All posts tagged user-centred design

UX is dead, long live Iterative UX!

At your mum, we have recently seen a big shift in the way we help our clients. There has been a conscious move away from “The big fix” where we develop comprehensive site maps and a vast array of page templates. We are more frequently asked to help address usability in bite-size chunks, one feature at a time.

And this isn’t unique to our consultancy. If you read blogs and press coverage on UX you will soon learn that many other UX-focussed businesses have seen the same trend.

Here’s what we’ve seen and why we think it’s a great time to be involved in UX…

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by craigbrewster on May 21, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by craigbrewster on May 21, 2013

http://yourmumux.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/ux-is-dead-long-live-iterative-ux/

Design versus Usability – it’s not a war

A client recently posed a question to me that brought back a thought I’ve had for a while – occasionally when I talk to designers about what UX people do they are under the misapprehension that we are going to remove all the creativity from their process.

But, for me, UX is quite the opposite. My job is to dig around the subject and give designers and other creative types enough information to better understand the brief and offer enough ideas to kick start their creative thought process.

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by craigbrewster on April 3, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by craigbrewster on April 3, 2012

http://yourmumux.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/design-versus-usability-its-not-a-war/

Fix the Web asks (some of) the audience

The BBC reported today that the UK Government has launched a campaign aimed at improving the online experience for people with disabilities (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11746150).

A new site called Fix the Web (http://www.fixtheweb.net) allows disabled and older people to report problems they find when surfing. Fix the Web has set itself the ambitious target of getting 10,000 volunteers dealing with 250,000 websites within two years.

Great news for user experience; we UX professionals are always banging on about how important it is to consult your users. The Government should be commended for their effort but I hope they have thought about the bigger UX picture:

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by craigbrewster on November 16, 2010  •  Permalink
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Posted by craigbrewster on November 16, 2010

http://yourmumux.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/fix-the-web-asks-some-of-the-audience/

iPad touch screen makes me feel dirty

Before I start, I must caveat that the following diatribe may be largely down to my own OCD and the panic attacks I have when I see something without straight, clean lines.

That said, smudgy touch screens do my head in and this is the sole reason I have not yet invested in an iPad.

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by jamesyourmumux on November 9, 2010  •  Permalink
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Posted by jamesyourmumux on November 9, 2010

http://yourmumux.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/ipad-touch-screen-makes-me-feel-dirty/

A bit of Yin with your Yang

I often talk about UX being a balanced approach to what a business wants and what their audience want. This is certainly what I tell my clients and is the basis for all the work I carry out on their projects.

But balance extends beyond the actual project methodology; it is an important consideration for all aspects of user experience.

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by craigbrewster on September 27, 2010  •  Permalink
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Posted by craigbrewster on September 27, 2010

http://yourmumux.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/a-bit-of-yin-with-your-yang/

It’s not just kids that can get a lesson from the Early Learning Centre

When Jim Woodhead, a Senior Digital Account Director at DigforFireDMG and long-time friend and colleague,  recently asked me if he could be a guest blogger on this site I jumped at the chance.

If you’d like to be a guest blogger on our site get in touch: craig@yourmumux.co.uk

Here’s Jim’s first post…

Let’s start this rambling anecdote by getting the clichés out of the way.  A couple of left over bolts, instructions that don’t make any sense, the whole construction falling apart as soon as you put your hard earned cup of tea on it…  The truth is that, while it may not be the most enjoyable experience you can think of, so long as you plug your brain in and follow the instructions, putting together flat-pack furniture is not the most difficult thing in the world.  Making it impossible would somehow have prevented it from becoming so popular.

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by craigbrewster on August 19, 2010  •  Permalink
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Posted by craigbrewster on August 19, 2010

http://yourmumux.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/it%e2%80%99s-not-just-kids-that-can-get-a-lesson-from-the-early-learning-centre/

Who are your audience and what do they want?

It seems a simple enough question but it is often difficult for clients to give a straight answer. So where do you start?

There is no magic wand; it’s simply down to conversation, collaboration, research and lots of thinking and planning.

As always with UX, there is a proven process for understanding your audience…

  1. Talk to your people
  2. Look around you
  3. Talk to your audience

Contact me for free advice relevant to you and your business: craig@yourmumux.co.uk

Learn more about your mum ux and the service we offer on our website: www.yourmumux.co.uk

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by craigbrewster on July 22, 2010  •  Permalink
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Posted by craigbrewster on July 22, 2010

http://yourmumux.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/do-you-know-your-online-audience/

Online forms – ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies

There’s an art to getting online forms right. You want to gather enough data to get the information to the right person in your business and make the data useful to you, but you want to avoid asking users so many questions that the form becomes a barrier.

Although I can’t tell you what data you should gather through your online form I can give you an idea of what to consider when building it…

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by craigbrewster on July 20, 2010  •  Permalink
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Posted by craigbrewster on July 20, 2010

http://yourmumux.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/online-forms-%e2%80%93-ask-me-no-questions-and-i%e2%80%99ll-tell-you-no-lies/

Flash my arse

How many rubbish agencies does it take to bugger up a website and ruin the user experience?

Answer: One with a copy of Flash (“hey, I’ve got Flash – I must animate!”).

I’m not saying Flash is completely pointless but I have always had this thing about agencies who build sites entirely in Flash. You know the sort of thing:

  • Endless “50% loaded “ screens
  • Nothing to see if the Flash plug-in is disabled
  • No SEO because all the content is hidden from SE spiders
  • Can’t easily copy, bookmark or print the content with standard browser tools
  • Browser back button doesn’t work as it’s supposed to

I could go on, I’m sure you have a dozen more gripes of your own.

In this context, Flash is great if you’re a fly with a three second memory and the only thing on your to do list is “bump into windows and light bulbs” but not so good if you want a simple to use and easy to find website.

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by jamesyourmumux on June 22, 2010  •  Permalink
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Posted by jamesyourmumux on June 22, 2010

http://yourmumux.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/flash-my-arse/

60 minute website usability audit

Time is a precious thing so how do you quickly get to grips with what’s right and wrong with your site? Over the past twelve months I have developed a checklist that I use as a kind of quick usability health check for some of my clients’ sites when I’m short on time.

There’ s no real science to it but it gives me a framework to follow when I need to audit a website and I have no time to delve too deep. I am currently up to 112 statements but, obviously, theses are not always all relevant to all clients.

Anyway, I hope you find it interesting. Feel free to pilfer it.

And let me know if you think I have missed something – craig@yourmumux.co.uk

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by craigbrewster on May 25, 2010  •  Permalink
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Posted by craigbrewster on May 25, 2010

http://yourmumux.wordpress.com/2010/05/25/60-minute-website-usability-audit/

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