This had to be shared immediately. Not completely safe for work — towards the end.

 Comments | Comment

From StuffThatHappens.com.

 Comments | Comment

Ian  was the 3,000th follower.

The George Foreman Grill is on its way, Ian!

 Comments | Comment

Mobile first is winning. That’s what Kayak (one of my favorite websites and iOS applications) is doing, moving the design of their applications to the web:

Normally a web-based company that decides to make an app wants to translate the look and feel of its site to that app. But Kayak has been there, done that. And from the design team to the executive team, those within Kayak say it now makes more sense to do the opposite. "I  got to the point where I actually liked iPhone app better than our website, I thought it was aesthetically more beautiful," Kayak co-founder and CTO Paul English told me in an interview last week.

…

At its design lab up on Concord, Mass. Kayak does eye-tracking studies to see what users are or are not using. "Our design goal – if something is on the screen and people aren't clicking on, we remove it," said English. The overall goal in making the site look more like a mobile app is to shed unnecessary details and simplify.

 Comments | Comment

 Comments | Comment

A VC that in my opinion gets it right:

Code cannot come before UX. Design the experience before you code it. Art takes time and has to be at the core of your product/service. If you don’t have a designer as one of your first three team members, well, in my humble opinion, you’re already in trouble.

To illustrate, here are some details I assess when every new venture comes my way: Email structure, word choice, the signature, the amount of deck slides, the weight of the presentation, whether the dollar sign is placed before or after the amount,  the choice of stock photography, whether MS Clipart was used, the thickness of the business card, the choice of typography, even the entrepreneur’s choice of laptop and phone.

All of these go to the heart of our assessment the product/service, the team and the venture as a whole.

It’s about the sizzle, which is UX. It sells the product. If you don’t have a great UX, investors have to be aware there are going to be many, many other costs, like additional marketing, to make a product successful.

Great UX is art, but it’s worth it.

 Comments | Comment

A must read:

Culture is a balanced blend of human psychology, attitudes, actions, and beliefs that combined create either pleasure or pain, serious momentum or miserable stagnation. A strong culture flourishes with a clear set of values and norms that actively guide the way a company operates. Employees are actively and passionately engaged in the business, operating from a sense of confidence and empowerment rather than navigating their days through miserably extensive procedures and mind-numbing bureaucracy. Performance-oriented cultures possess statistically better financial growth, with high employee involvement, strong internal communication, and an acceptance of a healthy level of risk-taking in order to achieve new levels of innovation.

 …

 Comments | Comment

Great post. It has answers from some of the leading UX  practitioners, some of whom don’t have a  degree.

"A degree or a certificate isn't going to magically get you respect, make you employable, get you on the speaker circuit, cure acne, or make you more attractive to the love of your life. A degree is  not  going to instantly improve your UX skills. Only lots and lots of practice can do that. All of the employers of UX professionals that I know-myself included-are looking for experience first and above all. However, that doesn't mean a degree is useless.”

…

"Of course, having a degree gets you past foolish HR departments that  require  a degree. However, remember that people who require a degree also look at applicants' experience. The most experience wins-the degree just lets you take part in the race.”

 Comments | Comment

Ping me. I’m revamping my Twitter lists, and want to add you to one.

You can find me at @usabilitycounts.

 Comments | Comment

Here’s a job posting that a friend contacted me about (Lingo and Actionscript probably aren’t strict requirements). Ping me if you’re interested.

Also, ping me if you’re a visual designer or user experience designer in Los Angeles, San Francisco or New York. Recruiter friends of mine have 10 jobs open. Send me an email at pat@usabilitycounts.com.

The Senior Interactive Designer is responsible for developing impactful design options and user interfaces in multiple platforms, including the development of prototypes, selling these ideas internally and to clients, and guiding the execution of these ideas across digital media.

Required Experience

• Bachelors Degree in Graphics Design preferred or equivalent creative art background with programming capabilities, and 5+ years as an interactive designer in a professional environment
• Strong working knowledge of web graphic design, mobile design, data visualization skills. Confidence with key software applications needed to prototype ideas (i.e. Flash, After Effects, etc.)
• Must also know HTML/DHTML/CSS, Actionscript, Lingo and other related programs, and have familiarity with backend website application development
• Ability to work well under pressure and time constraints
• Good leadership skills and team orientation
• Detail oriented with solid organizational skills and have excellent oral and written communication skills

 Comments | Comment