Sarah Doody
Have you ever heard the saying, buy it cheap, buy it twice? My mum mentioned it the other day, though I can’t remember the exact context.
It seems like such a simple and obvious concept. Why would you do it cheap only to have to pay to fix it later? Why would you purchase something that wears out only to have to purchase a replacement?
Have you ever been in a meeting and felt like you were in a giant game of telephone? I hate that feeling. A big reason this happens is because people lose context. As I like to say, problems start when context stops.
Think about some of your favorite brands and what it’s like to interact with them. How often do you visit their sites or use their apps? How have those positive experiences translated beyond the screen? Have you purchased a product, connected with people, or recommended the service to a friend?
When I start a new project, I immediately go into research mode. I spend hours looking at other sites, products, and apps to see if the purpose of the product is clear.
The start of any year is a great time to think about the direction UX might be going. UX is an ever changing area and one that can be different one week to the next. Here I share some of my thoughts on where I think UX might be steering towards in the coming year.
One of the reasons why I love user experience so much is because it involves solving a lot of problems. One thing I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is:
It doesn’t matter how you get to the conclusion – you just need to get there.
When we’re trying to solve a problem, there isn’t one way to approach it. In the end, the most important thing is that we solve it.
Three years ago today I quit my job at a startup in NYC and ventured off on my own. It was the best decision I ever made. It’s hard to believe I’ve been running my own user experience design consulting business for three years. As a kid, I never ever considered entrepreneurship, but the older I get, the more I realize it really suits me.
During those three years, I’ve learned a lot. How to deal with clients, how to give and receive feedback, how to set up my own retirement accounts, and many other important but not sexy things. But there’s one key business lesson that stands out to me.Continue reading
A picture is worth a thousand words. But sometimes, a picture isn’t enough. There’s a story behind every picture that often requires context that a picture alone can’t provide.
In user experience design, wireframes are our pictures. Wireframes help convey what bulky requirements documents used to convey. A lot of teams don’t even make requirements documents that are hundreds of pages long anymore. But, I’ve been doing user experience for long enough to know sometimes wireframes are not enough.
I’ve been keeping a a secret for the last 5 months or so. But, I’m happy to say I can finally fill you in!!!!
Earlier this year I was approached by a group of entrepreneurs who wanted to re-imagine the future of content and commerce and then use those learnings to re-launch the Condé Nast title domino. The vision was that the new domino would still be a printed magazine, but also would be a website that elegantly integrated the beautiful editorial from the print magazine and made the products from the editorial shoppable –right from domino.com.
For the last 5 months I have been working with the domino team to figure out how to maintain the integrity of the editorial while weaving in opportunities for readers to actually purchase products they might be interested in. It has by far been one of the most exciting projects I’ve worked on!!
I love to shop. For me, the best part about shopping is the hunt. I love that feeling when you find something that you know is just p-e-r-f-e-c-t. One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to wander boutiques in new cities, finding treasures, and chatting with the owners.
Over the past few years, I’ve developed a love for online shopping because of the convenience and the breadth of options. I love discovering online shopping sites I’ve not yet heard about. I have a bookmark folder of over 200 shopping sites (and counting).
Online shopping is great for directed and comparison shopping — when you know exactly what you want. For example, if you’re looking for an espresso maker, you can probably find one in 3 minutes (and if you’re like me, send another 45 comparing them!). But, if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for and more in a browsing mood, it’s hard to duplicate that experience online.Continue reading