I have been in the business of conducting usability studies and designing websites for quite a while now (over 15 years now). I have built up a list of usability testing techniques and user experience blogs over the years. I use these to keep abreast on the latest trends in user experience and design. In the spirit of the upcoming World Usability Day on November 13, and the spirit of giving to the community, I’ve taken a list of Categories that I’ve used in the past when planning for a Usability Study. Enjoy!
Categories
ANALYTICS
Analytics uses metrics related to a website and its users to improve that website’s design. Data typically includes ways in which people come to a website as well as what they do once they get there.
CONTENT STRATEGY
Content strategy plans for the creation, curation, maintenance, and dissemination of content – text, images, audio & video. It further ensures an organization’s content aligns with its values and is appropriate for its audience.
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
Design philosophy is a reflective action taken to better understand our community’s design culture. Nascent ideas and opinions go on to inform our value systems, our principles, and our processes.
DESIGN RESEARCH
Design research collects story-driven information about users, helping teams better understand the people for which they design. It includes pre-design interviews and post-design qualitative testing.
DESIGN STRATEGY
Design strategy plans for a healthy design initiative relative to its marketplace. This includes everything from selling clients and colleagues on the value of design to areas of business strategy.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
Information architecture plans for the creation, structure, and maintenance of information spaces. It lends context, categorization schemas, and navigational elements to a website or application.
INTERACTION DESIGN
Interaction design plans for the usable, beautiful behavior of interactive systems. Requiring consideration of both stimulus and response, it is an inherently user-centered discipline.
RESOURCES
Resources include articles, books, conferences, infographics, podcasts, presentations, and videos related to user-centered and user experience design. Everything you never knew you always needed.
UNIVERSAL DESIGN
Universal design plans for perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust content and services. It helps ensure that our ideas are made available to the largest audience possible.
VISUAL DESIGN
Visual design maximizes the aesthetic, information-conveying capabilities of graphics and text. It’s a subdiscipline, contributing to UI Design, information design, and graphic design.