If the idea of usability testing your website is intriguing to you, but you’re not sure where to begin—there are at least 6 good places to start.
Continue reading “What to Usability Test First”Blog
Inside My Usability Toolkit: Participant Scheduling
When scheduling participants for a phone study, in-person interview, or moderated usability study, I ALWAYS call them to set up the appointment.
I do this for several reasons:
Continue reading “Inside My Usability Toolkit: Participant Scheduling”7 Ways to Improve the Usability of Your E-Books + Other PDFs
UX is everywhere, even in PDFs.
When sharing a PDF online, it’s important to remember that a percentage of your audience will print it. Yes, PRINT. And the more useful and actionable the PDF, the more likely it will be printed and kept as a reference guide.
Here are 7 ways to improve the usability of your PDFs and ensure they’re truly printer-friendly:
Continue reading “7 Ways to Improve the Usability of Your E-Books + Other PDFs”UX Is Everywhere, Even in User Research
User experience surrounds us.
It’s built into every communication, physical and digital product, and environment—whether we plan for it or not. It’s even built into less visible and less obvious interactions. UX is everywhere.
Continue reading “UX Is Everywhere, Even in User Research”UX Word of the Day: Readability
Have you ever stood outside for a photo—facing the sun—and it was so bright you couldn’t look up at the camera?
Your eyes watered or even hurt?
Poor readability on the web is like looking into an overly bright sky. It can literally cause eye strain and eye fatigue.
Continue reading “UX Word of the Day: Readability”10 Mistakes to Avoid When Conducting a Usability Study
Facilitating a usability study is a lot like juggling.
Not only do you need to pay attention to what’s happening on the screen in front of you, but also:
Continue reading “10 Mistakes to Avoid When Conducting a Usability Study”UX-First Transactional Emails
No, it’s not an oxymoron to say “UX-first transactional emails.”
It really is possible to make run-of-the-mill emails engaging AND reinforce your brand.
Continue reading “UX-First Transactional Emails”Why Steve Jobs + Henry Ford Are Wrong
Whenever I hear someone (mistakenly) attribute Henry Ford to the quote “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would’ve said faster horses” or perpetuate Steve Job’s “Never rely on market research” ideology — it makes me sad.
Just because these quotes are famous, it doesn’t make them true.
Continue reading “Why Steve Jobs + Henry Ford Are Wrong”Steal These Mobile-First Content Patterns
Please steal these content patterns and use them on your website (or email templates). Usability and mobile-first thinking are built into every single one.
Over the past several months, I’ve been thinking a lot about mobile-first content patterns—looking for top-notch examples and sketching ideas on paper.
As a former (current?) journalist and writer, I am extremely passionate about all things content. In judging a website’s usability, one of the first things I always zero in on is how the content is formatted.
Continue reading “Steal These Mobile-First Content Patterns”Are 5 Usability Testers Really Enough?
After I read Jakob Nielsen’s findings in 2000 that usability professionals only need to test 5 users, I’ve often wondered… can that really be right?
After looking at data from my own usability studies, I was amazed to find that yes, 5 testers is enough.
Continue reading “Are 5 Usability Testers Really Enough?”