I come to bury the design agency, not to praise it.
Title: Silicon Valley Killed the Design Agency Context: Buying a design agency and bringing it in house does not a UX-led company make. But it’s better than the alternative. Synopsis: Several years ago, prior to the burst of the dot … Continued
People who are “all thumbs” will inherit the earth.
Title: How to design for thumbs in the era of huge screens Context: Larger screens yield a better user experience. As long as you don’t consider your thumbs to be users. Synopsis: The apocryphal origin of the long necked giraffe … Continued
Apple speaks Australian.
Title: Optimising for the 0.33% Context: It’s a global market out there. Might want to keep that in mind when selling your stuff. Synopsis: If you’re doing it right, not all of your customers will live where you do. Obviously … Continued
He who dies with the most stuff doesn’t win. He who dies having done the most stuff does.
Title: Buy Experiences, Not Things Context: If money isn’t buying you happiness maybe you are spending it on the wrong types of things. Synopsis: Everyone knows that delicious feeling the day before you are about to take a week or … Continued
How do you define design? Let me count the ways: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…6 ways to define design.
Title: 6 Ideas That Define Design in 2014 Context: Hey design. What’s new with you? Oh these 6 things? OK then. Synopsis: Design is constantly evolving and while there are certainly inviolate articles of faith that maintain across its continuous … Continued
#ux iota: The operative part of the phrase “e-mail” is actually not the “e” but rather the “mail”.
How—or more pertinently: why—do we continue to distinguish so clearly between digital and the physical world? Mail traditionally has form and substance and gravitas so maybe we should concentrate more on that then the “e”… via brendandawes.com
All that glitters is design.
Title: A Golden Age of Design Context: The New York Times says we are in the golden age of design. They can’t lie about these things, right? Synopsis: It’s all coming together. Technology, ideas, business—all of it—and the result is … Continued
It’s the little things in life that matter. Much like in a UI.
Title: A Big Article About Wee Things: What Waldo Has to Do with Every Little Thing Context: If the devil is in the details then why are UIs that ignore them so evil? Synopsis: I don’t really care where Waldo … Continued
When A/B testing don’t forget the answer may turn out to be C) You’re an idiot.
Title: The tyranny of testing over design Context: Data doesn’t lie. But honesty is not a prerequisite of intelligence. Synopsis: Testing is good. But like anything else, too much of a good thing may not be so good. The law … Continued
Looking to delight your users? I myself would be delighted if we stopped overuse of the word “delight”.
Title: Is There a Formula for Delight? Context: “Delight” is the newest UX buzzword. And the buzzing is deafening. Synopsis: We’ve all said it. It’s the latest in a long string of expletives we use in order to vaguely—but passionately!—declare … Continued
#ux iota: The idiot you know is worse than the idiot you don’t.
The team that designs a product for themselves has an idiot for an end user. via twitter.com
If being wrong is right then I don’t want to be wrong. Right? Wrong!
Title: Why Getting It Wrong Is the Future of Design Context: Sometimes the pursuit of perfection is paved with imperfection. Synopsis: Nobody is perfect. We are told this from the time we are children then immediately set about trying to … Continued
#ux iota: Diagramming designers’ divergence during development.
The difference between a junior designer and a senior designer is a matter of perspective. Or a few diagrams at least. via medium.com
Is software ever done? Does a bear use a bidet in the woods?
Title: Software is sometimes done Context: Finishing software used to happen all the time. Now it doesn’t. Software has become a process, not an object. Synopsis: Software gets “done” in much the same way a birthday cake doesn’t. The proverbial … Continued