As more software project teams are moving into Agile, it’s more important than ever that UX design methodology fit into the Agile process. User research is one of those tools that is often hard to fit into the Agile workflow but it can be done—and done well.
Apple Watch UX Fail
Update 9/10/2014
What a difference a day makes! Yesterday during Apple’s announcement of the Apple Watch, they went on and on about how the screen wasn’t obstructed by our fat fingers because they invented the “digital crown”—a phrase so pretentious I can only use it with an eye roll.
Want to Make a Real Difference? UX Scout Is Where It’s At!
I don’t know about you but I’m completely over arguing with developers about correctly implementing the company’s branding. This is coming from someone who used to be a creative director and responsible for creating and enforcing the company’s brand standards. Don’t get me wrong, those arguments still need to happen. I just don’t want to be the one having them anymore.
Who are you really trying to delight?
Any UXer knows that part of the job in user experience is to delight the end-user.
Step 1. Create a usable interface and flow.
Step 2. Delight the user.
It sounds pretty simple on paper but it’s fraught with pitfalls over the course of a project. The biggest problem I see time and time again is that the project team forgets who they’re supposed to delight. They delight themselves with sparkly gimmicks that add no real value and then pat themselves on the back when they succeed (in delighting themselves). By the time the end-user weighs in, the team is dispersed into new projects and all too often insulated from criticism.
Location, Location, Location: Where is your touch screen?
Designing for a touch screen kiosk ≠ designing for a touch screen phone/tablet
Just because a kiosk has a touchscreen, do not mistake it for an over-sized smart phone or tablet. The user experience and usability issues are vastly different. This is the first in a series of articles discussing the user persona differences you need to keep in mind when designing for a kiosk interface versus a mobile interface.
Can You Use Scroll bars on a Touchscreen Interface?
For years many usability experts told us that scroll bars on a touchscreen interfaces are forbidden. Then along comes the iPhone and other smart phones and the scroll bar’s time has come.