User experience design is a subset of the field of experience design which pertains to the creation of the architecture and interaction models which impact a user's perception of a device or system. The scope of the field is directed at affecting 'all aspects of the user’s interaction with the product: how it is perceived, learned, and used.'
#30625
Who's Keeping Score? The Value of Usability Scorecards and Metrics
Explains how HFI's evolving set of user experience metrics can help you: quantify best practices in design at a site, sub-site or page level; prioritize your usability resources across a range of projects; get valuable feedback quickly, in 'design time'; track and benchmark user experience over time; learn how you score against your competitors; and synthesize your various user data streams into an integrated UX dashboard.
Goddard, Phil and Susan Weinschenk. Human Factors International (2007). Design>User Experience>User Centered Design>Podcasts
#22309
Why Consumer Products Have Inferior User Experience
Physical products, from consumer electronics to cars, are needlessly complex because they're developed by insular companies that continue to ignore the growing usability trend.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2004). Articles>Usability>User Experience>User Centered Design
#29672
Why Do People Become Attached to Their Products?
How can a designer increase the degree to which people bond with a product? This is the question researcher Ruth Mugge tackled, who has recently received her PhD degree on this topic at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering of Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands.
Mugge, Ruth. uiGarden (2007). Design>User Experience>User Interface
#25076
Why Game Documentation is Essential to a Satisfying User Experience
Documentation and information organization are an integral part of video game construction. The video game industry may be one of the directions technical communicators will move toward in the near future.
Peterson, Martin. Usability Interface (2004). Articles>Documentation>User Experience>User Centered Design
#27023
I view a user experience as a conversation between people separated over the distance of time. At one end of that conversation are those who create the product; at the other, the people who use it. In between is the product itself--with a design that either helps or hinders; creates a barrier-free interaction or shouts in an unfamiliar language. Because this conversation does not happen in real time, we are not there to smooth over the rough spots and make sure that we have spoken clearly. Instead, we have to build our understanding of those users into every aspect of the design, by putting people--users--at the center of the design process.
Quesenbery, Whitney. UXmatters (2005). Articles>User Experience>Communication>User Centered Design
#32283
Logic+Emotion exists at the intersection of business + experience design—where passive consumers become active participants.
Armano, David. Logic Plus Emotion. Resources>Information Design>User Experience>Blogs
#32358
User Experience Design: The Evolution of a Multi-Disciplinary Approach 
Easy task completion (traditional usability) is not enough in the Web world. Appealing visual site design is not enough. A site visitor needs to not only be attracted to a site and able to figure out how to buy (or register, sign up, etc.)-they need in addition to be able to tell quickly that a site will meet their needs, and they need to want to buy from this site, as opposed to a competitor's site. This is a key aspect of overall Web site success.
Mayhew, Deborah J. Journal of Usability Studies (2008). Articles>Web Design>User Experience>Usability
#32423
Online Travel Booking: What Influences Consumers?
An overview of what influences consumers when booking a holiday and what travel companies can do to offer the best user experience.
Alexander Baxevanis. Webcredible (2008). Articles>Web Design>User Experience>E Commerce
#32747
A blog about user experience, usability, design, navigation and interfaces.
Designing User Experience. Articles>Web Design>User Experience>Blogs
#32748
UX Designers Focus on Your Users
UX designers often have a library of different interface patterns - navigation types, methods to help people find their way in software - and a deep understanding of how people actually DO find their way or navigate. They’re good communicators, and good at quickly plugging symptoms to design pattern. General doctors can prescribe medications, whereas UX designers can often actually bring the design patterns to life using CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Ajax, and Dojo, or .Net, Java, JSP, and so forth. They may not be coding geniuses, but they have to be aware of what’s out there and what it can do, just like your general doctor needs to know about surgical options and prescriptions, even if they don’t actually spend their day in surgery or the lab.
Designing User Experience (2008). Articles>Web Design>User Experience
#32749
People often don’t know exactly how they want software to allow them to complete a task. They recognize how the existing software makes them work around what they want, and they understand vague ideas like “make it easy to use”, but they may not be able to translate that into interface design. And why should they?
Designing User Experience (2008). Articles>Web Design>User Experience
#32759
I have recently noticed a new breed of web design books that focus on strategy and users rather than specific programming languages or applications.
