We Don’t Research. We Build.
The following is a composite of experiences I’ve had in the last year when talking with startups. Some dialog is paraphrased, some is verbatim, but I’ve tried to keep it…
Things that go wrong in usability tests
A lot of planning goes into a usability test. Part of good planning means being prepared for the many things that can go wrong. Here are the ten most common…
Notification design strategies
If your inbox is anything like mine, it’s littered with unwanted notifications from companies begging for attention. Gmail has done a great job of making it easy to separate important…
Enduring misconceptions of UX Design
A couple weeks ago I suddenly saw a resurgence of interest in an article I wrote for Mashable in January 2009 titled 10 Most Common Misconceptions About User Experience Design.…
Shades of Discoverability
If your working week is anything like mine, I’d wager the term “discoverability” comes up often. Typically we use it when asking if a feature explains its presence and function.…
Iterative user interface design
Redesigning user interfaces on the basis of user testing can substantially improve usability. In four case studies, the median improvement in overall usability was 165% from the first to the…
UX Dark Patterns
A Dark Pattern is a user interface that uses manipulative techniques to get users to do things they would not otherwise have done. The thing about Dark Patterns is that…
Progressive Reduction
Usability is a moving target. A user’s understanding of your application improves over time and your application’s interface should adapt to your user. At the outset, the designer sets a…
The future of UX design
Dan Saffer, like many designers, likes to quote Charles Eames. But unlike many designers, Saffer--Director of Interaction Design at Smart Design--wrote a whole book inspired by one of his favorite…
5 lessons learned from 100,000 usability studies
It happens all the time. People get confused, frustrated, and angry while using websites. They sigh, they groan, and sometimes they even shout. I see it happen with my own…