a lot of money to spend. The idea of recruiting test participants, buying the latest UI design tools, or renting a usability test lab… that just…
During the announcement of the new iPhone this week, Apple unveiled their new “3D Touch” interaction model, which involves new ways of accessing functions and features. The big demo of this new model involved how in the upcoming version of…
It depends on the platform and the application. When it comes to computer hardware, an ethernet port or an optical drive were “must-have” features for the longest time… until they weren’t (users started using wi-fi and most download their media).…