Rounding out her series of articles on how to conduct value-adding user research when resources are limited, Meg Dickey-Kurdziolek takes us on a journey through the results of the fake door A/B test set up in Part II. After shedding light on the darker side of surveys, and offering guidelines to maximize their value for minimum input, she concludes by touching on that that old favorite: how to know when the research is done and it’s time to start building.
Articles
The Problem with Patterns
Design systems have become the norm for organizations big and small. Yet, as more of our products and services move online, we can learn a thing or two from the world of service design. A dependence on any form of design system can create a pattern of ignoring our users’ context, hindering the design process, and even our own sense of empathy.
Orchestrating Experiences
Experiences are formed by touchpoints, some tangible, others less so. This excerpt from Orchestrating Experiences is a deep dive into the world of touchpoints, helping you understand how to coordinate them to build a seamless experience.
The Cult of the Complex
’Tis a gift to be simple. ALA’s Zeldman bemoans our industry’s current fetish for the needlessly complicated over the straightforward. Escape the cult of the complex! Get back to improving lives, one interaction at a time.
Onboarding: A College Student Discovers A List Apart
A List Apart has covered a lot of ground in 20 years. Samantha Lynn, a younger designer just entering the industry, gives her thoughts on 350 ALA articles and how far we’ve come as an industry.
The Slow Death of Internet Explorer and the Future of Progressive Enhancement
Should our development practices be hemmed in by the gaping chasm between Internet Explorer and every other major browser? Or should we dash into the future leaving IE users behind? Oliver Williams argues for a middle ground: We can make life easier for ourselves without breaking the backward compatibility of the web.
So You Want to Write an Article?
Ready to write a professional article? Make sure your submission is the best it can be! ALA editor Brandon Gregory gives some advice on common pitfalls the editorial team sees in article submissions, including advice for picking your topic, writing intros, and adding authority to your ideas.
We’re Looking for People Who Love to Write
Publishing on A List Apart isn’t as easy-peasy as dashing off a post on your blog, but the results—and the audience—are worth it. And when you write for A List Apart, you never write alone: our industry-leading editors, technical editors, and copy editors are ready to help you polish your best idea from good to great. Come share with us!
Priority Guides: A Content-First Alternative to Wireframes
The sirens’ song of wireframe visuals has been the thorn in the side of many a design project. With potential to undermine user-centricity, reduce team engagement, and limit creativity when it’s most needed, wireframes can bite the unwary. In this article, Heleen van Nues and Lennart Overkamp discuss an alternative that’s far more in tune with today’s content-first, responsive design ethos, whether used as a direct replacement or to help tame wireframes’ wilder side early in a project’s life.
The Illusion of Control in Web Design
We think of our job as controlling the user’s experience. But the reality is, we control far less than we imagine. And that’s by design: it’s how the web, and the networks that serve it, are supposed to work. ALA’s Aaron Gustafson shows the many ways our medium conspires to break our carefully crafted experiences, and shares solid advice on what we can do about it.
