When it comes to evaluating the next “big idea”, not everyone has a pot of money, crowds of existing customers and a roomful of eager researchers and analysts. So in this second installment of her three-part series, Meg Dickey-Kurdziolek leads us through the next steps in budget-conscious discovery—analyzing the data gathered from initial research, refining the problem hypothesis, and setting up a fresh round of more-targeted research. For Meg’s fictitious startup, Candor Network, it’s clear that a new focus is needed …
Topic: User Experience
My Accessibility Journey: What I’ve Learned So Far
It’s not about writing the most sophisticated code or finding the most clever solution to a problem; it’s about users and whether they’re able to use our products.” Manuel Matuzovic shares 11 lessons as a developer learning about & incorporating accessibility into his work.
Design Like a Teacher
A difficult user migration project led Aimee Gonzalez-Cameron to reevaluate how she approaches her work. She started to see herself not just as an expert on user experience, but as a teacher, a realization that transformed her work. She reflects on how developing a teaching mindset can improve any UX project.
The King vs. Pawn Game of UI Design
If you want to improve your UI design skills, try looking at chess. Sounds contrived, maybe, but in Erik Kennedy’s hands, it’s sublime. Marvel and learn as he uses a concept from chess to build a toolkit of UI design strategies covering color, typography, lighting and shadows, and more.
Working with External User Researchers: Part I
So you need to bring on an external user researcher. How do you start? Authors Chelsey Glasson, Jeff Sauro, and Cory Lebson have run a user research agency, hired external researchers, and worked as freelancers. Via their different perspectives, they provide a solid guide to hiring researchers as contractors. Part I of two articles.
No More FAQs: Create Purposeful Information for a More Effective User Experience
Putting the right information in the right place to best support user (and company) goals requires carefully targeted content and good information architecture (IA) … and definitely no FAQs! However attractive the FAQ “solution” might seem at times, using it makes information hard to find, access and maintain, and generally hinders task completion. Discussing the limitations of—and alternatives to—FAQs, Lisa Wright is on a mission to banish them forever, or at the very least make them more effective if you have to include them.
Discovery on a Budget: Part I
“Discovery” is a key phase of design. It’s the starting point, where you define and clarify the problem you’re about to solve. For established or big businesses with dedicated budgets, teams, and customers to interview, the process is straightforward. But what about small companies, startups, and nonprofits that lack these resources? How can lean organizations participate in and benefit from discovery? Meg Dickey-Kurdziolek shows us, in Part I of “Discovery on a Budget.”
Planning for Accessibility
Incorporating accessibility from the beginning of a web design project is easier, more effective, and less expensive than making accessibility fixes after the fact. Yet most of us too often get stuck doing the latter. Fear not! ALA’s exclusive excerpt from Laura Kalbag’s Accessibility for Everyone is here to help. You’ll learn how to make the case for accessibility to reluctant coworkers, bosses, or clients. How to build your team, scope the project, and even budget the job.
What the Failure of New Coke Can Teach Us About User Research And Design
Coca-Cola conducted extensive market research before launching New Coke in 1985, yet the product still turned out to be one of the great marketing failures of all time. Designer Adam Silver draws on Coca-Cola’s infamous blunder to offer some important lessons for conducting successful user research for websites and digital services.
UX for Lizard Brains
In the digital world, anything is possible. Technology can seem like magic. But if the interface strays to far from human’s expectations of the physical world, users will become unsure, confused, and unhappy. Design with lizard brains in mind to create intuitive interfaces.
