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Articles

Alita Joyce

Alita Joyce is a User Experience Specialist with Nielsen Norman Group. She is a mixed-methods researcher with a specialization in cognitive psychology and behavioral observation. Alita has published research on a diverse range of topics, such as interface design patterns, young technology users, social media, emerging technologies, and strategic design initiatives. 

@alitamjoyce

Articles and Videos

  • Prototypes vs Wireframes in UX Projects

    An overview of the similarities and differences between user-interface wireframes and prototypes, as well as the audiences that are best suited for each.

  • Usability Heuristic 2: Match Between the System and the Real World

    No. 2 of the top 10 UX design heuristics is to speak the users' language, use terms familiar to the user, follow real-world conventions, and make information appear in a natural and logical order; all in the interest of achieving a match between the system and the real world.

  • Formative vs. Summative Evaluations

    Formative evaluations are used in an iterative process to make improvements before production. Summative evaluations are used to evaluate a shipped product in comparison to a benchmark.

  • 10 Usability Heuristics Applied to Video Games

    Following Jakob Nielsen’s 10 heuristics for user-interface design will improve the user experience of video games.

  • Usability Testing with Minors: 16 Tips

    To guarantee an effective study with users under 18-years old, recruit extra participants, design a child-friendly lab, prepare a plethora of age-appropriate tasks, and avoid being too authoritative.

  • 3 Myths About Teens and Tech

    Debunked myths about how teenagers use computers and technology, based on our usability research with users aged 13-17 years.

  • Journey Mapping: 9 Frequently Asked Questions

    Journey maps are useful for building common ground in an organization, but practitioners often have questions and misunderstandings about their scope and how to create them.

  • Teenager’s UX: Designing for Teens

    Teens are (over)confident in their web abilities, but they perform worse than adults. Lower reading levels, impatience, and undeveloped research skills reduce teens’ task success and require simple, relatable sites.

  • Tooltip Guidelines

    Tooltips are user-triggered messages that provide additional information about a page element or feature. Although tooltips aren’t new to the web, they are often incorrectly implemented.

  • Gamification in the User Experience

    Gamification is the usage of game mechanics in non-game contexts, such as mainstream UX design. The most successful implementations of gamification begin with a learner-centered mindset.