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Is there or isn’t there such a thing as The Fold?
“What appears at the top of the page vs. what’s hidden will always influence the user experience—regardless of screen size. The average difference in how users treat info above vs. below the fold is 84%.”
Know your professional history. Moving from HCI to UX into a steep valley or ravine.
“In this editorial, I advocate a new form of interactive community publication (…) to respond to new creative emphases within human-focused interaction design practices and research. I have called this CLUF (creatively led user foci), pronounced like the Northern English word clough, meaning a steep valley or ravine. The realities of reflective creative practices are that we can always probe further and explore more as we work down through layers of design practice. CLUF would support a much needed online community of practice around systematic rigorous exploration of creative UX.”
(Gilbert Cockton ~ Journal of Usability Studies Volume 10, Issue 1, November 2014)
And there are so much more. Myths and misconceptions also apply to design, designers and De$ign.
“Usability testing has been around so long that it’s the most well-known and most frequently practiced user research method. So I find it amazing that there are still so many misconceptions about usability testing. In this column, I’ll debunk the most common myths and misconceptions that I’ve encountered over the years.”
(Jim Ross a.k.a. @anotheruxguy ~ UXmatters)
Look in the mirror, not to the other.
“Before you redesign your site, make sure that you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your current design. Garner design ideas and alternatives by studying your competitors. The focus of competitive tests is not to crown a winner, but to gain deeper insight into why design elements work or fail so we can make informed decisions moving forward.”
Usability being a characteristic of a product in use. UX being a mental state of a person with a product in and after use.
“I’m a big fan of usability testing. It’s a useful tool, and one that all UX designers should have in their toolbox. But we need to see usability testing in a broader context and consider its strengths and limitations.”
The web as it was born is not a full-fledged magazine.
“Large images are visually appealing, but they can harm the overall user experience if they aren’t appropriately prioritized.”
De facto standards are still standards, if you like it or not.
“(…) the reality is that too often, resources are spent on making the site look great or creating an innovative widget, and usability is neglected until the very end of development (if it’s even ever looked at). Ideally, you’ll be doing testing throughout the project, be it testing your information architecture, creating and testing wireframes and paper prototypes, and conducting usability tests with real users on all the devices that you’re targeting with your design, all with enough time before the launch so that you can iterate your designs and test them again.”
(Katie Sherwin a.k.a. @kwsherwin ~ Nielsen Norman Group)
Mobile usability, the same as paper usability or usability of applications. What’s all the difference? The principles are the same, the instantiations not.
“In this interview Jakob Nielsen, explains the rules of mobile usability. He outlines how to create seamless experiences and why designers are plagued with featuritis. He then goes onto explain the reciprocity principle and the importance of user-centred design.”
It’s the omni-channel design again.
“Designing for all screen sizes must consider the capacity of the human–device communication channel, which depends on users’ memory, device portability, and screen size.”
(Raluca Budiu a.k.a. @rbudiu ~ Nielsen Norman Group)
“Humans tend to return good deeds: use this social psychology law in user interface design to gain users’ trust and motivate engagement with your site or app.”
“Effective university websites can increase conversions, strengthen institutional credibility and brand, improve user satisfaction, and save time and money.”
“Across a thousand UX professionals we found high job satisfaction and extreme diversity in terms of hugely varying educational background, 210 job titles, and wide-ranging work roles and activities.”
“When users try a search and get no results, there’s a high risk of site abandonment. But paying attention to design details can turn this potential disaster into an opportunity for content discovery.”
“The total cognitive load, or amount of mental processing power needed to use your site, affects how easily users find content and complete tasks.”
“Websites spend too little homepage screen space on content of interest to users and fail to utilize modern monitor sizes. And? It’s worse now than it was 12 years ago.”
“Information can be organized in either flat or deep hierarchies; both have their advantages and pitfalls.”
“A consistent user experience, regardless of channel, is one of the 4 key elements of a usable cross-channel experience. Consistency across channels helps build trust with customers. (…) As companies and organizations design for the larger user experience, it’s important to consider consistency across all channels. Consistent experiences help users build trust with the organization. Each interaction is part of the overall user experience with a company. If the user experience isn’t consistent across channels, users will question the organization’s credibility.”
(Janelle Estes ~ NNGroup)
“While the concept of user experience and the term UX have become seemingly ubiquitous in the workplace, most non-UX people still have the wrong idea about what it is. Here are four common UX myths and how we can bust them.”
(Brian Pagán a.k.a. @brianpagan ~ UX magazine)
“Some navigation implementations risk pushing users into a state of cognitive strain which lessens the likelihood of them taking desirable actions.”
(Jen Cardello ~ NNGroup)
“For testing assignments where client teams are ready, willing and able to take immediate action, being flexible with tasks within and between participants can offer better bang for your buck.”
(Jakob Nielsen‘s Alertbox)
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