I had the honour of working with Ginny Redish on this article on readability formulas for the July 2019 edition of UXmatters. Ginny is a leading authority on writing, accessibility, and content design and usability. I’ve lost count of theContinue reading… Readability Formulas: seven reasons to avoid them and what to do instead
Category: Articles
Six things I learned in six months as a user researcher – Zoe McClatchey
Zoe McClatchey is a designer with NHS Digital. We have worked together during her current placement. I was impressed by her user research skills, so I was delighted when she agreed to let me republish her reflections on her userContinue reading… Six things I learned in six months as a user researcher – Zoe McClatchey
Doing research with people who are not users: consultation
User research is central to our work in User Experience: doing research to find out about our users, then acting on what we’ve learned—or persuading our colleagues to act on a shared understanding of what we have learned. But whatContinue reading… Doing research with people who are not users: consultation
Forms, surveys and the need to be brave: UX Insider interview
I’ve always really enjoyed reading the ‘UX Insider’ interviews conducted by Damian Rees of experienceux. The one with Tara Land about her work at GDS is a particular favourite. So I felt very honoured when Damian contacted me to allow me toContinue reading… Forms, surveys and the need to be brave: UX Insider interview
A warm welcome for UXmatters’ redesign
Congratulations to everyone involved in the redesign of UXmatters. It’s long been a source of high-quality, carefully edited pieces on a wide range of UX topics. The new design makes it fully responsive, and adds a host of other features. IContinue reading… A warm welcome for UXmatters’ redesign
Is reading on the web really different?
Thanks to everyone for the continuing volume of correspondence on the topic of colons (the punctuation mark, not the body part). Bring it on! I’m still keen to hear more about your experiences with colons and screen readers. But, atContinue reading… Is reading on the web really different?
Design at scale: building a design community
The following article, written with Tim Paul, first appeared in UX Magazine: Design at scale: Building a design community. It focuses on four design patterns we’d been working on for the GDS Service Manual: dates; display of error messages; gender andContinue reading… Design at scale: building a design community
Getting value from user research
‘What are your favourite ways to learn about your users?’ was the topic in the August Ask UXMatters column. It was an opportunity for me to point out “there is value in learning about users only if our colleagues canContinue reading… Getting value from user research
An unanswerable survey invitation
“Choose a single question and get it in front of some users” – that’s what I wrote myself in my aims for the survey book I’m currently writing. Evernote recently sent me an email that corresponds to that advice. TheContinue reading… An unanswerable survey invitation
Fun with Forms
I admit it: most forms are designed with some serious purpose in mind. But I rejoice when I come across a bit of forms humour. Oatmeal describes how to do a shopping cart This cartoon from the Oatmeal is full of good advice –Continue reading… Fun with Forms