Personas are my jam. I teach a full-day training course on them: what they are, why they work, how to create them, and how to use them to do great work. I love teaching this course because personas are one of the most abstract components in the very analytical discipline that is UX. I love demystifying this abstract topic, making it concrete, and addressing common pitfalls that practitioners encounter.
Personas are fictional representations and generalizations of a cluster of your target users who exhibit similar attitudes, goals, and behaviors in relation to your product. They’re human-like snapshots of relevant and meaningful commonalities in your customer groups and are based on...
In our research on Children on the Web, we saw a lot of interactive tools and games that took a long time to load. In an attempt to make the loading screens more entertaining and engaging, many sites incorporated video content or shorter games for users to play while waiting. Unfortunately, these
In some cases, users will have only few date choices. For example, Google Express, an online shopping service, makes it possible for customers to order groceries online and schedule a delivery time. Rather than offering blank date fields or a calendar picker of limitless options, Google Express
This is what level-1 people can do: “Tasks typically require the use of widely available and familiar technology applications, such as email software or a web browser. There is little or no navigation required to access the information or commands required to solve the problem. The problem may be
Shaping Healthcare Ecosystem with Blockchain
In this distributed network of computers, a group of members or users can share health data, information, or scans etc. The sharing is basically classified as peer-to-peer transactions that are structured into a block that contains cryptographic hash. This digital information is shared onto a
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Finally, Hathaway sees this as a unique opportunity for the United States to work with countries around the world, and with organizations on an extremely local level. “We cannot succeed if our government works in isolation,” she added. It requires “leading from the top” from
FinTech is Transforming the Finance Industry
As with other emerging and disruptive industries, FinTech has drawn the attention of legislators. In the United States, lawmakers have expressed that FinTech firms need to put more effort into creating opportunities for under served consumers and enterprises. Traditionally, cite lawmakers, these
Beyond Usability: 3 User Experiences Reshaping Their Industries
When they call a regular cab, riders have no control — hence, all the anxieties listed above. With Uber, they suddenly get all the control they need: once they order an “uber”, they see how far away the car is and how much they have to wait, they know in advance how much the ride will cost
why personas fail
The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think
One of usability’s most hard-earned lessons is that you are not the user. This is why it’s a disaster to guess at the users’ needs. Since designers are so different from the majority of the target audience, it’s not just irrelevant what you like or what you think is easy to use — it’s
Centered Logos Hurt Website Navigation
It appears that other factors (such as the contrast, padding, and legibility of the brand name) affect brand recall more than the position in the center of the page versus the top left corner. For example, the Nolitan hotel websites had a background image behind the logo, which may have
When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods
Most of the methods in the chart can move along one or more dimensions, and some do so even in the same study, usually to satisfy multiple goals. For example, field studies can focus on what people say (ethnographic interviews) or what they do (extended observations); desirability studies and card
M-Commerce: Terrible UX
At the end of 2015, the data shows that if a website can make a dollar from a mobile visitor, then that site will on average make $3.24 from a desktop visitor. If these sites were able to improve their mobile user experience to the extent that mobile equaled desktop, then their mobile revenue would
How to use Screening Questions to Select the Right Participants for User Research
If there are specific categories of people you need to exclude from the study, an open-ended question will be better than a multiple-choice one with answers that list the excluded categories. For example, unless your design is for expert users, it’s best to exclude those whose job relates to the
Modes in User Interfaces: When They Help and When They Hurt Users
For example, I have a pair of Bluetooth earphones that block out most outside sound when I’m wearing them. They have a useful toggle that allows me to selectively pass through some outside sound for situational awareness when I need it, such as when I am walking down a busy street. I toggle
why personas fail
UX Debt: How to Identify, Prioritize, and Resolve
Continually prioritizing fast and easy solutions may help us hit release dates in the short term, but over time, repeatedly choosing shortcuts will leave us with mounting experience issues that adversely impact our users. These issues are known as UX debt and, if left unaddressed for too long, lead
Web Page Footers 101: Design Patterns and When to Use Each
As UX professionals, we tend to dedicate our time and energy to everything above the fold. That’s because global navigation, search, and high-priority content are positioned above the fold and users tend to spend a disproportionate amount of their time at the top of any given page. Consequently
StudioPress Theme Spotlight: Altitude Pro .
What is a child theme? A child theme works in combination with the parent theme. With regards to Genesis, child themes serve as a sort of skin that can change the way a theme looks, while relying on the functionality of its parent theme (in this case, Genesis). Child themes offer users the added
Join WP Engine at SXSW 2019
In this panel, Brunner will be joined by popular Austin figures as they discuss who and what has been the major change agent in Austin. Brunner will represent technology while other panelists will represent food and film. Joe Nick Patoski, author of Austin to ATX: The Hippies, Pickers, Slackers
WP Engine's London Office Recognised as a Great Place to Work
In 2015, WP Engine opened our first global office in London as a physical representation of our desire to expand our team of WordPress specialists and better serve our customers globally. Since then, we’ve worked hard to create a workplace that is collaborative, productive, and fun. Today, we
The Positive Evolution of Your Business Depends on the Tech Revolution
Unfortunately, it’s also true that what goes on the Internet stays on the Internet so once you earn a bad reputation, it will stick with you for a long time. The longevity of “a bad reputation” is why businesses of all sizes must be concerned about their digital footprint and their
How a VPN Can Enhance Your IOT Devices Security
Of course, South Park’s account is a hyperbole. But IoT devices, by their very nature, do collect hoards of personal or confidential information, leaving personal data especially vulnerable to hackers or spies. Within the home, for instance, a smart security camera gathers data about when family
To Prevent Fraud, Healthcare Organizations Must Streamline Their Data Processes
Another more insidious form of healthcare fraud occurs largely because of sloppy data management, miscommunication, and inefficient business practices. To illustrate, let’s say a patient stays in the hospital for 20 days and incurs a total bill of $100,000. If the hospital makes a mistake and
How Tech Startups Succeed With a Fully Remote Model
Keeping up with an office isn’t just a matter of money; it’s also a matter of time. Most businesses have a designated office manager, or some other combination of roles to ensure the facilities are clean, organized, and conducive to a productive work space. Fully remote models also reduce the
why personas fail
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Finally, Hathaway sees this as a unique opportunity for the United States to work with countries around the world, and with organizations on an extremely local level. “We cannot succeed if our government works in isolation,” she added. It requires “leading from the top” from
Digital Marketing Trends to Drop and Trends to Follow
These “blasting” messages aren’t viewed as being in good taste, and if anything, is a great way to get yourself/your brand blocked. Subtlety is key, and it’s important to put effort into nurturing relationships instead of just making sure as many eyeballs see the message as
Why Personas Fail | Teenager’s UX: Designing for Teens
Teenager’s UX: Designing for Teens
Are teens getting better or are websites getting better? Probably a bit of both. We observed many of the same bad user habits among teens in our last study as we saw in our first study, back in 2004. Thus, the improved performance obviously stems in part from improvements in website design. That
Minimize the Need for Customer Service to Improve the Omnichannel UX
We conducted two diary studies to understand how customers interact with organizations using various channels and what organizations do to provide successful omnichannel customer experiences. We asked people to report every interaction they had with an organization as they completed tasks such as
Users Interleave Sites and Genres
In our example case, the user also integrated offline information sources. For example, none of the sites helped her figure out how many lumens were needed to show presentations to her target audience size. Luckily, our user was an experienced projector-buyer and owned a reference book with this
