Five Sketches™

I was wondering whether the “design” of web sites and software is anything more than ”intermediation” (inserting a layer between the user and the raw data), whether “intermediation” is just a synonym for “information architecture,” and whether “design” must therefore be something greater—something that includes the emotional impact of the experience. Or is that last phrase merely another way to […]

Usability isn’t just about web pages, as you’ll know if you’ve tried to dial a phone number on someone else’s cell phone. Or if you’ve tried to wash your hands on most Boeing airplanes built in the past 30 years:

The water only flows while you press the lever—one lever for cold water and one lever […]

Whether it’s ethnographic research, usability research, or marketing research, I’ve learned that the best insights aren’t always gleaned from scheduled research.
Here’s a photo of impromptu research, conducted by Betsy Weber, TechSmith’s product evangelist. I was her research subject. Betsy recorded me pushing sugar packets around a table as I explained how I’d like Camtasia to behave.

Betsy […]

The WordPress community recently ran a poll. Users were asked to choose one of 11 visual designs. The leading design got only 18% of the vote, which gives rise to such questions as:

Is this a meaningful win? The leader only barely beat the next three designs, and 82% voted for other designs.

I don’t know about the 18% versus 82%. I […]

If you’ve ever wondered where exactly on your web site or software your readers or users are looking, eye tracking will tell you that. The eye-tracking equipment emits a specific wavelength of light (invisible to humans) that helps the eye tracker to follow your eyes. As the light bounces off your retinas and back to the […]

Three-quarters of the way through a Five Sketches™ session, to help iterate and reduce the number of possible design solutions, the team turns to analysis. This includes a usability analysis.
 
After Œ informing and defining the problem  without judgement  and  generating and sketching lots of ideas  without judgment , it’s often a relief for the team to […]

When you’re tempted to cut corners off your product, what do you cut?
Is it the usability?
Today, I watched a video of people helping a motorised cardboard construction or “robot” to navigate. The so-called tweenbot has a flag on it that says “Help me,” and that asks people to send it on its way to its outdoor […]

It takes a range of skills to develop a product. Each skill—embodied in the individuals who apply that skill—brings with it a different focus:

Product managers talk about features and market needs.
Business development  talk about revenue opportunities.
Developers talk about functionality.
Usability analysts talk about product- and user performance.
Interaction designers talk about the user experience.
QA talks about quality and defects.
Marketing talks about the messaging.
Technical communicators […]

I find this funny for two reasons.

It spoofs the “choice” that many error messages present to us. It amounts to: “The program failed. OK?” It’s not OK, but your only choice is to “agree” with the message.
It spoofs the developer jargon that we read in error messages: a reboot versus a system restart.

Fresh advice, still:
“Usability goals are business goals. Web sites that are hard to use frustrate customers, forfeit revenue, and erode brands.
Executives can apply a disciplined approach to improve all aspects of ease-of-use. Start with usability reviews to assess specific flaws and understand their causes. Then fix the right problems through action-driven design practices. Finally, maintain […]