10 ux mistakes to avoid

Taking the "don't do what I did" approach, this article lists 10 things to avoid as you work to improve the user experience of your website or product.

Content writing checklist

A neat little reminder for when you're writing new content. How many of these points can you check off with your last article?

CMS design needs content strategy

I've pulled together some excellent materials that identify the challenges around thinking back from the user interacting with the organisation online, through the content, and back to the root - the content management system and the people who use it.

IA heuristics

I've been working on a set of IA (information architecture) principles for the University, and in the process digging around for rules-of-thumb against which a site can be measured. Inevitably, Lou Rosenfeld has good advice, but I've also turned up a really well-considered, well-researched guide.

Applying the 80/20 rule to ux management

Gerry McGovern has been talking about the long neck for long time - the small number of top tasks that dominate website usage. Here, Jeff Sauro talks about how common the Pareto principle (the 80/20 rule) really is.

World usability day event Edinburgh

It's world usability day on Thursday 8 November, and once again Edinburgh usability company User Vision are hosting an open house with lots of free sessions and activities.

University applicant experience enhancement - Nomensa white paper

Nomensa (a digital experience design and strategy agency) have produced a white paper titled “Enhancing the university submission experience”. While their survey and user research reveals trends I’ve also seen in my own research at Edinburgh, I found their recommendations perhaps a bit simplistic and overlooked the complex nature of higher education institutions.

Distracting user experiences

Giles Colborne of cxpartners gave a great presentation to the UXPA Scotland this week. He talked about the implications of being distracted, and how designers need to be responsible and concious of context of use.