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Scaling Your UX Strategy

User experience is increasingly important, but there's not enough design talent to go around. Here's how to thrive anyway. ...

Tags: Design / UI/UX /
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The Bucket Analogy

Who doesn't love a good story? I know I do. Storytelling has been gaining in popularity in the business world. Following the trend, I've also been using stories to help clients understand user / customer experience better. A lot of times, I find that non-UX stakeholders find it more difficult to make sense of how a particular usability issue affects their bottom line. I've found that using storie ...

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Written by Nirish Shakya

User experience designer, software developer, Room to Read v

10 Things To Know About The Single Ease Question (SEQ)

The Single Ease Question (SEQ) is a 7-point rating scale to assess how difficult users find a task. It's administered immediately after a user attempts a task in a usability test. ...

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Written by Jeff Sauro

Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used.

Here's the Problem With Your Product

I tend to get one particular question over and over. It is some variant on "How is the UX for my product/site?" In order to get in touch with some of your users, I'd recommend that you do the following: Figure out exactly what you are concerned about with your site or product. ...

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Written by Laura Klein

Principal at Users Know. Director of Product & UX at One J

Applying the 80-20 (Pareto) Principle to the User Experience

In 1906 Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist, observed that wealth was unequally distributed in Italy. He noted that 80% of the land and wealth was owned by 20% of the people. A similar relationship can be observed in the wealth and income across most countries. It turns out what Pareto observed isn't limited to wealth and income. ...

Tags: How To / UI/UX / Usability /
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Written by Jeff Sauro

Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used.

Managing user expectations in responsive design

Users might not be ready to make the shift from mobile-specific sites to fully responsive sites. Here's how we can help them. ...

Tags: Design / UI/UX /
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Written by Rian van der Merwe

User experience design & strategy at @flow_sa. Contributor t

More Than Usability: The Four Elements of User Experience

We can break down how users interact with a product into two stages. At the first stage, a user has yet to use the product. Getting people to start using a product has greater business impact, but designers often expend too little effort at this stage. At the second stage, the user is actually using the product, and that is when usability plays a critical role. Let's look at a few examples to illu ...

Tags: Design / UI/UX / Usability /
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Written by Frank Guo

A respected user experience strategist and architect, Frank

Creating a Web-Site Information Architecture in Six Steps

In my previous columns, I've framed my discussions around the practice of information architecture. To recap, the DSIA Research Initiative--of which I am the curator--defines the practice of information architecture as "the effort of organizing and relating information in a way that simplifies how people navigate and use content on the Web." ...

Tags: Development / UI/UX /
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A Great User Experience Reduces Risk

One of the ah-ha moments that many of the companies I work with go through is accepting that digital risk management (and for that matter many other aspects of risk management) are directly tied to the customer experience. It makes sense - if a user has a good experience that is supported by a great digital experience, that reduces risk. Customers don't complain as much. ...

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Written by Alan Webber

Principal Analyst @AltimeterGroup and a right proper rogue!

How to Build a Killer User Experience Team

This post makes use of my personal experience and wisdom that I have collected over time working in large enterprises, and I will try to present a detailed analysis of key points which will be decisive towards the making of a User Experience team, that delivers. ...

Tags: Design / Team / UI/UX /
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Lean Doesn’t Mean Less: Understanding LeanUX

The term "Lean", in the context of process-improvement, was coined in the 1990s first for Lean Manufacturing; it was then applied to Lean Six Sigma, and even Lean IT. The Lean philosophy was developed primarily by the Toyota Production System (TPS) as a concept to preserve value with less work. As a discipline matures, new methods are developed to improve the quality and reduce the costs of produc ...

Tags: Lean Startup / UI/UX /
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Written by Jeff Sauro

Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used.

Building a Vision from a Journey Map

First, go out and study people using today's solutions, whether it be your current design or just how people solve the inherent problems with whatever they have. As you're observing them, note the order of the steps they take and whether each step is frustrating or delightful. ...

Tags: Design / UI/UX /
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Written by Jared M. Spool

Just a dude who thinks a lot about creating great user exper

Is design building interfaces or solving problems?

I've been talking with a lot of designers lately and it's clear to me that many of them(us) are struggling with development processes that aren't always design-friendly. I think a lot of designers working at startups and other places where sprint-based work is being done are feeling this pressure...they are forced to work within schedules that aren't always conducive to the way they want to work. ...

Tags: Design / Mistakes / UI/UX /
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Via: Bokardo
Written by Joshua Porter

Director of UX at HubSpot, Co-founder @performable, Founder

How to Calculate the ROI of UX Using Metrics

"We need to demonstrate that we bring measurable value to the products for which we design user interfaces." Even experienced UX professionals often feel that they are not being heard by their clients, managers, and developers. Why? To overcome this problem, we need to demonstrate that we bring measurable value to the products for which we design user interfaces. ...

