A Thanksgiving for the Mind

Happy Thanksgiving! Last year at Above the Fold we began a new tradition of sharing the things we are thankful for. This year our gratitude includes a theme: We are Thankful for Learning Opportunities. We have been stuffing our minds with a cornucopia of hearty goodness – with no tryptophan-induced side effects.

These are the items that inspired us – we purchased, attended, watched, or bookmarked. In practice as well as content, these provided us with positive user experiences.

Developing a UX Practice of Practicing

Heather: “In this UIE article by Jared Spool, a seemingly obvious point is brought up: You should practice your UX skills.  This can seem self-evident, (of course you should practice!) but Spool goes on to explain that practicing UX is not a side project or freelance work. Its doing one small piece of the job over and over until you nail it.  Complete with suggestions and examples, this is an awesome read and a great idea to put into, well, practice.”

The Lean Startup by Eric Reis

Joe: “Eric Ries shares one of my lifelong frustrations: executives who make product decisions based on gut feelings rather than empirical data., While I founded a UX company as a result, Reis was spurred to adapt his knowledge, along with the best practices from Toyota’s manufacturing process, into what has become the Lean Startup movement. His book, case studies and leadership have been a true inspiration to me, and I have adopted the relevant aspects of Lean Startup methodology into our business.”

Paddy Donnelly: Lefft

Carolyn: “I first came across UI designer Paddy Donnelly’s blog through his article Life, Below 600px.  Donnelly is meticulous – marrying well written, relevant and fluid content with vibrant and intriguing designs.  Each page stands alone and draws you in.  I don’t just skim his posts, I read them.”

Color for the Colorblind: A new standard for web accessibility

Chris: “To quote David Berman’s presentation “…if any part of the people can’t use your product, it’s just bad business.” The Web Accessibility Summit was eye opening – I never considered getting the flu or being pregnant, or being left handed a disability. But the summit, and particularly Berman’s presentation, fueled my passion to ensure my online work is accessible to absolutely everyone.”

The Power of Ad-Hoc Personas

Jim: “After last year’s UI15 conference, we purchased the session recordings, and Tamara Adlin’s talk on the power of ad-hoc personas quickly became my favorite. Her message is simple and revelatory: When starting a big UX project, the primary goal is not “a good design”; the primary goal is alignment of expectations across the entire team (particularly including executives) — because that is the only way a project can actually succeed. Adlin’s UI15 talk may not be available to everyone, but the recording of a similar webinar is available for purchase on UIE.com.”

Contents: A Content Strategy Magazine

Marli: “Content Strategy sometimes feels like the unappreciated kid sister in the UX family. That is why I, and all the other kid sisters out there, are jumping up and down with excitement about the inaugural issue of Contents, an online magazine all about content strategy, online publishing, and new-school editorial work. The first post (“Babies and the Bathwater,”by Mandy Brown) is up, and I can’t wait for more to come!”

What the Customer Wanted

Heather: “This is a really powerful illustration about the communication breakdown that happens on so many projects; this image points to our need for fuller clarity and understanding.  And that, to me, is what UX is all about.”

Sarah Cancilla, Content Strategist at Facebook

Joe: “One case study is all it took to sell me on the value of content strategy. Sarah Cancilla, content strategist for Facebook, spoke at Confab. Her case study demonstrated how even the smallest tweaks in copy can have a monumental effect on product performance. After simplifying the language of the invite friend module she saw a surge in new Facebook members – 600 new Facebook members per minute, which translated into an additional estimated revenue of $24M for Facebook. If you can hear her speak (or attend Confab this year!) you should jump at the chance.”

Responsive Web Design

Chris: “I’ve spent a majority of my life writing code and building web sites. So when Ethan Marcotte spoke about responsive web design at An Event Apart, I was fascinated and inspired. Responsive web design is a time-saving, efficient, novel way of creating useful, usable, and user-friendly layouts. By using modern techniques and a little thought, we can develop a single site that adapts to different screen sizes. No page reloading, no additional stylesheets, and no difference between mobile and web.”

Don’t Make Me Think

Carolyn: “I read Don’t Make Me Think for the first time this year and it just knocked my socks off.  This book is like The Godfather: it deserves its reputation.  Don’t Make Me Think is a concise and insightful tell-all of web usability.  The next time you lose your design bearings and you’re lost in the sea of user experience, pick up this book.  Steve Krug is there to throw you a lifeline.”

The Muppets Teach Marketing

Marli: “I’m a strong believer in combining skills and natural interest, so when Drew Davis presented at CMWorld about the Muppets (one of my great loves) and content marketing (my skillset), it was a match made in Jim Henson’s studios. Drew specializes in marketing, but his lessons from the muppets are applicable to all content.

Seductive Interaction Design

Jim: “It has always been true that UX design relies heavily on principles from psychology, but this book really brought that home for me. Stephen Anderson clarified the distinction between usability (making an experience less bad) and psychology (making an experience great).  Anderson has a crisp, engaging writing style, and he outlines clear psychological principles that can be used to amplify the persuasiveness of a design. The best part? Tons of real-world examples.”

To all our clients, partners, friends, and family, Happy Thanksgiving!