User Experience
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You’ve mastered UX. Where to next?
While User Experience is, like, at least six occupations rolled into one, it’s still possible to reach a point in your career when you’re asking yourself – “There must be more to it than this!” Time for a bit of a shake-up? 1. Carry on as usual but shift into a different industry While designing…
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Walking Wikipedias
Experience Design is a constantly changing landscape where many of us get to temporarily step inside the protective bubble of organisations and industries most people only ever read about.
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So it’s about time I updated my blog isn’t it?
Well… …I don’t have a plan but it looks like I’m back. I think I’m going to be less glossy and a bit more gritty from now on. You’ll not only be hearing about my adventures in Experience Design but whatever’s rocking my world right now. I’ll reveal more about my personal life, thoughts and…
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Answers to those Questions
Occasionally I get emails from aspiring User Experience professionals asking a bunch of questions about the industry and how I got into it. Over the years I’ve had people contacting me from around the world including the USA, Europe, The Philippines, India and New Zealand. I thought it might be useful to share some of these questions…
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What’s Hot for UX?
There appears to have been a slight upsurge in recent months of companies looking for User Experience (UX) people in New Zealand. But taking a peek at the advertised jobs you could be left scratching your head when faced with the diversity of job descriptions and increasingly bizarre skill-sets expected of the ever-malleable and super-human…
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Good Onya!
On Friday night I was the proud recipient of an ONYA – awarded to this website for ‘Best content (personal)’. The other finalists in the category were Alison Green of WebWeaver for The Gathering Archives, and Jared Gulian for Moon over Martinborough. Sorry guys! What makes the ONYAs so special is that the judging panel…
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A Suite Makeover
Ever heard the saying “you’re your own worst client?” In our industry it’s common knowledge that a DYO (or “Design Your Own“) website is one of the trickiest things a web/interactive/design company can undertake. First of all, paid work always comes first. So despite your best efforts the DYO falls by the wayside, only to…
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I Like Visuals
Here’s some of the information graphics I created in 2009 while working at Click Suite. These featured in various reports such as online strategies and concepts. I started to experiment a bit more, beyond the usual bar-graph, but I have a long way to go before I’m in the same league as the visualisation gurus…
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Tap Dancing on Paper
When it comes to creating a user experience specification for a website, it\’s usually a straight forward exercise. You create wireframe diagrams and show the web pages in different states. But how do you specify user interactions for a touch-screen that\’s ever-changing, highly interactive and has unpredictable curious creatures influencing the user navigation? This was…
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User Experience Outside the Square
User Experience professionals need to get their heads out of the computer screen and look at the bigger picture.
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Tsunami of Confusion
The information graphics created to inform people on the Samoan tsunami about to hit New Zealand didn’t send a clear message. When disaster hits it spreads on the internet like wildfire. But the information graphics the public are served up are next to useless for making an informed decision on whether or not you’re in…
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11 Must-Follow Kiwi User Experience Evangelists on Twitter
Being down-under often means we are off the radar. But did you know that New Zealand is also brimming with UX (User Experience) evangelists? This is my list of Twitter must-follows for any New Zealander interested in locals talking about usability, user experience, information architecture and interaction design. This is by no means a comprehensive…
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Tabatha the Service Design Goddess
Business owners, service delivery managers, business analysts and user experience consultants could learn a lot from tacky reality TV shows like ‘Tabatha’s Salon Takeover’. The straight-talking Ozzie, Tabatha Coffey lends her sound advice and styling expertise to help make over America one salon at a time in this new series (Friday’s, 9.30pm on TV3). In…
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Power to the People!
A presentation from my archives – many of the points made in these slides are still relevant today. Extracts from a workshop at GOVIS 2007. This one-day intensive workshop taught attendees how to incorporate user goals and agency needs into the web design process. Workshop presenters: Zef Fugaz, Bob Medcalf, Elyssa Timmer. Feedback from the…
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Kids Clothing Online: Shopping Experience
A presentation from my archives – many of the points made in these slides are still relevant today. Extracts from a 2006 presentation to one of the world’s largest manufacturers and retailers of kids clothing. We investigated their in store experience and how this might be translated online. E-Commerce for Kids Fashion Clothing from Zef…
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Notes From User Experience Week 2008
A presentation from my archives – many of the points made in these slides are still relevant today. Notes From User Experience Week 2008 from Zef Fugaz
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People to the Power
The electricity industry is undergoing a revolution in New Zealand and overseas. Here’s a look at some of the latest activity…
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Don’t Mash the Method
Is ‘process’ the same as ‘method’? Many people seem confused. Does it matter? Sort of. It matters when your job is to take a look at how a company runs its design and production line. Over the years I’ve re-engineered the in-house processes for a handful of IT and New Media companies. I’ve learnt that,…
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Free UX Templates
Just over a year ago I took part in an amazing team competition called FullCodePress to build a website from the ground-up in 24hrs. Read all about it Since then I’ve had numerous requests from User Experience professionals around the world for copies of my information architecture templates and artifacts.
