Duncan Stephen

Linknote — 25 October 2017 — 32 words

13 things I learned from six years at the Guardian – Mary Hamilton

The departing executive editor, audience at the Guardian shares these pieces of advice, many of which would be applicable beyond journalism.

Linknote — 24 October 2017 — 32 words

Culture

When did girls start wearing pink? — Jeanne Maglaty, Smithsonian

Today’s color dictate wasn’t established until the 1940s, as a result of Americans’ preferences as interpreted by manufacturers and retailers.

Linknote — 24 October 2017 — 23 words

Accessibility — Human-centred approaches — User experience

Trends that exclude – Hampus Sethfors, Axess Lab

A lot of familiar tips here — but all stuff well worth bearing in mind.

Linknote — 24 October 2017 — 21 words

Digital

10 things about transformation and change

Amazon have never had a transformation or change plan. (I’ll just let that one hang there…).

Linknote — 23 October 2017 — 26 words

User experience

Don’t let your brain deceive you: Avoiding bias in your UX feedback – Hunter Jensen, Smashing Magazine

Tips on avoiding four big biases in user research.

Linknote — 23 October 2017 — 35 words

Human-centred approaches

How Futura became the most ripped-off typeface in history

Companies from Best Buy to Forever 21 use Futura, but probably not the original. That’s because it has been endlessly reimagined, imitated, and blatantly ripped off.

Note — 22 October 2017 — 43 words

Culture — Media

Until 1935, Disney had the monopoly on technicolor. Other studios, like Fleischer and Iwerks, settled for a two-color system. pic.twitter.com/ImfNHNovFI

— Chappell👻Ellison (@ChappellTracker) October 11, 2017

In fairness, those screenshots don’t look too different to many films these days.

Linknote — 20 October 2017 — 47 words

Digital — User experience

Getting titles wrong: what you can learn from our mistake – John Ploughman, Inside GOV.UK

Getting the title of your content right is vital. When you get it right, users can find it and use it. When you get it wrong, it can really cause problems.

Linknote — 19 October 2017 — 46 words

Digital

Why transformation fails – and how to avoid it – Paul Taylor

A short but rip-roaring post about what needs to change about change.

If you step behind the rhetoric of transformation you’ll see it is usually about reinforcing existing business models rather than truly challenging them.

Linknote — 19 October 2017 — 29 words

User experience

Talking with users in a usability test

Three sound and practical usability test facilitation techniques for interrupting or answering users during a behavioral research study. Talk less, learn more.

Linknote — 18 October 2017 — 27 words

Digital — Human-centred approaches — User experience