UX newsletter — August 2019

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Message from the Editor

Over the Summer, I've been planning a series of online video training courses. I'm pleased with the content and the curriculum but there's one problem. I don't feel entirely natural in front of a camera.

I thought about avoiding the problem by creating voice-over-slides videos but I know from courses I've taken that this reduces engagement. So I've decided to practise my talking-in-front-of-a-camera skill by creating regular YouTube videos.

I try to keep these under 5 minutes and answer questions I'm commonly asked by my students. So far, I've answered questions such as:

• Do you have any recipe for working as a lone product designer in a company?
• What's the difference between a UX Researcher and a UX Designer?
• Can a single expert carry out a Heuristic Evaluation or must you use a team of evaluators?
• I just enrolled in a grad course in psychology. Tell me why I won't regret it?
• What's the difference between user research and business analysis?

If you'd like to follow me on my journey as I get more comfortable in front of the camera, or if you just want to watch me adopt the foetal position and die of anxiety, you'll find my YouTube channel here.

This month's article is about the future of UX research. I hope you find it useful.

— David Travis

The future of UX research is automated, and that's a problem

If you compare the UX research methods we use today with the methods we used 16 years ago, something interesting emerges. We see that UX research is becoming increasingly remote and increasingly unmoderated. In other words, we're moving to a world where UX research is becoming automated. We can learn a lot from automated research. But it comes at the price of understanding our users. Read the article in full: The future of UX research is automated, and that's a problem.

From our archives: Do I need a Masters in User Experience?

A Masters in UX costs over £10k and may not make you more employable or attract a higher salary compared with spending the same time gaining practical experience in UX. Before you decide on taking that Masters degree, consider what you could achieve for 10% of the investment by creating an alternative, self-paced, personalised syllabus. Read the article in full: Do I need a Masters in User Experience?.

What we’re reading

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

• Readability formulas are neither reliable nor valid. A poor readability score doesn't tell you how to fix your content. Having users try out your content is a much better way of ensuring success than using a readability formula.
• A simple usability lab for testing mobile and desktop prototypes in-person and remotely.
• Kudos to William Hudson. I've just noticed that he has made Syncaps (his Windows-based card sorting tool) free for all.
• The 3 Laws of Locality: put controls where your users expect them.
• How to avoid 90% of the problems found in most online forms.
• Top 15 User Experience (UX) Certification Programs. (Note that my Udemy course is only a certification program if you sit the BCS Foundation Certificate exam afterwards).
• Some recommendations for books that take an anthropological perspective on business and design.

Like these? Want more? View our posts on Twitter or Facebook.

Upcoming UX training courses

Foundation Certificate in User Experience, Sept 3-5 2019, London.

In this fun and hands-on training course, you'll practice 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 BCS Foundation Certificate exam. Last few places. View the full syllabus: Foundation Certificate in User Experience.

UX quotation of the month

"If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design." — Ralf Speth.

Did I mention I've published a book?

It's titled Think Like a UX Researcher. Grab your copy here.

Hungry for more?

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