Designers often need to convey information to the users of their designs. Specialists in information visualization design in particular find themselves presenting data over and over again to their users. However, it’s important when developing your designs that you don’t create “information overload
If you work in an area related to UX, you’ll probably agree that good UX has a huge business value. Good UX helps you create the most relevant products and services for your customers and ensure that they are a joy to use. But if you have any practical experience of working with UX in organizations
You have been in the field talking to users and you now find yourself with a massive amount of audio, notes, video, pictures, and interesting impressions. All that information can be overwhelming, and it’s difficult to know where to start to make sense of all the data. Here, we will teach you how to
Writers deal with writer’s block and designer’s often find that they get stuck for ideas too. There’s no shame in it but learning to smash through the block is a necessary professional skill. Time waits for no-one and when there’s a deadline looming… you’ve got to pull something out of the bag. The
If you’re going to graduate from your university or design school this year, or if you’re in your first UX design job, you’ll be wondering what you can do to improve your chances of progressing on to or up the career ladder. So, what skills do you need? And is the job all about your design skills? R
Designing information visualizations offers you endless possibilities when it comes to end products, and it would be impossible to provide step-by-step instructions for all these possibilities. However, it is fair to say that while the end products may vary dramatically – the process by which we rea
This week, we’re going to take a step back and define some of the terminology that relates to User Experience design and its related fields. Each day we’ll look at one term and what it means and then at the end of the series – we’ll tie in how it all relates to User Experience design.What is Informa
For any gamification project, you’ll need to do research on players in order to determine what they will require from the gamified system. The culmination of this research is the development of a player persona; this is similar to a user persona (which most UX researchers will be intimately familiar
The use of a product may be considered as a cycle. Before a user is aware of a product they exist outside of that cycle. Once they are aware of it, they may be considered as being in a state of “pre-use”. If awareness sparks interest they may begin to use the product. This may be a single event or i
There are generally two types of UX design portfolios: online portfolios and static PDF portfolios. So, which of these should you create if you want to get a job in UX design? Well, the answer is both! However, there are pros and cons to each type of portfolio, and if you have to choose, we’d recomm
Some design patterns improve your life on a daily basis. But do you even notice these patterns? Two-panel selectors are used in nearly every email application and should therefore be very familiar to you. And their usefulness goes far beyond using email. It’s time to step back and revisit these with
Persuasion is a powerful force that changes the attitudes and behaviors of others. It’s all about influence and manifests itself in many aspects of everyday life. People can persuade themselves, too. Persuasion’s most direct portrayals may show up in such places as courtrooms, political debates, and
Online services such as LinkedIn and Craigslist want to show users all of the functionalities they offer. It helps in getting first-time visitors interested and convincing them to engage and contribute. Still, in order for most of these functionalities to work, a user needs to create an account and
“If the product is something fundamental to life and well-being, then the proper response is to ignore continual shifts in popular sentiment and aim for long-lasting value. Yes, the product must be attractive. Yes, it should be pleasurable and fun. But it must also be effective, understandable, and
Positive emotional experiences are specific to the individual. However, we share many characteristics, which, to a certain extent, make things a little easier for designers. If we had to alter a design according to every single person who uses it, the budget would be extinguished within a matter of
“...we now have evidence that aesthetically pleasing objects enable you to work better...products and systems that make you feel good are easier to deal with and produce more harmonious results. When you wash and polish your car, doesn't it drive better? When you bathe and dress up in clean, fancy c
The triune brain model may not be an entirely accurate depiction of the human brain and its development, but the concept of our three brains (reptilian, paleomammalian, and neomammalian) represents a useful guide for us as designers who are looking to capture what it means to be a human user. Thus,
There are many different conceptual models of the brain. It’s important to note that many of them lack any scientific basis – this does not, however, negate the fundamental importance of these models. They are not there to “prove” anything but rather to stimulate creative thought as to how designers
If you’re stuck for where to get started in UX then one of the easiest things you can do is get active on social media. If you connect with the industry’s biggest names, you can learn a ton of new information, find out about job opportunities and network with many other UX designers at the same time
“Humans display the intriguing characteristic of making and using objects. The things with which people interact are not simply tools for survival, or for making survival easier and more comfortable. Things embody goals, make skills manifest, and shape the identities of their users. Man is not only
