Why Usable Isn’t Enough
Have you ever picked up an exciting product that at first seemed to be really great and easy to use, and you were giddy like a kid on Christmas morning, …
Aesthetics in B2B
Aesthetics and the ways in which they influence people are fascinating topics. It’s well-documented that consumers purchase products that align with their self-perception—a high-profile executive may purchase an expensive looking …
The Design Flaw in PA’s COVID-19 Reopening Plan
Our government is terrible at naming things. The latest example comes in the form of the Pennsylvania Coronavirus Reopening Plan. In case you’ve not heard, there are three phases for …
Why Technical Writing is Essential
This week, I voted by mail for the first time for the Pennsylvania Primary Election. I’ve always enjoyed voting in person for a variety of reasons, but as a type …
Delightful Microinteractions
I’ve written in the past about how poorly-designed microinteractions can undermine your users’ confidence in and commitment to your product or platform, and why you should seriously undertake the effort …
The Road to UX Hell…
Recently, I’ve begun to see articles and blog posts suggesting that UX, as a discipline, should be retired. Code and Theory CEO Dan Gardner, believes that UX has “moved from …
The Risks of Dismissing Minor Usability Issues
As a human factors psychologist, I am often asked to predict where users will (or have) run into problems with a product by evaluating its usability — the measure of …
Pittsburgh’s World IA Day 2019
Earlier this year members of our design team attended World Information Architecture Day 2019 in Pittsburgh, a day-long event of thought-provoking workshops and presentations given by remarkable speakers. World IA …
Irredeemable 2-Spacers (Aka Teaching Outmoded Skills)
A little while back, our office had a rather lively email debate about how many spaces should be typed after a period—no, I’m not joking, this actually happened. Anyway, about …
But We’re All Designers!
Sooner or later, everyone who works in design hears something along the lines of but we’re all designers – usually from a Project Manager who didn’t agree with the designer and …