June 6th, 2011
 Word clouds (also known as text clouds and tag clouds) are not just a cool way to show a bunch of tags they are also a great way to visually communicate all sorts of UX related information, from user stories to search keywords. In this article I outline what word clouds are, walk you through how to create them and discuss just a few of the many ways in which word clouds might be utilised. . . . Read more
April 7th, 2011
 Online surveys are a quick and incredibly useful tool for gathering all sorts of user feedback. In next to no time you can whip something up using one of the many online survey tools out there (I particularly recommend SurveyGizmo) and start gathering feedback from real users. Often implementing the survey is the easy bit, it’s designing the thing that’s the tricky part as you won’t get the feedback you’re after if you don’t ask the right questions. In this article I outline 15 useful user feedback questions for online surveys for you to pick and choose from. . . . Read more
November 5th, 2010
 Scenario mapping is a really quick, easy and dare I say it even fun way to collaboratively create, discuss and communicate user scenarios. Scenario mapping will help you to think about your users, to think about their tasks and most importantly to think about the sort of user experience you want to provide. It will also help to ensure that your designs are grounded in the real world because scenario mapping forces you to consider the context in which a design is likely to be used. In this article I walk you though step by step how to go about creating scenario maps and why they’re so damn useful in the first place. . . . Read more
October 18th, 2010
 “You’re the real thing. Yeah the real thing. You’re the real thing. Even better than the real thing”. Of course the debate continues as to whether Bono was singing about online card sorting or not during U2’s seminal ‘Even better than the real thing’, but assuming he was, was he correct? Is online card sorting really better than the real thing or a poor substitute for face-to-face card sorting? What are the pros and cons of online card sorting and when might you use it (or not use it) for a project? In this article I try to answer these important questions, along with outlining a few online card sorting tools that you might use for a project. . . . Read more
September 17th, 2010
 Usability testing (a.k.a. user testing) is the undisputed daddy of usability techniques – it’s the Arnold Schwarzenegger of the usability world. On the face of it, it also seems incredibly simple and easy to do. You merely observe users as they use your product or prototype and then apply what you’ve learnt to improving the user experience. But like all simple ideas whilst it might be relatively easy to do, it’s difficult to do well. There’s an awful lot to think about when it comes to usability testing and so to help you get to grips with this mighty technique I’ve distilled some of what I’ve learnt in the hundreds of usability tests that I’ve run over the years into some useful usability testing hints, tips and guidelines. . . . Read more
June 30th, 2010
 Bipolar emotional response testing (BERT) – sounds like some sort of psychological examination technique right? Well yes it is loosely based on the repertory grid (which is a psychology interviewing technique) but it is also a damn useful means of capturing subjective design feedback from users and is especially useful for comparing different designs. Find out how to use BERT and why it should be an important addition to your user research toolkit. . . . Read more
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