Recent Posts

Content Strategy / Design Principles

UX Writing: The Case for User-Centric Language

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If I asked you what is one of the biggest problems on websites today, I’m willing to bet you wouldn’t say it has anything to do with words. But what if I told you it does? Let’s talk about user-centric language. One research group describes the usability problems that result from something as simple as using the wrong words on websites: “Writers often use the language they are most familiar with when describing offerings on websites, without realizing that those

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Design Principles / Visual and Visible

Now That We’ve Captcha’d Your Attention…

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[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

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From the Editors

Book in Brief: Orchestrating Experiences

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Editors’ note: This “Book in Brief” feature here on Boxes and Arrows is from Orchestrating Experiences: Collaborative Design for Complexity by Chris Risdon and Patrick Quattlebaum. We’ll publish an excerpt, up to 500 words, of your book. The catch is that we’ll only publicize one book a month; first come, first serve. Other rules will certainly occur to us over time. Hit us up at idea at boxesandarrows.com. Defining experience principles If you embrace the recommended collaborative approaches in your sense-making activities, you and your

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Business Design

How Large and Boutique Consultancies Can Partner for Better Design

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Which is the better athlete: the marathoner or the sprinter? Both focus on hitting the finish line but possess far different skill sets. Yet any successful track and field team needs both types of athletes to win awards and recognition. Having a collection of overlapping and complementary skill sets makes any group better able to confidently achieve desirable outcomes. This same principle holds true when contemplating partnerships between giant management consultancies like Accenture, McKinsey & Co., Bain & Co., or

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Design Principles / Foundational Thinking

Changing Minds

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As you are reading this, how many times will you check your phone for a text, an email, a shared link, or photo? Some of these moments of attention will be based on alerts, but how many are habitual, simply checking the device for potential updates? Our minds are continually looking to continue earlier conversations or to start new ones. We have sometimes dozens of ongoing conversations, not to mention the long list of open tabs and draft emails containing

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