For newcomers: StartupDigest Design is the members-only weekly email newsletter of the best articles in the design industry.

You can become a member for free here.

Happy Friday! 

This week is all about usability, including four basics of user measurement, the importance of conducting your own research, and a behind the scenes look at A/B testing from 37signals. Also, if you want to meet some cool designers, come to the Designer Fair.

Have a great weekend.

StartupDigest Design is curated by:
Jeremy Merle – Creative Director, Brightcove
Enrique Allen - Founding designer, 500 Startups

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

The Four Corners Of Usability Measurement
By Jeff Sauro, Measuring Usability

Nice summary of the basic elements of usability testing and research.

Outsourcing Your User Research Is Like Outsourcing Your Vacation
By Jared Spool, User Interface Engineering

User research is obviously valuable for identifying and preventing usability issues, however, conducting your own research is equally as valuable for directly exposing your team to the process and results.

Behind the Scenes: Highrise marketing site A/B testing part 1
By Jason Leister, 37signals.com

Interesting overview of 37signals A/B testing process, including some surprising results.

Behind the Scenes: Highrise marketing site A/B testing part 2
By Another AC, 37signals.com

Interesting overview of 37signals A/B testing process, including some surprising results.

Come to the Designer Fair

Designers are building cool things all over Silicon Valley – it’s about time for show and tell to learn from each other.

 

Site of the Week

Reinvigorate

Simple way to track your users behavior with heatmaps.

 

For newcomers: StartupDigest Design is the members-only weekly email newsletter of the best articles in the design industry.

You can become a member for free here.

Happy Friday,

This week’s edition focuses on Google+ and their usability issues, how retailers leverage psychology to influence your purchasing behavior, optimizing the performance of your mobile app through design, and strategies for working as a designer in an agile development environment.

Check out the Site of the Week for some inspiration from the little details that make great user experiences.

Have a great weekend.

- Jeremy
@jeremymerle

StartupDigest Design is curated by:
Jeremy Merle – Creative Director, Brightcove
Enrique Allen - Founding designer, 500 Startups

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

Why Google+ Will Succeed Wildly At First
By Bruce Upbin, Forbes

Google+ has had a flurry of positive reviews lately from the tech and design community, but is that their key audience? This article raises a good question about the broad adoption of the social networking site and usability of their core features.

Can We Ever Digitally Organize Our Friends?
From kevnull.com

Kevin Cheng from Twitter asks tough questions like “Why we need groups?” and highlights what Google+ does right and what it sucks at.

Psychological Manipulation In E-commerce Design
By Kristina Bjoran, UX Booth

Interesting and intelligent insight on how retailers leverage human behavior and design to motivate us to share, join, and spend more.

Seven Guidelines For Designing High Performance Mobile User Experiences
By Ivo Weevers, Smashing Magazine

Design choices affect performance and are critical to the success of your app. Here are seven actionable guidelines for optimizing the performance of your mobile app through design.

Change On A Dime: Agile Design
By John Anderson, UX Magazine

Integrating design into an agile development environment is tricky. Here are some tips for working as a designer in an agile environment.

 

Site of the Week

Little Big Details

Whenever someone asks me what differentiates good from great when it comes to user experience, I always say it’s about the details. This blog highlights the little details that make a product experience delightful to use.