User experience (UX) design is the process of improving user satisfaction with a product by focusing on things like usability and accessibility.
Ever wondered what the relationship is between information architecture (IA) and UX? Simply put, IA is the foundation of UX. We outline why. What is Information Architecture? According to Abby Covert, a leader in the field of information architecture, IA is ‘the way we arrange the parts to make sense of the whole.’ This can relate... View Article
What is information architecture? According to Abby Covert, a leader in the field of information architecture, IA is ‘the way we arrange the parts to make sense of the whole.’ Information architecture (IA) is found in every digital product, from websites and apps to an intranet. For the purposes of this article we focus on... View Article
Designing for a mobile app is quite different to designing for websites. The content may be similar (even the same) but the intent for users is likely to be different, as are the environments and occasions they use them. When designing for mobile the information architecture (IA) uses a different set of rules. The key... View Article
Knowing and understanding why and how your users use your product can be invaluable for getting to the nitty gritty of usability. Where they get stuck and where they fly through. Delving deep with probing questions into motivation or skimming over looking for issues can equally be informative. Usability testing can be done in several... View Article
James Erwin fell into the world of information architecture (IA) by accident earlier in his design career and it’s fuelled his curiosity ever since. We talk to him about his design journey, his obsession with understanding where IA and UX meet, and his approach to product design at Optimal Workshop. You go by the title... View Article
An impressive line-up of researchers, strategists, and designers from the global UX community shared their ideas, experiences, insights, and approaches to effective ways of working at this year’s 100% virtual 3-day UX New Zealand conference. We introduce 7 speakers, highlight what they had to say, and share their full video presentations. 1. How to design... View Article
User research is key to discovering the inner workings of your users’ minds – their emotional, organizational, informative needs and desires. These are all super important to creating a user experience that is intuitive and meeting your users’ needs in a way that means they feel loved, cared for and considered. All the deep understanding... View Article
Information architecture (IA) is everywhere. Like the best websites and apps in the digital world, information architecture also brings clarity and understanding to the real world. It helps us navigate complexity and clutter, enables us to get things done more easily even with enjoyment, and reduces our cognitive load as we go about our lives. As... View Article
Andrew Millar is a digital designer by trade and ardent UX advocate by day, as Head of Design at Optimal Workshop. We talk to him about the design challenge of keeping it human in the face of voice-enabled technologies that have created the likes of Siri and Alexa.
Having access to the specialist subscription-based tools you need to do your work is a reasonable thing to expect. But what if you’re relying on someone else’s SaaS account to access what you need? Sounds like a good solution but think again. It’s risky - even fraught. Here are 3 good reasons to avoid sharing login credentials and why you need your own.