Different types of subscription models and the strategy behind them — The idea of subscriptions has been around for a while, before the digital era we live in today it could have been subscribing to a magazine, by filling out a paper form and posting that off in the mail. There is nothing new with the concept of subscriptions but in…

We have this amazing ability to filter out noises that are not relevant and focus on one sound, sometimes called selective hearing the cocktail party effect is the ability to focus on a specific noise whilst filtering out others. This ability does not just exist for people, but also some…

The goal-gradient effect says that as a user gets closer to a goal their efforts will increase — Background to this effect First purposed by Clark Hull in 1932, he found that rats that were placed in a straight alley ran faster as they went from the start line to reaching the food at the other end. Examples of this effect Examples of the goal-gradient effect are: Profile building progress bars such as LinkedIn or Facebook…

First identified by Timur Kuran and Cass Sunstein the availability cascade (also known as the truth effect) is the idea that as a piece of information is shared more in the public the more likely that message is to be perceived to be plausible, a self-reinforcing cycle. A recent example…

The Wizard of Oz testing method is a way fool the users into believing their using the real experience in order to get accurate feedback on your service or product. The OZ method has gained more attraction in usability testing and prototyping in recent years. The major benefit of this…

When we are in groups it can feel easier to follow the group and the collective decisions that the group make. The idea of groupthink goes one step further to suggest that regardless of how irrational the decision is we would rather there be conformity in the group so if…

Why IA is more important than ever to create products and services that our users will use — An important part of user experience (UX) design is information architecture (IA). IA is the process of deciding how to arrange the parts of something into something that is understandable and meaningful. A good starting place for this article is seeing what the non profit organisation, The Information Architecture Institute…

If you had to rate yourself 1 to 10 most people on average would rate themselves fairly high on the scale, some even as high 10. Although they may be justified in coming to that conclusion, this thought process of rating yourself highly can have negative consequences. The Dunning-Kruger effect…

My two pence on what it takes to be a good leader — Recently I started thinking about the most effective way to manage a team, especially in my industry of digital technology, as well as what it takes to be a strong leader. This article is a mixture of my own experience and inspiration from a recent interview I watched between 2…