Remote testing session at User Vision

I went along to another excellent breakfast briefing session put on by Edinburgh UX consultants User Vision. They've made the slides available on Slideshare too.

Free remote usability testing taster

I've been a long time subscriber to the remote usability testing tool UserTesting.com. They've recently introduced a free taster service - "Peek" - which I recommend you try out.

IA practical guide book - free chapter

I was sad to read via Twitter this week that information architect and UX'er Donna Spencer has had so much trouble with her book - A Practical Guide To Information Architecture. On the plus side, it's prompted me to share a great chapter from it and encourage you to dig deeper.

Improve your usability test scenarios

Jeff Sauro talks us through seven key considerations when writing scenarios for tasks in usability testing studies.

Balsamiq mock up inspiration from "champions"

Balsamiq is a great mockup tool - it's quick and simple to use. The Balsamiq champions blog is a series of articles by people who have put it to good use. Worth a look if you prototype (or are wondering why you should) - even if you use a tool other than Balsamiq.

Steve Krug talks agile UX

Steve Krug gives a presentation to a group of developers for Outsystems. Video and slides are available, along with Outsystems' short eBook on usability rules for developers.

Usability test facilitator help from Steve Krug

Steve Krug has long had a load of resources related to his excellent book 'Rocket Surgery Made Easy' freely available online. He's just added a nice extra resource to help you with user testing facilitation.

Collaborative user research recording

If you've ever done user testing, you'll know that one of the most onerous aspects is reporting on findings. And then getting stakeholders to read them. This collaborative recording approach - including a spreadsheet template - could well be worth a try.

Prototyping infographic

A great comparative resource for prototyping tools. Very nicely presented by usertesting.com

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.

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.

Usability fix tactics

A write up of a UX workshop run by Caroline Jarrett and Francis Rowland on how to get usability problems fixed. This follows on from a survey by Caroline and Steve Krug on why usability issues often go unfixed.

User testing useful lies

Sometimes a white lie or two can help a user test along. I've long advocated a couple of these when running user testing training. I now have a few more candidates to add to the list.

User testing techniques in plain English

This article was written for user experience professionals to encourage them to cut out the jargon. But actually, it's also a great outline of the most common techniques for everyone in plain English.

Remote testing tool choice

A great article that not only outlines some of the best remote testing tools available, but categorises them and outlines what they're best for.

My UCD workshop at IWMW 2012 Edinburgh

I ran a workshop this week at IWMW 2012 which was hosted here at the University of Edinburgh. In it I went through some user centred design techniques I've used on a range of projects.

Card sorting resources & alternatives

I've never had a tremendous amount of success integrating the findings of card sorts into ongoing developments, but have come across one or two services that have been great to use.

Testing internal search

Some great tips for scenarios when testing your website's search engine, from usertesting.com.

Remote testing webinar

Jeff Sauro presents his approach to remote user testing, combining tracking and recording tools to great effect. The webinar includes a case study which is a great way to illustrate his approach.

Remote user testing tips

An excellent introduction to using remote unmoderated user testing services like usertesting.com. If you've never tried and are considering giving it a whirl, read this first.