Category Archives: Articles

Mind maps are diagrams that visually illustrate how words, phrases, ideas, or concepts relate to a central key word or phrase. They are a visual thinking tool that helps to structure information and identify connections between items.

To create a mind map, you simply start with a central idea, and branch out from that idea with each branch representing a topic related to that idea. Sub topics can be made in an infinite number of levels building off of each branch. It’s typically best to use colors and imagery in a mind map to help link together ideas in a way that’s easy to understand and remember.

Mind maps are powerful tools for User Experience professionals. In part 1 of this post series, I’ll explain how you can use mind maps to create “sketch maps.”

… Read More

If you’ve ever struggled with articulating the output of the UX Strategy phase of a project or initiative, you’re not alone.  Almost all UX’ers can agree that defining a User Experience strategy before architecting or designing an experience is critical, but what does “strategy” really mean? What are its components, benefits, and deliverables?

Check out my article “What is User Experience Strategy, Anyway?” on my company’s (The Archer Group) blog and download the full white paper (PDF) for all of my thoughts on this topic.

In this article you’ll learn more about what specific deliverables you can work on to help answer the strategic questions of “Where are you now?”, “Where do you want to be?”, “How will you get there?”, and “How will you measure success?”. I also describe how to explain User Experience Strategy to your clients or business partners, and the value that creating a UX strategy brings to your organization.

User Experience Designers usually aim to make application interfaces intuitive and easy to use without relying on help or a manual to guide the user through how to use the app.  However, there are times when an interface is most effective and efficient to use once some initial behaviors are learned.  In these cases, designing an application to be completely intuitive upon first-time use can be impractical or detrimental to repetitive use.  There are also times where a quick introduction on how to use an app simply makes the user feel more comfortable interacting with it for the first time, and is not a reflection of a poorly designed interface.

iPhone applications that introduce new, innovative interaction models or that allow the user to access a wide range of information or complete several tasks often use first-time use help screens to help users learn how an app works.  This help can come in a wide variety of styles: demos, tutorials, single screen overlays, walkthroughs, tips, or short screen summaries.  These first-time help screens are often supplemented by a centralized help or FAQ area within the app.  Below is a look at how different apps have leveraged these help patterns to introduce functionality to their users upon first use.

… Read More