Designing User Experience (2008). Articles>Reviews>Web Design>User Experience
#32832
Thoughts on Interaction Design
It is the primary goal of this text to better define Interaction Design: to provide a definition that encompasses the intellectual facets of the field, the conceptual underpinnings of Interaction Design as a legitimate human-centered field, and the particular methods used by practitioners in their day to day experiences.
Thoughts on Interaction Design (2007). Books>User Experience>Interaction Design
#32976
An Ethnographic Approach to User Experience: A Bibliography
A 2002 bibliography of writings in the area of ethnography and user experience.
Ferguson, Louise. Louise Ferguson (2002). Articles>Bibliographies>User Experience>User Centered Design
#32986
Web Traffic Analytics and User Experience
As a specialist in the user, you gain knowledge through observation and direct questioning of individual users. Now, you can add to that insights gained from data pulled during their actions on the site. By looking at this information, you will get a fuller picture of user behavior, not in a lab, but in the true user environment.
Diamond, Fran. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Articles>Web Design>User Experience>Log Analysis
#33013
The key revolution of the Web is customer empowerment and engagement. The Web empowers the customer more than it empowers the organization. The implications are enormous.
McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2006). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>User Experience
#33158
Results of a Study about Online Experience
Users’ “enjoyment” of a site is tied closely to how easily they can find the information they want and stay oriented at the same time. I think this is a given for technical communicators; we know that users want to get answers as fast as possible, and documentation must be navigable.
Gryphon Mountain (2008). Articles>Web Design>User Experience>User Centered Design
#33161
Building Ease of Use Into the IBM User Experience 
This paper provides an overview of the process and organizational transformation that IBM has gone through in improving the user experience with our offerings.
Vredenburg, K. IBM (2003). Articles>Web Design>User Experience>Case Studies
#33348
Seven Reasons Why Web Apps Fail
I’m not one to believe that we’re in a Bubble 2.0 or anything like that (aren’t we always bubbular?), but here are a few ideas about why some of the web apps out there fail.
Porter, Joshua. Bokardo (2006). Articles>Web Design>Programming>User Experience
#33362
Designing for Limited Resources
Even in an ideal world, designs must optimise both the user experience and the business return. When resources are limited, the design must be optimised to make the best use of all resources as well. To account for this complexity, it is important to have a clear understanding of both sides of the design equation--what you have to work with and what you are trying to build.
Quinn, Laura S. Boxes and Arrows (2004). Articles>User Experience>Design
#33386
Modeling User Workflows for Rich Internet Applications
As Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) become more advanced, the tasks, problems, and processes they address become increasingly complex, making it more important than ever to accurately model user workflows. Early Internet applications were often narrowly focused in scope, and the steps were relatively simple and sequential, for example, purchasing items through simple e-commerce, reserving hotel rooms, or renting cars. But as productivity applications move toward a web-based distribution model, the tasks become more complicated.
Hogue, David. Adobe (2008). Articles>Web Design>User Experience>Flash
#33387
The Web 2.0 Experience Continuum
There’s been a lot of talk about the technology of Web 2.0, but only a little about the impact these technologies will have on user experience. Everyone wants to tell you what Web 2.0 means, but how will it feel? What will it be like for users?
Saffer, Dan. Adaptive Path (2005). Articles>Web Design>User Experience
#33389
Web 2.0: Mistaking the Forest for the Trees?
Think of Web 2.0 as more of a concept than a person, place or thing and you'll find firmer ground. Even better, spend some quality time with O'Reilly's lengthy essay. Finally, keep in mind that the lion's share of Web 2.0 discussion is from a technological perspective; it hasn't yet filtered down to the information architecture, interaction design and similar discussion lists.
Rogers, Dave. GotoMedia (2006). Articles>Web Design>User Experience>Interaction Design
#33405
Turning on the Lights in Your Online Business
Ecommerce websites are typically set up as if they were just glorified catalogs: a list of products, some pictures, brief descriptions, and an order form. No human interaction at all.
Oxer, Jonathan. Internet Vision Technologies (2007). Articles>Web Design>User Experience>E Commerce
#33445
Personalizing the User Experience on ibm.com
In this paper, we describe the results of an effort to first understand the value of personalising a website, as perceived by the visitors to the site as well as by the stakeholder organisation that owns it, and then to develop a strategy for introducing personalisation to the ibm.com website.
Karat, C.M., C. Brodie, J. Karat, J. Vergo and S.R. Alpert. IBM (2003). Articles>Web Design>User Experience>Personalization