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Written by Yury Vetrov

UX designer from Russia. Head of UX @ Mail.Ru.

Using Neuroscience to Inform Your UX Strategy and Design

"Neurodesign is an approach that lets you look at the brain triggers behind good customer experience and use them to help you make better informed design decisions based on customer behavior, human trends, and overall customer or company interactions." ...

Tags: Design / UI/UX /
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Over Messaging the User Experience

Alert: Are you sure you want to proceed? In his seminal book, The Humane Interface, the late Jef Raskin, one of the original Apple Designers, described inefficient interfaces as those that required user input but provided nothing in return. He provided as an example a Mac dialogue box from over 12 years ago (shown below) which had an efficiency rating of 0 (effort in and nothing out). ...

Tags: UI/UX / Usability /
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Written by Jeff Sauro

Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used.

What Statistical Test do I Use?

What statistical procedure do I use? It's hard enough to grasp many of the concepts in statistics. Most people in UX aren't math majors and never intended to use statistics as part of their job. For this reason we have a decision tree to help you know when to use which statistical procedure. ...

Tags: Analytics / UI/UX /
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Written by Jeff Sauro

Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used.

UX designers - Have You Tried Talking To Your Customers?

Anyone who works in UX has had experience of watching clients fight over "What The Users Want". Talking to your customers is one of the most important things you can do as an app developer/owner, so shouldn't it be easy? ...

Tags: Feedback / UI/UX /
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Written by Des Traynor

COO at @Intercom. I speak & write about UX, Customer Acquisi

UX Design Defined

In the field of user experience, people often confuse terms like information architecture, interaction design, visual design, usability engineering, and UX design. In some cases, people use these terms almost interchangeably. This article provides a lexicon of these terms and more clearly defines the role of the user experience designer. ...

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Written by Ritch Macefield

Director of Ax-Stream - Approved Axure support partner in Eu

Business Model Canvas for User Experience

Alexander Osterwalder's Business Model Canvas is the tool of choice for a quick, one page dashboard of your business hypotheses. It very much appeals to the business guy in me, but it irks the User Experience (UX) part of my brain. But hey...the canvas is a tool. Use the right tool for the right job. ...

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Written by Tristan Kromer

#leanstartup, #custdev, #RoR, banjo, questions, tao, #bmgen,

Product Management Versus Development: One Bag and a Carry-on

While product managers are often the greatest allies UX professionals can have, in spite of the many positive aspects of our relationships with them, there is some inherent tension between us. ...

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Creating a Shared Understanding

Creating a shared understanding among stakeholders is crucial and that UX is really the best-positioned team to facilitate this. I have a specific idea of what a shared understanding means. Shared understanding means that everyone knows what will be built and why it will be built that way. ...

Tags: Development / UI/UX /
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3 Types of False Simplicity

False Simplicity is particularly worth paying attention to in the design and conceptualization phase because it often pass for being "simpler" at first glance, when in reality it actually makes the interface more complicated to use. Let's take a look at 3 types of "False Simplicity" where you should stay alert. ...

Tags: UI/UX /
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7 Limitations When Designing For Mobile

So you have a website designed for standard desktop computers, but you obviously want to keep up with times and make your site mobile-friendly too. However, it isn't just a matter of scaling down your design - it's a new platform with a new set of interaction patterns and limitations. ...

Tags: Design / UI/UX /
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Measuring Errors in the User Experience

Errors happen and unintended actions are inevitable. They are a common occurrence in usability tests and are the result of problems in an interface and imperfect human actions.It is valuable to have some idea about what these are, how frequently they occur, and how severe their impact is. ...

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Written by Jeff Sauro

Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used.

The Craft of UX: What We Can Learn From Bakers' Guilds

the user experience profession has foundational skills that are essential in producing quality work, and user experience problems can't be solved following a simple recipe. All the pretty wireframes in the world doesn't do any good if you haven't nailed down essentials like active listening, storytelling and problem-solving. ...

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Written by Leanna Gingras

putting together the pieces of the UX puzzle. also: voraciou

Sometimes It’s Not the Change They Hate

There has been a lot of discussion in the design world recently about "change aversion." Most of the articles about it seem to be targeting the new Google redesign, but I've certainly seen this same discussion happen at many companies when big changes aren't universally embraced by users. ...

Tags: Design / UI/UX / Usability /
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Written by Laura Klein

Principal at Users Know. Director of Product & UX at One J

"Sign up in seconds" ... and then what?

When I evaluate web products I often feel uncertain about what will happen after the quick signup. Sure it takes seconds to create an account, but then what? ...

Tags: Conversion / UI/UX /
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Written by Ryan Singer

UI design, code, and product management at 37signals.

