Is it me or is twitter simply taking over the web? it seems to me that people's twitter usernames/accounts are becoming as important as a phone number. Everywhere we are seeing people posting their twitter address asking people to follow them or to read their latest tweet.  Yet.. the majority of these tweets are not original posts about a new article or new usability research but people retweeting other people's work...

It seems to have replaced the need for online search for content, as i could simply log on to twitter and find all the latest usability articles for example.. but the problem is, i can't keep up! the tweets keep coming, and so do the requests from people for me to follow them.. but do people actually really read people's tweets or are they just simply wanting others to read theirs?? lol

And i often wonder, how do people have time to tweet all day long...? how can they keep their 9 - 5 jobs if they are tweeting every 2 mins?
and how important is it to share with the world that you're 'about to go into a meeting to discuss x'... is that really attracting new business?

Maybe i'm just cynical?? =) I find myself tweeting for a day or 2, and then going quiet for weeks, only to remember twitter again from the requests of people to add me to their twitter list. Is twitter becoming a real distraction or is it really useful?

        

Well the last few months have been very busy. Which is why i haven't posted anything in quite some time!

Following leaving my role at Steak, i did a short project with Orange Labs on 3D user interfaces and finished my Masters in HCI at UCL.

Last week i started a new role at Syzygy as a User Experience Architect, and i'm really enjoying it! So far i have been working on redesigns for both internal and client work.

Hopefully now that things are settling back, i will be adding new content to my usabilitytank blog and on twitter!

Lara

        

Copy writing

Copy writing for the web is very important in setting the right user experience. It's important that copy is written well and enough time is planned for the process within any design project. This is particularly important for projects with very specific target users, research and planning is needed to ensure the copy is done well.

As this is an area i am currently looking at, specifically how to plan for copy writing with in a web design project and at what point you would begin the copy writing and how it is managed. The closest i could find is this old post , but very useful on the steps to take to write copy.
It breaks it down into a lot of detail, and i personally found it very useful.

Please feel free to send me any other links which you think would be helpful.

        

I found this great new post by Econsultancy on 'behavioural targeting for websites'.
Useful introduction on taioring the website to both the customer and business needs, the post also includes some useful stats!

enjoy!

Behavioural targeting for websites explained

        

I quite enjoying reading research articles by Serco, they have many insightful articles which i believe are worth reading.
This one i particularly enjoyed and wanted to share with you It's about good looking websites and the placebo effect they have on users. Have a look on their website : Serco Research

        

I have always agreed that nothing can beat face to face user testing. But, when looking for quick , cost effective user testing, sometimes we have to turn to remote online based user testing tools. And as the number of tools out there grow, i guess it becomes difficult to decide which one to go for.

I recently had the opportunity to use one tool : usertesting.com and i was really impressed! Good quality tests/feedback, easy to set up , very quick and also rather cheap! Also,  i have found their support team to be very helpful.
It's all very simple to set up, you provide the tasks you would like the user to follow, you choose the demographic or any special requirements you might have, you then submit and see the results come back with in an hour. 
The results: are a flash video showing the user interacting with the website through the talk aloud method ( speaking their thoughts as they complete the tasks), and a short questionnaire which they complete at the end of how useful they found the website, any problems encountered etc.
You also have the opportunity to rate the participants, which means the participant base can improve with time.

Of course as any other system,  it can do with some improvements ( such as more non-USA participants taking part, the ability to download the videos directly from the website) , but it seems that this is something they are working on, as you will find out on their forum.

So, based on my experience i can honestly recommend usertesting.com if you're looking for quick user feedback and if you're on a small budget

website: www.usertesting.com

        

I came across this great article by Jack Aaronson discussing brand and usability; which is more important and how to design websites which focus on both brand and usability.

Worth a read!!

Brand vs Usability

        

I was really excited when i saw this  on usabilitynews.com.

A new website/directory has been launched providing resources for usability, user experience and information architecture professionals.
Visit : www.IAApps.com, for a list of applications to help you with your usability testing and design.
It's new obviously, but the more user ratings the more useful it will become

        

With the currently economy, it's no surprise that shoppers are now smarter than ever, looking for cheaper products online to help save money. Making it even more important than ever to have usable websites.It's important as a business with a web presence, that your website is easy to find, user friendly, easy to use, and over all offers a positive user experience to help attract new customers and keep existing customers coming back for more. This is probably why the UX field has so far not been too badly affected by the economic downturn as other sectors; as companies are still actively recruiting for usability and user experience consultants.
With that in mind, i went out looking ( on google ofcoursel) of predictions of the user experience field for 2009, and what we should look out for, and i found this nice article by www.catalystresources.com/saas which talks about what to expect for this year.

Have a look :  User Experience Predictions & Trends for 2009

I also have an older posting which discussed the importance of usability in this economic downturn, it's a little old now but still useful.

Economic Downturn Puts Website Usability into Focus

        

Well they did say it will snow today in London but i was surprised it snowed this much!
No buses, or tubes, so many of us are stuck working from home.

So here's a little photo of what it's looking like today in London town! ( 7am - 2nd of February 2009)