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 are so many interesting UX books coming out that it’s hard to know which ones are worth your money. So from now on we will try and be your guide. Each month we will share with you our opinion on the newest UX books. And as a bonus we will add a classic you must have.

This month we review Card Sorting, Designing Social Interfaces, Thoughts on Interaction Design, and revisit The Inmates Are Running The Asylum. … »

After a night of engaging conversation over dinner, drinks, as well as Brad Pitt and George Clooney sightings, the second day of IDEA kicked off. The speakers of the second day had big shoes to fill after the great speakers from the day before. Needless to say, they all rose to the occasion effortlessly and gave attendees plenty to think about for their trips home.

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After a daylong workshop given by Nathan Curtis of EightShapes, The Information Architecture Institute’s IDEA09 officially kicked off on September 15th. The conference took place in Toronto at the MaRS Centre this year, with an approximate attendance of 250 UX professionals from around the world.  Many of the conversations that took place over dinner and drinks were fueled by the sessions of the day, and extended the conference’s experience well into the night. … »

Two parties and four hours after day 2 of the IA Summit 2009 closed. Day 3 opened with a low-key UX Book Salon organized by Lou Rosenfeld of Rosenfeld Media. … »

Day 2 rolled around far too fast, after a late night and some really engaging conversation. A leisurely breakfast at the famous Arcade Restaurant removed the cobwebs and prepared me for the day ahead. I missed the first session as a result, but we made up for it by having a round-table discussion on personas: how we use them; how we go about creating them; and when they are(n’t) appropriate to the project. There were a lot of good insights, and we managed to get through breakfast without setting up opposing camps. … »

Friday 20th March marked the opening day of the 10th IA Summit. Held in Memphis (USA), at the Peabody Hotel (famous for its ducks) the 2009 conference revolved around the theme “Expanding our horizons”. 350 people from around the world converged on Memphis for the three day event, and after two days of pre-conference workshops; 2nd breakfasts, elevenses, lunch, afternoon drinks, dinner, after-dinner drinks, and nightcaps; and the occasional trip to Gracelands, BB King’s Blue Restaurant, and – of course – the March of the Ducks at the Peabody, the conference got under way. … »

In the wake of the ever increasing popularity of gestural interfaces, Dan Saffer wrote his newest book: Designing Gestural Interfaces. In this publication by O’Reilly he tries to give us some valuable insights. But did he succeed? … »

Beautiful Evidence is Edward R. Tufte’s fourth book on visual evidence. His earlier books about this topic where ‘Visual Explanations’, ‘Envisioning Information’ and the highly praised ‘The Visual Display of Quantitative Information’. Beautiful Evidence deals with analytical design and is a collection of critically analyzed (and very beautiful) images, principles and pitfalls which apply to everything from MS Powerpoint to sculptures. … »

Everybody wants to design perfect products. And to do this a lot of designers think they’re applying user centered design. But most of the time they’re actually using themselves as reference. Fortunately there are several methodologies which can help you to really understand the target audience. One of them is the creation of mental models, of which Indi Young wrote a book called Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior. … »