More Better Blog

"When you are solving a difficult problem re-ask the problem so that your solution helps you learn..."

morebetterabe — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:41:50 -0500

“When you are solving a difficult problem re-ask the problem so that your solution helps you learn faster. Find a faster way to fail, recover, and try again. If the problem you are trying to solve involves creating a magnum opus, you are solving the wrong problem.”

- You Are Solving The Wrong Problem « Aza on Design

The MAO Model: Research for Behavior Change

morebetterabe — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:36:38 -0500

The MAO Model: Research for Behavior Change

"What are your favorite tips for getting team members to observe usability sessions?"

morebetterabe — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:57:10 -0500

“What are your favorite tips for getting team members to observe usability sessions?”

- What are your favorite tips for getting team members to observe usability sessions? - Quora

"I ♥ working side by side with the developer to make a design happen vs handing off easily..."

morebetterabe — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:49:00 -0500

“I ♥ working side by side with the developer to make a design happen vs handing off easily misinterpreted documentation. #leanux”

- Twitter / @uxnu

"Much of private-sector ethnography is as banal as it is ironic. In its bland quest to “understand..."

morebetterabe — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:52:34 -0500

“Much of private-sector ethnography is as banal as it is ironic. In its bland quest to “understand the consumer,” it reduces culture to mere consumerism and thereby fails to achieve its own stated goal of understanding. This cynical veneer of cultural research disregards the truly transformative effect of “going native,” which is the first step to deriving both deep insight and innovation.”

- Does corporate ethnography suck? A cultural analysis of academic critiques of private-sector ethnography (Part 1 of 2) | Ethnography Matters

"The successful web companies of 2011 and beyond are just simply better looking. I don’t mean that on..."

morebetterabe — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:35:00 -0500

“The successful web companies of 2011 and beyond are just simply better looking. I don’t mean that on a surface level regarding their precious gradients and logos. I mean, quite literally, visual experiences are starting to become the gold standard of web success.”

- The ugly truth: why beautiful wins in 2012 — Tech News and Analysis

Are you being Screen Sucked? | Learning Fundamentals

morebetterabe — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:00:24 -0500

Are you being Screen Sucked? | Learning Fundamentals:

A thoughtful reflection on technological inertia.

Google Circles and Path 2.0: How good UI design cannot fix a broken solution

morebetterabe — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:08:34 -0500

Google Circles and Path 2.0: How good UI design cannot fix a broken solution

How designers and engineers can play nice (and still run with scissors)

morebetterabe — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:50:07 -0500

How designers and engineers can play nice (and still run with scissors)

"Real teaching is not about transferring “the material”, as if knowledge were some sort..."

morebetterabe — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 22:27:58 -0500

“Real teaching is not about transferring “the material”, as if knowledge were some sort of mass-produced commodity that ships from Amazon. Real teaching is about conveying a way of thinking. How can a teacher convey a way of thinking when he doesn’t genuinely think that way?”

- Some Thoughts on Teaching

"The lesson is this: Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater, but make sure you throw out..."

morebetterabe — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:30:18 -0500

“The lesson is this: Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater, but make sure you throw out the bathwater. What’s the bathwater? It’s the features that don’t work well or that barely anyone uses. It’s the part of the design that’s confusing, frustrating, or simply extraneous. It’s the stuff that customers don’t like, adds too much complexity to the product, and causes maintenance problems and customer-support pain…”

- When Rebooting A Project, Throw Out The Bathwater But Keep The Baby | Co. Design

Week 46: QR or not QR | Urbanscale

morebetterabe — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 12:42:53 -0500

Week 46: QR or not QR | Urbanscale:

Field research helps us understand whether seemingly clever ideas, like QR codes, actually work in the context of people’s real behavior and motivations.

"When you are designing, how much time do you spend in your own head, applying your own perspective,..."

morebetterabe — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:29:06 -0500

“When you are designing, how much time do you spend in your own head, applying your own perspective, and how much time do you spend in someone else’s mindset? Next time you’re designing, try to spend more of the time outside of your own perspective. Make this into a practice. Say things about how you would encounter the design with an “I,” but this “I” is the “I” of another human being.”

- Rosenfeld Media - Mental Models: How to Wield Empathy

When You Startup with UX | UX Magazine

morebetterabe — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:36:21 -0400

When You Startup with UX | UX Magazine:

Paul Graham and others give their take on startup UX

"Why is Apple doing this now? Who put the company on this foul, cud-spittin’ trajectory? For..."

morebetterabe — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:30:47 -0400

“Why is Apple doing this now? Who put the company on this foul, cud-spittin’ trajectory? For the first time in, oh I don’t know, probably ever, Microsoft is displaying a keener aesthetic eye than Apple. Digest that. Both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 7 proudly eschew all skeuomorphism—any semblance to the real world is kicked in the Recycle Bin. The ultra-flat, super-contrasty interfaces of both are a triumph of digitalism. The New Windows, whether desktop or mobile, makes no attempt to look like anything in the real world. And it works wonderfully—both are beautiful because they embrace their pixels, not strive for faux woodgrain or marble or some other digital trompe l’oeil. Apple’s users are, increasingly, generations that can’t relate to these quaint analogies. I’ve never used an address book. I don’t need to be comforted by pseudo-fabrics.”

- Ugh. God. Why Is Apple Making Everything Look Like an Ugly Wild West?

"When Keith Wearne goes grocery shopping, checking out with a cashier is worth the few extra moments,..."

morebetterabe — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:41:05 -0400

“When Keith Wearne goes grocery shopping, checking out with a cashier is worth the few extra moments, rather than risking that a self-serve machine might go awry and delay him even more. Most shoppers side with Wearne, studies show. And with that in mind, some grocery store chains nationwide are bagging the do-it-yourself option, once considered the wave of the future, in the name of customer service.”

- If you don’t invest in understanding and designing the user experience, self-service (in any industry!) will just be an expensive failure.

Supermarkets start bagging self-serve checkouts - Food - NewsObserver.com

Usability test viewing party!

morebetterabe — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:49:50 -0400

Usability test viewing party!

The 100% Easy-2-Read Standard

morebetterabe — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:11:16 -0400

The 100% Easy-2-Read Standard

Seabright: Experience Design and Product Development

morebetterabe — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:20:38 -0400

Seabright: Experience Design and Product Development:

I like how Seabright explains their work - almost like a set of design principles for their practice.

"The app we were testing was in personal finance, so the user researcher insisted that we ask about..."

morebetterabe — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 22:06:34 -0400

“

The app we were testing was in personal finance, so the user researcher insisted that we ask about privacy.

Despite my objections that constructing a yes/no question would get biased data, the user researcher asked each participant, “Are you concerned about privacy when it comes to your financial information and identity?” Of course, they all said “yes!”

As the final person said yes, I jumped in: “Thanks for participating in our test. We have your $50 check ready for you – here an evil little glint appears in my eyes — you just need to write down your social security number and mother’s maiden name for our records.” I waved the check; the guy said “OK,” and reached for the sheet of paper and pen. (I didn’t actually let him write it down! But here he was, “very concerned about privacy…” — but not concerned enough to give up $50 for it!)

”

- » You Need to Make “Wanting” No Longer Free The Experience is the Product