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Articles

Kate Moran

Kate Moran is a Senior User Experience Specialist with Nielsen Norman Group. She conducts research and leads training seminars to help digital product teams expand and improve their UX practice. Her research findings and recommendations are informed by her background in information theory and design, as well as her development experience.

@kate__moran

Articles and Videos

  • Analytics vs. Quantitative Usability Testing

    Both UX research techniques help you gain quantitative insight into user behavior. However, numbers aren't just numbers: the information you get from each method differs, as do the design action items resulting from collecting each type of numbers.

  • Social Media and Millennials

    Kate Meyer summarizes her user research on how companies can appeal to social media natives.

  • Stop Shaming Your Users for Micro Conversions

    Manipulinks make users feel bad about themselves in order to convince them to accept an offer or sign up for a newsletter.

  • Writing Digital Copy for Domain Experts

    These tips for writing web content for specialized audiences will help you sound authoritative and bolster your credibility. Professionals want content that is easy to scan, factual, and verifiable.

  • Ideation Is for Chumps

    Many UX designers waste precious time and effort generating multiple possible solutions when an idea is already right in front of them.

  • Flat-Design Best Practices

    Avoid the negative side effects of flat design by clearly differentiating between clickable and unclickable elements.

  • Comparison Tables for Products, Services, and Features

    Use this versatile GUI tool to support users when they need to make a decision that involves considering multiple attributes of a small number of items.

  • The Aesthetic-Usability Effect

    Users are more tolerant of minor usability issues when they find an interface visually appealing. This aesthetic-usability effect can mask UI problems and can prevent issue discovery during usability testing. Identify instances of the aesthetic-usability effect in your user research by watching what your users do, as well as listening to what they say.

  • Flat Design Decreases User Efficiency

    Though aesthetically appealing, flat designs often force users to guess which elements are interactive, leading to increased user errors and frustration.

  • Reading Content on Mobile Devices

    Readers can understand short, simple text content on mobile devices just as well as on computers, but they slow down when reading difficult text on mobile.