New User Experience, Engagement

One of the great things about working at Greylock is meeting with entrepreneurs and discussing product strategies for virality and self-distribution. Recently, I've been struck with how many of these conversations have reflected back on another topic I'm extremely passionate about, the new user experience. ...

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Written by Adam Nash

Inevitably optimistic

UX Immersion: Great Time to Be Designer

In his It's a Great Time to Be Designer presentation at UX Immersion, Jared Spool talked about the reasons why designers are in high demand today and what skills that and their organizations need to deliver great experience design. ...

Tags: Design / UI/UX /
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Written by Luke Wroblewski

Digital product design & strategy guy in Silicon Valley, CA.

UX Success Starts With a Good Strategy

I believe that there are many lessons that we can learn from sports in order to enhance our UX skillset. It's no secret that working in teams and having an outlook for success are attributes of a successful athlete. Today I want to talk about our first lesson from the field: success is all about strategy. ...

Tags: UI/UX /
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Written by Elisabeth Hubert

UX & Strategy Consultant making her way around NYC and beyon

Designing for Seniors

Do seniors use the web differently? Are we losing a potential web audience by not catering to their needs on sites that would interest them? Test participants I worked with recently when testing an arts booking website were mostly over 65, and all were engaged frequently with the online world. ...

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Written by Joanna Lewis

We help make sure your online customer experiences are fanta

Why Signup Processes Must be Dead Simple

let's assume a startup's messaging, value propositions and benefits are well-articulated and clear. Congratulations, but if you want someone to sign up for your service, there’s another big hurdle to overcome: the registration process. Don’t Ask for Too Much Info ...

Tags: Development / UI/UX /
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Written by Mark Evans

Startup marketer, conference organizer, hockey player, dad,

Stop Designing User Experience! I Mean It!

User Experience this! User Experience that! Stop it, will you? There's plenty enough research done about User Experience . Now, can we please start designing? The problem with the Internet is that literally anything can go viral in no time. Same has happened with the keyword User Experience (UX as the nerds call it). ...

Tags: Design / UI/UX /
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Written by Salman Siddiqui

An expert technology analyst, design guru and seasoned WordP

Lean UX Is Dead. Long Live Lean UX.

Don’t get me wrong. I like Lean UX. It's pioneered by people whose work and writings I've found to be very influential in my own career. It's about time we focus less on the beauty of our deliverables and more on how we create value for our organizations. The problem, for me, is this: The process continues to position UX as a tactical discipline with little strategic value. ...

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Written by Greg Laugero

Digital product strategist, UX designer, co-founder of Indus

Know Your Customers and How They Decide

Everything you design—from slide decks to email newsletters, from marketing sites to company t-shirts—has a goal, and that goal is to get someone to decide to do something that benefits you or your company. To achieve this with a design, you need to understand two variables: who are they, and how do they make their decisions. ...

Tags: Design / Sales / UI/UX /
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Written by Des Traynor

COO at @Intercom. I speak & write about UX, Customer Acquisi

Why User Experience Is Different From Consumer Experience

Forrester recently released a report on the rise of the Chief Customer Officer. The emergence of a C-level role with authority over customers' interactions has caused much hand-wringing within the UX community. It's like the job (we think) we're made for has been stolen from us. ...

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Written by Johnny holland

UX Design For Non-Designers

Definition / roles within UX: information architecture, interaction design, user research, visual design, copy, also now web dev. Companies often leave out user research info architecture. Often focus is on interaction visual. This order is typically the work flow. Don't think of them as roles, but as steps. But make sure not to skip a step! ...

Tags: Design / UI/UX /
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Written by Jason Shen

Co-founder of @Ridejoy, a community marketplace for rideshar

What’s More Important to Startups: Design or Utility?

Over the past few weeks, there has been an interesting debate raging about design versus utility for startups looking to capture the spotlight. The key issues are whether the look and feel of a service is more important than how it actually works. If a service looks crappy, does it impact its appeal, or can [...] ...

Tags: Design / UI/UX /
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Written by Mark Evans

Startup marketer, conference organizer, hockey player, dad,

What I Learned From Reviewing 45 Websites (Are You Making The Same Mistakes?)

Recently I critiqued a number of websites (links at the bottom of the post) and made suggestions for improving their conversion rates. I noticed that the key problems were pretty much the same for most of them. It’s highly likely... read more ...

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Written by Peep Laja

I make websites sell. Conversion optimization pro. Founder o

Measuring User Interface Disasters

Completion rates are the gateway metric. If users can't complete tasks on a website, not much else matters. The only thing worse than users failing a task is users failing a task and thinking they've completed it successfully.  This is a disaster. The term was coined by Gerry McGovern and it's anathema on websites and software.Have you ever bought the wrong product or found out later you got ...

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Written by Jeff Sauro

Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used.

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