Simplify your work and your life by learning the tools and techniques that authors have used to conquered gnarly problem spaces. From avoiding burnout to doing scrappy research on a shoestring budget, you’ll benefit from their experience, avoid making the mistakes they made, and go on to make all new mistakes of your own. (Then contribute your learnings back to us!)
Games are fun and immersive, while websites, for the most part, are not. How do we get users to suspend disbelief on the web? Mia Northrup examines how some techniques for developing games can lead to better digital experiences.
Continue readingMindcanvas is an online research service designed for IAs by IAs. Sarah Rice has used it during the course of various projects, and in this review she gives us an introduction to the service and its strengths and weaknesses.
Continue readingAlexa Andrzejewski shares her quick yet powerful way for translating static screen designs (from wireframes to visual comps) into interactive prototypes using Flash. Only fairly basic ActionScript knowledge required.
Continue readingHolger Maassen posits his ideas about the process of planning and designing for User Experience Design-Planning (UXD-P) as Expectation Design.
Continue readingClients don’t know a thing about their users, and designers think that if they like it, everyone will. Sound familiar? Daniel Lafreniere’s 30-minute “extreme user research” plan comes to the rescue for those of us facing this exact situation. With this practical method, you can generate loads of useful data that will have a real impact on design, thus making the website more effective and profitable.
Continue reading