News Feed

Malware: Whether on the Desktop or the Web, It’s a Perception Thing

2008-09-08T08:42:58Z

By Paul J. Sherman Published: September 8, 2008 Since the advent of the World Wide Web and the growth of ecommerce, social networking, and Web-based applications, greater connectedness and interaction have characterized the personal-computing user experience, both between users and between users and Read More......(read more)

When Role Playing Doesn’t Work: Seven Guidelines for Grounding Usability Testing in Participants’ Real Lives

2008-09-08T08:26:17Z

By Isabelle Peyrichoux Published: September 8, 2008 Usability testing makes use of a lot of role-playing scenarios like this one, and many findings and design recommendations result from participants’ responses to these scenarios. But an over-reliance on role playing when testing a product and Read More......(read more)

Improving Our Ethical Choices: Managing the Imp of the Perverse

2008-09-08T08:19:17Z

By Joe Lamantia Published: September 8, 2008 The powerful mix of ethical fading, cognitive distortions, and perceptual biases I explored in “ Designing Ethical Experiences: Juicy Rationalizations ” shows we all carry a bit of the Imp of the Perverse. What can designers do to balance the many Read More......(read more)

Creating a Digital World: Data As Design Material

2008-08-18T04:56:09Z

By Jonathan Follett Published: August 18, 2008 The common wisdom is that we now live in the age of information; the freedom and access we have to data is unprecedented in history; and the efficiency and convenience of online commerce, research, and communication has already transformed our lives for Read More......(read more)

Execution Is Everything

2008-08-18T03:33:53Z

By Steve Baty Published: August 18, 2008 The number one enemy of any strategy is poor execution. All across the business landscape, the ability of an organization to execute its strategy is one of the most critical elements of success. And for an effective UX strategy, the broad range of elements requiring Read More......(read more)

Winning Considerations for Interactive Content

2008-08-04T04:24:53Z

By Colleen Jones Published: August 4, 2008 User interface designers have more interactive options than ever for presenting content. So, we can make meaningful strides toward offering users the right content in the right place, at the right time, in the right amount. However, these rich options for interactively Read More......(read more)

Selling Your Brand by Using Your Web Site as a Customer Research Tool

2008-08-04T00:03:23Z

By Afshan Kirmani Published: August 4, 2008 With companies moving business online, the Internet has become a source of profit for them. We all know how this works. You establish an online presence, sell your brand well—and you make money. Let’s rewind. We are selling our brands online, but Read More......(read more)

Excel Hacks for Help Writers

2008-07-22T07:59:25Z

By Mike Hughes Published: July 21, 2008 One of my earlier careers was in manufacturing management, and it grounded me in the principles of project planning and management. When I moved into technical communication, I brought my project management disciplines with me, and I embraced the prevailing tools Read More......(read more)

Designing a Different Kind of Intranet: An Intranet for a UX Team

2008-07-22T07:56:21Z

By Anirban Basu Mallik Published: July 21, 2008 Most of us who are working as part of a design team in a services company, a product company, or even a design boutique have to live with a generic intranet. In this article, I’ll describe how to leverage your company’s intranet and how to build Read More......(read more)

How to Succeed As a First-Time UX Manager

2008-07-07T07:57:00Z

By Jim Nieters Published: July 7, 2008 In my last column, I suggested that being a manager of UX is no better—and no worse—than being a great designer or user researcher, but the roles are very different. In fact, as the book The First 90 Days [1] points out, the skills that make you successful Read More......(read more)

Preparing for User Research Interviews: Seven Things to Remember

2008-07-07T07:39:24Z

By Michael Hawley Published: July 7, 2008 Interviewing is an artful skill that is at the core of a wide variety of research methods in user-centered design, including stakeholder interviews, contextual inquiry, usability testing, and focus groups. Consequently, a researcher’s skill in conducting Read More......(read more)

Convergence and Emergence: 2008 IA Summit

2008-07-07T07:00:49Z

By James Kelway Published: July 7, 2008 The 2008 IA Summit was held April 10–14, at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Miami, Florida, shown in Figure 1. It had the highest attendance in the conference’s nine-year history: Over 600 people signed up for the conference run by ASIS&T (American Read More......(read more)

The State of the UX Community

2008-06-23T09:32:57Z

By Jonathan Follett Published: June 23, 2008 “An organization’s reason for being, like that of any organism, is to help the parts that are in relationship to each other, to be able to deal with change in the environment.”—Kevin Kelly Over the past three decades of computer/human Read More......(read more)

Designing Ethical Experiences: Understanding Juicy Rationalizations

2008-06-23T09:27:52Z

By Joe Lamantia Published: June 23, 2008 From “The Big Chill”: [1] Michael: “I don’t know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations. They’re more important than sex.” Sam Weber: “Ah, come on. Nothing’s more important Read More......(read more)

Constructing a User Experience: The Cost-Benefits Compass

2008-06-23T08:40:23Z

By Ben Werner Published: June 23, 2008 A common frustration among UX professionals who are employed in the software development industry is the perception that executive-level management gives lip service to user experience rather than supporting specific UX activities by allocating sufficient resources Read More......(read more)