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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
“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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading