Gerry Duffy, Author at Boxes and Arrows

Articles by this author:

Woman pointing to phone explaining something.

Usability Testing Guide

Usability testing is a core component of User Centered Design and can be used at any stage in the process. It provides valuable insight into the mind of the user, giving us a better understanding of users’ mental models, and it helps to highlight issues that might negatively impact the experience, while also pointing to solutions. If you are new to Usability Testing and want to learn more or just interested in how someone else approaches it, this article gives

April 27, 2020 Case Studies / Discovery, Research, and Testing / Process and Methods

Taking Research out of the Lab

Posted by Gerry Duffy

To date, usability testing has been largely confined to usability labs. This ensures a controlled environment where users can interact with products or designs and researchers can field questions. The downside of this is not being able to get the context of use of what you are testing. But a recent project for a life science organization cemented the idea that taking user research out of the usability lab yields the best results.

May 8, 2018 Design Principles / Visual and Visible

Now That We’ve Captcha’d Your Attention…

Posted by Gerry Duffy

[Article edited on May 31, 2018, to clarify that PlayCaptcha and Funcaptcha are separate solutions, unrelated to each other.] The other night I listened to my friend swear his way through the online purchasing process for concert tickets. He knew who he wanted to see, how many tickets he wanted, and his budget. All was going well until he got to a point in the journey that kept tripping him up, and the longer it went on the more frustrated