Engaging Users in Research without Opening Pandora’s Box

Engaging a product’s users early in the process enables the team to gather information about user needs and make user-driven decisions out of the gate. But some software developers might worry, “What if users ask for features that we can’t deliver right away, or worse, can’t deliver at all?”

Design Thinking Toolkit, Activity 17 – Alter Egos

Ever wondered how Steve Jobs might tackle a problem? What if Angela Merkel were leading your project? How would Judge Judy get to the bottom of it? What would Trevor Noah say about that approach? This activity, Alter Egos, helps explore different ideas through the lens of others and provides new perspectives.

Applying the Magic of “Tidying Up” to Software Design

You’ve probably heard of the Netflix show “Tidying Up,” where Marie Kondo works with families to help them organize and declutter their homes. While watching the show, I couldn’t help noticing the parallels with software design.

Chicago’s Ventra App – Good Security + Good UX

I just returned from traveling and wanted to highlight some good design I saw: the mobile ticket display for Chicago’s Metra (suburb commuter) trains.

Get More Value from “Hopes and Fears” with a Quadrant Map

The “Hopes and Fears” Design Thinking exercise is a great way to foster discussion around our client’s worries and hopes about the project, especially early on in the process. For a recent project, I was researching ways to get more actionable output from the exercise. I found a fantastic blog post from Innovator Ltd on […]

“Who Tested That?” Probably Someone Like You

I’m sure many of you have come across errors like the one above when you are surfing the internet or using an app. Your first reaction might be, “Who tested that?” You know your site and app would never have an error like this in production! Or would it? Here are a few reasons why […]

Using “Last Thursdays” to Discuss Exceptions with Users

Most people call them “exceptions.” We call them “Last Thursdays.” I’ve mentioned this term in a couple of my previous blog posts, and I think it’s important to touch on it one more time, to better explain what it means, and to discuss how changing the name has helped us communicate more effectively with our […]

A Simple Way To Quickly Animate SVGs with Vivus.js

Creating thoughtful, handcrafted animations is not something we get to do on our projects very often. When faced with tight deadlines and budgets, building out the core feature base has to be our top priority, so there’s not much time to devote to simply delighting users. However, animations add a lot of value. A little […]

Design Thinking Toolkit, Activity 16 – How Might We…?

Hoping to turn problems into opportunities for design? Look no further than How Might We (HMW). This is a classic Design Thinking activity—and simple, to boot. Begin with a problem area that is challenging for a person/organization/system/environment/etc., and add HMW, reformatting the problem to suggest that a solution is possible.

Wireframing for Non-Designers – A Crash Course

Wireframes are not just for designers! As a software maker, you can and should be using them to eliminate risk and validate concepts. These tools benefit the entire team, and they can be created by any member of the team. This crash course will teach you why wireframes are important, when you should utilize them, […]

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