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December 24, 2008
In 2009, businesses will live and die by the level of customer service—designing memorable and positive user experiences—that they are able to provide. Here are five tactics to help guarantee that you and your business are providing the best possible customer experience (online or off) in the coming year…
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November 15, 2008
Yes, the g-speak spatial operating environment is stunning, but save the drama for your mama.
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August 10, 2008
To ensure the optimal user experience on your website or corporate intranet, it is important to understand how to outrun the crap avalanche. The following steps will help make sure things stay neat and tidy.
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May 16, 2008
An IA Graveyard is a collection of content that, for some reason, would not fit into the existing architecture of a website, often resulting in confusion and a lack of findability for the end user. Avoid sending content to the dead zone at all costs!
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March 11, 2008
Wired magazine’s feature about the founders of 37 Signals has caused a minor skirmish in the user experience community, and I’m choosing sides.
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February 28, 2008
Today, LinkedIn publicly revealed a new user interface that attempts to improve on the poor UX many of us have experienced with the website in the past. A lot of what LinkedIn has changed resembles other social networking/social media UI designs; do the enhancements work for the online community of business professionals?
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February 19, 2008
When designing a user interface, be aware that seemingly innocuous UI decisions can cause confusion.
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January 22, 2008
Recently, I came across a blog post entitled, “The Four Laws of Simplicity, and How to Apply Them to Life.” Interestingly, the “Four Laws” related to the process that I follow during a project Discovery Phase.
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January 13, 2008
As the amount of consumer choices for shopping, entertainment, information and education grow, the businesses that will ultimately come out on top will understand the importance of creating a positive user experience for their customers. Those that don’t see the value in pleasing their customers will eventually find that they don’t have any customers left to please.
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December 26, 2007
As 2007 comes to a close, let’s take a look back at some online trends that I would rather not see again in 2008. Realistically, many of these trends will persist, but a guy can dream, can’t he?
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December 15, 2007
For the second installment of the two-part series, I’ve analyzed the websites of the three leading Republican presidential candidates to determine who is winning the user experience vote.
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December 12, 2007
In the first installment of a two-part series, I’ve analyzed the websites of the three leading Democratic presidential candidates to determine who is winning the user experience vote.
One candidate holds a clear advantage.
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December 1, 2007
By applying some basic information architecture and user experience design principles, even a trip to the Rhode Island Department of Motor Vehicles could be transformed into a pleasant experience.
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November 27, 2007
Try as they might, even the most seasoned user experience and interaction designers must overcome tremendous challenges to create an intuitive and useful web UI for a hand-held device. Face it, typing a URL or your user name and password with your thumbs on a phone keypad is no fun.
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November 20, 2007
Today, I came across an interview with esteemed UX consultant, Bruce Tognazzini. One question that was asked was especially interesting; the interviewer asked Tog if any of his original Apple user experience guidelines were still relevant.
Twenty-seven years later, it’s not just relevant; it’s user experience Gospel.
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November 12, 2007
The era of the deep discount big box store is over. Why bother fighting crowds, standing in endless lines and dealing with rude employees at a warehouse store when shopping and research can be done from the comfort of our homes and offices? The businesses that will succeed in the next decade will make personalized customer service and a pleasurable user experience their top priority.
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November 7, 2007
As I pushed my cart and dragged my two children into the self check-out lane of our local grocery store, a realization came over me: Shouldn’t I be compensated in some fashion for performing the role of cashier and bagger? Rather than paying a cashier an hourly wage, the store owner expects me to figure out how to operate the check out and payment system and bag my groceries for free.
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November 5, 2007
To be successful in any business venture, it is essential that the business owners understand their customers’ needs and fulfill those needs while providing value to the customer.
The same concept holds true online.
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November 1, 2007
There has been a lot of speculation over the past several months about the next big thing in user interface design, and many experts are betting that a three-dimensional, immersive user experience is the wave of the future. While some of the examples I have seen are compelling, I’m not entirely convinced that the majority of users are anxious to experience a 3D interface
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October 27, 2007
As the Director of User Experience at a digital marketing agency, I am tasked with several responsibilities—the most important of which is to make sure that everything designed and developed by the agency is useful and valuable to the client and their target audience. The first step to ensuring a project’s success is the Discovery Phase.
Use these five topics and the related questions as conversation starters, and don’t be afraid to ask “why?”. Gather as much information as possible to get a clear understanding of what the client and their users will need in a website.
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October 20, 2007
Last week I traveled to Los Angeles to help facilitate and observe the inaugural autograph signing event of LiveAutographs.com. Live Autographs is a startup that promises the experience of a live, face-to-face autograph signing via the twisted tubes of the inter-web...eventually.
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