Information grade — Potentially useful concept
A perspective on the similarities and differences between information, data, content and knowledge.
Human-centred decisions
I lead teams and organisations to make human-centred decisions. I am currently a lead content designer, specialising in structured content and information architecture, at the Scottish Government.
Email — contact@duncanstephen.net
A perspective on the similarities and differences between information, data, content and knowledge.
I found some very vintage but surprisingly pristine litter in Morningside a few weeks ago.
My eye was drawn by the Savacentre branding (not a thing any more).
I was surprised to discover that this partial leaflet dates from spring 1990.
Unfortunately the coupons are no longer valid.
You can now follow me on Bluesky: @duncanstephen.net.
As with my other social media accounts, its main purpose will be to let my followers know when I have posted something on my blog. But if you’re on Bluesky, feel free to follow me there.
While you’re at it, check out the other ways you can follow me and my blog. My favourite way is RSS.
I have long been an advocate of agile ways of working. One of the things that originally drew me to user experience was the opportunity to have evidence-based ways of understanding the changes you need to make. So I was surprised whenever I encountered people who believed that user experience methods ran counter to the principles of agile.
Happy Halloween. May your CMS be headless.
I have decided to refresh my approach to blogging (yet again). There are a couple of main drivers for this.
Every discipline feels hard done by in the current climate. But looking beyond your own discipline could help you get your next role.
The latest chapter in my career has closed, as I have found an incredibly exciting new opportunity. But the past couple of years have given me a lot to reflect on.
Perception–Cognition–Action (PCA) analysis is a method of uncovering the root causes of usability errors and accessibility challenges in systems. By understanding these underlying issues, designs can be enhanced in order to avoid hazardous situations and cater to a wide array of user needs.
The approach is particularly recommended for medical devices, and is described in the international standard IEC 62366 on the application of usability engineering to medical devices. But this powerful technique can go so much further than that. It can help us understand how to improve usability and accessibility for a wide range of products.
My article for the User Vision website describes how the Perception–Cognition–Action approach works, how it aligns with established accessibility best practice, and how we at User Vision have applied it to transform a complex medical system used by both patients and healthcare practitioners.
I will also be speaking about the technique at this week’s UX Edinburgh meetup, which is an accessibility special in recognition of Global Accessibility Awareness Day. If you are around on Thursday 16 May at 18:30, it would be great to see you there.
I will be speaking at the UX Healthcare conference in London on Friday 12 April. Book now to learn about using Perception-Cognition-Action analysis to improve accessibility and outcomes in healthcare products.
In late January our second daughter Imogen was born.
I went to just two concerts in 2023, and they were both of Pulp’s performances in Scotland.