News Flashes - Hand-Picked Since 1997

June 18, 2013

Service design in the physical space and why it makes sense to design for a minority

Edge cases are a lot of fun.

"Instead of using the default route and using bricks and mortar to solve a problem in the physical space, which is what architects are good at, this case shows that service designers offer an alternative approach. An approach that is focused on understanding the behavior of people in the space."

(Marc Fonteijn ~ 31Volts)

PJB @ 11:24 AM | Classification: Service design | Permalink

In defense of floppy disks: The vocabulary of the interface

Librarians and their iconography. A perfect match.

"But librarians are a naturally curious and skeptical people and one round of qualitative research would not satisfy them."

(Lis Pardi a.k.a. @LisPardi ~ Boxes and Arrows)

PJB @ 11:00 AM | Classification: HCI - Information architecture | Permalink

June 17, 2013

Transforming our conversation of information architecture with structure

Language generates structure, said RSW.

"Information architecture has been characterized as both an art and a science. Because there's more evidence of the former than the latter, the academic and research community is justified in hesitating to give the practice of information architecture more attention."

(Nathaniel Davis a.k.a. @iatheory ~ ASIS&T Bulletin)

PJB @ 4:29 PM | Classification: Information architecture | Permalink

Tools for mobile UX design

Tools that shape us, mobile us.

"There are several ways to approach the design of interactive systems and an ever larger number of specialized products to help UX professionals do their work. But I think there is a bit of a gap between some well-discussed practices that many of these new tools support and the way many UX professionals actually do their work."

(Steven Hoober ~ UXmatters)

PJB @ 9:53 AM | Classification: Mobile design | Permalink

Measuring customer experience

Business pressure leads to CX quantification. What else can they see in CX?

"Since customer experience is so important, shouldn't we all want to know how our digital products, services, and interactions compare to those of our competitors? Are they sparkling examples of interactive delight that rival those of the CX champions or more like the punch-in-the-face customers get when they deal with health-plan providers?"

(Ben Werner ~ UXmatters)

PJB @ 9:49 AM | Classification: Customer experience | Permalink

June 16, 2013

Customer experience death by design

Design has still a long way to go in CX.

"Helping your customers find what they need is a primary objective for ANY customer experience. In some cases, the customers you are serving are other employees or departments within your organization."

(Jeannie Walters ~ 360Connect)

PJB @ 11:03 AM | Classification: Customer experience - Information design | Permalink

June 14, 2013

Design ROI: Measurable design

Design trying to gain legitimacy through business thinking.

"The Design ROI project was a research project conducted between September 2011 and September 2012 with the aim of developing a model and a set of metrics for measuring the return on investments in design. The project was funded by Aalto University, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes) and fifteen member agencies of the Finnish Design Business Association (FDBA)."

(Antti Pitkänen)

PJB @ 12:40 PM | Classification: Design research | Permalink

June 12, 2013

Researching user experience: A knowledge ecology model

Tacit knowledge on the cognitive principles of instructional design gets revitalized in my brain.

"If information is only secondary to knowledge in terms of usefulness to achieve a particular goal or purpose, this finding suggests that the UX field could advance by looking beyond interacting with information and towards a more holistic, ecological view that encompasses both information and knowledge user experiences. A key question here could be: How do we create a user experience that facilitates tapping into the different forms of knowledge found within people's heads? Thinking about people as users of knowledge rather than just users of information opens up a whole new terrain of potential design, thus moving from information user experience to knowledge user experience."

(Faye Miller ~ Boxes and Arrows)

PJB @ 4:23 PM | Classification: Design research - User experience | Permalink

The future is now: User experience drives technical communication

Great connection between two of my beloved disciplines and fields of practice.

"In the shorter term (say, the next two to four years), I think we'll see some pretty obvious changes that have begun in certain places but have yet to enjoy a wider adoption."

(Jacquie Samuels ~ TechWhirl)

PJB @ 2:49 PM | Classification: TechCom - User experience | Permalink

Opportunities and challenges for touch and gesture-based systems

"Touch. Sweet touch. You've given me too much to feel. Sweet touch. You've almost convinced me I'm real."

"(...) getting the technology to work is hard, but the really hard part is getting the human-system interaction right, making it easy for people to use the systems. Here are the issues. Touch and sensing technology is becoming more and more popular, whether it is on mobile telephones and tablets, navigation systems, or even cooking appliances. These give great opportunities, and of course, great opportunities also pose great challenges. Some are technical, but more and more they are interaction and design challenges - how to ensure that the capabilities of the technology are well matched to the needs and capabilities of the people who use them."

(Donald A. Norman & Bahar Wadia ~ Nielsen Norman Group)

PJB @ 2:27 PM | Classification: HCI - Interaction design - Mobile design | Permalink

June 11, 2013

A conversation with Dan Klyn: Richard Saul Wurman & IA for UXers

Standing on the shoulders of giants gives a perfect view of the future.

