Beyond Usability Testing
As web professionals, we’re accustomed to putting out fine websites based on best practices, analytics data, competitor review, secondary research, and our own expertise. Talented as we may be, though,…
Your website has two faces
Like the Roman god Janus (and many a politician), every web application has two faces: Its human face interacts with people, while its machine face interacts with computer systems, often…
Seeing the Elephant: Defragmenting User Research
Like everyone else who 1) has performed user research, and 2) is over age 40, I spent the requisite decade or two wandering a wilderness inhabited by misguided folks who…
Designing for easy interaction
Success in interaction design is largely a matter of following established patterns, so people can apply what they already know to new contexts. Using known and well-established interactive controls goes…
Intuitive design clears confusion
One of the best ways to learn what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to UI and usability is to look at as many samples as possible and…
The future of Information Dashboards
Last year was an awesome one for the data visualization industry. With more and more businesses realizing the value of data visualization for deriving critical business insights, the year ahead…
4 types of customer analytics to collect
While they may be called customers, users, buyers, or even guests, they are all people. Organizations quantify, classify, categorize and track people well before they've even made a purchase and…
Is observing one user worse than observing none?
Seeing is believing. Observing just a handful of users interact with a product can be more influential than reading pages of a professionally done report or polished presentation. But what…
Global navigation is less useful on large, complex websites
As a website becomes larger and more complex, navigation should focus on helping customers move forward. Helping them move backwards or sideways can cause major distraction and confusion. In February…