http://www.robfay.com Rob Fay has over twelve years of experience supporting federal, state, and commercial information technology and product development initiatives. He has a passion for user experience topics including information architecture, interaction design, social media, information management, and usability. Mr. Fay currently works as Blackboard's User Experience Architect. In his role of being the user advocate, he leads the company's user research efforts, curates their design pattern library, and designs products that transform the experience of education. Rob holds graduate degrees in Information Management and Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Maryland, College Park. He lives in the outskirts of DC in suburban Maryland with his wife, twin 4 yo daughters, and his dog named Mattingly. Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:24:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://www.robfay.com/2010/08/10/links-for-2010-08-10-2/ http://www.robfay.com/2010/08/10/links-for-2010-08-10-2/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:23:27 +0000 Rob Fay http://www.robfay.com/?p=626

Concerning Fidelity in Design [UX Booth - Jun 29, 2010] – With all of these different methods to choose from, should you be sketching, wireframing, mocking-up, or prototyping? The answer, simply put, is yes you should.

10 great alternatives to Google Wave [Betanews - Aug 06, 2010] – Real-time collaboration app Google Wave was officially added to the dead pool this week. Despite plenty of hype and excitement, it failed to attract the adoption that Google hoped for. The site itself is expected to stay up through the end of the year, but users are likely to already be wondering about where to turn next in Web-based collaborative software. Here’s our list of a few of the most promising candidates for replacing Wave in your workflow…

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The Five Most Influential Papers in Usability [Measuring Usability Blog - Jul 07, 2010] – I compiled a list of papers that have had a large and lasting influence on the field of Usability and User Experience. I then asked Jim Lewis and Joe Dumas, two pioneers in this field for their top five. There was considerable overlap in both the papers and topics suggesting that while there may be some disagreement with the conclusions of the papers there is strong agreement on their impact.

A Collection of Printable Web Browser Sketching and Wireframe Templates [Speckyboy Design Magazine - Jul 14, 2010] – All of the printable sketching templates that you will find below have all been designed specifically for web designers. Each of the sketching templates have an imprint of a web browser (they either use Safari, Chrome or Firefox) just waiting for you to wireframe or sketch your next design project.

CogTool [Carnegie Mellon University HCI] – CogTool is a general purpose UI prototyping tool with a difference – it automatically evaluates your design with a predictive human performance model.

PrEmo – Measuring Emotional Response – by SusaGroup – Emotional responses elicited are difficult to measure because their nature is subtle (low intensity) and often mixed (more than one emotional response at the same time). However, scientific research at the Technical University of Delft by Dr. Pieter Desmet has resulted in an instrument, PrEmo, to measure emotions. Since then, PrEmo has been further developed by SusaGroup and TUDelft, resulting in a new and improved interface and character.

What five users can tell you that 5000 cannot [Measuring Usability - Jun 16, 2010] – With usability testing it used to be that we had to make our best guess as how users actually interacted with software outside a contrived lab-setting. We didn’t have all the information we needed…Web-analytics provides us with a wealth of data about actual usage we just never had before…Where we once didn’t have enough information, now we have a new problem–too much information. Web analytics is transforming user behavior from a puzzle to a mystery. Mysteries require judgment and the assessment of uncertainty. To solve the mysteries of why users are doing what they’re doing, we still need to observe users and ask them about their intentions and expectations. This can help solve the mystery of why. A small lab based study of a small number of users can tells us things analytic data from 5000 cannot. Web analytics is transforming user behavior from a puzzle to a mystery.

Master user experience design [.net magazine - Mar 06, 2010] – Craig Grannell talks to UX experts to demystify the process behind web design and development’s fastest-growing and potentially most important industry

What Is User Experience Design? [Montparnas User Experience Design Blog - Oct 10, 2006] – User experience design can sometimes be a slippery term. With all the other often used terms that float around in its realm in the technology and web space: interaction design, information architecture, human computer interaction, human factors engineering, usability, and user interface design. People often end up asking, “what is the difference between all these fields and which one do I need?” This article examines the term and field of user experience to plainly extrapolate its meaning and connect the dots with these other fields.

Start Drawing Your Ideas [Lifehacker - May 18, 1010] – Start drawing your ideas. Start getting it out of your head, and seeing it from a completely different perspective, and more importantly, sharing it with others.

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An Open Letter To The Design Community [Silicon Valley Product Group - May 11, 2010]

How to innovate on time [Scott Berkun - Jun 12, 2007] – How do you guide failure towards innovation?

Making design principles stick [Adaptive Path - Dec 01, 2009]

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Designing with Lenses [UX Booth - Apr 06, 2010] – A design lens allows you to view the user experience through the eyes of a single design principle. Lenses were originally created for game design but are just as powerful for user experience design.

Data collection for usability research [Userfocus - May 05, 2008] – How should you go about collecting data in usability tests? This article examines the data collection process in usability studies and describes some popular data logging solutions. Since most of these tools are expensive, I show you how you can use Microsoft Excel with Visual Basic macros to collect the data.

Log usability tests like a pro [Userfocus - Apr 01, 2010] – Observing a usability test seems simple but it’s easy to lose focus during a session and record only the dramatic or obvious usability problems. As you watch the test, you should make minute-by-minute observations of the participant’s behaviour as single letter codes. Datalogging ensures you note all behaviours, not just the ones that stand out, and provides all you need to quickly create a list of usability issues you can pass to the design team

Best User Interface Design Resources: The Round-up [Dzine Blog - Mar 15, 2010] – When in reality you should do what works best for you and your users. Below you will find a variety of excellent User Interface resources that will allow you to access, redefine, and create a well designed User Interface. You should use these resources first as inspiration, and second as somewhat of a guide as to what your users may need when they come face to face with your UI.

