Userfocus Usability Newsletter, April 2017

Welcome to the April edition of the Userfocus usability and user experience newsletter!

Message from the Editor
Is Usability a Science?
From our archives: The 7 Deadly Sins of User Research
What we're reading
Upcoming user experience training courses
User experience quotation of the month

Message from the Editor

We talk about running 'experiments' in the field of usability. We collect 'data' and 'test hypotheses' to discover what works and what doesn't work for our users. We certainly use the language of science — but does that mean usability is a science? This month, Philip Hodgson reports on a discussion on this very topic. As you'll discover, the answer is 'Yes', 'No' and 'Maybe'.

— David Travis

Is Usability a Science?

Recently, Todd Zazelenchuk, David Travis and I met up at our favourite watering hole in Staffordshire. As is often the case we stumbled into a discussion about usability, this time mulling over the question of whether usability is or is not a science. It turned out to be a slightly more challenging question than we had expected. Cut to the pub… Read the article in full: Is Usability a Science?

From our archives: The 7 Deadly Sins of User Research

Most companies would claim to design products and services that are simple to use. But when you ask customers to actually use these products and services, they often find them far from simple. Why is there a disconnect between what organisations think of as "simple" and what users actually experience? Read the article in full: The 7 Deadly Sins of User Research.

What we’re reading

Some interesting usability-related articles that got our attention over the last month:

How a rest stop on the side of the road inspired a web page design.
Redesigning the Oscars Winner Card: a C.R.A.P. Analysis
No budget? No excuse. Here's a practical guide to UX on the cheap.
Each year of experience that you have working in UX adds about $1900 to your salary.
UX metrics and the limits of web analytics.
Find out how Florian Beijers, who was born blind, is able to program using a standard-issue laptop.

Like these? Want more? Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

Upcoming user experience training courses

Foundation Certificate in User Experience, July 20-22 2017, London.

Gain the BCS Foundation Certificate in User Experience in this fun and hands-on training course. You'll practice in all the key areas of UX — from interviewing your users through to prototyping and usability testing your designs — while you prepare for and take the exam.

More information about this training course: Foundation Certificate in User Experience.

User Experience quotation of the month

"When we started talking to our customers and seeing how they used our service, it was the defining moment of success that turned the company around." Mike Gebbia, Chief Product Officer at AirBnB.