Now I know I’m being unfairly harsh about developers here and I don’t mean to be. There are some amazingly talented technologists out there who really care about usability and want to do the best for the user. However, it often feels as though there’s an asymmetric level of respect between disciplines due to a belief that design is easy and therefore something everybody can have an opinion on (more…)

“My” point of view By using “my” in an interface, it implies that the product is an extension of the user. It’s as if the product is labeling things on behalf of the user. “My” feels personal. It feels like you can customize and control it. (more…)

There is a popular phrase by Theodore Levitt, a Harvard Business School professor; People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want to buy a quarter-inch hole! The hole is the end result – the outcome. What does the average consumer really want from your product and/or service? That is the question you must answer. (more…)

Alistair Croll, co-author of Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster, uses the above definition of analytics, and goes on to say that for startups in particular, the purpose of analytics is to “iterate to product/market fit before the money runs out.” (more…)

Any successful and well-received offering first creates an infatuation interval in which customers are fixated on its novelty, seduced by its perceived benefits, and blinded to its potential shortcomings. However, such an interval is by definition fleeting. As the veil of infatuation wears off, customers will no longer feel privileged but instead fully entitled to receive the offering’s benefits. (more…)

In the last year I’ve reviewed a lot of product design work from job applicants and I’ve noticed a worrying pattern. Too many designers are designing to impress their peers rather than address real business problems. (more…)

Expired Domains Another way to get link juice is by purchasing an expired domain. This is more difficult to do, but there are a lot of options such as expireddomains.net. (Google “expired domains” and you’ll find dozens of sites monitoring them.) (more…)

The UX of email sours customer relationships. I subscribe to nearly 300 email newsletters. Some I receive by signing up to get deals, offers, and updates, explicitly. Others I’ve been opted into after creating an account somewhere, making a purchase, or giving my email address to a company who then sold or shared the information with “trusted partners.” (more…)

A great customer experience is the product of an effective and well-designed omnichannel ecosystem. To achieve it, organizations must research and understand the customer journeys that users take as they complete tasks across devices and channels. To every single customer, a journey is one holistic interaction with your organization, one experience rather than a collection of individual experiences. (more…)

Why design by committee exists Although to those of us who have experienced design by committee the drawbacks seem obviously, to a first timer it can appear necessary and even appealing. (more…)

Part of what makes empathy such a powerful skill, especially for those in the UX field, is our ability to understand another’s situation. And a surprising way to train ourselves to do that, is by allowing our colleagues to be empathetic toward us, as well. (more…)