If you thought that this article was going to be about making computers look better; please accept out apologies. In fact, aesthetic computing is all about “embodied formal languages”. Which may not be as pretty but turns out to be a very important area for technology designers in general.OK, so How
'Design Thinking' may seem tautological (after all, what design process doesn't involve thinking?), but this is a relatively new user-centred approach to design, which marries many of the tried and tested methods previously employed with a strong focus on empathising with the intended users. In The
There are 100’s of fonts out there nowadays but were unfortunately forced to pay for anything really worthwhile so we generally opt for sub-standard variants and Google fonts offerings.There are however a number of great, free collections out there with free fonts that can be used on our projects wi
Prototypes help you test ideas before you spend too much time putting them into practice. The best prototype has some functionality that mimics the intended product and there are plenty of tools to develop prototypes with available on the market. But what should you do to make your prototypes as val
Welcome back to our brief series on ethnographic research; if you’ve missed any parts of this series – they can be found under the UX Daily tab on our website. Today, we’ll be looking at two more techniques that can help you get better data from your investment in this kind of research:Work Through
Ethnographic research enables the researcher to look at a specific group of people and better understand their behaviours and through that interpret their needs which are currently not met. It’s an expensive business though; ethnographic research requires real interaction with a population over a pe
There’s a certain sleight of hand that goes on every day from some of the world’s biggest retailers. This is done, in the name of profit of course. Those companies know what makes us tick and they play to that in order to driver sales through their online properties. But is their behaviour OK?The Ca
We’re not saying that we’d have done any better in their shoes but some products are such total UX stinkers that we wonder how they got to market at all. In our quest for better design; it’s sometimes worth taking a walk down memory lane and asking the question; “How did they ever get budget for tha
Years ago when someone was unhappy with your product and service; they told their friends and family. Today, they go online and tell the world. Managing a business’s reputation has become a key part of delivering a user and customer experience but how do you do this ethically?The Wrong WayThere are
We come across the occasional client at a loss to explain why their relationships with freelancers never seem to pan out. So we’ve put together this simple cheat sheet for building stronger relationships with design freelancers and getting the results you want:Always Agree on Outcomes At the Start o
If there’s anything more annoying than being dismissed as doing a job that “anyone can do”; we don’t know what it is. The truth is that not every job is suited to everyone and even if “anyone can do” what you do; most people wouldn’t want to. UX design is an exciting and interesting career path but
Don Norman is deservedly considered to be one of the greats of usability design. He is founder of the Nielsen Norman Group and he is also a former professor of Cognitive Science (among many, many, many other things). In short, he’s a guy who has spent his whole life researching what makes users tick
UX research is the most essential part of the UX design process. If you do not have a clear idea of who your target user is and what they want (or need); it is nearly impossible to provide them with the right user experience.To make your work easier for you, we have crafted a 10-step guide to make y
There’s a lot of work involved in UX design. There’s the personas, the ethnographic research, the usability testing, the user journeys, etc. Once it’s all done there’s usually something very exciting about being able to share the results of your work with the wider organizational team. Yet, all too
UX projects generate a bunch of documentation by nature. However, one thing many UX designers fall over on is generating good documentation. Documents need to fulfil some basic criteria in order to be genuinely useful and it’s worth taking some steps to generate better UX documentation – your client
The joy of design as a career is that the learning is never over. We have new tools, new software packages, new fields, and new skills to pick up every single day of the year and that’s not likely to change. That huge array of demand can leave us feeling a little overwhelmed too; what should we stud
Since the first product was designed, people have been practicing interaction design; not necessarily in name, but the activities and thought processes have remained largely the same. Interaction design is, to put things simply, the act of designing products that people will eventually interact with
We love what we do. That’s a healthy way to live and manage your life. If you enjoy your work it’s likely to cause less stress and stimulate your interest more. That’s a recipe for health and success. But… there’s a point when loving what you do gets out of control. That’s when genuine joy in your w
If you’re a first time UX consultant on a project there are some things that you may not be prepared for. We’ve got some tips to making the most of your first assignment for both you and your clients.Understand Business Objectives FirstThis should be taken as read but in our experience it’s often fo
This is the last part of our dealing with problem users in user research and user testing. We’ve seen 6 types of problem user and how we can best handle them during our work. If you missed these parts of the series, we’ve saved them all under the UX Daily tab on our website so you can catch up.One L
AI is replacing jobs everywhere, yet design jobs are booming with a projected 45% job growth. With design skills, you can create products and services people love. More love means more impact and greater salary potential.
At IxDF, we help you from your first course to your next job, all in one place.