UX CONSULTANT
Some months ago, at Women in Tech Nottingham (WiT Notts for short), I prompted our attendees to have a paper snowball fight. Why you might ask, were we facilitating an exercise in which people hurtled scrunched up balls of paper at each other? Because it provided an opportunity for our attendees to meet and chat. …
Last night we hosted our first WiT Notts lightning talks event, it was a truly fantastic evening. At WiT Notts one of our goals is to give a voice to our speakers where they might not otherwise get heard. But more than that, to create an environment where people, especially women and gender minorities, feel welcome and …
Continue reading “What I learned from Women in Tech Nottingham lightning talks ⚡️⚡⚡️️”
Without a doubt, Hack24 has become one of the tech event highlights of my year; its only competition being the epic Tech Nottingham Christmas parties at the NVA. This year, my fourth year, was no exception. It was, however, different as I stepped away from being an attendee and donned a red volunteer hoodie. As an organiser …
Redesigned website for Derby Museums, a Museum Trust with three different locations within the city The client Derby Museums is an independent charity organisation consisting of three museums in locations across Derby city centre. The Challenge The existing website was a template website that was no longer working for them. They wanted more control of …
The big question for any website or digital product is ‘does it work for our users in order to drive and deliver our business needs and goals?’ It’s the users who turn into customers so making sure that your digital product is user-focused should be a big priority. Where should we start? How do we …
At this time of year, it’s often a good opportunity to look back on the past and see where we’ve come from before looking to the future. My first full immersion into UX was NUX3, (Northern UX conference) in 2014, an all-day event focussed on how an understanding of people can help you define, design …
Continue reading “My user experience design journey; a reflection”
A little less than two years ago, I was at my first ever hack event; Hack24. As a designer rather than a developer, I was a little uncertain about whether I had a place there but thought it sounded interesting so I’d give it a try. To my team’s utter surprise, we won the Broadway challenge …
In retail the saying goes, “the customer is always right”. Whether or not this is always the case, this sentiment often makes its way over to web design. If we treat our clients as customers, are they also “always right”? Possibly. But when web designers treat their client as the customer, they’re in danger of …
Continue reading “Understanding user goals to design better websites”
Use proto-content and highlight unfinished content. Whilst a lot of web designers advocate a content-first approach (myself included), it is not always possible to get content from clients to fit with the project schedule. If the client is providing their own copy rather than hiring a copywriter, then delays in the process can be common. …
Could design come to the aid of democracy? As a member of the design and tech community, last Friday was a dark day indeed. As someone whose career has always been within the creative industries, I worry that the tear away from Europe will have devastating effects on arts and culture. The UK seems to …