Archive for 2016

Learning by Doing: An Argument for Contextual Inquiry

April 4, 2016 · by sselbie@uoregon.edu · in Uncategorized

You wouldn’t claim to be able to cook scallops perfectly after watching one episode of Top Chef, so why in the UX industry do we claim to understand our users’ behavior after sending out ten question surveys? In addition to…

Intro to Universal Design

February 1, 2016 · by ele@uoregon.edu · in Uncategorized

What is Universal Design? Public spaces are often made for those who can walk, run, and bicycle. Being young, fit and healthy is almost a necessity when navigating New York City without a car. However, people vary in their ability…

UX, UCD, Usability

What do they mean and why are they important?

I look at these as layers of an onion.

In the center is usability - whether end users can use a product or interface to complete a specific task in a way that is efficient, effective easy to learn, error tolerant and engaging. (Whitney Quesenbery's 3Es)

Next we have user centered design (UCD) which is a methodology which engages users in every phase of a project to ensure that a product is not only usable, but supports users' needs, behaviors and goals.

User experience encompasses all interactions a user has with an organization and the products and services it offers. (NNG)

The one thing that all these concepts share is the central belief that to be successful, you must know your end users, align their needs with your business objectives and integrate their feedback into every phase of product and service design.