The Minute UX™ series: one-minute reads about website problems I’ve discovered in numerous UX audits. You’ve all heard the modern proverb about what happens when we assume. But it’s no laughing matter. Assuming is where most UX problems (most life problems?) begin. … Read more
The Minute UX™ series: one-minute reads about website problems I’ve discovered in numerous UX audits. The most common mobile navigation problem is when a menu tab has two functions: (1) tapping the section title goes to a page, and (2) tapping … Read more
The Minute UX™ series: one-minute reads about website problems I’ve discovered in numerous UX audits. Website and email font sizes must be large enough for optimal readability and accessibility. The text you’re reading here is 18px (set in Roboto, a Google … Read more
The Minute UX™ series: one-minute reads about website problems I’ve discovered in numerous UX audits. Adequate contrast is required for text readability. That applies to everyone—especially as we age—but more particularly for people with various levels of vision loss. For example, … Read more
The Minute UX™ series: one-minute reads about website problems I’ve discovered in numerous UX audits. This could be the shortest post in my Minute UX series. Look at your website. If there’s no “Home” link (apart from the logo) in the … Read more
The Minute UX™ series: one-minute reads about website problems I’ve discovered in numerous UX audits. Choosing the right words for website or app buttons is crucial. (I’ll save button visual design for another blog.) Vague or fanciful button text is remarkably … Read more
I hope you enjoy this curated selection of videos about user experience design and related topics: What is UX? How is UX design done? Why does your website need a “Home” link in the navigation? What’s the best book on … Read more
The Minute UX™ series: one-minute reads about website problems I’ve discovered in numerous UX audits. I suspect that website owners, designers, and developers view their sites more often on desktop screens than on phones and therefore mobile problems go unseen. Every … Read more
The Minute UX™ series: one-minute reads about website problems I’ve discovered in numerous UX audits. Improper link handling can disrupt user experience and fail at accessibility compliance. I often see these three problems with internal and external text links and buttons … Read more
Over the past year I made my way through much of the 13 seasons of Room to Improve , an Irish TV series featuring architect Dermot Bannon. He tackles a home revamp project in each episode and his clients are … Read more
Wireframes are a critical step in the web design process that helps ensure a successful project outcome by aligning stakeholders and avoiding misunderstandings before development begins. This article explores the purposes wireframes serve, what they are not for, their benefits, and the … Read more
Accessibility means making things usable for people with disabilities. Beyond the physical world, it applies to digital products like websites, apps, smart TVs, computer user interfaces — anything with a screen that humans interact with should be accessible to people … Read more
According to Smart Insights, the average click-through rate (CTR) for online display ads is about 0.1% (one click for every 1,000 ad impressions). That’s an average and in practice CTRs vary widely depending on the size and type of ad, the … Read more
If you’re involved in the design or development of websites, or if you own or manage a site, I’m going to give you some free advice that is likely to apply to you. I say ‘likely’ because over the past … Read more
Carousels are ubiquitous on websites, but they present unique design challenges. First, most people scroll right past them without seeing anything but the first image in the series. That can leave important content unseen. Second, while they often look great … Read more
I’m often in meetings where people are planning a change to a particular feature or making an enhancement to a website or app. Naturally there are sometimes differences of opinion about the best approach to take. That’s good because exploring … Read more
There’s a well-known story about an experiment conducted by the Washington Post and world-famous violinist Joshua Bell. They decided to have Bell do some busking at the Washington D.C. Metro to see what kind of reaction he got. The story is somewhat … Read more
There’s a reason “don’t reinvent the wheel” is truth. Despite many centuries of science, technology and innovation, mankind just hasn’t come up with anything that works better than a wheel. In web design there are also things that shouldn’t be … Read more
The headline for this post is drawn from my favorite UX book: Don’t Make Me Think, A Common Sense Approach to Web and Mobile Usability by Steve Krug. He writes, “Get rid of half the words on each page, then get … Read more
At a recent business lunch, someone was complaining about the Kansas City airport (MCI). I’ve heard this many times before. Fortunately, Kansas City knows that the airport is a problem which is why they are nearly finished building a brand new … Read more