Are Recommendations Engines Circumventing User-Focused Design?

Posted July 12th, 2008 in Customer Experience, Ecommerce, User Experience | 0 Comments

Fanboy30_consumeA dangerous trend is making users of ecommerce sites and software unwitting victims in the quest for more revenue. Though money certainly does make the world go ‘round, and the strong flow of money aids the greater good, the latest features being demanded by marketing departments (not necessarily users) are “Recommenders” designed to keep visitors on a site, spending their hard-earned dollars.

User experience evangelists need to stand up for the users of their sites and software, and make sure this feature does not negatively impact the user experience. These tools may not only destroy a positive brand and user experience, they could ultimately result in the loss of customers if they aren’t implemented with integrity and an awareness of user perception when faced with a barrage of recommendations meant “just for them.”

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User Experience Activities for Ecommerce & Software

Posted July 7th, 2008 in Design, Ecommerce, User Experience | 0 Comments

Uxp_ecommerceIn an effort to better communicate what I do for clients, I’ve created two PDF documents that describe the various user experience activities that take place on an ecommerce or software design project.

This was actually a bit harder than it looks – I began with the intention of creating a UE process, but the truth is, these activities can be done at various times throughout the life of a project, so they are somewhat chronological like a process, but not totally rigid. Many times, multiple things are going on at once. For example, I might be working on a Product Design Guide for developers, packaging design with marketing, and doing user testing on a particular feature, so it’s impossible to say “we must do this first.” Each company I work with is different and so the process has to be flexible to account for time, budget and necessity.

Italic bold phrases in this document (ie. Personas) represent actual deliverables that will most likely be produced as a result of doing the activity, and are all things I have produced for various clients and employers. I will eventually offer a complete library of deliverable samples for people who are new to user experience, or companies who are curious about those documents. I hope you enjoy these!

>> User Experience Activities | Ecommerce
>> User Experience Activities | Software