Foolproof blog

I’m delighted to announce the launch of a new section of our website called User Experience Strategy.

It is a business requirement which our global clients are finding themselves increasingly exposed to as they look to move beyond optimisation to creating unified digital customer experiences, which protect and build financial performance and brand value.

Foolproofers love sharing great ideas and debating all things UX related so, each week, we hold a Smart Lunch where we get together to feed our brains and tummies at the same time.

The most recent topic was “The unique challenges of commercial games testing.” Here’s my top takeaways from this session; great for those wanting to get more involved in the games industry or just looking to brush up their general UX consultancy skills.

I recently completed a project involving insurance brokers, which got me thinking about how this research is relevant to any organisation thinking about B2B sites or intranets for staff.

It was with some pleasure I read this week’s Marketing Week cover story by Mark Choueke and Michael Barnett’s ‘Customer is King’ on the new marketing battleground: customer experience.

For the last 10 years University College London Interaction Centre (UCLIC) has provided the user experience (UX) industry in the UK – and beyond – with many of its movers and shakers through its Masters course in Human-Computer Interaction. You can now find UCLIC graduates in the corridors of many of the leading consultancies, not to mention companies such as Google and eBay.

Foolproof counts at least half a dozen UCLIC graduates amongst its current staff, so it felt only natural that we should sponsor the Centre’s 10th anniversary as a demonstration of our ongoing commitment to this most valuable of resources. As a former student, it was with great pleasure that I returned to UCLIC last week to attend a day of lectures and networking to celebrate their anniversary.
 

A common problem we see in our website user testing is the user getting lost when they click a link that opens a new tab in their browser.

Some users understand that they are now in a new tab. When they are done with the content on the new tab they either close it, or click back to the original.

But most users don’t notice that they are in a new tab and struggle to find their way back.
 

There’s a sense that customer experience (CX) has moved up the strategic agenda, and now sits as a priority area for many brands.

There’s a clear understanding that the experience in interacting with a brand across a multitude of channels and devices is instrumental in the decision to become a customer, and can heavily influence the depth and longevity of that relationship.
 

‘Mention of Cookies at #cometojump, everyone on panel is rendered speechless… All aware of issues, nobody has clear site of solutions.’ Tweet from econsultancy’s JUMP conference.

Judging by the length of the queue to get into Conrad Bennett’s presentation on Cookies, it’s evident from this year’s JUMP conference that the EU Cookie Directive has left people confused and unsure of what measures they need to put in place to make sure they comply with the law.

I’m in the market for a camera. My last camera was a 35mm film SLR – that was 20 years ago. So I began my quest excited and reasonably well informed about photography. My enthusiasm was led by my imminent opportunity for artistic expression – not by technical wizardry. So I naively thought I’d make a fast choice and get going.

With a rapid growth in web enabled smart phones making internet banking via mobile ever the more popular, what has been the perceived impact on security and convenience when it comes to using Two Factor Authentication (2FA) devices alongside a mobile?