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The content layer of the customer journey map, sort of.
“We live in a service economy with evolving liquid expectations. Content is a fundamental component of how users engage with a service, and content strategy is the mechanism that enables that service experience to be delivered holistically and consistently across all touchpoints.”
Jennifer McCutchen a.k.a. /jennifermccutchen | @jenmccutchen ~ Fjord ★
The blend of creativity, design, and deep understanding of digital technology.
“A primary goal of this research project was to find a set of guiding principles, metaphors and ideas, that inform the development of future theories, experiments, and applications. By combining different domains into one narrative, we formulate a new school, or praxis for creativity: CreativeAI. Its desire is to explore and celebrate creativity. Its goal is to develop systems that raise the human potential. Its belief is that addressing the “what” and “why” is as important as the “how”. Its conviction is that complex ethical questions are not an afterthought, but an opportunity to be creative collectively. Finally, CreativeAI is a question, rather than an answer. Its only demand is more collaboration and creativity. It is an invitation for play!”
Samim Winiger a.k.a. /samimwiniger | @samim & Roelof Pieters a.k.a /roelofpieters | @graphific ~ Medium ~ courtesy of karsalfrink
Great to have found this newsflash after almost 20 years.
“The notion of making seems to be gaining some traction lately. When I talk to people outside academia about interaction design and new media, making often comes up, with references to physical computing, 3D printing, and Maker Faires, and overtones of grassroots activism and yet another this-changes-everything movement. I note a corresponding increase in the interaction design research discourse—but here, the word is used slightly more broadly to include construction, programming, and other craft-like activities forming part of the core of traditional design practice. That is also the sense in which I will be using the word here.”
Jonas Löwgren a.k.a. /jonaslowgren ~ ACM Interactions Magazine ★
The roles, values and challenges for a new generation of strategic designers.
“This paper is a follow up to DesignX, a position paper written in 2014, which introduced the design challenges of complex sociotechnical systems such as healthcare, transportation, governmental policy, and environmental protection. We conclude that the major challenges presented by DesignX problems stem not from trying to understand or address the issues, but rather arise during implementation, when political, economic, cultural, organizational, and structural problems overwhelm all else. We suggest that designers cannot stop at the design stage: they must play an active role in implementation, and develop solutions through small, incremental steps—minimizing budgets and the resources required for each step— to reduce political, social, and cultural disruptions. This approach requires tolerance for existing constraints and trade-offs, and a modularity that allows for measures that do not compromise the whole. These designs satisfice rather than optimize and are related to the technique of making progress by ‘muddling through’, a form of incrementalism championed by Lindblom.”
Thomas Kuhn and design in business and society.
“Corporate cultures’ prevailing attitudes towards design have begun to shift. Financial companies and management consultancies now have design teams, and include “design” in their service portfolios. Large corporations are bolstering their in-house design capabilities, and appointing designers to executive roles. Venture capitalist firms and startups increasingly recognize the value of including designers in the early stages of business development. Even global organizations and international foundations now list design on their agendas. A paradigm shift is taking place in the field of design. This study examines some of the latest corporate investments in design, and reflects on what this phenomenon means for the wider field of design. The focus of this study is on the key trend indicators that are defining the current landscape of design, and its changing role in business and society.”
Gjoko Muratovski a.k.a. /gjokomuratovski ~ She Ji ★
Design and education, how can they have been separated for soo long.
“The concept of design in not new to education. However, the act of designing as we understand it in user experience—or design thinking—is not yet mainstream in the design for teaching and learning. The pervasiveness of technology and the maturity of both user-centered design and e-learning are intertwining design and education in deeper ways. (…) Modern design approaches and philosophies are well-placed to facilitate this orchestration. Designing education and educating design is the right path to take. While the immensity of the task can feel overwhelming, we as designers can find the challenge and beauty of it by tackling it at a human-sized level. Let’s not focus on the systemic problems and policy changes needed in education but on the things that we as designers can do to enhance the teaching and learning experience. This crossroads of education and design is just the beginning.”
Muriel Garreta-Domingo a.k.a. /murielgd | @mparticulars ~ UXPA Magazine ★
Great collection of favs.
“Otlet was a Belgian author, entrepreneur, visionary, lawyer and peace activist. He is one of the founders of information science, a field he called ‘documentation’. Otlet created the Universal Decimal Classification, one of the most prominent examples of faceted classification.”
Be conservative in what you publish, be liberal in what you read.
“Even if your organization doesn’t produce anything close to that kind of volume, it’s wise to ask yourself an important question: Is all this content working? This article lays out how to answer that question for the content you have now and ensure that, going forward, your future content is positioned to succeed.”
Hilary Marsh a.k.a. /hilarymarsh | @hilarymarsh ~ Content Company ★
Failures are better to learn from than successes. But they feel horrible.
“In this article, I’ll look at some of the most common reasons behind the failure of agile transformations. My hope is that this information will help your organization to avoid its agile initiatives’ falling foul of the same mistakes and ensure that you’re able to reap all of the rewards the approach has to offer.”
