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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Data tells us that there are more mobile than desktop web visits. However, mobile conversion rates are still lagging behind those on desktop. As more mobile visitors flock to your website, every step leading to conversion needs to be optimized for convenience, speed and security. If your checkout is not adeptly designed to mobile users’ specific needs and expectations, you’re going to find that those conversion rates drop or shift back to desktop. In this article, Suzanne Scacca will dig into why your mobile visitors are willing to ditch their purchases altogether.
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What do data-driven personas look like, and how do you make one? Creating personas based on actual user data is a great way to build internal consensus, improve your product’s UX, and make your design team more effective. But it is a challenging project that takes time and dedication. In this article, Tim Noetzel will show you how to create and use data-driven personas to improve your design process.
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What does it take to be a great UX leader? Well, not only do you need to provide clear guidance, but also empower different individuals in your team. A UX leader needs to encompass a wide range of skills. In his final article in this series on user experience design, Christopher Murphy will explore the different characteristics of an effective UX leader, and provide some practical advice about growing into a leadership role.
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How do we go about understanding the myriad of users and their needs? One of the most common problems when designing for accessibility is knowing what needs you should design for. The more inclusive you are to the needs of your users, the more accessible your design is. In this article, Steven Lambert will take a closer look at the different lenses of accessibility through which you can refine your designs.
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How can you gain a better understanding of your audience? Well, one way would be to use user-generated content that can be integrated into Machine Learning (ML) technology. In this article, Jamie Munro demonstrates how you can turn social media content into a powerful understanding of how the people creating the content think. Using the results from Watson, your application can use the categories of interest where the percentile exceeds or is less than a predetermined amount to change how you target your audience.
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