A recent study found that a usable site gives you an upper hand, though a well designed site takes the jackpot. The researchers at Wichita State University’s Software Usability Research Lab (SURL) confirmed earlier findings that first impressions can determine whether someone likes a site—even in the first one-twentieth of a second. Their study went […]
Posts Tagged ‘web design’
Pet Your Web Design In 7 Strokes
Designing for Persuasion, Emotion, and Trust (PET) is going beyond the usability’s Can Do factor to designing incentives for Will Do and Still Do. These three Do factors of PET can be defined as: Can Do (can users easily navigate and find info) Will Do (will users act on the info and press buttons) Still […]
Sprint’s Site Goes Green
Last Spring I was given a delightful little puzzle by a Sprint User Experience (UX) Manager. He challenged me to apply the PET Principal (Persuasion, Emotion and Trust) to the footer of Sprint.com. A new look to the footer that would speak to prospects and customers, as well as add color to a sleek looking gray […]
Sprint, Sprial16 & National Seminars Go Searching
We have had a wonderfully engaging summer. Working for Sprint, Spiral16 and National Seminars we improved, expanded and created search and sort functions. The experience, paired with the invigorating Indian Summer weather, has our creativity humming. First-up, Sprint who wanted to encourage self-service and reduce customer support on their ‘email us’ page. The page had […]
Fixing Failing Apps and Sites
Let’s look at why your apps and sites may fail and how we can fix them. We’ll start with the informative article ‘Why Software Fails’ by IEEE, a technology association. Then we’ll look at the intriguing video based on the article, ‘The ROI of User Experience’. This ‘quick sketch’ video, by Human Factors International, shows […]
User Experience Design That Increases ROI – workshop
Book this interactive presentation that will have you and your colleagues asking questions and getting answers, right from the start. We cover the basics of usability, then as a group, critique websites of some well-known and local brands. What are Sprint, Apple, Microsoft and Wentings Shop doing right? What could they do better? How can […]
U and I will design for Them
‘U and I will design for Them’ is a former tag line of mine and also a worthwhile practice. ‘U’ the client and ‘I’ the designer, is key to designing for ‘Them’, the user. In asking the right questions you can discover the users’ needs and achieve greater ROI. Achievements: Have you considered expanding on […]
Building Your Brand by Partnering
Many of my projects involve partnering with other companies. A software design I just completed had 3 designers on it, each lending their own specialty. As they say three’s company and triples the numbers delivering your brand. Companies don’t have to be lone wolves and by opening projects and products up to others, those companies […]
Card Sorting: 2 Distinct Demos
These videos are excellent sources on conducting card sorts – a technique used for determining the content and navigation for websites and software. They vary in delivery: one takes a group approach, similar to marketing focus groups; in the other individuals perform the task alone and then the task is repeated with other potential users […]
New Web Design & Usability Guidelines – preview
An A-list of contributors has provided insight to the new edition of Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines. The United States Government rounded-up contributors from such institutions as IBM, Carnegie Mellon University, and Human Factors International. This guide defines the essentials – rating their relativity and providing rich examples by way of screen shots. These […]
Seductive Interactions: a tech take
SlideShare’s “Seductive Interactions: An Art & Science” is an engaging presentation on design strategy. Of the 175 clicks I found click 85, most valuable – its title: What Do We Know About People? they listed my ux take We’re curious Don’t list features and functions, let users discover them We’re also afraid of change Forecast changes and […]