Author: Amy

Improving communication with your clients

There are many different types of client that a designer will encounter and no two clients can be treated exactly the same. Often I freelance at agencies, which means I have a double layer – the agency is my client but I’m also dealing with the actual end client. Some clients are very corporate, where some are much more casual. I’ve found that sometimes a very corporate seeming brand can actually have very down to earth stakeholders, or I might deal with someone very strictly professional at a brand which is seen as hip and unconventional. No matter the...

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5 reasons you should be sketching for UX

Every time I start a project by sketching, I am reminded of how useful it is. It’s all too easy to be drawn in by the glow of your monitor, head straight to Axure, Omnigraffle or Photoshop and dig in. But taking the time to sketch will help you understand the problem at hand, and solve it. Why Sketch 1. Get your ideas flowing Sketching is about getting stuff out of your brain and onto paper. Having great ideas is hard; even the most creative people can find themselves stumped. Visualising by hand helps ideas flow. When you hear...

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HTML Prototyping – Why you should do it

Prototyping is a huge part of the UX process. It’s a great way to check your ideas are feasible, and to get feedback (ideally from users) before you go on to fully develop your project. There are loads of tools out there for prototyping, like Axure, Balsamic and Omnigraffle… but I want to talk about prototyping in HTML. A lot of project managers or UX-ers will recoil at this idea, thinking that coding HTML will take longer, or that a wireframing software is just more appropriate. I disagree. 8 reasons to use HTML for your prototypes 1. It’s quick...

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10 usability heuristics explained

Avoid inspiring your users to take baseball bats to their equipment!

Usability is about how well, and easily a user can complete a task and how happy they are about it. Learn about the 10 usability heuristics and improve user experience.

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