Group items tagged

Here is a framework for the components of a design team. Now, how to get them all speaking to each other in a constructive way?

"Six Thinking Hats® is a simple, effective parallel thinking process that helps people be more productive, focused, and mindfully involved. And once learned, the tools can be applied immediately! You and your team members can learn how to separate thinking into six clear functions and roles. Each thinking role is identified with a colored symbolic "thinking hat." By mentally wearing and switching "hats," you can easily focus or redirect thoughts, the conversation, or the meeting. "

I've been meaning to get this in the group. Edward de Bono not only has a kick ass name, he may have a solution to our 'Design meetings suck' problem. Our problem is easy to define: Too much pressure is but on the designer. They become either aggressive or passive aggressive. The solution is obvious. Someone needs to 'step-up' (not man-up, you gender bias asshole) and 'set the tone' of the meeting and relationship. Easier said than done. But, along comes de Bono. His 6 hats, parallel thinking process does exactly that - it sets a tone and create enough structure to the sessions. It nurtures the productive and chokes the counter-productive. Of course, I've never tried it. I think hats are for keeping the sun out of your eyes. Otherwise, they are stoopid. But, I'm willing to try these.

This should be read at the conclusion of every design. It's like a pre-flight checklist. luv it.

UX design company

A nice post explaining how you can screw up a user test. Along with a helpful list of tips!

dark patterns... sounds so awesome.

"247 web usability guidelines Although designing usable systems requires far more than simply applying guidelines, guidelines can still make a significant contribution to usability by promoting consistency and good practice. We use this list of guidelines in our consultancy work. For best results, remember to interpret the guideline in context - this requires a bit more thought but ensures you will get a lot more from your review."

an oldie... no, a classic and classics never go out of style.

Another good article by Mike Hughes, IBM fellow and UX'er. Explains the roles of UX vs role of UI

A nice web building company I ran across

A great post on how Wordpress handles media and particularly how to use the add_image_size() function to crop featured images. (At least that's how I found it when I was searching on Google.)

I'm always checking out how folks do coffee shops on the web. This one is interesting. Check out how the shopping cart is done - on a separate page with very cool and interesting images

"Here are the slides from my talk at Interaction 12 in Dublin. If this content resonates with you, feel free to download and use my deck to teach these principles to others (and please drop me a tweet to tell me how it went)"

Abby the IA explains IA Heuristics and how to use them to create a better design meeting and a better project result.

The UX puppy says "I'd chase the crap out of that squirrel"

a reason to get involved with personas... And, another way to screw it up. The customer buying cycle is the ... yes, THE most important attribute of their persona in relationship with you and your site. Who cares if they are 34 years old or rides a scooter - you are about if they are ready to convert.

Navigation is like a mini-first date with each of your visitors. This article gives some straightforward insights and tips to make sure yours is not a speed-dating wash out.

Insights into what is popular in UX

A pretty nice (pretty and nice) blog of 52 posts on UX topics. cool idea.