UX Blog
UX research tools: How to pick the right one for your project
You know you want to do UX research. But how do you pick the right tool for the project? With so many to choose from, you might wonder: Do you want a usability test? In-depth interviews? In-home visits? An ethnographic study? An expert review? A survey? A card sort...
In person usability testing during COVID-19. Yes, we can!
Can you do in-person usability testing safely in a COVID world? You betcha! I have just completed my second study and have the next one coming up soon. Let me tell you how I did it. Testing in a COVID-protected usability lab Before COVID-19, I would often conduct...
What Type Of Moderator Are You?
CUE-10 study debates the pros and cons of moderation style in usability testing A recent CUE study (Comparative Usability Evaluation 10), led by Danish UX researcher Rolf Molich, brought 16 UX researchers together in Boston to debate the pros and cons of moderation...
UserZoom Survey Finds CEOs Value User Experience
The good news is that CEOs are increasingly aware of the value of UX research in product development. The bad news is that their Number 1 challenge remains funding for research, coupled with getting the research into the development process. In other words, they...
User insights inform the design of a new customer portal for an Atlanta manufacturing company
This is a good example of how user insights drove the design of a new customer portal. An Atlanta-based manufacturing company wanted to add an eCommerce portal to its website so that customers could log in, access pricing, check inventory, and place and track orders.
FDA 510(k) clears the first ENFit® syringe that can be provided over-the-counter
Background The Global Enteral Device Supplier Association (GEDSA) is a non-profit trade association formed to establish a voice for addressing issues that face enteral device manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors, and to help introduce international standards for...
Remote mobile usability testing is better but not perfect
The times they are a changin’, and that goes for remote moderated mobile usability testing, too. Technology improvements are making it easier to actually see and record your participant’s mobile device screen in a remote testing situation. Collaborative meeting platforms like Zoom and GoToMeeting now offer screen sharing capabilities on mobile devices.
Delta bungles website relaunch
As a Delta airlines frequent flyer, I was surprised—dare I say shocked?—to see that the Delta website had been redesigned. And I hadn’t been told. I’m sure I am not alone in feeling completely thrown off by the new design which was, quite frankly, so unfamiliar, so...
Equifax scores zero on usability of credit freeze application
Last September we learned of the massive security breach of Equifax that affected more than 145 million people. Although this incident may feel like last year's news, a poll conducted by CreditCards.com a month after the breach was announced found that Only about...
Medical device usability testing participants may need special handling
All usability testing participants need special handling All participants in usability testing studies require special care and handling so that they are made to feel comfortable about the important contribution they are making to your understanding of user...
Creating personas in UX – Why create personas without data?
The first rule of persona creation in UX is “use real data.” Who could disagree with this first rule of persona creation? We certainly don’t. We know that personas are archetypes of a user subgroup and that they need to be based on real data so that they represent...
Meeting a New UX Client Prospect – How to Make it a Success. Part 2
In this part of our 2-part series on managing successful new UX client meetings, we review the 3 stages of the meeting: Listen Learn Lead In Part 1, we reviewed strategies to prepare for the meeting and get it started. Listen, Learn, Lead Listen Ask questions to...
Meeting a New UX Client Prospect – How to Make it a Success. Part 1
Here’s the scenario: Your are a UX consulting firm, and you’ve been contacted about a user research project. You are now scheduled to meet the new UX client prospect—either in person or by phone/conference call. What should you do to prepare for and conduct the...
Microsoft’s Product Reaction Cards Unlock User Satisfaction
How can you really tell if users are satisfied? If the product is desirable to them? If they mean what they say when they respond to structured survey questions giving you feedback on their experience? We find out by using Microsoft’s product reaction cards. We love...
Customer journey maps turn data into stories. Part 3
This post is part of a 3-part series on customer journey maps. In Part 1 and Part 2, we defined customer journey maps, presented ways to gather data for the journey maps, and the benefits of holding a workshop to use the data to lay out the customer’s journey. Now in...
Customer journey maps turn data into stories. Part 2
This post is part of a 3-part series on customer journey maps. In Part 1, we defined what we mean by customer journey maps and presented ways you can work with existing user data as well as ways to generate new data. In this part we focus on how to organize the data...
Customer journey maps turn data into stories. Part 1
This post is part of a 3-part series on customer journey maps. Storytelling has become an increasing popular way to present research findings. You may present your users’ stories in a heuristic evaluation. Or you may create stories in the form of personas, or tell the...
Product Documentation Is User Experience
When it comes to product documentation—the information that explains how to use a product—many people prefer to do without. The mantra “when all else fails, read the documentation” has proven true in many of the usability studies we have conducted over the years. Even...
Gender Preferences Notable During Interviews about Home Security Cameras
You may know the book Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. The title alone says a lot about gender differences. Of course, we know that men and women are different. That’s why we want to have both in our research studies, unless the product or interface is...