#31875
Over the past three decades of computer/human interaction, we’ve seen digital technology evolve from a curiosity to a convenience to an integral part of our everyday lives. For UX professionals, the demand for our skill sets and the opportunities to practice seem only to grow, whether we be designers or developers, usability specialists or information architects, working in fields as diverse as Web, mobile, desktop, and embedded software systems. The UX professions are at a stage that could very well be a tipping point—where the rapid rise of digital devices, services, and connectivity converge to create a massive need for UX professionals. The mobile space alone could generate demand that we can only begin to imagine.
Follett, Jonathan. UXmatters (2008). Articles>User Experience>Human Computer Interaction>Community
#28900
Review: The STC 54th Annual Conference
What I saw was a society of professionals emerging from a process of reflection and redefinition with a vitality and momentum that said, "There's a new sheriff in town, and she's brought the posse with her." The sheriff is Susan Burton, the new STC Director.
Hughes, Michael A. UXmatters (2007). Articles>Reviews>Knowledge Management
#28901
Review: STC Technical Communication Summit, Usability Track
The best part of my experience at the STC Summit was meeting people who, like me, are craving information on the trends of which we are such a large part--such as Web 2.0, user-centered design, and new software tools. For the most part, I got the information I craved. As a technical writer who is professionally heading deep into usability and user interface (UI) design, I actually went to the conference for the usability certificate program.
Marlett, Stacia. UXmatters (2007). Articles>Reviews>TC>Usability
#27008
I lost my address book recently. It was one of those near-death computer experiences where you see your data pass before your eyes and start searching through the trash, then the Web, hoping to find the information you need right now. The experience made me think about blame--and trust.
Quesenbery, Whitney. UXmatters (2006). Articles>User Experience>Technology
#30822
Turn Usable Content into Winning Content
Findable. Scannable. Readable. Concise. Layered. We know much these days about how to make Web content usable--thanks to experts such as Robert Horn, Jakob Nielsen, Ginny Redish, and Gerry McGovern. What we don't understand as well, however, is how to make content win users over to take the actions we want them to take or have the perceptions we want them to have. We don't understand how to make Web content both usable and persuasive. I, by no means, intend to imply that we should sacrifice the usability of content to make it more persuasive. Truly winning content must be both.
Jones, Colleen. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#28667
#28665
User Assistance in the Role of Domain Expert
This article explores the role of user assistance in providing domain-centric online Help--rather than Help that simply explains obvious user interactions with well-designed user interfaces--and provides a pattern for and examples of expert guidance.
Hughes, Michael A. UXmatters (2007). Articles>User Centered Design>Help>Online
#29289
User Assistance Walkthroughs: Helping Best Practices Emerge
In my previous job as a UX designer, I learned the value of collaborative design walkthroughs. During walkthroughs, the UX designer would step through a user scenario--using the wireframes or mid-fidelity prototypes--with a cross-disciplinary team comprising product management, other UX designers, business analysts, developers, product testers, and technical communicators.
Hughes, Michael A. UXmatters (2007). Careers>Consulting>Design
#31597
User Assistance: Writing for a High-Context Culture
What we consider to be good technical writing often reflects an American cultural perspective. One facet of this cultural orientation is that technical writing tends to use a low-context style. Most notably, we tend to write user assistance as if users have never seen the user interface we are explaining. Secondly, we tend to write user assistance as if users have never even used software before. But users rarely go to Help before they have tried to accomplish a task on their own first, and most users today have extensive experience using software and are familiar with the standard ways of interacting with user interfaces. So a user interface is a high-context artifact—one a user has already seen before reading our documentation and that uses rules and conventions the user already knows.
Hughes, Michael A. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Documentation>Help>Technical Writing
#30819
The usability and user experience communities of practice are experiencing great growth and have emerged in countries throughout the world. These developing practices have brought about a huge economic boom in the UX market as both customers and clients are beginning to understand the business benefits they bring. In India, we have undoubtedly seen the growth of these practices. Indian UX companies are delivering designs that satisfy users' needs to their clients.
Kirmani, Afshan. UXmatters (2008). Articles>User Experience>Regional>India
#28656
User Research Doesn't Prove Anything
Quantitative studies, while providing us with a method for estimating user population statistics, cannot provide us with proof. Used carefully, however, they can tell us a great deal--and if not with certainty, at least with a known amount of uncertainty.
Baty, Steve. UXmatters (2007). Articles>Research>Methods
#28676
User Research: Subjectivity and Objectivity in Practice
A discussion of concerns about the actual quality of the user research companies are undertaking and the validity of any conclusions they have drawn from the resulting data.
