Here’s our round up of the most useful user experience design resources we’ve come across recently.
Sketching your way to a mobile UX design (UX Matters)
This is a really nice overview of how to sketch out mobile UI’s and then turn them into clickable prototypes.
“While there are now many tools available for creating mobile UX designs, the practice of sketching is still one of the fastest ways to create a design and then rapidly capture feedback.
Still not sure why you should be paper prototyping?
If this article doesn’t make you think paper prototyping is worth giving a go – then there’s simply no hope for you!
Link to article: If you Think Paper Prototyping is a Waste of Time, you’re Doing it Wrong (UXMas)
There is no such thing as UX Design (PeterMe)
Any post that starts like this:
“Provocative statement: The entire “field” of user experience design emerged for one reason — to accommodate, and overcome, poor (or non-existent) product management practices.”
Even though this post has a provocative title and opening it’s a really good read and one worth pondering whatever your role.
The ‘Liking’ Principle in User Interface Design (Nielsen Norman Group)
“The key to effectively employing the liking principle is user research. If you don’t know your users well, it’s very difficult to anticipate what techniques (similarity, familiarity, cooperation, association, and praise) will have a positive impact. User experience research techniques such as surveys, interviews, and usability testing can all contribute data to this exploration.”
Un-Sucking the Touchpoint (UIE)
Chris Risdon rethinks the definition of a touchpoint and explains why we need to think more along the line of ““at this point in time, how do we meet the need of this person?”.
“Historically, touch points have been defined in three types: static: such as packaging or an advertisement; interactive: a website or a kiosk; and human: such as a sales rep. But, a touchpoint is a moment in time. More specifically, a touchpoint is meeting a need by delivering on a company’s value proposition in that time and place.”
Use Specialised Language for Specialised Audiences (Nielsen Norman Group)
“Usually, a key guideline for writing digital copy is to use simple language: familiar words and short sentences. To reach a broad consumer audience, write at an 8th grade reading level. But what if you’re not targeting everybody, but have a narrow audience for your, say, B2B site? In that case the advice changes.”
Methods Table (Usability Net)
This resource will help you identify the most effective usability testing methods to use based on the following criteria:
- Limited time/resources
- No direct access to users
- Limited skills/experience.
A Definition of Content Strategy (UIE)
This article by Jonathon Colman contains a definition of content strategy that really resonates with me:
“Content strategists use language, data, and systems to build better experiences for people than either IAs or designers can working by themselves. Ideally, all three disciplines work together as part of a user experience team that puts the Why before the How.”
Got time for more?
Want to learn more about:
How to design great mobile user experiences? (Videos from UX Immersion 2014)
How to increase page views by linking to related content? (Nielsen Norman Group)
Why good storytelling helps you design great products (GigaOm)
Agile UX and The One Change That Changes Everything (Anders Ramsay)
Next week’s links
Next week we’ll be sharing some of the user research resources we’ve come across and bookmarked lately.
Get our weekly roundups delivered straight to your inbox
Sign-up for our email newsletter and get all our posts by email as soon as they’re published.