Gerald Fullam

As a UX researchers, we often talk with clients about the nuanced differences and distinctions between UX research and market research, and help them determine which suits their needs best. While there are important differences in approach and outcomes between these two broad types of research, they aren't mutually exclusive. When done well, by collaborative pros, they complement each other. We explored some of nuances between UX and market research in this recent blog post. Take a look and let us know what your experiences have been with this distinction! https://buff.ly/3VWJK5Z

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Still relying on accessibility overlays? You might want to reconsider! 🚨 Find out why legal cases show they're not enough and how human audits can save the day. 🌐 Read more in “The Truth About Accessibility Overlays” 🔗 https://drp.li/uYnax

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UX writers/content designers working without user stories and context be like... 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️ Dear design teams, before you get your UX writers/content designers to work on your microcopy and product content, make sure they have access to comprehensive user stories and crystal-clear context beforehand. 📝🔍 If they have to guess what to write, your users will also have to guess what it means. 🤔❓ #uxwriting #contentdesign #uxdesign #uxmalaysia

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For an organization committed to the practice of user experience design, the Interaction Design Foundation doesn’t seem to value their own ideology. I’ve been a member for years and recently served as a local leader (of which I resigned a year ago and they have yet to remove me from the role). I’m finding their billing processes to be on the verge of questionable UX practices: ·     My membership increased 31% with no notification before billing. I was told that a single notification had been sent a year ago buried in an email with a subject line of “We have updated our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Pricing Structure.” Do they not realize that subject lines such as this are white noise in people’s inboxes and begs to be deleted without reading? ·     To prevent the upcoming charge, the user must contact the main office and have them remove the store payment details. There is no ability for the user to do this themselves. ·     There is also no option to opt out of recurring charges. This is akin the dark practice of subscription services that lure users with trial period in hopes the user will forget to cancel before the period expires.   ·     The user can cancel their membership. However, the user loses access to all materials, content, and account details even though the user has prepaid for the upcoming year. This entices the user to delay cancelling only to encounter the same pain points the following year. ·     User is sent an invoice AFTER the charge has been applied. No notification of upcoming billings. ·     When asked to refund the membership charge, the admin basically responded with “The reason we’re unable to offer a refund guarantee on the renewal of memberships is that we already have a money-back guarantee after sign-up . . . we’d have to charge higher prices if we offered unlimited refunds and that’s why we make our policies crystal-clear, doing everything in our power to ensure members understand our fair terms.” This statement basically has the overtone of: It’s not that our communication and user experience is insufficient, it’s the user’s fault. IDF needs to reassess their membership and billing practices if they want to maintain any integrity in the field. As a hiring manager, I do not look at organizational memberships as having any influence in hiring decisions.  My advice for those wanting to increase their knowledge and break into design, rather than pay a yearly $264 membership fee, there are many free resources, podcasts, and articles that will help you achieve the same results. Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

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This d.MBA episode shares a ton of great nuggets on advocating for design functions and how to have more impact as a designer? #UX #ProductDesign https://buff.ly/47VixoZ

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This screenshot is the agenda for Figma's 2024 Config closeout from 7:30-8:30P. Does that last session with Jason Ballard really say what I think it says? #RewirewithAI #futureHuman #buildingHumans #buildingHumansinFigma

The greatest impediment to continued career growth for mid-and-senior-level designers often isn’t their design skills. It's their business acumen. More than ever, organizations want designers who can align their work to the overall strategy and drive impact. And in order for designers to do that, they need to understand how businesses work. In this new, 4-week course, participants will learn the business foundations and strategic frameworks required to more effectively influence strategy, align design work with organizational goals, and become a trusted strategic partner to stakeholders. Intrigued? Go here for more info and to enroll: https://lnkd.in/gyH6kN2X

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As a design leader, you work for your team—not the other way around. Learn how to keep your #UXteam happy, creative, and always on schedule. https://lnkd.in/eksZbUXM #DesignLeadership #TeamManagement #UXDesign #Productivity

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You've probably seen these two common design patterns before—tabs and accordions—but when should you use one over the other? In this video, https://bit.ly/3Viy8sM UX Specialist Huei-Hsin Wang walks through the different characteristics of both patterns and when to use which. Tabs, for instance, suit a few long content sections, while accordions fit many short ones. Interested in reading more about accordions? Also check out her article on when and how to use accordions on desktop: https://bit.ly/4chw5vW #Accordions #Tabs #UX #UXDesign #UIUX #ProductDesign

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For your next accessibility audit, keep this list close: things will start making sense! 🙌 Let’s look into it 👇 1. Semantic HTML is your friend 2. Keyboard usage is more important than you may think 3. Contrast really shouldn't be a problem we still have in software in 2024 4. Sizing - you shouldn't need a magnifying glass on the web 5. Form-labelling done right is a life-saver 6. Alternative names & text - it's easy, just give more context #accessibility #checklist #audit

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Most designers are trained to present work to our peers, but as your career matures, your audience expands to include many other departments who don’t speak “design”. This article resonated with me and offers some sage advice about the use of storytelling and a “business lens” to craft more compelling presentations. #ProductDesign #Storytelling #UserResearch #BusinessObjectives

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Figma’s ConFig ’24 released several new features that caused many to continue to sing their praises. However, there is a trend their business model that is problematic. New features are initially available to all in beta. Once the feature goes into production, there will be a charge to use the new feature. Figma seems to be building an a la cart feature menu creating a nickel and dime growth strategy. The problem is that Figma has already surpassed the exorbitant pricing of Adobe products. Has Figma considered the full spectrum of their user base? While some enterprises may be able to float that price tag (For managers, it still can be a hard sell for budget approval), small businesses and independent designers will find the cost to be challenging or prohibitive. While Figma may generate some initial profit, it may not work in the long-term once the romance is gone.

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📢 Attention, attention: the 2024 DesignOps survey needs your help 😊 Please repost, share with your #DesignOps friends, and let's get those inputs in so we can have the best possible benchmarking report for 2024! 👉 bit.ly/DOA2024Survey 👈 Deadline for responses is July 31. #DesignOps #Design #Survey #DesignOpsCommunity #UX #UXOps #CreativeOps

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Do you use experience principles in your product work? Experience principles are an unsung hero for user-centric product development. They can create instant clarity when product decisions feel murky. We use them to help us: - Keep the user in focus and high on the priority list - Spark innovative ideas rooted in the product goals - Evaluate concepts so they prioritize the team's shared goals I'd love to hear how you use them - and if you've never created experience principles, it's an awesome exercise to do with your team! Helen King wrote a fantastic article on creating sticky experience principles - this is a great place to start: https://lnkd.in/eiTtanHy What are your thoughts on experience principles? Love to hear your insights in the comments below! 👇 #ExperiencePrinciples #ProductDevelopment #UserExperience #UX #ProductDesign #Innovation #TeamCollaboration #ProductGoals #UserCentric

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