Sorry, Devs – User is The King – Get Over It!

in Usability & Design on
My mobile devices

Lately, I have been under fire on Twitter for saying that Apple’s iOS offers the best user experience among mobile platforms. This cannonade comes particularly from the developers’ side of the equation, not the UX professional one. I guess this is more due to the perception that I am some sort of a fan boy when it comes to this particular brand. I might be to some extent and I certainly find myself subconsciously biased on occasions. After all, I’ve been using Apple products since 2006 on a personal level and many others in my work – Microsoft, Dell, Android, Blackberry, HP etc… None of the latter has ever offered me a user experience getting even closer to the one that iOS has.
I am getting here on the wrong foot, am I not?
A professional UX designer should never rely on his/her own perception of a product’s user experience. In fact, one should be looking into research findings, user needs, platform objective, target audience, market share, platform design restrictions and ease of tasks performance. So let me take a step back from my previous statement about the iOS.

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The Meanings of a Favourite and Retweet

in Social Media & Networks on

Twitter’s popularity in the past couple of years has grown exponentially. Although this platform is trying hard to position itself as a first choice for the news and media aficionados, it is just as much a communication platform.

In the following lines I will be reflecting on the various meanings a Favorite and a Retweet bearing with their respective execution. I do that mostly from the position of an observer and one that experiments with communication types and strategies on Twitter. I find myself always fascinated by the way different wording, format, language or tone trigger different responses and a variety of social engagement approaches.

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