CategoryUX

June 11, 2018 — From campfires to books to advertisements to film, stories have a power over us that no other human invention can wield. They calm us, thrill us, enthrall us and send us running back to the box office for another hit. If we consider story structure as we look at user interactions, there are lots of ways we can put ourselves in the user’s shoes and optimize their experience, providing support exactly when they need it. In this article, John Rhea brings you some techniques. Read more…

June 6, 2018 — The defining characteristic of UX design is its focus on user research and on an iterative, user-centered, approach to creating solutions. But what if we applied the user-centered design process to ourselves, our lives, and our careers? In this article, JD Jordan is going to introduce you to four tools and techniques you can use to get started: Your Life In Weeks, Eisenhower Charts, Affinity Mapping and Prototyping Life. Read more…

June 5, 2018 — Nowadays, users are increasingly cautious of online and email scams, phishing attacks, and data breaches. In this article, Lyndon Cerejo will present a brief history of persuasion, look at how persuasion is used with technology and new media, and present food for thought for designers and developers to avoid crossing the ethical line to the dark side of persuasion. Read more…

May 29, 2018 — Let’s say you want to reach out to a business. What would be the first thing you would do? Probably you would look up their website to search for answers to your questions or simply any contact details you can find. With no doubt, the first impression of any website is now more important than ever. There are more than 1.8 billion websites on the Internet right now, and the number is growing. What makes your website stand out? In order to make sure your website is a success, it’s important to keep the big picture in mind. Read more…

May 28, 2018 — UX researchers can learn a lot from hospital patients through empathetic interviews — but that alone is not enough. Instead, you need to pay particular attention to how your users’ clinical context influences their perceptions, trust, and the care they receive. If you are a UX researcher about to embark on a project with hospitalized patients and you want to avoid missing out on deep concerns and problems of users, then maybe this article can help you strengthen your awareness for particular challenges of clinical UX. Read more…

May 17, 2018 — Have you ever faced challenges when trying to sell Design Discovery to a potential client? As designers, it is important that we are equipped to be able to have conversations with senior stakeholders to be able to sell and justify the importance of the so-called “Design Discovery” within the design process. In this article, Kyle Cassidy takes a deep dive into the importance of research as part of the UX design process and the core purpose of Design Discovery. Read more…

May 15, 2018 — Do sites that explain their ‘concept’ in a simple way have a better shot at mass-appeal with users? Being aware of the importance of ‘high-concept’ allows us — as designers — to really focus on user’s initial impressions. The most successful blockbusters are the ones that have an easy-to-understand concept that can be communicated in a single sentence. Web design should be approached in the same way. In this article, Andy Duke will show you how. Read more…

May 8, 2018 — Have you ever wondered whether it’s possible to do anything on the web without JavaScript? How many sites use progressive enhancement in practice? In this article Chris Ashton will try to use the web under various constraints, representing a given demographic of user. A good core experience is indicative of a well-structured web page, which, in turn, is usually a good sign for SEO and for accessibility. It’s usually a well designed web page, as the designer and developer have spent time and effort thinking about what’s truly core to the experience. Read more…

May 4, 2018 — UX professionals are constantly pressured to reduce the time they need to conduct UX research. Find out which techniques and ideas can make the user research process more transparent and collaborative. In this article, Zoe Dimov will take a closer look at some challenges and propose a new approach known as ‘FAST UX’ in order to solve them. This is a powerful tool that you can use to speed up UX research and turn stakeholders into active champions of the process. Read more…

May 3, 2018 — Macular degeneration is the leading cause of legal blindness in the United States. Bud Kraus shares his story of lessons learned from his disability as a tool to help him communicate and teach WordPress to others. Everyone works with WordPress differently, and Bud has discovered that for most people technology makes things easier. And for him, it makes things possible. Read more…