We recently conducted user research in Paris and Berlin, where we used interpreters to translate questions and answers between respondents and ourselves. Here’re my reflections on my experience of working with translators.

As web designer Scott Jehl recently tweeted “Progressive enhancement doesn’t mean settling for poor UX”. When I asked who would say that he replied: “I commonly sees PE labeled as a practice for those happy settling for less-than-stellar design.”

I think that whoever thinks this is misguided and out of touch with how modern websites are designed and built. Progressive enhancement is core to creating a good user experience, not something that is in conflict with it.

Bryan and Stephanie Rieger’s workshop ‘It’s not the device people are after it is all the things the device enables…’ highlighted all that is so fascinating about the mobile user experience. Designing for mobile presents a greater challenge than standard desktop websites and, even with so many smart people in the room, it was clear that best practice is going to take years more to emerge.

To complete many online processes, such as booking a flight or buying insurance, people need to work through forms. Each field poses a potential barrier to progress and can force users to either quit or transfer to a higher cost channel, such as the phone. All form fields are not equal though, and some require much greater thought than others.

When we talk about user experience, we’re often referring to websites and applications on desktop computers and mobile devices. A game’s user experience is extremely important in video gaming but is often overlooked.

Blog post by former Foolproofer Roger Smithers.

I’ve been lucky enough to go out to Sao Paulo, Brazil to conclude our global research on attitudes and expectations to mobile banking and to test a prototype. What a fascinating place.

This whitepaper on test drive booking online summarises findings from our evaluation of UK car brand sites. We’ve used 12 principles developed from published best practice as well as our own research in this field.

The results appear to be a paradox: 32 sites carry this functionality, suggesting that it is a standard component for user experience; and yet only a handful offer a truly viable, useful experience.

Before you click a button or link you subconsciously weigh up the consequences of doing so. What will happen? What are the risks that it will trigger some negative or unexpected experience?

On a desktop application or website there’s usually plenty of information to help you determine the risk of clicking on something. Tooltips commonly appear when you hover over buttons and icons explaining what it’s for. Other links are textual, offering an unambiguous description of what you’re about to do.

However, this comfortable status quo does not translate well from the desktop to smaller, touch screen devices. On smartphones, where screen real estate is limited and tooltips do not exist, the consequences of each action can be hard to anticipate.

When Apple announced the Magic Trackpad in late July, it was one of their more intriguing new products. At first glance, it’s much the same as the trackpad found on MacBooks; you can move the cursor around, click, swipe and use all of the other gestures you’d expect. Yet how this works on a practical, day to day basis is not apparent.

I need to buy luggage and I’m in a hurry. I don’t have a great deal of time to do research and I’m not familiar with the common brands. What do I do?