Methods & Tools

Is User-Centered Design Broken – or is It Just Us?

Cennydd Bowles recently argued on A List Apart that User-Centred Design “may be limiting our field”. I don’t agree, and I didn’t agree with Jared Spool when he said the same thing at IA Summit 2008. Funnily enough, I agree … Continue reading

An introduction to Web Intents – an interview with Glenn Jones

Glenn Jones is a Founder/Director of Madgex. Glenn is currently co-organising a Design-Push event on Web Intents in Brighton (25-Feb-2012). If you work in UX and you don’t know much about Web Intents, you’re missing out on a discussion that … Continue reading

Why I never use panels provided by remote usability testing services

User research. It’s right there in the name. A user is someone who actually uses your service. Equally valid is the idea of a “target user” – someone who doesn’t yet use your service, but has a genuine need that … Continue reading

Anatomy of a Hardware Usability Testing Rig

These days we all know how easy it is to record usability testing sessions on a desktop computer. You can use Silverback on a Mac ($69.95), Morae on PC ($1,495) or you can try one of the many other screen … Continue reading

Observations versus Recommendations

I’ve noticed a fair few designers muddle up observations with recommendations when analysing user research findings. This can really screw up your design process, but thankfully it’s quite an easy one to avoid. It’s important to always state observations separately … Continue reading

Pear Note 2: perfect for stakeholder interviews

Now, I love Silverback just as much as the next User Experience Professional, but it’s not a Swiss Army Knife – it’s designed to do one thing really well, and that’s recording users’ screens in usability tests. What about situations … Continue reading

Classic Interaction Design TV: IDEO Nightline Episode

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

Hooray for crappy stationery

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

More mobile usability testing sleds…

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. … Continue reading

Mobile Usability Testing Tip: Recording from Two Webcams

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, … Continue reading