In an effort to provide a quality experience to our users, it’s necessary to be consistent in the design and content of a website. Consistency is a word we tend to hear frequently. The reason for this is: A harmonious user experience separates an amateur from a professional.

After signing the contract, it might seem the hard work is behind you—but that’s far from the truth. As Alan shows us this article, the final of his series, there are plenty of idiosyncrasies facing UX professionals in their work with larger clients.

Large companies are the financial backbone of the web industry, but their size and complex organizational structure can make them challenging to work with. In this, the first of a two–part series, Alan explains to readers how to introduce user–centered design to large companies; forging relationships that will mature throughout the duration of the project.

It’s 2010 and everyone loves usability, right? It may may look that way from our comfortable perches atop the blogosphere, but if you’ve tried to sell usability services to small businesses, you know that it can be a frustrating and time-consuming experience.

Engineered to make the design process as intuitive as possible, wireframing tools allow designers to construct visual representations of their interface before development begins. In this post, Tom Walker gives readers an overview of 15 of the most widely-used applications available. How does your wireframing tool of choice measure up?

Familiarize yourself with Rich Internet Application technologies and the best UI controls for creating your application. Rich Internet Application technology has empowered us to create really amazing user experiences. The best RIAs on the web today rely on a discreet set of UI controls to provide a lively and timely experience.

Its not a matter of who wins or loses, it’s how you play the game. In this post, Andrew addresses the conundrum facing many UX designers: conducting user research appears to diminish our role as an experience designer. Properly executed, though, design research makes for a valuable return on investment.

The number of applications available for User Experience professionals is ever-expanding; much of this growth happening over the last year! As a consequence, experts are increasingly turning to novel tools in order to collect data and generate reports regards their websites. We’ve compiled a list of some of the best and are giving discounts and licenses away to our readers.

Nate Bolt and Tony Tulathimutte, of the creative research firm Bolt | Peters, have conducted literally hundreds of interviews; so it’s only fitting that we return the favor. Read on to learn more about what design research means to you and how you and yours, and how you can get started. If that’s not enough, we’re even giving away books!

Ostensibly, the design process for websites and applications is a breeding (and proving) ground for new ideas. But a confluence of ill-defined experience design process, development methodologies, and varying entry points for those in the design disciplines requires us to take a second look. In this post, Andrew articulates some of the more novel ways in which experience designers are looking at the design process in order to orchestrate better user experiences.