Dive into user experience topics, issues and discussions based on our usability consulting. Want to learn about Lean UX, Mobile UX or how Interaction Design can apply to your project? You're in the right place.

A piece of our mind / our blog

[Part 1]: 12 Things Managers Need to Know about Running an Outside-In Design Org

By Frank Spillers

on April 26, 2017 - 11:55am
man staring at glass

Summary: Outside-In design organizations live and breathe user experience. The main differentiator between a technology driven organization and a Human Centered design approach is in decision-making. With Outside-In design, business and technology decisions are gathered, validated, measured and infused into the Sales, Marketing, Business and Technology fabric. This post (in 2 parts) explores those key organizational behaviors we've discovered and worked with for over 15 years. We've included to-do items for managers to action these insights. 

PART 1: (1-6)

1. Gather Evidence and Data

Why it is important: Evidence based design means that opinions are grounded in customer insights, specifically behavior captured and interpreted by trained UX professionals. Data informs design. Whether conversion optimization or efficiency improvement, you can not run on assumption any longer.

50 Reasons Prototyping Saves You Time

By Admin User

on February 9, 2017 - 1:58pm
prototyping saves you meeting time

Summary: Prototyping is a valuable sketching process involved in generating UX/UI. It saves you time, saves you confusion and helps you visualize quickly and cheaply. Here are 50 reasons why prototyping is critical to do. These benefits point to the need to develop a company culture of prototyping.

1. Prototyping saves you meeting time: Without visual sketching, UI's are discussed ad-nauseum without a "shared picture", you end up talking about a UI instead of ideating a new solution.

2. Sketching is easier to socialize. Quick sketches, no matter how crude, are great ways to quickly commuinicate. 

3. Prototypes help imagine new solutions.

4. Ideas are easier to scrap, change or re-consider with "low effort" prototypes. 

5. Prototypes help you plan.

6. Prototypes help you test your design ideas with users.

Your Personas are Garbage Without Good User Research

By Frank Spillers

on January 17, 2017 - 12:02pm
person peeking out of garbage can

Summary: Most persona development efforts are self-sabotaging because of one reason: a lack of good user research. The good news is this can be quickly turned around with an incredible impact on your software project and your overall organization's return on investment. This article explores why and how you can salvage your personas once and for all. 

Personas as Garbage, but why?

Many organizations use personas. Personas are the fun customer sketches that software development teams use to prioritize user needs. However most persona efforts are junk, owing to the origins of data used to inspire personas. We know several product managers who don't "believe" in personas.

How and When to use User Research- for award winning UX Design

By Admin User

on December 22, 2016 - 6:51pm
User Research class- when and how to use field studies

Summary: User Research is best performed early on and instead of simply validating your requirements, can help shape them. 

Clarification: By user research we will discuss Field Studies, not user testing (also referred to as user research). While we're on terminology, Field Studies are also referred to as Ethnography or Ethnographic Field Studies. 

Knowing what to do with your user research opportunity is important. The field study is a critical component of UX Design. It is often left out of most people's mental model (conceptions) about UX Design. User experience has two faces: Usability (ease of use) and Desirability (needs and wants). User research can help surface patterns, triggers, motivations and new innovations. 

Let's explore how, when and why to make the most of User Research through common misconceptions.

Common misconceptions about User Research 

How to Observe Usability Testing Sessions Without Making These Mistakes

By Admin User

on December 14, 2016 - 4:30pm
usability testing methodology

Summary: UX Practitioners, and more importantly stakeholders must avoid making the mistake of over-generalizing or incorrectly observing user test sessions. Since the purpose of usability testing is to create informed design decisions, this is not a trivial issue. Poor (biased) observations are rampant. Let's fix this now!

Avoiding These User Testing Observation Traps...

Observing a usability test seems straight forward: watch and form an opinion. It is that simple, but if you are not careful of the way your mind works, you can end up with the wrong set of take-aways-- a potential disaster to what otherwise could be a rich learning experience.  Here are the main things you need to avoid and be aware of, to get the most from your observations:

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