All posts from
August 2015

What is meant by UX? Analyzing usability and UX professionals’ dynamic representations of Self

Added on 28 August 2015 Peter Bogaards

Your self image is never the same as the worlds perception of you. Even if it’s your professional image.

“This research investigates the ways usability/user experience professionals describe themselves for different audiences and across multiple digital platforms, including LinkedIn, Twitter, portfolio websites, and business websites. By analyzing the digital identities of over 40 usability/user experience professionals, this article presents quantitative and qualitative pictures of how usability and user experience is being described in digital spaces. This article highlights broad patterns and specific tactics being implemented by four types of usability/user experience professionals and gives recommendations for how these tactics can be modified and applied for other usability/user experience professionals attempting to create professional identities in digital spaces.”

(Rebecca Zantjer and Laura Gonzales ~ Journal of Usability Studies August 2015) ★

50 years ago today the word ‘hypertext’ was introduced

Added on 25 August 2015 Peter Bogaards

Half a century is not that long for paradigm shifts in human history.

“On August 24, 1965 Ted Nelson used the word ‘hypertext’ (which he coined) in a paper he presented at the Association for Computing Machinery. I was able to interview him earlier this month about the event and his early thoughts on the future of computing. It is hard to know where to start when writing an introduction for Ted Nelson because his interests and accomplishments have spanned so many areas across six decades.”

(Byron Reese ~ GigaOm) ~ courtesy of erikhartman ★

Service Design: Creating delightful cross-channel experiences

Added on 24 August 2015 Peter Bogaards

The holistic design view on digital and physical is taking hold.

“Service design seems to go by an increasing array of names: Customer Experience, Cross-Channel UX, or even just ‘design thinking’. In most cases, these terms describe a holistic approach to your users’ and customers’ needs, no matter where or when they’re interacting with your product or service. In traditionally siloed organizations, it can be no small task to ensure that you are providing the best possible service. Communication is at the heart of service design and Marc Stickdorn knows the core of it is getting everyone on the same page. He says that the importance of this lies in the fact that customer experiences sometimes aren’t tangible – a user or customer could be experiencing an internal event. It’s important to understand how different customers come in contact with the design.”

(Sean Carmichael ~ User Interface Engineering) ★

Very large touchscreens: UX design differs from mobile screens

Added on 24 August 2015 Peter Bogaards

At an abstract level, all design deals with users, context, domain (structure of content), and constraints.

“Only a few mobile-design skills and design recommendations translate well to designing for very large touchscreens, as found in kiosks and other nonmobile use cases. Users’ field of vision, arm motion, affordance, and privacy are a few of the different considerations for such screens with up to 380 times the area of a smartphone.”

(Kara Pernice ~ Nielsen Norman Group) ★

From wayfinding to interaction design

Added on 19 August 2015 Peter Bogaards

Allways thought wayfinding had more in common with navigation and information architecture. Features (a.k.a. code) and data (a.k.a. content) perspectives differ.

“Wayfinding is the process of planning and making journeys through spaces; wayfinding design companies develop systems to help make this planning and journey-making easier. These systems come in all shapes and sizes, and can cover area naming, signage design, cartography, defining route networks and installing new landmarks to give an area more character.”

(Matt Cooper-Wright ak.a. @matt_speaks ~ Medium) ★

A beautifully illustrated glossary of typographic terms you should know

Added on 13 August 2015 Peter Bogaards

Basic elements of typography are the foundation for any digital designer.

“The world of typography often seems like it has its very own language, full of serifs, strokes, and swashes. Sorting out all those terms can be confusing in itself, so we’ve compiled a visual glossary that will guide you through the lingo – whether you’re an aspiring typeface designer or just a general typography enthusiast. Learning the building blocks of typography will help you better understand how to pick a suitable font and apply it effectively within your design projects.”

(Janie Kliever ~ Canva) ★

The language of modular design

Added on 11 August 2015 Peter Bogaards

Design lang, sys and lib are the foundation of great CX and UX.

“The biggest challenges around modularity are all the decisions that need to be reached: when to reuse a module and when to design a new one, how to make modules distinct enough, how to combine them, how to avoid duplications with the modules other designers and teams create, and so on. When modularizing an existing design or building a new one, it’s not always clear where to begin.”

(Alla Kholmatova a.k.a. @craftui ~ A List Apart) ★

Who needs UX strategy?

Added on 11 August 2015 Peter Bogaards

Something about eating and breakfast of UX in businesses.

“UX strategy has come into prominence in the past few years as a specialty area within the field of User Experience, as shown by the rapid increase in UX Strategist job titles and events such as the conference UX STRAT. For many of us who have been in the field for a long time, UX strategy is a counterbalance to efficiency-driven, product-centric methodologies like Agile, Lean Startup, and Lean UX. For others, it is a natural progression from basic UX design activities like wireframing to more rigorous, analytical activities such as formulating data-driven personas.”

(Paul Bryan a.k.a. @paulbryan ~ UXmatters) ★