The Power and Problems of Provisional Personas in UX design

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Personas are an oft used and highly touted communication and usability tool. They can help summarize what you know about the user, highlight pain points, and point out potential opportunities to customize your products for your users. In sum, they keep product development focused on your target market, rather than the world at large.

Jeffrey Zeldman

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Jeffrey Zeldman Contributing Writer, Interviewee, and Former Contributing Editor Birthplace: United States Employer: Happy Cog Productions Title/Role: Principal Personal Web site/Portfolio: zeldman.com Memorable Quotes: “While some of us were sitting around with curly fries hanging out of our mouths, the Revolution happened. And it wasn’t even televised.” Digital Web Articles 99.9% of Websites Are Obsolete … Read more

Adobe Photoshop 5.5

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Adobe Photoshop 5.5 Got something to say? Share your comments on this topic with other web professionals In: Reviews > Product Reviews By Jesse Nieminen Published on August 28, 2001 For several years now, I’ve been working with Photoshop, and am happy to report that the folks at Adobe continue to keep this relationship vibrant … Read more

Jeff Lash

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Jeff Lash Former Columnist Birthplace: Springfield, MA, USA Employer: Elsevier Title/Role: Product Director, MD Consult Personal Web site/Portfolio: jefflash.com Memorable Quotes: “No one wants a website. A website is just a way to help someone get whatever it is that they really want.” Digital Web Articles Three Ways to Improve External Search Engine Usability Published … Read more

Adobe Photoshop 7

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Adobe Photoshop 7 Got something to say? Share your comments on this topic with other web professionals In: Reviews > Product Reviews By Jesse Nieminen Published on July 30, 2002 I was wowed by Photoshop 6’s numerous improvements, and had figured that it might be quite some time before we saw another version packed with … Read more

We Speak People Sure, Design for Web and Mobile

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We Speak People Sure, design for Web and mobile is what we do, but we recognize that the experience of actual people is central to success. We’re passionate and hard working experts who help our clients make their technology easier for people to use. We get technology, but we speak people. Learn more about us … Read more

Jesse Nieminen

Jesse Nieminen Former Product Review Editor and Cover Artist Birthplace: Upper Michigan, United States Employer: http://www.sleepwalk.net/ Title/Role: Principal Personal Web site/Portfolio: http://www.sleepwalk.net/ Memorable Quotes: “Sometimes I feel like a hitman” Digital Web Articles Adobe Photoshop 5.5 Published on August 28, 2001 MetaCreations Painter 6.0 Published on August 28, 2001 Adobe After Effects 4.1 Published on … Read more

Animosity for Animus

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Animosity for Animus Got something to say? Share your comments on this topic with other web professionals In: Columns > DigiSect By Stephen Van Doren Published on March 5, 2001 What? A strong dislike or hatred of animal fat. What? Animal fat. The stuff you cut off of a steak to enjoy the meal–the stuff … Read more

Matthew Pennell

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Matthew Pennell Former Editor in Chief Birthplace: Hertford, UK Employer: Booking.com Title/Role: Senior Web Designer Personal Web site/Portfolio: The Watchmaker Project Memorable Quotes: “Sure, I’d like to learn Ruby on Rails, but my head is full.” Digital Web Articles Pro JavaScript Techniques Published on December 26, 2006 Book Review: Bulletproof Ajax Published on April /files/includes/10.css, … Read more

Digital Web Magazine

Search Install the Mozilla Firefox Digital Web Search Plugin. Or, grab it from Mycroft at Mozilla Development. Your search for “Annual Readership Survey” matched 167 pages: News: Winter Break Yes it’s Wednesday and you are probably coming here to look for the new… Page: Reader Survey Results January 2005 – December 2005 Demographics Age Gender … Read more

Meryl K. Evans

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Meryl K. Evans Contributing Editor Birthplace: Fort Worth, TX Employer: meryl.net Title/Role: Content Maven: writer * editor * researcher Personal Web site/Portfolio: meryl.net Memorable Quotes: “Content is a great way to build relationships, personal and professional.” Digital Web Articles Hugh Forrest Published on February 3, 2002 Geoffrey Hiller Published on March 19, 2002 Adam Greenfield … Read more

