Why Currys made me think about the UX of our services

Sitting on the bus the other day, I picked up a copy of the free newspaper - the Metro. The outermost pages were an advert for the electrical retailer, Currys. It was a really nice ad; one that I took back to the office to share with the team.

What's with UX in Higher Ed? My presentation to IWMW 2014

Earlier this month, I presented at the UK Higher Education Web Managers Conference, IWMW. I talked about how user experience skills and techniques aren't as prevalent in higher education as they are in other sectors and why I thought this might be. The slides were quote and image heavy, so here is a transcript of what I said, interspersed with what my audience were tweeting as they listened.

UX activity in UK Higher Ed web teams

To help me prepare for a presentation I'm giving at this year's IWMW web managers conference I sent out a survey to web teams asking about the user experience (UX) research and design work they do, and how formally it was integrated into their role.

Email content management checklist

An excellent piece from Georgy Cohen for higher ed content strategy website meetcontent.com. If you're involved in regular email communications you should check your activity against her sound advice.

UX in Higher Ed - my talk at July's IWMW

I love the IWMW conferences (the annual event for UK higher education web professionals). Always come away with new ideas and food for thought. Always meet good people. But I've been thinking about what I don't get from the IWMW. And it's this thought that's prompted me to speak at this year's conference being held in Newcastle in July.

Boag's digital call-to-arms for higher education

A great read for anyone involved in website management and digital communications in higher education. Can't say I agree 100% with every word, but as ever Paul Boag has produced a thought-provoking piece that should prompt you to reflect on what you're doing and why.

UK Higher Ed web managers conference 2014

I was really, really pleased to hear that the annual UK Higher Ed web managers conference - known as IWMW (Institutional Web Managers Workshop) - is going ahead this year.

Navigational challenges of large sites

Paul Boag, writing in Smashing Magazine, talks about the challenges of implementing navigation on really big sites. He considers a range of solutions, drawing on examples including university websites.

Higher education personas

I've been using personas on website and CMS development projects for about 5 years now. It's still a fledgeling technique at the University of Edinburgh, so I thought I'd try and find out if personas were being used by other UK universities.

The case for Plain English on higher ed websites

Plain English and reading scores are sometimes considered irrelevant for higher education websites. Georgy Cohen explains why intellectual snobbery and sloppy copy can't be allowed to persist on university websites.

Mobile in Higher Ed survey results 2013

We all know use of mobile touchscreen devices is on the rise, but little is written specifically about the university sector. Karine Joly has repeated her annual survey of US Higher Ed web managers to provide a summary of analytics data and colleges' approach to accommodating these visitors.

UX presentation for CIM

This week I had the pleasure of presenting at a Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) conference in Edinburgh. My presentation? "Marketing is dead, long live user experience!" (I didn't get lynched).

The hidden costs in devolved content management

An interesting article reporting on the annual Society of IT Management (SocITM) review of local government websites and calling into question the cost-effectiveness of devolved web publishing. Something that Gerry McGovern has been saying for a long time and a point equally valid in the higher education sector.

CIM HE conference Edinburgh March 2013

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Higher Education Interest Group annual conference is being held in Edinburgh this March. I'm presenting on the totally uncontroversial topic: "Marketing is dead, long live user experience" (UX).

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.

Google cross-platform research findings

A new study conducted by Google and research partners reveals how we conduct online tasks across platforms, beginning on one device but completing on another.

Content strategy should influence CMS workflow design

If the publishing rules and permissions that dictate what you can do in your web content management system (a.k.a. workflow) really bug you this article probably won't make you feel any better. But it is a great primer for how to go about designing good workflow.

Edinburgh UX group session slides

I ran a pilot session at the University of Edinburgh yesterday with the aim of pulling together colleagues with an interest in user experience. My intro slides are available on Slideshare.

University CMS workshop session

I ran a workshop at last month's IWMW 2012 conference on how we manage the University of Edinburgh's corporate CMS, our challenges and where we're looking to in the future. The initial presentation led into a couple of activities and some great discussion among the 30+ higher education web managers who came along.

University website complexity

Too much choice confuses. It can paralyse. Matt Klawitter shares his experience working on US university website redesigns, the research that informed and backed up decisions, and the culture that continues to resist a drive for greater simplicity.