You’ve finally got your new brand sorted. It’s taken ages, you’ve had multiple shouting matches with your branding agency, but it was all worth it in the end. Just look at that brand – it’s awesome, it’s different from anything else, it’s a work of art.
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By Trent Mankelow
The first time we conducted usability testing on a mobile device was in 2005 for Vodafone. The technology we used to run the testing was primitive, complicated and fragile. Here are a couple of photos to show you what the setup was like.
These days, our approach to mobile usability testing is very different. The whole process is much more guerrilla and lightweight, and we rarely test indoors. Given our recent growth in mobile testing projects, we thought we’d take a step back and share with you some of the lessons we’ve learnt. Read more »
By Trent Mankelow
My wife and I went out to dinner recently, and I couldn’t help but notice the couple at the adjacent table both using iPads in-between forking food into their mouths. I’m not passing judgment – I think that smart phones, widespread broadband, and social media are all changing the way I behave too. As a society our attention is fracturing: at the dinner table, while we watch TV, as we shop.
So for our final newsletter of the year I thought I’d share with you some recent statistics that highlight how digital technology is changing our lives Read more »
Are all those mundane, admin tasks sucking your time and getting you down? User-centred design might be that elusive but effective answer.
Have you ever drifted into a kind of zen-like state when you were mowing the lawns? All of a sudden the lawns are freshly mown; what were you thinking about? Or when your Nonna is making that penne arrabbiata for the umpteenth time, it’s like she’s doing it without thinking.
By Shailesh Manga
I recently relocated to the US of A so watched the All Blacks win the Rugby World Cup from afar. It was not only nerve-racking but a good reminder about the importance of not just having a game plan, but a plan for the entire tournament.
This is not just a necessity for rugby but also for conducting research and design. Reflecting on my experiences, I am often asked to come up with an approach to “win a game” but not to “win the tournament”. This can result in tactical approaches which may not always be the best for a product or service in the long term.
Where’s Wally…? I used to spend ages looking for him, didn’t you too?
It would start as a fun game: Sure, I’ll find him in no time, it can’t be that hard! But after searching for a while, it could get pretty frustrating: You KNEW he was there, somewhere on that jam-packed beach. You even knew what he looked like, with his trademark red-striped shirt, hat and his nerdy glasses. Still, it would sometimes take ages and make your eyes burn to finally single him out. Read more »
In late August I attended the third annual UX Australia conference in Sydney. The conference was well organised, enjoyable, informative, and peppered with a great mix of both local and international speakers. Topics were varied and covered the full breadth of the UX discipline, from designing for mobile to UX design in surgical environments. There was definitely something of value in every session that I attended. Not one was a dud.
There were some common themes running throughout the conference: multi-channel design, designing for mobile, and the role that UX plays in transforming the culture within a business. Here’s a summary of some of the highlights. Read more »
People are creatures of habit and this can introduce challenges should you want them to adopt a new behaviour. We all start forming and evolving our behaviours from the time we are born, and each of us will respond to different stimuli in our own unique way. Some of us can’t start their day without our morning coffee whereas others will reach for a cigarette as a first port of call. Some can’t fall asleep without a book in their hands and others like to leave their T.V. switched on. These behavioural differences are a big part of what makes us human.
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Something that I have noticed while working in the UX industry is that sometimes it feels like interaction designers are from Mars and visual designers are from Venus. Often during user-centred design projects there is a lack of understanding between the two species, which can have a huge effect on the overall success of a project. Read more »
