Articles, Reviews & Advice on Web Design, User Experience and Usability

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9 Common Misconceptions about Users

Many website owners have persistent misconceptions about users, which could lead to a bad interface design and overall user experience. During meetings, when discussing new features or reviewing an existing one, website owners and managers often use their own experience and behavioral habits with a website to praise or shoot down the idea. How many … continue reading

12 Tips to Improve Your Usability Testing Technique

Usability testing is a technique used to evaluate a product, such as an application, website, book etc. by observering people using it. The goal is to discover usability problems, collect quantitative data (e.g. time on task, error rates), and determine the participant’s satisfaction with … continue reading

How Responsive Design Improves User Task Completion

Since the earliest days of the mobile Web, designers have struggled with the challenges inherent in presenting content across multiple devices, and with the explosion in the number and range of devices – from desktops, laptops and netbooks to tablets and smart phones – the difficulties of covering all the bases only become more complex … continue reading

The Psychology of Stock Photography

If meme blogs and snarky comment boards are any indication, stock photography isn’t always held in the highest estimation. And, between photographers who produce ridiculous and unusable photos like “boy sniffing cactus” and website owners who slap up inappropriate and pixellated photos without a second thought, it’s not hard to see where all of the … continue reading

Multivariate Test Results with Optimizely

The last couple of weeks I’ve been experimenting with Optimizely, a testing tool founded by two former Google product managers, trying to optimize the conversion rate of this blog with the help of a multivariate test. A multivariate test, also called multi-variable test, provides insight into which content or creative variation produces the best improvement … continue reading