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The KJ-Technique: A Group Process for Establishing Priorities [UIE - May 11, 2004] – In our consulting work, we’ve found that, like the military experts, our clients usually have most of the answers already in their own organization. The trick is to get all the people with the right perspectives to reach consensus quickly. For this, we’;ve turned to a group consensus technique we’ve been using for years, called a KJ-Method (also sometimes referred to as an “affinity diagram”). The KJ-Method, named for its inventor, Jiro Kawakita (the Japanese put their last names first), allows groups to quickly reach a consensus on priorities of subjective, qualitative data.

Five Types Of Cell Phone Users [MediaPost - Mar 30, 2010] – 87% of Americans have mobile phones, up from 69% in 2006. 5 classes of mobile users:
1. Mobirati (19%) – first generation to have grown up with mobile phones.
2. Social Connectors (22%) – Mobile phone is essentially a social lubricant, and for whom texting is just as important as a voice call.
3. Pragmatic Adopters (22%) – Just getting beyond using mobile phones solely for voice calls. If service quality is disappointing, they will switch to another provider. They also say once they find one they like, they will stick with it.
4. Mobile Professionals (17%) – Extra features are more important than calling, and are more likely to switch to service providers offering the latest technology.
5. Basic Planners (20%) – Interested in basic mobile packages only, and only use cell phones in emergencies, are confused by plans and don’t use other features.

What is Information Architecture? [MAYA Design- Feb 14, 2009] – When we say Information Architecture (IA) we are really talking about everything you can define about a solution without specifying the underlying system (the raw plumbing) or specifying the particular user interface that will be employed to deliver and manipulate the information. By thinking about the architecture of how information is used, how it flows, and how it fits within the user’s world (its context), you can capture the essence of how to build a system that is not only intuitive but futureproof.

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So you wanna be a user experience designer – Step 2: Guiding Principles [Pleasure and Pain - Nov 23, 2009]

So you wanna be a user experience designer – Step 1: Resources [Pleasure and Pain - Jun 30, 2009]

Breadcrumb Navigation Increasingly Useful [Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox - Apr 10, 2007] – Breadcrumbs use a single line of text to show a page’s location in the site hierarchy. While secondary, this navigation technique is increasingly beneficial to users.

Do’s and Dont’s of Usability Testing [UXmatters - Mar 08, 2010] – Usability testing is one of the least glamorous, but most important aspects of user experience research. Over the years, it has also been one of the forms of user research we have performed most frequently. In doing so, we’ve learned quite a few best practices and encountered some potential pitfalls. We think it’s important that we share what we’ve learned with the many stakeholders, designers, and engineers who might find this information helpful.

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User Experience: Our Definition [Nielsen Norman Group] – “User experience” encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products. The first requirement for an exemplary user experience is to meet the exact needs of the customer, without fuss or bother. Next comes simplicity and elegance that produce products that are a joy to own, a joy to use. True user experience goes far beyond giving customers what they say they want, or providing checklist features. In order to achieve high-quality user experience in a company’s offerings there must be a seamless merging of the services of multiple disciplines, including engineering, marketing, graphical and industrial design, and interface design.

Mobile First [Functioning Form - Nov 03, 2009] – More often than not, the mobile experience for a Web application or site is designed and built after the PC version is complete. Here’s three reasons why Web applications should be designed for mobile first instead.

Interaction10 Presentation Videos and Slides [Interaction Design Association - Feb, 2010]

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Interaction’10 videos online [Experientia - Mar 01, 2010] – Many videos of the Interaction10 conference are now online.

Designing OmniGraphSketcher for the iPad [Omni Group - Feb 25, 2010] – Anyway, I thought some of you might be interested in seeing how some of our iPad development work is happening for OmniGraphSketcher. Now obviously we do a lot of mockups in what is surely the world’s best program for creating IA/UX designs, OmniGraffle. But when it comes to envisioning how something works on a piece of hardware no one can actually use yet, a lot of people here are going low-tech to try and figure it out.

Rob Fay on Desirability, UXCamp DC 2010 [The UX Workshop.TV - Jan 23, 2010] – In this episode Rob Fay discusses methods and methodologies in measuring desirability.

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Data Driven Design Research Personas [Slideshare, Todd Zaki Warfel] – Data driven design research personas and the persona DNA profile.

Persona Templates [Todd Zaki Warfel - Jan 13, 2009]

The Essence of a Successful Persona Project [UIE - Feb 17, 2010] – Personas are a flexible and powerful tool for user researchers. They’re also one of the most misunderstood. When done well, they ensure the team focuses on the needs and delights of their users. Like other effective user research techniques, personas deliver confidence and insights to the team. Personas help the team make important design decisions with a thorough understanding of who the users are, what they need, and when they need it. For the last few years, we’ve studied how a variety of design teams have tried to harvest the benefits of persona projects. We’ve explored several wildly successful persona projects and many that fell far short of their goals. We now better understand where the magic lies with personas — what the essence of a successful project is.

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If your product is Great, it doesn’t need to be Good [Paul Buchheit - Feb 09, 2010] – Pick three key attributes or features, get those things very, very right, and then forget about everything else.

Telling Your Website’s Story with Sketchboarding [UX Booth - Feb 09, 2010] – The metaphor of storytelling, when applied to experience design, allows teams to understand narrative; to obtain an idea of who they are telling the story to, as well as what textual elements we can use to shape that story.

“Analog Dreams:” Paper-based sketching – Michael DiTullo, the industrial designer currently serving as Converse’s Creative Director, has self-published a 120-page book filled with ten years’ worth of his sketches.

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