Welcome to the February edition of the Userfocus usability and user experience newsletter!
- Message from the Editor
- Field visits and user interviews: 7 frequently asked questions
- Book review: Axure RP Prototyping Cookbook
- What we're reading
- Upcoming training courses
- User experience quotation of the month
Message from the Editor
I once read a quotation from Mike Tyson where he said, "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." Although I think Mike Tyson was probably channeling his inner Robbie Burns ("The best-laid plans of mice and men…") I do prefer Tyson's version of this concept, and it often comes to mind when I'm doing a site visit and things begin to unravel. I know this is especially true for people new to site visits who arrive at the location and then freeze in terror. So this month I've written an article answering common questions I hear about field visits and user interviews.
We also have a book review where Ritch Macefield reviews the "Axure RP Prototyping Cookbook" by John Henry Krahenbuhl. Book reviews are a new feature for us, so please let me know if you find it useful.
Field visits and user interviews: 7 frequently asked questions
When I run training courses in user research, I get a host of questions that span the range from "What's the difference between a field visit and a usability test?" through to "How do you analyse the data?" Here are my answers to 7 of the most common questions. Read the article in full: Field visits and user interviews: 7 frequently asked questions.
Book review: Axure RP Prototyping Cookbook
Ritch Macefield reviews the "Axure RP Prototyping Cookbook" by John Henry Krahenbuhl. Read the review in full: Book review: Axure RP Prototyping Cookbook.
What we’re reading
Some interesting usability-related articles that got our attention over the last month:
- A good example of where a survey may not be the most appropriate user research method.
- Great slide deck that shows how Etsy uses continuous experimentation (hypothesis-driven A/B) to make design decisions.
- Hypothesis driven UX design.
- These notes from a workshop on sketching are as good as a book [PDF].
- Nielsen's heuristics applied to web user interfaces.
- Wired's view of 2014's smartest UI design ideas.
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Online training in user experience
We have three online training courses in user experience. Save money when you purchase them as a bundle.
Axure training
Ritch Macefield is running a 3-day Axure RP course covering Axure Essentials, Advanced Axure and a mobile & responsive web design course on Feb 23-25 in London. He's also running a Masterclass in Axure in Oslo on 13 Feb. You'll find more details on the AX Stream web site.
User Experience quotation of the month
“Your first design may seem like a solution, but it is usually just an early definition of the problem you are trying to solve.” — Luke Wroblewski
Hungry for more?
Foundation Certificate in UX
Gain hands-on practice in all the key areas of UX while you prepare for the BCS Foundation Certificate in User Experience. More details
Newsletter archive
Look back over previous newsletters in the newsletter archive.