Allie Brock a.k.a. /alliebrock | @brocknroller ~ UXmatters ★
Where’s The Gang of Four?
“That’s what Object Oriented UX is all about—thinking in terms of objects before actions. In my previous article, we learned how to define objects and design a framework based on those objects. This time, we’re exploring how to smoothly transition from big-picture OOUX to interaction design by using a very simple tool: the CTA (‘Call-To-Action’) Inventory.”
Sophia Voychehovski a.k.a. /sophiav | @sophiavux ~ A List Apart ★
Perception precedes cognition and experience.
“The perceived value of a site represents the benefit that users expect to derive from using it. High expectations make users more likely to engage with the site.”
Aurora Bedford a.k.a. /aurorabedford | @aurorararara ~ Nielsen Norman Group ★
A vintage deliverable from the 00’s: the sitemap.
“If you ask what an information architect does, you’ll hear of navigation. Ask what an information architecture is, you’ll hear of taxonomies. If you ask how IAs communicate navigation and taxonomies, you’ll hear of sitemaps.”
Austin Govella a.k.a. /austingovella | @austingovella ★
Still in the premature design phase of tips, do’s and dont’s.
“Wearable technology, in general, and smartwatches, in particular, are in their infancy, with a lot of activity underway from both global technology powerhouses such as Google and Samsung to startup companies and new entrants of all scales looking to make a name for themselves and claim a stake in the burgeoning smartwatch marketplace. As with other technology markets, Apple is leading the way in smartwatches with its Apple Watch device. This creates a vibrant and promising developer environment. (…) Designers also need to take the time to prototype and test their design with target audiences, as well as pay close attention to the effects of brand fonts and colors that may affect the readability and usability of their design.”
Marian Mota a.k.a. /marianmota ~ Boxes and Arrows ★
Apparently, this delta needs to be addressed again, again, and again.
“In today’s creative and technical environment, the terms UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) are being used more than ever. Overall, these terms are referring to specialties and ideas that have been around for years prior to the introduction of the abbreviated terminology. But the problem with these new abbreviations is more than just nomenclature. Unfortunately, the terms are quickly becoming dangerous buzzwords: using these terms imprecisely and in often completely inappropriate situations is a constant problem for a growing number of professionals, including: designers, job seekers, and product development specialists. Understanding the proper separation, relationship and usage of the terms is essential to both disciplines.”
In a blink of an eye you have a UX STRATegy.
“The heart of great UX strategy lies in thorough research. Unfortunately, UX research is usually a mess. If you’re an outsider, you’re still getting to know everyone involved in the project at the same time you’re navigating which research activities to take on. If you’re an insider, it can be the same story.”
Robert Hoekman Jr a.k.a. /rhoekmanjr | @rhjr ~ TNW ★
The magical number 7, for text only.
“(…) treating your content like a startup. This is something I’ve always been sure to do, and intend on doing it for my new book too. But that’s a product I intend to sell. Oftentimes we neglect the content that takes care of our marketing goals by confining it to a limited framework. When you treat your content as a product, instead of “just” a piece of content, you give it the attention and worth it deserves. And just like products, the user experience of your content matters just as much as the value you deliver within it.”
Tom Whatley a.k.a. /thetomwhatley | @thetomwhatley ~ Content Marketer ★
How team work is determined by its context.
“Sometimes people create conflicts during a project that only serve to get in the way of making meaningful things together. Or in other words, unnecessary and petty battles make work not fun and not productive. But why would people create such conflict? Perhaps a project was plagued by one, all, or some of the following factors: requirements were not collected or understood clearly, the core of the offering was not defined properly, there was too much distance between the customer and the project goals, too much money had been spent already for the project to fail, or it could be as simple as people just not knowing how to get along. All of these factors can make an environment of fear and uncertainty that prevents people from working together to create wonderful products and services. What elements of a project should we all be thinking about to help bring people together to make meaningful things together?”
Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong ~ Journal for usability studies ★
Online everybody is a persona, low- and high-fidelity.
“The more we invest in our personae, the more present they become in our work—and the more our ‘usability culture’ begins to resemble an honest-to-goodness culture. Ultimately, I can envision a style of work that bears some resemblance to many traditional societies’ casual relationships with their pantheons, in which our personae influence most of what we do and crop up in our conversations, jokes, and collective memories.”
Sasha Akhavi /sasha-akhavi ~ Boxes and Arrows ★
Just follow the rules. And then break them.
“UX designers know the importance of telling a good story—we strive to give our users a comprehensive understanding of our creations with consistency, accuracy, and intuitiveness. Recognizing the relationship between these disciplines resulted in a relatively fluid translation of Emma Coats’ rules into lessons for good UX. Think of these as a set of guidelines to facilitate your creative process.”
Eric Celedonia a.k.a. /ericceledonia | @ericceledonia Invision blog ★
Integrating would be better.
“Content strategists have had to adjust to the rise of development-centric projects focused on products. Big changes challenge traditional content culture and processes.”
Brendan Murray a.k.a. @neo_narratives ~ A List Apart ★
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