Why content is more important than code
…and what I don’t mean by that.
Category: User experience
Beginner’s guide to content design
Many people are intrigued by content design but unsure if it’s the right fit for them. So here is my beginner’s guide to being a content designer. Find out why it might be a better fit for you than you might think — and why it might not be.
A service design approach to improving student experience
Slides from my UCD Gathering talk on Thursday 15 October 2020, about the work we’ve been doing at the University of Edinburgh to improve the experience of students and staff working with course materials digitally.
UX design’s UX design problem
How a chat at a conference underlined that user experience itself has a user experience problem — and what we can do about it.
Speaking at UCD Gathering
I’m pleased to be speaking at UCD Gathering, a new virtual conference taking place on 15 and 16 October, about my team’s service design approach to improving the way staff use our virtual learning environment to better meet students’ needs.
Service design and the Mario complex
At Service Design in Government, I discovered that service designers see themselves as Mario. But that is an unrealistic model for what service design should be.
Understanding what students really need from a virtual learning environment — presented at UX Glasgow virtual meetup
This week I presented to the UX Glasgow community about our user research into the needs of students and staff working with course materials digitally at the University of Edinburgh. It was my first real experience of presenting to a live audience remotely.
View from Service Design in Government 2020
Last week I attended the Service Design in Government conference, held here in Edinburgh. It was a hugely thought-provoking event. Almost every session I attended was excellent, sparking new ideas and thoughts that I am still getting to grips with almost a week on.
I’ll be speaking at UX Scotland 2020
The session will outline the comprehensive programme of user research the University of Edinburgh’s User Experience Service conducted on behalf of the Learn Foundations project. It will show how, as the project went along, we adopted a service design approach in order to better meet the needs of both students and staff.
The false paradox — accessibility and aesthetics
Accessibility and aesthetics are not in conflict, despite the claims of some.
Get out of your comfort zone and talk with people
To do good stuff, you have to get out of your comfort zone. 10 years ago, just before I got my first job after graduating, I was a scared person. I still am.
User experience lessons from a university dumping Blackboard
One university got so frustrated with Blackboard they finally ditched it. But this experience highlights a big problem with almost all enterprise software.