Bugs, put simply, are errors or defects in a software system. If you work in tech, you’ve probably heard someone say the half-joke, half-truth line “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature”. Often this is used in jest or to justify not wanting to fix a particularly difficult bug. But when is a bug really a feature? And what does this mean for your users?
Why you need to observe your users
Where are the ethics in design ethics?
So often when we state “this is unethical” we really aren’t applying ethics at all. At best we are saying “I think this is wrong, so doing this is against my ethics”. In my latest post I give an overview of ethical theories and apply these theories to some “unethical tech” scenarios. I show most of them can be argued as ethical by applying these theories. I end with what is, I hope, a better frame to have these discussions going forward.
Warping the space-time continuum with design
Understanding how the SUPR-Q impacts the NPS
At SEEK we’ve been experimenting with the SUPR-Q. We first ran it as part of a usability test in face to face research (n=5) to trial, and then went full scale using an on site Hotjar poll (n=1,811) to get a more representative sample for our first benchmark. The SUPR-Q (Standardized User Experience Percentile Rank Questionnaire) is an 8 item questionnaire developed by MeasuringU that is used to measure the quality of the user experience. What actually impacts users likelihood to recommend?
The UX of Using an NFC Ring as a Business Card
Design Thinking 101 — The Double Diamond Approach (Part II of II)
Design Thinking 101 — What is it? (Part I of II)
Does the NPS tell us what users really mean?
Design is as good (or as flawed) as the people who make it
gave a talk at UX Australia 2016 in Melbourne (August 25–26) . No one sets out to intentionally design a system that is hard to use for — or worse, excludes or discriminates against — some users. Designers are trying their best. You’re probably a good person, but a human nonetheless, therefore not perfect. Design can only be as good as the people who make it. Conversely, design is as flawed as the people who make it.
Automagic Revisited
Last Xmas I (gave you my heart) wrote a piece about The Phenomenon of Automagic. I defined Automagic as when your users don't know how your app is working - it just works. Last week I was the OzCHI (The Australian Human Computer Interaction Conference) and Abi Sellen from Microsoft Research opening Keynote made me give automagic a second thought.