March 2006 Issue
More Alike Than We Think
Published: March 20, 2006
What happens when a site has to appeal to a wide range of people? How do you sort out their different usability requirements? Will they conflict, and if so, how do you prioritize them?
Working on a new Web site to provide information about admission
to The Open University
(OU) in the UK,
Ian Roddis, who is in charge of the OU Web strategy, issued
a challenge: How can we make sure that the site will provide
the right information in a format that will be useful and usable?
Earlier user research and usability tests that Caroline Jarrett
and I had done had shown that users were having trouble learning
about the OU’s special form of distance education on
the existing site. To solve this problem, we wanted to make
recommendations for the style and format of the information
as part of our design.
Read more
Topic: Columns | Content Creation | Information Design | Usability | Web Site Design
Open Sesame! Selling UX Services
Published: March 20, 2006
For some UX professionals, selling consulting services is as difficult as opening a magic door without a secret password. There is no simple password that can magically open prospective customers’ minds so they can see what you can do for them. However, there are a few strategies you can use when opening a dialogue with new customers that will lead to your sales success.
How many times have you called a prospect and introduced
yourself by saying something like, “I’m a user
experience designer—or interaction designer, user experience
strategist, or whatever other job title you use—with
XYZ Company”? Do you actually believe most people understand what any of
these titles mean or, more importantly, what someone with such
a title does? When you call a prospect, you must quickly create
rapport. If you introduce yourself using industry jargon, you
quickly create confusion instead of rapport.
Read more
Topic: Business of UX
Why UX Should Matter to Software Companies
Published: March 6, 2006
In this era of global competition and rapid software development, more than ever, companies must ship high-quality software products to succeed in the marketplace. A good—even great—user experience is an essential component of a quality software product and provides a sustainable strategic advantage that differentiates a product from those of a company’s competitors. Thus, user experience is a core competency within today’s software companies, and an expert in UX strategy and design is an indispensable part of a software product team—just as the product manager and software architect are—particularly if a team is working on a new product.
In my article “Sharing Ownership of UX,” in
the May/June 2005 issue of Interactions, I
wrote, “To deliver great, innovative products, it’s
essential that there be visionaries behind them who are responsible
for all design decisions, …ensuring that the
product vision remains coherent and the user experience consistent. … From
the perspective of users, the user experience is the
product. Therefore, to understand the true value of UX, executives
must look at their products’ brand equity, which contributes
to a company’s bottom line and ensures its long-term survival.”
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Topic: Business of UX | Requirements Definition | UX Strategy