Baty, Steve. UXmatters (2006). Articles>Usability>Research
#27020
To all of the bloggers who have written about UXmatters and people who have sent email messages and comments, thank you for warmly welcoming UXmatters to the UX community. We've been gratified by the high level of interest in and enthusiastic response to this Web magazine. There seems to have been some pent up demand for a publication that covers the breadth of user experience for digital products!
Gabriel-Petit, Pabini. UXmatters (2005). Articles>User Experience>Collaboration
#26999
A forum for the discussion of progressive ideas about important issues relating to user experience.
#27014
UXnet Local Ambassadors: Building a Global Community One Locale at a Time
Over the past few decades, we have seen a steady expansion in the number of people who design or evaluate the quality of the user experience of digital products. The popularization of the personal computer in business and at home, the explosion of the Web and Internet applications, and the sudden presence of computer interfaces in everything from medical systems to voting stations to home entertainment centers has greatly accelerated the growth of the user experience (UX) movement.
Ferrara, John, Pabini Gabriel-Petit and Louis Rosenfeld. UXmatters (2006). Design>User Experience>Collaboration>Civic
#28898
Walking Through Your Product Design With Stakeholders
You are the lead designer--or perhaps even the sole designer on a product team. You have just completed your product design, and it's time to walk through your design approach with the project stakeholders, including management, developers, and users. What do you need to do to prepare for your presentation? This article provides some basic tips to help you better prepare to walk through your product designs with stakeholders.
Szuc, Daniel. UXmatters (2007). Design>Project Management>User Experience>Collaboration
#29291
What Puts the Design in Interaction Design
Interaction design lies at the junction of several design disciplines. The resulting crossover between various specialties and issues is often muddled, understandably. There is no doubt that interaction design, as a design discipline, differs from applied human-computer interaction and cognitive psychology. These distinctions are omnipresent in the current literature.
Silver, Kevin. UXmatters (2007). Articles>User Experience>Interaction Design
#28915
When Observing Users Is Not Enough: 10 Guidelines for Getting More Out of Users' Verbal Comments
One of the principles underlying usability testing is that observing a user perform a task provides more reliable information than simply asking the user how easy it would be to perform the task. By observing users, you can assess whether they are actually able to use a product. By asking them, you simply cannot.
Peyrichoux, Isabelle. UXmatters (2007). Articles>Usability>Testing>Methods
#28912
When ROI Isn't Enough: Making Persuasive Cases for User-Centered Design
Making the case for user-centered design (UCD) is a topic of recurring discussion for UX professionals. Much of the discussion has centered on strictly objective approaches such as cost-benefit or return-on-investment (ROI) analysis. However, recent commentary suggests proving ROI is not always enough.
Jones, Colleen. UXmatters (2007). Articles>User Centered Design>Project Management>Workplace
#30187
Where Are You Now? Design for the Location Revolution
Experience designers need to transition from designing for a single, static space--the desktop--to imagining the broad possibilities of the geospatial Web. For digital products and services, the next dimension of user experience we should consider during design is location.
Follett, Jonathan. UXmatters (2007). Design>User Experience>Wireless Web
#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
#27007
Why UX Should Matter to Software Companies
A good--even great--user experience is an essential component of a quality software product and provides a sustainable strategic advantage that differentiates a product from those of a company's competitors. Thus, user experience is a core competency within today's software companies, and an expert in UX strategy and design is an indispensable part of a software product team--just as the product manager and software architect are--particularly if a team is working on a new product.
Gabriel-Petit, Pabini. UXmatters (2006). Articles>User Experience
#31917
Winning Considerations for Interactive Content
User interface designers have more interactive options than ever for presenting content. So, we can make meaningful strides toward offering users the right content in the right place, at the right time, in the right amount. However, these rich options for interactively presenting content also come with a challenge.
Jones, Colleen. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Web Design>Interaction Design
#31605
Winning Content Persuades, Not Manipulates
Elements of persuasion are important to creating winning content. To help safeguard content from becoming manipulation, we need to understand its distinction from persuasion. As a step toward that understanding, this article: provides basic definitions of persuasion and manipulation; explores the key differences between them; and describes some consequences for UX content.
Jones, Colleen. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Rhetoric
#28657
Wireframes can comprise many different patterns, each of which is a discrete element that provides specific functionality and may include instructive copy, images, text fields, buttons, links, etcetera. Together, the patterns create a complete Web page. Of course, when wireframing in patterns, it always helps if there is a pre-existing library of patterns to draw from, but I have found that getting through the first wireframe reveals most of the reusable patterns.
Ellerby, Lindsay. UXmatters (2007). Articles>Information Design>Planning>Web Design
