A user friendly dictionary of UX terms, phrases and abbreviations
In the week that Samuel Johnson, the 18th century lexicographer who wrote the English language’s most comprehensive dictionary, celebrates his 309th birthday, it’s only right that he is bestowed with one of the greatest honours known in the modern world… To be mentioned off-handedly in…
The UX reading list: 22 must-read books and resources for beginners and experts
What books, articles, podcasts and other online resources should you read in order to develop and hone your UX knowledge? Here are the experts with their favourites… Join us as we pull the plastic sheet off our fondest wing-back armchair (which we haven’t been allowed…
A brief guide to user experience maps in all their various forms
In which we discuss customer journeys and the many ways we can map them in order to make sense of our users’ experiences. In researching this article about creating different experience maps – mainly by sending OJ, our ace head of social, into the UX…
What are screeners and why are they an important first step in building a research study?
It’s about saving time, money and ensuring your test results are valid and genuinely insightful. So you’re about to run a usability test on some function of your website, app or digital product. Great! But how can you guarantee that you’re inviting the *right* people…
What’s the difference between a UX researcher and a UX designer?
Welcome back to our regular series of UX beginner’s guides, where we ask the user research questions that you’re too shy or embarrassed to ask!* *We had to add ‘user research’ here, not for any SEO reasons, it’s because we’ve previously gotten into trouble for…
What are mental models and why are they important in UX design?
In this UX beginner’s guide we’ll be asking, what is a mental model and how does it relate to user experience? We’ll also be tackling Gestalt principles of perceptual organisation, Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions and, before we get too highfalutin, we’ll tell you how mental…
User Research: a comprehensive guide to quantitative and qualitative UX research methods
Whether you’re a grizzled UX expert who “has seen everything in the line of duty”, or you’re a complete newbie who has been told to “do some of that UX stuff that’s so popular these days” – this is the guide for you. Here we’ll…
What is a diary study and why is it useful for longitudinal UX testing?
Continuing our series of beginner’s guides to UX, here’s an overview of diary studies, and their usefulness as a long-term user testing tool. What is a diary study? A diary study gathers together information about a user experience over an extended period of time (or…
What is an ethnographic study?
Welcome to another in our series of UX beginner’s guides where we highlight disciplines from the wider world of user research and beyond. This week: ethnographic research. Before we get into the details of this particular field of… uh… field study and how it relates to user…
How to build a UX portfolio
UX Portfolios: the new bane of any UX designer’s life. A showcase of not just the work you’ve done, but the journey you took to get there. All mapped out, with every decision highlighted, justified and measured. Recruiters and hiring managers look through thousands of…