http://www.userexperience.co.nz Observing, exploring and discussing UX in New Zealand Mon, 05 Jul 2010 08:12:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Facilitating ‘face to face’ interviews with your clients’ customers is central to UX research. It’s also one of the most difficult of all UX skills to develop. Valuable insights can be generated and captured during each session but you’re often having to cover a lot of ground in the time allocated. After ... http://www.userexperience.co.nz/2010/07/ux-research-making-every-minute-count/ With technology and the way we consume all types of media advancing at a blinding pace, following changes in behaviours, motivations and expectations of customers plays a critical part in informing and providing a great user experience. It’s nice to think we kiwis are up to date when it comes to ... http://www.userexperience.co.nz/2010/06/tune-in-to-customer-behaviour-or-youre-buggered/ If this were a checkout operator speaking to you, which would you think was most friendly and helpful? Two signs; Same context, audience and purpose. More design effort has gone into one, but it is the choice of words here which has the most impact on the message they convey. So ... http://www.userexperience.co.nz/2010/05/apology-or-invitation-what%e2%80%99s-your-message/ Remote research brings cultural relevance to usability findings, providing the kinds of insights which can only be gained by being there…virtually at least. I recently ran some remote website usability sessions for a Kiwi startup whose main customer is in the U.S.A. ... sure, 'isolation breeds innovation' and all that, but ... http://www.userexperience.co.nz/2010/05/skype-takes-the-hassle-out-of-remote-usability/ I’m always looking for better ways to understand customer behaviour and the experiences customers have in their own context, out in the wild. There are some interesting ‘digital ethnography’ tools on the market, using web and mobile channels to capture, collate and filter all this stuff as it occurs in the ... http://www.userexperience.co.nz/2010/04/keeping-it-%e2%80%98old-school%e2%80%99-with-diary-studies/ During a 9 month project with IDEO, Air New Zealand took a user centred approach to improve seating design for their long haul services. They built full scale prototypes of cabin interiors to carry out design research, evaluating seating and service concepts with real passengers. The project began in 2007 with ... http://www.userexperience.co.nz/2010/03/user-centred-design-for-the-long-haul/ Some websites provide more of an experience than others, but the number of web agencies and even individuals who offer User Experience in their list of ‘services’ indicates there’s a chunk of lip-service being paid to what has become an almost industry-specific buzzword. Although many techniques and approaches to UX have ... http://www.userexperience.co.nz/2010/03/the-tip-of-the-user-experience-iceberg/ This Honda trunk-lid has been simplified and streamlined so much that the owner has crudely screwed on a 'hardware store' handle to make it easier to use. This Mazda door entry has gone the other way by adding complexity; a key-code entry, which looked to me like it had never been ... http://www.userexperience.co.nz/2010/01/when-less-is-not-more-and-more-is-too-much/ Outcomes of UX research projects can be difficult to put in a nutshell, and a bullet pointed list sometimes just does not cut it. As well as the usual deliverables emerging from a brief, I sometimes add a rich picture as a visual summary. These often originate from doodles generated while ... http://www.userexperience.co.nz/2010/01/picture-or-thousand-words/ A UK based Air New Zealand campaign highlights the attitude and friendliness of cabin crew as something uniquely kiwi.  The idea for the campaign was apparently inspired by a passenger’s tweet; … but given that the tweeter is a London-based digital marketing consultant who’s own website has a page of  “10 ... http://www.userexperience.co.nz/2009/10/air-new-zealand-listens-to-customers-or-do-they/