Check out the articles we share below on things we’ve experienced and learned through our projects.
From my experience, the best way to create personas is to conduct interviews in the field with participants who represent the customer or actual user of the project, service, website, etc. that you are looking to design. In preparing to do this type of work, it is often best to ensure that one takes the […]
Read more about Strawman Persona Workshops ›Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend the User Experience Professionals Association (UxPA) conference in Las Vegas at the M Resort. The conference was well attended with over 500 participants from all over the world. The big news was shared the first day that the Usability Professionals Association was formally changing their name […]
Read more about UxPA 2012 Conference ›When we conduct usability testing with People with Disabilities (PwDs), we focus primarily on those with visual difficulties. Often times, these participants are blind and use screen readers or they use a screen magnifier such as ZoomText. From time to time, we are asked, “Is it truly necessary to test PwDs?” Often these well meaning […]
Read more about Usability Testing & Accessibility ›It is common for usability professionals to conduct tests with participants in 60 to 90 minute sessions. In many cases, participants are seeing an interface for the first time. When the results from a usability test are negative, it is common for project team members to wonder aloud whether or not participants would “eventually” learn […]
Read more about Learnability vs. Usability ›Remote Usability Testing In the course of our usability work, we have the opportunity from time to time to conduct testing sessions remotely. By this we mean that the moderator and the participant are separated physically (and sometimes geographically) and connect via web and teleconference. From our experience, we find a tremendous value in remote […]
Read more about Remote Usability Testing ›Ethnographic studies must be conducted in association with design personas in order for the work to have validity. Setting up these interviews can involve a great deal of logistics and planning. When in the field conducting an ethnographic interview, it is important to be able to capture the session in order to provide good data […]
Read more about Capturing Data in Ethnographic Studies ›A common question I have heard is, “How do you conduct usability testing with mobile applications?” What generally follows is a discussion around the benefits of testing in a usability lab or in the field. In our practice, we have found that the best use of time and resources is to have a usability analyst […]
Read more about Usability Testing and Mobile Devices ›Back in 2005, Target unwittingly became the poster child for how not to handle a confrontation from the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). When confronted about how their Website was not accessible to blind and visually impaired users, Target decided to dig their heels in and fight. The issues with the Target Website where […]
Read more about Target Mishandling Accessibility Concerns ›I fielded an interesting question from a visual designer on a project we have been working on. The business client wanted to add animated ad-like messaging near in order to increase the likelihood that the users of the application would notice and read the message that the business team was trying to communicate. This idea […]
Read more about Banner Blindness ›Autocircle and Homecircle, from USAA, are both online services that bundle shopping, financing, and insuring in one consolidated servicing application. Both of these are integrated into the USAA’s iPhone app. With the iPhone app for auto, they are advertising that you can apply for a loan and electronically transfer the funds to the dealership so […]
Read more about Auto Circle from USAA ›