Category Archives: Technology

Finally! Microsoft celebrates IE6 death!

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

As a user experience designer and prototyper, one of the painful aspects of creating websites is checking browser compatability. With the demise of IE6, there’s one less browser version we have to worry about! Hooray! Check out the article on … Continue reading →

Posted in Accessibility, Prototyping, Technology, User Centered Design (UCD), Web Usability | Leave a comment

Phoenix World Usability Day Celebration 2011

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

“To the heart of design” is a phrase that best describes the largest and most successful World Usability Day (WUD) event produced in Phoenix, Arizona, since its first event in 2007. PayPal hosted and sponsored the event, kicked off with … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, User Centered Design (UCD), User Experience, Web Usability, World Usability Day | Leave a comment

User Experience Experts are in Demand

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

As an independent user experience (UX) consultant, this year has been very busy, with more and more companies and clients realizing that user experience and usability is a critical component of any product or device’s design and and development process. … Continue reading →

Posted in Application Usability, Product Design, Product Development, Technology, Usability Consulting, User Centered Design (UCD), User Experience | Leave a comment

What Facebook Can Learn From Netflix When Disrupting the User Experience

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

I love it when journalists don’t let big companies get away abusing their customer’s experience. Here’s the latest user experience blooper, pointed out by Scott Davis at Forbes Magazine: Any time you mess with the user experience, you’re going to … Continue reading →

Posted in Marketing Usability, Technology, Usability Bloopers, Web Usability | Leave a comment

Design Tools Get the Human Touch

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

I was recently interviewed by Beth Stackpole for DesignNews magazine on how traditional CAD and design tool software is being made over to deliver a more natural and compelling user experience for engineers and designers. Here’s my section of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Application Usability, Technology, User Centered Design (UCD) | Leave a comment

EMR Usability – Standardization vs Usability and Innovation

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

This is a classic debate – whether it is nobler to be consistent or to be usable! EMRs have notoriously been both inconsistent and also very unusable. So, what to do – fix the inconsistencies or fix the usability issues? … Continue reading →

Posted in Application Usability, Healthcare Usability, Product Design, Product Development, Real-World Usability, Technology, Users | 2 Comments

NIST, ONC plan measures, testing to improve health IT usability

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

I’ve worked in healthcare usability for a long time and with the impetus to move all of healthcare to electronic platforms, there have been many, many unusable implementations of EHRs and EMRs. The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) … Continue reading →

Posted in Application Usability, Healthcare Usability, Technology, User Centered Design (UCD) | Leave a comment

You’re not a user experience designer if…

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

It is very comforting that the “User Experience” field has become more popular and well-respected over the years. That makes me, as a UX professional, feel good about the work we do. However, as Whitney Hess points out in her … Continue reading →

Posted in Real-World Usability, Technology, Usability Consulting, User Centered Design (UCD), User Experience, Users, Web Usability | 1 Comment

User Experience Myths

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

Similar to the “Golden Rules” of user experience design that I have written about and cover in my presentations and seminars, there are many common myths about users and the user experience. Some myths have been around for many years, … Continue reading →

Posted in Product Design, Product Development, Real-World Usability, Technology, Usability Testing | Leave a comment

Healthcare Experience Design Conference – Boston, Mass – April 11, 2011

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

As a user experience professional designing EMR, EHR and case management software in the healthcare industry, there are few opportunities to educate, learn, network and focus on UX in healthcare. Well, look no longer!! I’m excited to hear about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Application Usability, Healthcare Usability, Mobile Usability, Real-World Usability, Technology, Usability Consulting, User Centered Design (UCD), User Experience, Web Usability | Leave a comment

How one UI button change ruined the taxi ride!

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

Mark Hurst of Good Experience recently wrote on How one button changed the customer experience of New York City taxis Installed a few years ago, a touch-screen user interface allowed customers to choose a tip of 15%, 20%, or 25%. … Continue reading →

Posted in Product Design, Real-World Usability, Technology, User Experience | Leave a comment

Why are User Experience (UX) and User-Centered Design (UCD) getting a bad rap?

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

There have been a number of recent articles, blog posts and list comments trashing user experience design (UX) as unneeded, misguided and counter-productive to good product design and development. As a long-time user experience practitioner, I was taken aback by these … Continue reading →

Posted in Application Usability, Healthcare Usability, Marketing Usability, Mobile Usability, Product Design, Product Development, Technology, Usability Consulting, User Centered Design (UCD), User Experience, Web Usability | 1 Comment

Theo Mandel and Larry Marine present “Agile – When Theory Meets Reality” at RM PDMA

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

Theo Mandel and Larry Marine present “Agile – When Theory Meets Reality” at the Rocky Mountain PDMA monthly meeting on September 16, 2010. Larry Marine, NPDP, is President at Intuitive Design Group and member of RM PDMA. The Product Development and Management … Continue reading →

Posted in Application Usability, Product Design, Product Development, Technology | Leave a comment

Observing the Customer Experience

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

Mark Hust of Good Experience runs a wildly successful and informative conference, Gel, every year that focuses on user experience. One of the key speakers was Alex Lee, president of OXO. From Good Experience’s blog: Product developers everywhere could learn … Continue reading →

Posted in Real-World Usability, Technology, User Centered Design (UCD) | Leave a comment

Electronic Pill Bottle Cap Increases Medication Use, Study Says

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

Finally, technologists provide enhancements to healthcare usability! Usability of medicine pill bottles, that is!! I work on the usability of healthcare software systems. I’m glad to see that usability professionals are also working on medical devices and other areas of … Continue reading →

Posted in Healthcare Usability, Real-World Usability, Technology, User Centered Design (UCD) | Leave a comment

Ideo – The Future of Self-Service Banking

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Theo Mandel, Ph.D.

ATM banking systems haven’t kept up with touchscreen technology. Look what you can do on an iPad and then look at your bank’s ATM screen. There’s no reason an ATM needs to have an out-dated on-screen with buttons on the … Continue reading →