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MEGA LED
At Click Suite we’re researching the feasibility of an outdoor LED installation at a top secret location somewhere in Wellington. It’s in the early stages but what’s evident is that just like tall building envy, there’s LED envy. But is big HUGE MASSIVE always better? China has the biggest LED display right now, but as…
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What’s Your Strategy for the Downturnaround?
The seeds of the next big thing are being planted now. Are you getting ready to turn the downturn into an upturn? No-one yet knows what the new economy will look like, but one thing is for sure, 2009 is going to be pretty turbulent. This is why it’s crucial to know your customers and…
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Don’t get GUI : Get NUI!
Have you been getting NUI recently? If you’ve ever used a touch screen then you’re well on the way to the brave new world of ‘Natural User Interfaces’. Well, that’s what they were calling it over at UX Week in San Francisco. But it’s also know as ‘Gestural User Interfaces’ by many. NUI will be…
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Stamps Licked?
You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get a stamp for a postcard in San Francisco. Getting a postcard is the easy part. But buying stamps? They should make it a new sport at the Olympics. The place that sold me the postcards told me to try the liquor store next door. But they…
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Flying like a Conchord
On my 12-hour flight to San Francisco, Air New Zealand offered a plethora of inflight entertainment including a grumpy hostess, movies, music and computer games. I’m one of those people who feels overwhelmed by too many choices when visiting a record store or bookshop. The Air NZ inflight entertainment system made me feel the same…
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Seven Deadly Design Sins
Designers who don’t pick up on their users’ confusion to the environment in the interweb may be risking more than a fine – they may be putting their souls at risk of damnation, according to a new zef[a]media list of seven deadly sins for the 21st century. As the seven ancient wonders of the world…
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FullCodePress: User Experience Perspective
Occasionally I get emails asking about the (rapid) information architecture process I followed for FullCodePress last year. Steve Batey from Meld Consulting asks all the right questions and has agreed to share my answers with you! [Steve] What were your thoughts going into the event about your role in the process? Were you concerned…
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It’s about the experience…
While Provoke has a golden reputation for being leaders in Microsoft-driven solutions, this doesn’t restrict our dUX (Design & User Experience) team from crafting an awesome experience for other technology platforms. The most recently example is sustainability.govt.nz – with the information architecture, visual design and HTML/CSS templates created by Provoke (in close collaboration with the…
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auckland spoolfly buys lulu
In case you’re wondering what I’ve been up to recently, here’s a quick update… Fly Buying The new site has a fresh visual design and an improved user experience. This is the first stage of an ongoing programme of work so expect some further enhancements in future (and yes, we plan to fix the flickering…
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How Robust?
I have a lot of respect for Jared Spool – but I almost choked when I received this invite… Building Robust Personas in 30 Days or Less Jared M. Spool, User Interface Engineering Length: 90 Minutes Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at 1PM ET (see the time/date in your area) Price: $129.00 (includes handout) 30 days…
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Unravelling Visual Design
At Provoke we’re increasingly focussing on visual design and how this influences a user’s comprehension of content, interactivity and pathways. Moments before unravelling…Coming up with a nice-looking visual design usually isn’t the greatest challenge – the real magic lies in the delicate interplay between the brand, content, navigation pathways, interactive tools and how the visuals…
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Crazy idea archives : part one
My perfect job would be sitting around sipping soy lattes and coming up with bright ideas for the next “killer app”. Now, from the archives of the legendary zef[a]media bondi blue iMac – crazy ideas that never happened! p.u.p {a portal concept from 1999 – then updated in 2000} Impound your PIM – and get…
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reinventing dux
I’ve been reinventing the deliverables for the Design & User Experience (DUX) team at Provoke… The many facets of design and user experience – user requirements, business goals, content models, site maps, information architecture, task flows, interaction design, visual design – and more… Trying to fit this all into one tidy package has proven a challenge,…
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Provoke chief wins (another) award
Mason (‘Mase’) Pratt, chief executive of Provoke Solutions, has has been named NZIM/Eagle Technology young executive of the year. How young? Well, he’s first boss I’ve had who is younger than me (and I’m still in my mid-30s).Mase was a founding partner of Provoke, in 2001, at the age of 25. His citation points out…
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Software Specifications With Vision
When it comes to building software many New Zealand companies unnecessarily struggle with design and development issues. Much of this is due to software specifications without adequate pictures. Below is the specification a building architect has written for a new house: …the total floor area of the building is to be approximately 250 square metres…
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NZ Firms Need to Catch Up with Overseas
More time for usability now development tools are more efficient An interview with Zef Fugaz by Stephen Bell, Computerworld (November 2004) If New Zealand developers are to increase exports of software and maintain an edge against overseas competitors then they would be well-advised to catch up on usability practice, says Zef Fugaz, a specialist in…
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Designing for Loyalty
Astute web designers do more than just design with your customers in mind- they actually design with your customers- in person. Zef Fugaz looks at ways to get your users on board, and looks at New Zealand success stories. This article originally appeared in Unlimited Magazine (June 2004) The dotcom crash taught the young web…
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