"Initially I went back to 1976. That's a fairly well-known time when Wurman introduced the idea of the architecture of information at this conference that he was the chairman of in Philadelphia but then going further back from there the artifacts become increasingly more difficult to get your hands on and yet the payload for how it could influence how we do our work today gets richer and richer."

(Patrick Quattlebaum a.k.a. @ptquattlebaum ~ Adaptive Path)

PJB @ 9:46 PM | Classification: Information architecture - Interviews | Permalink

Softer side of change

Design thinking representing the soft side? The human side.

"Businesses have always looked at ways to improve, to either save cost or improve operating performance. The drive for improvement is even greater today due to the current economic climate we find ourselves in. Traditional buzz words such as process re-engineering and process improvement are becoming part of every day language once again, as organisations try to become leaner. The challenge faced by organisations when applying these improvement techniques is that the world we find ourselves in today is very different to when these approaches were first defined. Organisations are no longer stand alone entities, most are now part of a large ecosystem with complex interdependencies, spread in some cases across the globe."

(Mike Clark ~ Bridging the Gap)

PJB @ 9:13 AM | Classification: Customer experience | Permalink

June 10, 2013

Associating UX changes to the Net Promoter Score

Or connecting UX with CX in a quantitative way.

"A bad experience will impact how likely users are to recommend a website or product to a friend. Fixing those bad experiences is critical to increasing positive word of mouth. Unfortunately, there are usually too many things to fix and just as many opinions on what should be fixed. Development teams need to prioritize."

(Jeff Sauro a.k.a. @MeasuringU ~ Measuring Usability) ~ courtesy of barbarakoop

PJB @ 1:37 PM | Classification: Customer experience - Design research | Permalink

Interesting facts make web pages compelling

Facts, not 'factoids'. Find 'Facts', replace 'Content'.

"Users hunt for facts online, so factually rich content will attract readers and keep their attention."

(Jakob Nielsen ~ Alertbox)

PJB @ 9:56 AM | Classification: Content strategy - Usability | Permalink

Design in service: Crafting the citizen experience

Government, the service provider avant-la-lettre. Now it's time for transformational CXs.

"Many agree that a combination of factors – a demand for better user experience, the rise of ubiquitous technologies and more readily accessible datasets – present the conditions necessary for a more enjoyable life as a citizen of our country. But necessity is just the mother of invention; it takes hard work to get there. To narrow the gap between today's promises and tomorrow's opportunities, designers are increasingly intent on improving what's known as the citizen experience."

(Andrew Maier a.k.a. @andrewmaier ~ UX Booth)

PJB @ 9:16 AM | Classification: Customer experience - User experience | Permalink

June 6, 2013

Starving for understanding?

Sense making of big data a.k.a. design for understanding.

"Wurman is among a relatively small group of sensemaking oriented thinkers who figured out, early on that what is important is not the data but rather the understanding, the making sense of it. If you look at the present, relatively early cycle of the Big Data wave this realization regarding the importance of sensemaking is only just starting to emerge. At the moment in the Big Data phenomenon cycle tons of beauty-oriented graphics are being thrown up on the web everyday, a small fraction of which have anything to do with helping others reach understanding."

(GK VanPatter ~ Humantific)

PJB @ 4:52 PM | Classification: Information design | Permalink

The widening gulf of customer experience

Hype, silver bullet or market opportunity, CX is a serious, complex, and holistic business.

"Without commitment, promising a focus on the customer widens the gap between expectations and delivery. This leads to disappointment for shareholders, who will not see the long-term financial returns expected, and for customers whose experience below expectations will be perceived as worse than if no promise was made in the first place. This may explain why some of the most successful, and most loved companies do not try to differentiate themselves with a promise of better customer experience. In fact they rarely even use the word. Instead, they focus on the actual delivery of it."

(David Jacques a.k.a. @DavidJacques ~ Customer Input)

PJB @ 2:08 PM | Classification: Customer experience | Permalink

June 4, 2013

Designing the business around the experience

Getting lured by the latest gadgets is indeed not the way to go.

"When trying to start a business, you are probably going to focus on what your possible target market is first. You will then start to look at gaps in that market and what the various opportunities and outcomes are, which can be achieved based on this research."

(Michael Clark ~ Bridging the gap)

PJB @ 12:02 PM | Classification: Customer experience - Design research | Permalink

Forget Google Glass. These are the interfaces of the future

Getting lured by the latest gadgets is indeed not the way to go.

"Future civilizations will know we were crazy when they see clips of us talking into our screens."

(David Gelernter ~ WIRED)

PJB @ 10:34 AM | Classification: HCI | Permalink

June 3, 2013

Six ways ecosystems have changed our roles and the way we work

Design not only an agent of change, but design itself is changing all the time.

"Smart companies no longer just 'sell product' - they build ecosystems of genuine value, comprised of dynamic, interconnected touch points that stoke customer interests and support their needs. Customer experience becomes an essential business strategy. In the midst of this shift, where lagging businesses struggle to follow suit, our role as UX professionals is evolving and forcing us to work differently."

