A skilled black hat copywriter can create a page of content that says one thing when read at-speed (i.e. by normal web users) but says another thing entirely when carefully read word-for-word (e.g. from a legal perspective). Small print and
The core idea of Flattr is great. You define a set amount of money each month (say $5) to tip content creators. Then, whenever you see something you like, you click their Flattr button and they get given a slice
“The first business computer anyone can learn to use overnight.” (1984) Try to think back to the first time you used a brand-new, ground-breaking, disruptive piece of technology. For me, I’ll never forget sitting in my bedroom in the early
At UX Week 2010, Facebook Product Designer Adam Mosseri gave a presentation called Data Informed, Not Data Driven. It’s an excellent talk and Adam gave some really good examples demonstrating how data-driven design can take you into “local maximum”, which
What do you mean, you haven’t seen the classic IDEO shopping cart episode of Nightline? It’s well worth a watch, if only to remind yourself that your research and design skills are not limited to the web… Can’t see the
Here’s a few of the most popular posts I’ve written this year, enjoy! Dark patterns: user interfaces designed to trick people I first came up with the term “Dark Patterns” back in July 2010, and it’s great to see this
While my first presentation on Dark Patterns was aimed at Designers and Researchers, this one is aimed at Brand Owners and Marketers. There’s some new material here, but if you’ve been involved with the Darkpatterns wiki, it’ll be fairly familiar
A story on Hacker News yesterday kicked off a discussion about purposefully adding a delay to a service to increase perceived value. It started off with a link to Dan Ariely’s recent article on locksmiths: how they can open most
As an industry that claims to embrace early-stage, low-fidelity design, it’s somewhat ironic that we all feel pressured into using Moleskines that cost 20 cents per page, and pens intended for high value artwork and technical drawings. The process of
If this is true, it has to be the most famous, most catastrophic UI design blunder ever: “The error on the ship’s maiden voyage between Southampton and New York in 1912 happened because at the time seagoing was undergoing enormous
The UK government is currently working on plans for a new rail line, called HS2, intended to connect London to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Glasgow. The overall cost for the lines and rolling stock is estimated at a staggering £20.5
So, a few people have been asking where I’m going next, and finally I’m able to say – I’m joining Clearleft in February! This means I’ll be leaving a UX Lead shaped-gap behind at Madgex. Care to fill it?
Back in May, I wrote a short post on how to make your own iPhone usability testing sled for £5. It’s pretty straightforward: cut a piece of acrylic to the right size and bend it to shape using a toaster.
Neuromarketing. Neurodesign. Neurocinema… The prefix “neuro” being treated like the new “2.0” and it bothers me. “Neuro” is not a fashionable synonym for the unconscious mind or the brain. It does not refer to an assorted collection of interesting pop
How come developers often successfully collaborate to build open source software, but designers hardly ever work to create open user interfaces and experiences? Is UX design simply not suited to open collaboration? Or are there other reasons? One thing’s for
Off the shelf mobile usability testing kit is ridiculously expensive. I’ve previously I’ve written about cheap ways to make usability testing “sleds” for your mobile devices. One of the simplest solutions was suggested by New Zealand-based UX expert Nick Bowmast,
“We are going to become increasingly disappointed with our progress if we just keep doing all of this back slapping that we’ve become so accustomed to.” – Whitney Hess (IA Summit 10 Keynote) There was a time, back in the
I couldn’t help but repost this Aaron Levenstein quote from Brand Autopsy. I’ve been thinking about writing a post on the death of critical thinking for a while, but this pretty much sums it up. Statistics – and research in
I’m sort of live-blogging this, so I’ll be brief. My presentation from UX Brighton 2010 can be found on slideshare here, as a PDF here (2MB) and as a big-ass PPTX here (72MB). Huge thanks to Cennydd Bowles and Andy
Here’s a wonderfully dated video of David Ogilvy giving what looks like a keynote address to a Direct Response Advertising conference (by video, which must have been breathtakingly modern back in the 1960s). Ogilvy came from a background in research,