#29290
Companies often file for and the US government actually grants patents for user interface and interaction design 'innovations' that are either strikingly obvious or have appeared before in other systems.
Sherman, Paul J. UXmatters (2007). Articles>Intellectual Property>Patents>User Interface
#32586
In Search of Strategic Relevance for UX Teams
What does it mean to be strategically relevant? It means executives consider you a trusted advisor. It also means other disciplines—such as Engineering, Product Management, Business Development, and so on—consider you a partner and want you to participate in strategic decision making, even if they are not required to do so.
Nieters, Jim and Laurie Pattison. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Management>User Experience
#32587
Extending Card-Sorting Techniques to Inform the Design of Web Site Hierarchies
Card sorting offers a systematic and statistically significant process for answering questions about hierarchy design. However, those of us who have run card sorts know there is an art to conducting successful card sort studies, and there are many variables that can affect the usefulness of results. In this column, I’ll discuss the challenges and limitations of card sorting and review alternative and complementary techniques that designers can leverage when developing an information hierarchy for a large-scale Web site.
Hawley, Michael. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Card Sorting
#32588
What Place Does Theater Have in the Creative Process of Design?
As designers, to be truly innovative, we must open ourselves up to new ideas, surround ourselves with diverse inputs, and be willing to embark on a new journey—regardless of whether we know the destination. Actors and others who create theater would tell you this kind of mindset is part their everyday work culture. So, what can we learn from the way actors and other theatrical artists work that will help us be more innovative, too?
Lepore, Traci. UXmatters (2008). Articles>User Experience
#32589
Emotion and Voice User Interfaces
When you hear the term voice user interface (VUI), what comes to mind? Most likely, memories of an interactive voice response system (IVR) for customer service arise. IVRs are certainly not going away. For many companies, they remain the foremost contact point with customers. But voice user interfaces are more than just IVRs. In fact, VUIs have tremendous potential for enhancing the experience of any mobile phone user. As the use of mobile devices and applications proliferates internationally, understanding how to integrate, or mash up, graphic user interfaces (GUI) and VUIs is becoming critically important.
Clayton, Darnell and Colleen Jones. UXmatters (2008). Articles>User Interface>Emotions>Voice
#32590
Use Cases for User Assistance Writers
It’s hard to find anyone who disparages use cases, but those who use them are still a minority. In a previous life as a UX designer, I used use cases and developed a great respect for them. But it wasn’t until recently that I began using them to design user assistance. Why did it take me so long to get back to these reliable work horses of user-centered design?
Hughes, Michael A. UXmatters (2008). Articles>User Centered Design>Writing>Technical Writing
#32591
Malware: Whether on the Desktop or the Web, It’s a Perception Thing
In this column, I’ll explore the user experience of malicious software, or malware. My position is that, like many qualitative attributes, malware is in the eye of the beholder. And, I’ll suggest a method that product or service developers can use to assess the risk that their users, the media, or the market at large might perceive their offerings as malware.
Sherman, Paul J. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Software>Security
#32592
Usability testing makes use of a lot of role-playing scenarios like this one, and many findings and design recommendations result from participants’ responses to these scenarios. But an over-reliance on role playing when testing a product and making design recommendations can have major downsides and risks
Peyrichoux, Isabelle. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Usability>Testing>Personas
#32593
Improving Our Ethical Choices: Managing the Imp of the Perverse
Psychologists and ethics researchers say we can take simple steps to align our Want and Should Selves over the three phases of decision making and help keep the Imp of the Perverse in check.
Lamantia, Joe. UXmatters (2008). Articles>TC>Ethics
#32675
Metaphor teaches. Metaphor influences. Are you drawing on its power? Perhaps not, because many major works on writing for interactive products make little mention of it. To help encourage better use of metaphor, this column describes both the usefulness of shallow metaphors and the potential of deep metaphors, while offering tips and examples.
Jones, Colleen. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#32676
Toward a More Human Interface Device: Integrating the Virtual and Physical
As UX professionals, we often take for granted the fact that our users will be dealing with a keyboard, mouse or track pad, and monitor. We think about users’ physical relationship with their digital devices very selectively, if at all. But, as we explore new human interface devices and incorporate new interactions into our designs, we have the opportunity to create deep connections between users and their technology.
Follett, Jonathan. UXmatters (2008). Articles>User Interface>Human Computer Interaction
#32677
This article examines what works and what does not work well when selling UX within an organization, identifies barriers you might encounter to the adoption of UX methods in your organization, and discusses how to package and present UX to stakeholders. In this article, we’ll try to avoid just being prescriptive. Rather, we’ll pose questions along the way, regarding what has worked well for you.
Szuc, Daniel, Paul J. Sherman and John S. Rhodes. UXmatters (2008). Careers>Usability>User Experience>Organizational Communication
#32678
In Search of Strategic Relevance for UX Teams
Although our UX management peers have shared many tactics with us that have made their groups more strategically relevant, we’re presenting just a few here. We’ll highlight what we feel are the most salient factors in getting you to the strategy table.
