How Can You Measure UX Without Observing Users?
The user puts the u in UX. What defines UX in general and usability in particular, is the observation of people interacting with products--software, hardware, and websites. For decades, UX…
The key difference between online and print publishing
Vigorously managing what is already published is the critical difference between a professional online publishing culture and a traditional offline print culture. The Ebola factsheet page from the World Health…
User Experience – Value, Strategy and a Practical Approach
I recently presented at the Tech4Africa conference in Johannesburg - "Africa's version of SxSW". It was a great experience, and awesome to represent UX at a tech-focused conference. This is…
How To Design For Thumbs in the Era of Huge Screens
After years of resistance, Apple’s iPhone 6 announcement last week officially signaled the dawn of the Era of Huge Screens. And it’s going to crash into existence in a big…
Redesign Democracy: Dare to Think Big
Why are you in UX? It probably isn’t to get rich. Yes, there is plenty of money in being a UX professional today. If you’re competent, you should be enjoying…
Five Things They Didn’t Teach Me in School About Being a User Researcher
Graduate school taught me the basics of conducting user research, but it taught me little about what it’s like working as a user researcher in the wild. I don’t blame…
“Sigh… That’s Gonna Be a Hard Job.”
These are words that one never really wants to hear from a home-improvement contractor. Or any type of contractor really. Recently, I built a new house. And I heard these…
How To Balance Usability and Design When Building a Website
It is all about perception when we talk about ugliness and beauty in web design. My ‘ugly’ may be your ‘beauty’ and vice versa, but how does it happen that…
Top 10 Skills and Knowledge Set Every UX Professional Needs
The user experience of your products is only as good as the knowledge and skills of your UX staff. As organizations realize how important the user experience is to the…
Adapting to the digital future: the senior management challenge
“Bureaucracies are honed by the past and almost never can they deal with the future.” This quote, from biologist Leroy Hood, starts the first chapter of Paul Boag’s excellent book,…