Welcome to the November edition of the Userfocus usability newsletter.
- Message from the Editor
- Feature article: The 15 warning signs that marketing is blocking your view of the user
- What we're reading
- Upcoming training courses
- User experience quotation of the month
Message from the Editor
On the 5th of November in England we hold a traditional festival where we spend days building a bonfire, hours creating a stuffed mannikin of a terrorist to put on top and lots of money buying items that go bang and whoosh — and then we set fire to the lot.
Like user experience, it's difficult to explain but it's one of those things that you understand when you see it.
Our contribution to Guy Fawkes' Night is a cracker of an article by Philip Hodgson. It's a withering attack on the consumer products industry and should be read by everyone in product design, marketing and retail.
Feature article: The 15 warning signs that marketing is blocking your view of the user
It won’t have escaped your notice that despite many companies investing in user experience, everyday consumer products still have the ability to frustrate the living daylights out of people. I argue this is because marketing teams, influenced by big retailers, unwittingly block the design team’s view of the end user. Read the article in full: The 15 warning signs that marketing is blocking your view of the user.
What we’re reading
Some interesting usability-related articles that got our attention over the last month:
- A style (and bookmarklet) for desaturating your web page and checking it can be read by colour blind users.
- "Genius Designer" is one of several Lean UX anti-patterns. See the rest in this slide deck.
- Tips on prototyping for usability testing.
- Common false beliefs about UX and their remedies.
- "Lean UX is not a new thing. It’s just a new name for things that were always around."
- A mini-book on sketching user interfaces.
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Usability Training: Now Booking
We still have a few places left on these courses but they're going fast…
Axure Essentials, Nov 26, London.
Learn how to use Axure to build wireframes and generate HTML prototypes. More information about this training course: Axure Essentials.
Advanced Prototyping with Axure, Nov 27, London.
Learn how to prototype rich internet applications (RIAs) and use the advanced features of Axure RP Pro. More information about this training course: Advanced Prototyping with Axure.
Prototyping mobile interfaces with Axure, Nov 28, London.
Learn how to prototype mobile applications with Axure RP Pro. More information about this training course: Prototyping mobile interfaces with Axure.
The Lean UX Starter Kit, Dec 17, London.
For people in development teams who want to create user-centred products and services, this brand new 1-day workshop shows you how to reduce design risks and and create products that users will love. More information about this training course: The Lean UX Starter Kit.
User Experience quotation of the month
“Design must reflect the practical and aesthetic in business but above all, good design must primarily serve people.” — Thomas Watson Jr.
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.