I have been meaning to write about Likes and users interests for quite some time. But the matter is complicated. So rather than wait to write the perfect post, I’m going to lay down some cornerstones, sketch a few concepts and maybe develop some key arguments. … »

Is your design resistant to failure? If a worst case occurs, can the user recover and regain trust in your solution? … »

“To design is to have a ‘project’. Getting the design process moving is to expose and transform this ‘project’ in a conversation with those that it might eventually affect” (Buur, Binder, & Brandt, 2000).

In the early stages of design, rather than evaluate or validate specific user requirements or priorities, we are interested in exploring possibilities. As the opening quote suggests, we seek to engage with the various stakeholders the design project may eventually effect and gain an understanding of the unique design situation from their perspective. In Zimmerman et al.’s  (2004) framework for discovering and extracting knowledge during the design process, this is known as the Discovery phase of design. In this article we introduce Mobile Diaries as a field work method that can be utilised in the early stages of design to immerse into people’s everyday life. … »

Ever asked yourself how you can make more impact on your projects? Instead of reacting to poor product decisions, being in a position to drive real change? … »

As UXers in the corporate world, my team have to focus on practical ways of doing things to get better results – in what is often a shorter time frame.  Take this, and the fact that users are often poor at relaying why they have behaved in a certain way, and we are under some pressure to make inferences from observed behaviour that may (or may not), apply to a broader context.   However, we’ve found that the process of priming our users before we see them – getting them to create collages as a homework activity – has amazing benefits with valuable results.

… »

In a new series from Johnny Holland, we turn the light onto the community to discuss hot topics and issues. Read on and discuss! We begin on communication.

… »

A few months ago we set up five Flickr groups around several UX topics. Every month we will try and make some sense of the uploaded material. This month we selected the UX Errors group and will look at examples of issues that arise when proper attention isn’t paid to two very important components of successful user interface design: Perceived Affordances and Designing for Task Flow. … »

There is much we do not recognise and there is so much we ignore from our immature days of play, learning and discovery. The relevance of some lessons and understanding may not seem immediately apparent, but I believe they are all mightily important to understanding how we all interact socially, with the physical world around us, and with the many many interfaces we come into contact with on a daily basis. … »

Some days, I like to think I have a UX Flashlight. As I point its beam at a design, all the UX problems appear, bright as day, waiting to be fixed by a clever designer.

There are designs where, if I had such a magical device, it would just light up everything. … »

As interaction designers, we’re keenly aware of the explicit meanings in words and images. But how many of us also focus on the what is suggested by our words and images?
… »