Top 10 UX Articles of the Decade 2010–2019
Announcements
The following user-experience articles published between 2010 and 2019 were the ones our audience of UX professionals read the most, based on analytics for the full decade.
- Usability 101: Introduction to Usability
How to define usability? How, when, and where to improve it? Why should you care? Overview defines key usability concepts and answers basic questions. - The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think
Across 33 rich countries, only 5% of the population has high computer-related abilities, and only a third of people can complete medium-complexity tasks. - When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods
Modern day UX research methods answer a wide range of questions. To know when to use which user research method, each of 20 methods is mapped across 3 dimensions and over time within a typical product-development process. - Top 10 Mistakes in Web Design
The ten most egregious offenses against users. Web design disasters and HTML horrors are legion, though many usability atrocities are less common than they used to be. - Open-Ended vs. Closed-Ended Questions in User Research
Open-ended questions prompt people to answer with sentences, lists, and stories, giving deeper and new insights. Closed-ended questions limit answers: thus tighter stats. - Design Thinking 101
What is design thinking and why should you care? History and background plus a quick overview and visualization of 6 phases of the design thinking process. Approaching problem solving with a hands-on, user-centric mindset leads to innovation, and innovation can lead to differentiation and a competitive advantage. - Mega Menus Work Well for Site Navigation
Large, rectangular menus group navigation options to eliminate scrolling and use typography, icons, and tooltips to explain users' choices. - When and How to Create Customer Journey Maps
Journey maps combine two powerful instruments—storytelling and visualization—in order to help teams understand and address customer needs. While maps take a wide variety of forms depending on context and business goals, certain elements are generally included, and there are underlying guidelines to follow that help them be the most successful. - UX Research Cheat Sheet
User research can be done at any point in the design cycle. This list of methods and activities can help you decide which to use when. - Placeholders in Form Fields Are Harmful
Placeholder text within a form field makes it difficult for people to remember what information belongs in a field, and to check for and fix errors. It also poses additional burdens for users with visual and cognitive impairments.