Nieters, Jim and Laurie Pattison. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Management>User Experience>Collaboration
#32776
Placing Value on User Assistance
User assistance writers are often the Rodney Dangerfields of the UX world, bemoaning the fact that we don’t get any respect. I think the real problem is that user assistance folks are not particularly good at communicating the ways in which we add value to an enterprise. This column explores two models that show how user assistance adds value and how we can communicate that value to those who pay our salaries—something I would like to encourage other user assistance writers to do.
Hughes, Michael A. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Help
#32779
First Fictions and the Parable of the Palace
this column will take the form of a journey through a wide range of topics at the intersection of user experience design and everyware.
Lamantia, Joe. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Technology>Ubiquitous Computing>User Experience
#32780
Common Visual Design Misconceptions
Though visual designers might face different hurdles in particular product domains and at different points in their careers, there are three common misconceptions that surface quite frequently.
Wroblewski, Luke. UXmatters (2008). Careers>Graphic Design
#32781
My key point in this column is that we need to support, defend, and promote our artisans, or artists, and we need to eliminate the assholes from our organizations. In practice, I see a lot of managers who do not support their artisans—their greatest performers—but hold onto and even reward their assholes. In the end, an organization that rewards the wrong people can destroy its effectiveness and drive the most talented people out.
Nieters, Jim. UXmatters (2008). Careers>Management>Advice
#33154
PDF Manuals: The Wrong Paradigm for an Online Experience
Let me describe a familiar user assistance experience. A user installs a new application, and when the user wants Help, the application directs her to the user documentation on a Web site or CD-ROM. What the user finds there is a PDF file containing the manual—or a collection of PDF files, representing a library of manuals, including a user guide, configuration guide, troubleshooting guide, and various references. And the layout of each of these PDF manuals is exactly the same as if it were a printed book. This raises an interesting question: If we’re giving manuals to users to read online, why do we design and write them for paper?
Hughes, Michael A. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Documentation>User Experience>Adobe Acrobat
#33476
The Sacred Cow Blocking the Road
When product teams ask technical writers to document software products, writers usually start their projects by analyzing the tasks users will perform when working with them. A task analysis generates a list of procedures—plus the supporting information users need to follow them—and eventually results in a document in which sequentially numbered instructions are the dominant type of information—neatly organized under user-centered task headings and preceded by enabling knowledge. It sounds ideal, classical even. The problem? Users don’t read procedures.
Hughes, Michael A. UXmatters (2007). Articles>User Experience>Documentation>Technical Writing
#33477
Placing Value on User Assistance
User assistance writers are often the Rodney Dangerfields of the UX world, bemoaning the fact that we don’t get any respect. I think the real problem is that user assistance folks are not particularly good at communicating the ways in which we add value to an enterprise. This column explores two models that show how user assistance adds value and how we can communicate that value to those who pay our salaries—something I would like to encourage other user assistance writers to do.
Hughes, Michael A. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Workplace
#33478
The User Experience of Enterprise Software Matters
Over the past twenty years, the field of user experience has been fortunate. Software and hardware product organizations increasingly have adopted user-centered design methods such as contextual user research, usability testing, and iterative interaction design. In large part, this has occurred because the market has demanded it. More than ever, good interaction design and high usability are part of the price of entry to markets.
Sherman, Paul J. UXmatters (2008). Articles>User Experience>Software>Workplace
#33479
Communicating Customer and Business Value with a Value Matrix
What happens to the personas and scenarios once you’re ready to start requirements definition and design. Are you sure you’ve adequately communicated the type of system your users need to the Business Analyst and Interaction Designer on your team?
Cecil, Richard F. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Collaboration>User Experience>Assessment
#33480
Self-Education in UX and Working with User Research Data
How you can educate yourself in user experience. The best ways to capture and present user research data.
Six, Janet M. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Education>User Experience>Research
#33481
Ten Recipes for Persuasive Content
In many of my columns, I have touted the importance of persuasive, or influential, content and shared relevant theories and arguments, sprinkling in some practical tips and examples along the way. This column brings together a collection of practical tips, or recipes, for persuasive content.
Jones, Colleen. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric>Persuasive Design
#33482
The UX Designer’s Place in the Ensemble: Directing the Vision
What does directing have to do with creating a user interface design? Well, we know a director is responsible for the strategic vision of creative work. That’s a given. But, did you know he is also responsible for ensuring a successful outcome that both meets his vision and is in line with the producer’s desires and budget? To make that happen, a director works with the cast, crew, costume and set designers, and everyone else who contributes to a successful theatrical production to pull together a cohesive product, without losing site of his vision. It’s a complicated job.
Lepore, Traci. UXmatters (2008). Articles>User Experience>Collaboration>Project Management
