User Experience Design – Page 11 – graphpaper.com (under repair)

User vs. You

Aug 2, 2007

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in Branding and Marketing, Business, Design, Information Architecture, Interface Design, Language, Personal, Reviews, Storytelling, User Experience Design, Web

There’s a huge debate going on in the UX community about the use of the word “user”. Some argue that the word demeans the people we are trying to help, that it distances us from them, and that it makes us unable to truly empathize with their wants and needs. Words like “people” and “humans”…

Would Starbucks tell Dunkin’?

Jul 17, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Architecture, Branding and Marketing, Business, Design, Personal, Reviews, User Experience Design

We recently stopped for coffee at an urban intersection where a Starbucks and a Dunkin’ Donuts sat on opposite corners, facing off in a classic retail rivalry like Macy’s & Gimbels. Deciding to avoid Starbuckian yuppiness (okay, we drink there all the time), we walked into the Dunkin’ Donuts. But something seemed wrong… the DD…

Watch Me Speak in NYC: Thursday July 19 and Thursday July 26

Jul 15, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Behavior, Business, graphpaper.com, Information Architecture, NYC, Personal, Social Interaction, User Experience Design, Work

I am speaking at two upcoming events sponsored by several New York-based information architecture organizations. When my wife asked who the organizers were, I said “It’s the IA Union!” At both events, I will be delivering a version of my informative, fast paced, and fun IA Summit presentation, “Interaction Design Style“. July 19: IA Summit…

BIKEZ MY RIDIN / TRAIL RAIL UR ON I’M

Jul 13, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Cycling & Running, Design, Images, Information Design, Interface Design, Language, Personal, User Experience Design

Quick, what does this sign on the bike trail say? If you’re like me, you will probably initially read it as saying “XING ROAD”. Then, maybe after a fraction of a second, your brain kicked in and told you that maybe you should reverse the order. You do this mental correction because you’ve probably grown…

My First Podcast

Jul 11, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Behavior, Branding and Marketing, Business, Information Architecture, Personal, Storytelling, User Experience Design, Web, Work

A few months ago during an intermission at the 2007 IA Summit, Christina Wodtke and Bill Wetherell accosted me in the hallway of the Las Vegas Flamingo hotel. The next thing I knew, Christina was interviewing me for a new series of Boxes and Arrows podcasts. The 16-minute interview has just been published, and I’ve…

Should Bloggers Assume that Their Readers are Dumber than They Are?

Jul 10, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Branding and Marketing, Business, Design, graphpaper.com, Information Architecture, Information Design, Personal, Reviews, Social Interaction, Storytelling, User Experience Design, Web

Several bloggers I know have confessed to me that occasionally they’ll compose and publish articles or posts that they don’t feel especially passionate about, writing things that they aren’t particularly proud of or inspired by, simply because they know that certain topics, ideas, or opinions will give them an easy and predictable traffic boost. For…

Simple is Best

Jun 27, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Branding and Marketing, Cycling & Running, Design, Reviews, User Experience Design

“Simple is Best” is the motto of Jinbei Yamada, founder of Japanese bicycle maker Arrow Bicycles. I love this motto for its elegant phrasing, completely devoid of pretention and utterly consistent with its own meaning. There is no false dichotomy of “form versus function” to drive a pointless wedge between functional and decorative simplicity and…

Muddling Through eBay

Jun 24, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Branding and Marketing, Business, Design, Information Architecture, Information Design, Interface Design, Reviews, User Experience Design, Web

The online auction site eBay recently redesigned their site, and (as it usually has in the past) the new design is being subjected to some pretty harsh critique. When critics bash eBay’s design, they usually focus on the site’s general visual design, or on the information design of individual pages. Even I have in the…

Grace, not just Efficiency, in Queue Management

Jun 23, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Architecture, Branding and Marketing, Business, NYC, Reviews, Social Interaction, User Experience Design

Large retail stores and fast-food restaurants have a simple choice when designing their checkout customer experience: Multiple registers, multiple lines, one line per register Multiple registers, single line This problem is known in the retail industry as “queue management”. The New York Times today features an article comparing the checkout experiences of several New York…

The Don’t Stop Believin’ Game / Bristles on the Long Tail

Jun 17, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Art, Business, Music, Personal, Reviews, Storytelling, The Future, User Experience Design, Web

At least Tony didn’t pick Heart’s “Magic Man”! Almost every Friday near the end of the day, someone at Behavior will start playing loud music to help remind everyone to stop working soon — the musical equivalent of the whistle that tells Fred Flintstone that it’s quittin’ time. This Friday, my partner Jeff blasted “Don’t…

Category: User Experience Design