(Cindy Chastain a.k.a. @cchastain ~ MX Conference 2013)

PJB @ 2:02 PM | Classification: Events - User experience | Permalink

Crafting UX: Designing the user experience beyond the interface

Is 'mobile' losing its meaning?

"In large technologically-driven organizations with a broad and complex product range, establishing a user-centric approach to product design can be very challenging. The shift towards designing products and services for compelling experiences for users requires (among other things) changes in planning, resources and processes."

(Marcus Nyberg ~ Ericsson UX Lab blog)

PJB @ 10:16 AM | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Three reasons we've outgrown mobile context

Is 'mobile' losing its meaning?

"It seems like it's taken forever, but everyone is finally taking designing experiences for smaller screens seriously - whether they're doing responsive design or designing stand-alone mobile Web sites."

(SuAnne Hall ~ UXmatters)

PJB @ 9:55 AM | Classification: Mobile design | Permalink

May 31, 2013

Sense-making in cross-channel design

Designing the in-betweenies for meaningful IA.

"Successful cross-channel user experiences rely upon a strong informational layer that creates understanding amongst users of a service. This pervasive information layer helps users form conceptual models about how the overall experience works (irrespective of the channel in which they reside). This paper explores the early development of a practical framework for the creation of meaningful cross-channel information architectures or 'architectures of meaning'. We explore the strategic roles that individual channels can play as well as the different factors that can degrade a user' s understanding within a cross-channel user experience."

(Jon Fisher, Simon Norris, and Elizabeth Buie ~ Journal of Information Architecture Fall 2012)

PJB @ 8:54 PM | Classification: Information architecture | Permalink

Visualizing service design

Visual tools empower all design fields.

"When we speak about a service or a system, an ecosystem or concept, they are a lot of times abstract things. Visualization representation is a way to make them more tangible."

(Elizabeth Wood ~ frog design mind)

PJB @ 9:53 AM | Classification: InfoViz - Interviews - Service design | Permalink

May 30, 2013

Improving UX with customer journey maps

CX or UX? Who cares. Users are customers for capitalists.

"The necessity of providing user satisfaction on every key touchpoint in your business is critical to your success. The issue, however, is identifying those crucial touchpoints. Customer journey maps could be an incredibly helpful solution in this area."

(Jacek Samsel ~ Six Revisions) ~ courtesy of thomasmarzano

PJB @ 2:45 PM | Classification: Customer experience - Service design | Permalink

May 29, 2013

Design in teams: What designers contribute to multidisciplinary teams

Shared understanding, commitment and direction, team work.

"Products are developed by large multidisciplinary teams. The teams deal with many topics requiring the expertise of several specialists simultaneously. They have to decide together if something is a problem; propose multi-disciplinary solutions; and align their activities into a seamless whole. Stated differently: team members have to 'think collectively', which is named team cognition."

(Guido Stompff a.k.a. @guidostompff ~ About DiT)

PJB @ 2:45 PM | Classification: Information design | Permalink

Findability is a content problem, not a search problem

Search, find, and use. But then the fun part starts: the information experience.

"Findability is a constant theme in content strategy and technical communications, yet it seems to me that people often treat findability as a problem existing outside the content. Findability is addressed using SEO tactics and by devising sophisticated top-down navigational aids, such as taxonomies and faceted navigation, but it is seldom seen as issue to be addressed in the content itself. I believe this focus on top-down findability is wrong. Top-down finding aids have their place, but the majority of the focus should be bottom up, and it should start with the content itself."

(Mark Baker ~ Every page is one)

PJB @ 10:24 AM | Classification: Information design - Search | Permalink

May 28, 2013

Making better customer journey maps

Go Marc, go!

"You might know that a customer journey map is a visualisation of interactions between a customer and your organisation. But what are the things that could make your next customer journey map even better?"

(Marc Fonteijn a.k.a. @marcfonteijn ~ 31Volts)

PJB @ 10:55 AM | Classification: Service design | Permalink

May 27, 2013

Exploring and enhancing the UX for television: A debrief

The fourth screen coming soon in this theatre.

"At the BBC R&D, we have been working on how to exploit the interactive functionality now available through connected televisions through a number of projects under themes such as companion screens, authentication, Internet of Things, recommendation services, accessibility and so on. They are all exciting topics to explore and we were interested in finding out what the research community had to say on the subject."

(BBC R&D blog)

PJB @ 11:43 AM | Classification: Information design - User experience | Permalink

Seniors as web users

Many things can be stopped or changed, except age. So change the web.

"Users aged 65 and older are 43% slower at using websites than users aged 21-55. This is an improvement over previous studies, but designs must change to better accommodate aging users."

(Jakob Nielsen ~ Alertbox)

PJB @ 10:01 AM | Classification: Usability | Permalink