Archives for the category "user experience"

What’s the difference in a UX name?

March 25, 2009 · Posted in professional development, user experience  

Is it a good idea to call yourself a User Experience Designer, or should you be more specific about your expertise in the field?

Experience design for the market segment of middle-aged women

January 7, 2009 · Posted in Content classification and findability, user experience  

It’s natural to want to categorize our customers; in fact, it’s a necessity. Some of the segmentation is quite misunderstood, and organizations are missing valuable opportunities by not investigating the changing nature of the segments. Here’s an email I received last month from a colleague that demonstrates: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RAHEL! It may not be the [...]

Year-end thoughts on user experience

December 15, 2008 · Posted in user experience  

Users still experience intense frustration as sites don’t serve their customers well.

Ten Things Small Business Owners Should Do in 2009

December 3, 2008 · Posted in user experience  

Business owners can improve user experience in a holistic way for customers by taking these market adoption measures.

Poor usability marring site experience sparks thoughts on ROI

August 21, 2008 · Posted in content management, user experience  

What happens when a site is developed to be very attractive and nominally useful, but lacks user-centered design.

Using comics to convey “how to” user instructions

August 6, 2008 · Posted in Content Development, Content classification and findability, content management, user experience  

The feature article of July issue of Boxes and Arrows is about using comics for DIY legal guides by IDI‘s Rahel Anne Bailie. This case study, based on work done at the Legal Services Society during the 1990s, discusses how a comic book format was used to convey instructions for navigating the legal system. These [...]

Website limitations foil free trade between Canada and U.S.

July 27, 2008 · Posted in user experience  

Interesting, isn’t it, how a little 5-digit code can clog up business transactions between countries? I travel a lot on business and when my Canadian cell phone bills (about $1.50/minute, after roaming + long-distance charges) mounted, I thought I’d get myself a U.S. cell phone in Oregon. I went into the local Newberg super-grocer and [...]

US courts enforce accessibility legislation

February 21, 2008 · Posted in content management, user experience  

A U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruling issued Sept. 7, 2006 raises the bar for online businesses, requiring them to meet the terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act just as offline business have been required to do since the law’s passage in 1990. The court ruled that retailers may be [...]

XM Radio User Experience Starts with its Web site

December 3, 2005 · Posted in Web development, usability, user experience  

Either I’ve just crossed the threshhold into “too old for new technologies” or I’ve become discerning enough that I expect a good user experience from start to finish. After buying an XM radio, I discovered that I needed to activate the radio service by going to the XM Radio website and entering my radio ID [...]

Off the Beaten Task Path

November 30, 2005 · Posted in usability  

On the one hand, users don’t like to feel pressured to act in a prescribed way. On the other hand, users don’t want to be led away from whatever task they set out to accomplish. For instance, when I go to Amazon.com, I want to shop for books. I don’t to be led down a [...]

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