Articles from around the web on all things user experience, sorted chronologically.
August 11, 2020 — Affirmations are not about ego stroking or superficial flattery. They’re really about creating a safe space in which participants notice the remarkable things they have done, and feel comfortable speaking from a place in which they believe it.
Read this storyAugust 10, 2020 — In this blog post, I want to discuss some best practices that we followed to create the multiple Lyft Product Language attributes and component libraries. And at the end, I cover some helpful tips and tricks that allow us to efficiently maintain them today.
Read this storyAugust 9, 2020 — Research spanning 20 years proves PDFs are problematic for online reading. Yet they’re still prevalent and users continue to get lost in them. They’re unpleasant to read and navigate and remain unfit for digital-content display.
Read this storyAugust 7, 2020 — Quantitative UX research is typically conducted using surveys or feedback buttons, as well as A/B testing, clickstream analysis, site analytics, user session data, app analytics, search logs, and bug tracking.
Read this storyAugust 4, 2020 — Despite the importance of user-generated images in reviews, our benchmark reveals that 34% of e-commerce sites don’t allow users to upload an image along with their review — leading to less-interesting and less-engaging reviews overall.
Read this storyAugust 3, 2020 — In May 2020, User Fountain conducted a study of the usability-testing industry to research digital professionals’ attitudes and opinions and learn how companies are managing usability testing and user research, as well as the challenges within the space.
Read this storyAugust 2, 2020 — Proximity is one of the most important grouping principles and can overpower competing visual cues such as similarity of color or shape. The practice of placing related elements close together and separating unrelated elements can be seen almost everywhere in UI design.
Read this storyAugust 2, 2020 — In my role with Project Redesign at NCoC.org, and in partnership with New America’s New Practice lab, I led a team of researchers to interview people from across the U.S. in May and June to learn what it has been like to apply for unemployment and other benefits during the pandemic.
Read this storyJuly 31, 2020 — While most software developers find that the nature of writing code lends itself easily to the agile practice of slicing work into small chunks, designers and researchers have a much harder time. One reason for this is that some design work takes a long time. Especially user research.
Read this storyJuly 28, 2020 — Of the disadvantages of within-subjects designs, the potential for carryover effects usually concerns researchers the most. For example, how do we know that better metrics weren’t just a result of a participant having already completed a task on the competing interface?
Read this storyJuly 26, 2020 — Unmoderated testing can be a great option for teams with limited resources. While moderated testing can be slightly more expensive, that cost might be worth the insights to some teams.
Read this storyJuly 21, 2020 — The most efficient way to build accessible websites and apps is to “shift left” by incorporating accessibility testing into the earliest stages of your development and design process.
Read this storyJuly 21, 2020 — In this article, Vladimir Gruev, designer at Heartbeat Agency, explains how to craft a cohesive visual identity for digital products. Plus, how to successfully present your concept to clients, and integrate the visual identity into product marketing and interfaces.
Read this storyJuly 20, 2020 — I’ll review Jim Kalbach’s recently published book, The Jobs To Be Done Playbook: Align Your Markets, Organizations, and Strategy Around Customer Needs. If you know nothing or everything about jobs-to-be-done, I’ll provide enough information in this review for you to decide whether this book is right for you.
Read this storyJuly 20, 2020 — The “Back” button has long been a staple of web navigation, and users’ often decades-long experience with using it has caused them to develop a very specific mental model of how it should behave.
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