Finding people to participate in qualitative UX studies can be an elusive task. We tend to hear about studies and their findings, but we don’t hear how researchers recruit study participants. We need to access users and potential users in order to effectively conduct research. You’ll want to become familiar with each of these and adapt your approach based on your product, budget, and timeline. In this article, Victor Yocco will help you resolve this mystery. Read the full article here.
Justifying Qualitative Sample Sizes - Smashing Magazine
Check out my latest article on Smashing Magazine! I wrote about a formula for justifying qualitative sample sizes. I also walked through the process of analyzing data to ensure you reach data saturation. You can read the article here.
UI Breakfast Podcast Interview
I recently spoke with Jane Portman from the UI Breakfast podcast. We discussed Design for the Mind and the applications of principles of psychology to digital design. I enjoyed the interview, even when she tried to call me out for contradicting myself :) Take a listen here - http://uibreakfast.com/28-persuasive-design-victor-yocco/
The Busy Creator Podcast Interview
I recently had a chance to speak with Scott Perez-Fox for The Busy Creator Podcast. We talked about psychology and design, as well as advice to designers just starting out in their careers. Scott asked great questions and I enjoyed spending time talking with him. The Busy Creator is a nicely produced podcast. Give it a listen! http://bit.ly/1UoLY47
Design for the Mind Facebook Page
I've created a Facebook page for Design for the Mind. I'd like to use it to share content and facilitate a discussion around topics related to the book. Please join and contribute: https://www.facebook.com/designforthemind/
Podcast Appearance - Creative South
Huggin necks with Jason Frostholm! We talked about UX research, psychology and design, and sobriety. I had a blast.
Podcast Appearance - User Defenders with Jason Ogle
I had the opportunity to appear as a guest on the User Defenders podcast. I had a great conversation with host Jason Ogle, as we discussed everything from how I found myself in UX research, alcohol abuse, and my take on the future of design and academia. I hope you enjoy listening. http://userdefenders.com/podcast/017-the-value-of-the-theory-is-in-the-application-with-victor-yocco/
The Art of the Intercept: Moving Beyond "Would You Like to Take a Survey?"
We often want information on what users and potential users of our designs think and how they behave in the context of where they will use our design. For example, if you are designing a new interface for an ATM, you would benefit from understanding how current users engage with ATMs in the context of spaces where ATMs are located. Intercepts allow you to engage users in a variety of settings to collect data to inform your design. It sounds simple, but there is a right way to ask people to stop and participate in a study. This article shares a method to design and carry out effective intercepts as part of your user research.
The UX of Alcohol Abuse - Model View Culture
A cautionary tale to individuals and organizations, a call to action to be more proactive against alcohol abuse, and the start of a dialogue within our community.
How to Personalize the Online Patient Experience
Patients' experience of a hospital or health care provider extends beyond the physical walls of your facility: Your organization's online experience is also a key component of patient satisfaction. Personalization is a design approach that allows you to create deeper engagement and a more satisfying online experience for your patients. All health care providers should be providing personalized online experiences to patients and their families.
Social Math, Making Complex Data Meaningful - User Experience Magazine
Complex numerical data can be difficult to present in a way that is both meaningful and understandable to your audience. What exactly does the number of calories in a Big Mac mean to your daily caloric intake? Why exactly should you care about the amount of garbage the average U.S. citizen produces in a day? Often, design teams are tasked with making this type of data meaningful to a broad audience. Social math provides a method and a means to make data on social issues, such as water conservation visually meaningful to laypeople.
Think Fast! Using Heuristics to Increase Use of Your Product - Smashing Magazine
People have many tough decisions to make; whether they should use your application or website to accomplish a task shouldn’t be one of them. Your design team can take advantage of our knowledge of the human mind and human behavior by accounting for a number of heuristics, or mental shortcuts, that researchers have identified.
Ensuring the Usability of your Design: The Case for User Research - Wireless Design and Development
Wireless product design is complex and constantly evolving. The usefulness of any wireless product only extends as far as its usability. User research allows wireless design and development teams to ensure products are usable, and to identify trouble areas that might require redesign or more focused user training. No wireless strategy is complete without accounting for user research on current and future wireless products.
Five Characteristics of an Innovation - Smashing Magazine
Victor Yocco presents the five characteristics of an innovation that can help design teams to determine people’s long-term adoption of an innovation.
How to Have Users Spread Your Innovation Like Wildfire - Smashing Magazine
Victor Yocco explains the diffusion of innovation and discusses two main components: different types of adopters and key steps in the adoption process.
Incorporating Six Principles of Andragogy into Design - UX Booth
Most digital experiences require users to learn something new, which makes it our responsibility to teach them. This week, author Victor Yocco teaches how to use andragogy, the study of how people learn, to improve the UX of our designs.
Framing Effective Messages to Motivate Your Users - Smashing Magazine
What you say in a user experience matters. How you say it matters equally. The way you frame communication, or how you say something, could be extremely effective at persuading people to start using your product (or to use it more).
So, how do you frame messages effectively? This article explains how design teams can do so in a way that resonates with their users.
UX Researcher: A User's Manual - Boxes and Arrows
This article is a guide on what to expect, and how to get the most from your UX researcher–a user manual, if you will.
You will invest a lot in your researcher and you deserve the greatest return. You should have high expectations for this critical component of your UX team, and following the recommendations presented in this article will help maximize your return.
Social Influence: Incorporating Social Identity Theory Into Design - Smashing Magazine
No person is immune from the influence of the people and groups they encounter. As much as we would like to think that every thought we have is original, that every opinion we express is informed by facts alone, the truth is that we use others around us as a reference point for much of our attitudes and behavior. This isn’t a bad thing; it’s human nature.
In this article, we’ll focus on how concepts related to social identity theory — a theory within the psychological field of social influence - can help ux professionals to more effectively incorporate social influence in their work.
Persuasion: Applying the Elaboration Likelihood Model to Design - A List Apart
Persuasion isn’t a slick ad pitch or a campaign promise. It’s inherent to the content, style, and delivery of our messages, for better or for worse. Everything we say, do, and design has an impact on how our message is perceived—so why not put that power to work for you on the web? Victor Yocco shows us how to incorporate a deeper understanding of the psychological underpinnings of persuasion into our designs, allowing us to better reach—and win—the hearts of our users.