Digital Web Magazine

Search Your search for “Annual Readership Survey” matched 148 pages: News: Favorite Color Cameron Adams is holding a survey that he hopes will settle the dispute about… News: Ezines, mags, zines, and blogs, oh my Today’s topic within the web community seems to be publishing. In specific… News: 15 April 2002, 8:36 AM NetDiver.net releases … Read more

Molly E. Holzschlag

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Molly E. Holzschlag Former Associate Editor Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States Employer: Molly.Com, Inc Title/Role: President Personal Web site/Portfolio: http://www.molly.com/ Memorable Quotes: “Working as a Web designer demands a sense of compromise. I call it ‘Control Freak Zen Master.’ You learn to control whatever you can about your designs–and the moment you can no … Read more

Digital Web Magazine

Search Install the Mozilla Firefox Digital Web Search Plugin. Or, grab it from Mycroft at Mozilla Development. Your search for “Annual Readership Survey” matched 167 pages: Article: Chris Hofmann Clearing Up the Confusion Change Is Good What The Future Holds Clearing Up… Article: Fresh Styles for Web Designers: Eye Candy from the Underground The Fresh … Read more

Nathan Smith

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Nathan Smith Former Columnist Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Employer: Fellowship Tech Title/Role: UX Developer Personal Web site/Portfolio: SonSpring Memorable Quotes: “When using a menu system on the web, you are making an unwritten statement to the user: ‘The links in this section are for navigating to different parts of this website,’ period. When you have … Read more

Digital Web Magazine

Search Your search for “Annual Readership Survey” matched 148 pages: News: Lessons Learned from SXSW 2004 While we are on the subject of SXSW and lessons learned: Kevin Smokler has… News: Top /files/includes/10.css Web Companies to Work For Recently I gathered feedback from several experts within the web industry and… News: Is Fixing Really the … Read more

Nick Finck

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Nick Finck Former Publisher Birthplace: Portland, Oregon, United States Employer: Blue Flavor Title/Role: Director of User Experience Personal Web site/Portfolio: NickFinck.com Memorable Quotes: “The ‘right’ design is the design that is you. Design speaks, it breaths and more importantly it communicates emotion. Good design says a lot without saying a single word or even displaying … Read more

Digital Web Magazine

Search Install the Mozilla Firefox Digital Web Search Plugin. Or, grab it from Mycroft at Mozilla Development. Your search for “Annual Readership Survey” matched 167 pages: Article: Tony Byrne Digital Web Magazine: Tony, what question are you surprised you’re not… Article: Think Beyond – Think Global Thanks in part to Tim Berners-Lee and the invention … Read more

Peter-Paul Koch

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Peter-Paul Koch Former Columnist Birthplace: Amsterdam, the Netherlands Employer: self Title/Role: freelance web developer Personal Web site/Portfolio: http://www.quirksmode.org/ Memorable Quotes: “Keep it Simple” Digital Web Articles Forms, usability, and the W3C DOM Published on May 30, 2003 Keep it Simple Published on August 26, 2002 Fluid Thinking Published on October 2, 2002 Client Centered Design … Read more

Nick Finck

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Nick Finck Former Publisher Birthplace: Portland, Oregon, United States Employer: Blue Flavor Title/Role: Director of User Experience Personal Web site/Portfolio: NickFinck.com Memorable Quotes: “The ‘right’ design is the design that is you. Design speaks, it breaths and more importantly it communicates emotion. Good design says a lot without saying a single word or even displaying … Read more

Shirley E. Kaiser

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Shirley E. Kaiser Contributing Writer, Interviewee Birthplace: San Rafael, CA, USA Employer: SKDesigns Title/Role: Owner, designer, developer, cook and dishwasher Personal Web site/Portfolio: Brainstorms and Raves Memorable Quotes: “A thwing* hit me.” * my 3-year-old’s way of pronouncing ‘swing’ Digital Web Articles Designing for Search Engines and Stars Published on April 9, 2001 Subscribe to … Read more

Contributors

Contributors (AWS), Amazon Web Services Contributing Writer(s) Adanc, Mac Cover Artist Alcantara, Lea Contributing Writer Alexander, Keith Contributing Writer Allen, Dean Contributing Writer Allsopp, John Former Columnist Almond, Michael Contributing Writer Almqvist, Pär Contributing Writer Alvin, Jennifer Former Assistant Book Review Writer Amos, Jim Contributing Writer Andersson, David “liorean” Andersson Contributing Writer Andrew, Rachel Contributing … Read more