I’m a business manager. How do I become a UX designer?

Career changes aren’t always money oriented. While UX designers can earn up to $120,000 a year according to Dashburst’s(1) analysis of UX jobs, it’s fair to say that many business managers make similar salaries. However, business managers like you are often concerned with the bottom line, and there’s no doubt that UX design has a huge impact on ...

• 316 shares
• 2 months ago

Occam’s Razor: The simplest solution is always the best

Now that we appreciate the need for simplicity in designs better, let’s see another great concept. You may have heard of Occam’s Razor; did you know that you can apply it to web design? When you’ve got it in your “toolbox”, you’ll have an edge in the marketplace. Occam’s Razor, put simply, states: “the simplest solution is almost always the bes...

• 351 shares
• 2 months ago

Positive Emotional Responses

Positive emotional experiences are specific to the individual. However, we share many characteristics, which, to a certain extent, make things a little easier for designers. If we had to alter a design according to every single person who uses it, the budget would be extinguished within a matter of weeks and, as the saying goes, you can't please...

• 212 shares
• 2 months ago

5 Proven Tactics for Evangelizing UX

If you work in an area related to UX, you’ll probably agree that good UX has a huge business value. Good UX helps you create the most relevant products and services for your customers and ensure that they are a joy to use. But if you have any practical experience of working with UX in organizations or as a consultant, you might also have found t...

• 178 shares
• 2 months ago

The Diffusion of Innovation – Strategies for Adoption of Products

The diffusion of innovation is the process by which new products are adopted (or not) by their intended audiences. It allows designers and marketers to examine why it is that some inferior products are successful when some superior products are not. The idea of diffusion is not new; in fact it was originally examined by Gabriel Tarde, a French ...

• 430 shares
• 3 months ago

How to create the perfect structure for a UX case study

UX case studies form the core content of a UX professional’s portfolio. They are essential to getting you hired, because case studies are a window to your professional practice, by showing how you think, adapt, cooperate and ultimately solve challenges. A UX case study has to tell a story about you. Like all good stories, case studies benefit gr...

• 309 shares
• 3 months ago

How to Apply Search Boxes to Increase Efficiency

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with information while you were searching for something specific? Have you ever been lost in the haystack, looking for that one tiny needle? If your users are anything like you, they will sometimes feel overwhelmed or lost, too, unless you minimize their efforts by providing them with a search box. These may be sma...

• 276 shares
• 3 months ago

Tell Me About Me – User Profiles for Mobile Applications

With the move away from websites to applications on mobile devices; there’s a need for many apps to create, maintain and manage user profiles so that users can effectively interact with the app and so that the app’s creators can collect and analyse data useful to their businesses. There is no “one size fits all” method of building user profile i...

• 386 shares
• 3 months ago

3 Reasons Why Accessible Design Is Good for All

Most designers probably agree that accessibility matters: We want to create designs and interfaces that don’t exclude users with disabilities. There are plenty of obvious moral reasons that accessibility matters, but, unfortunately, accessibility considerations are often one of the first things to get cut when resources or time becomes scarce. F...

• 237 shares
• 3 months ago

Show Me the Way to Go Anywhere – Navigation for Mobile Applications

It doesn’t matter how great the functions and content, that your mobile apps serve, are – if your user can’t find them, they aren’t going to contribute to a great user experience. Navigation on the mobile web comes with challenges thanks to the reduced screen real estate available on smartphones. However, there are some good best practice guidel...

• 438 shares
• 3 months ago

We Think Therefore It Is – Conceptual Modelling for Mobile Applications

A conceptual model is the mental model that people carry of how something should be done. Conceptual modelling can be carried out at a very early point in the design cycle so that there is a basic understanding of how users conceive tasks and this can then be brought to bear on UI design. The ability to sketch conceptual models quickly and easil...

• 478 shares
• 3 months ago

My Head Hurts! Cognitive Friction in the Age of Mobile

There’s nothing more annoying than when things don’t function the way we expect them to. When we develop user interfaces (UI), we try to relate it to the “real world” – think the floppy disk for “save” in most applications. Why? Because we take our cues in the digital world from ones we’ve already developed in our ordinary lives. Cognitive frict...

• 332 shares
• 3 months ago

Three Ideation Methods to Enhance Your Innovative Thinking

“In a world where business is more interested in ‘best practice’ rather than different practice, is it any wonder that products and services, companies and organisations are all beginning to look the same?” the three authors rhetorically ask in ?What If!'s classic book on creativity and innovation, Sticky Wisdom. How to Start a Creative Revoluti...

• 390 shares
• 3 months ago

Our Three Brains - The Rational Brain

The triune brain model may not be an entirely accurate depiction of the human brain and its development, but the concept of our three brains (reptilian, paleomammalian, and neomammalian) represents a useful guide for us as designers who are looking to capture what it means to be a human user. Thus, many of the insights we derive in this way can ...

• 260 shares
• 3 months ago

Design Thinking: Select the Right Team Members and Start Facilitating

If we apply the analogy of Design Thinking as a journey, having good travel partners is important to safely and successfully arriving at your desired destination. The process of Design Thinking takes you into unknown and sometimes uncomfortable territory. Members of a Design Thinking team need to be open minded, curious, collaborative and allow ...

• 367 shares
• 3 months ago

How to Do a Thematic Analysis of User Interviews

You have been in the field talking to users and you now find yourself with a massive amount of audio, notes, video, pictures, and interesting impressions. All that information can be overwhelming, and it’s difficult to know where to start to make sense of all the data. Here, we will teach you how to go from information chaos to patterns and them...

• 280 shares
• 3 months ago

The Business Models of Freelancing and Design Agencies and Who Can Start Their Own Business

When you’re looking at going freelance or starting your own design agency, you’ll want to understand and examine the business models and the different types of work available to you before you start. This will help you understand and define what you intend to do with your business and how you will do it. We would like to share something with yo...

• 565 shares
• 3 months ago

3 Methods to Overcome Your Weaknesses as an Entrepreneur and Freelancer

We all have weaknesses; no one is born with all the strengths and characteristics required to run a successful business. So how do you overcome your own weaknesses? The trick is to use three simple methods to deal with those weaknesses. These methods will significantly increase your chances of succeeding as a freelancer or entrepreneur. What ...

• 364 shares
• 3 months ago

The Pareto Principle and How to Be More Effective

Eighty percent of what we do is pretty much pointless. Twenty percent of our efforts yield 80% of the results. The Pareto Principle is the idea that 80% of our output comes from 20% of our efforts. It’s a measure of where we can devote our efforts so as to increase our productivity and performance. Explore where your 20% lies—and become more pro...

• 348 shares
• 3 months ago

Wicked Problems: 5 Steps to Help You Tackle Wicked Problems by Combining Systems Thinking with Agile Methodology

Learn five steps to tackle wicked problems by combining systems thinking with agile methodology. Many successful organizations like Boeing, Walmart, Chrysler and Hewlett-Packard (HP) have adopted agile methodology and have been achieving success and innovation through this collaborative method. By becoming more agile, the team at Chrysler had in...

• 692 shares
• 3 months ago