“Information architecture helps make sure that business needs and user needs are met, leaving everyone happy, and isn’t that really what it’s all about?” - Jeff Lash

Read Jeff’s article “The Age of Information Architecture” here.

“Good design must necessarily, in my opinion, have an impact on people’s lives, no matter how seemingly small. Good design changes things.” - Garr Reynolds

Check out Garr’s article “Why Design Matters” here.

“To design something really well you have to get it.  You have to really grok what it’s all about.  It takes a passionate commitment to thoroughly understand something - chew it up, not just quickly swallow it.  Most people don’t take the time to do that… The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better designs we will have.” - Steve Jobs

Read the Wired article “Steve Jobs: The Next Insanely Great Thing” to read Steve’s full reply to the question: “Why aren’t more products made with the aesthetics of great design?”

“When designing, it’s easy to get lost in the gross interactions – the dialog boxes and system flow. However, the subtleties are just as critical to the success of the design. We need to pay close attention to these nuances as we’re working through our design process.” - Jared Spool

Read Jared’s article “Interaction Design: It’s All About the Subtleties” here.

“Sometimes, you have to design from the gut. The funny thing about the gut is that, rather than experience, the best UX designers I know operate from a perspective of determining what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s ugly.” - Ryan Freitas

Quote from Adaptive Path’s June 17th email newsletter.  Read Ryan’s thoughts on the recent MySpace redesign project here.

“Each discipline can only go so far with the constraints they work under, and we have to watch each other’s backs and cover for the flaws of each other. Users don’t care whose fault it is that a product works poorly, only that it works poorly. All the disciplines need work together to figure out solutions to product flaws… Focusing on the connective tissue between disciplines makes products holistic.” - Dan Saffer

Read Dan’s article “User Experience is Everyone’s Responsibility” here.

“Forget about the killer feature. Welcome to the age of the killer user experience. When technology achieves something desirable without being in your face, when it knows how to integrate itself into your wishes and desires without distracting from them, that’s when technology lives up to its potential.” - Andreas Pfeiffer

Read The Pfeiffer’s Report Trend Analysis on user experience here.

“When a business defies the traditional, when it ‘colors outside the lines,’ customers often receive exceptional experiences.” - The Starbucks Experience by Joseph A. Michelli

You can purchase The Starbucks Experience here.

“Content makes the sale, delivers the service and builds the brand. The architecture is the container of the website, but content—well, it’s the content in the container. We don’t buy from iTunes because of its architecture; we buy because of its music. Great information architecture is invisible so that the content can shine through.” - Gerry McGovern

Read “The Importance of a Customer-Centric Design Approach: An Interview with Gerry McGovern” from UIE here. This is the same article that brought us another great quote from Gerry back in April.

“The customers, the visitors, the patients, the readers, the guests, whatever you call them - their experience is what determines the company’s success or failure. So focus first on the overall experience. It’s strategic, not tactical. It’s about the people, not the tool. Focusing on the larger picture first will set a better context in which to work - later - on usability tactics.” - Mark Hurst

Read Mark’s article “The top 8 mistakes in usability (and companies investing in it)” here.