: I have a passion for design patterns. I like to understand the reasons why certain patterns work and dislike using conventions without knowing why they have become successful. : http://shortboredsurfer.com/2010/09/understanding-the-power-of-the-goldilocks-effect/

: Restaurants are great test labs for testing neuromarketing techniques. It’s easy to change offerings, menus, and pricing, and one gets immediate feedback on what’s working and what’s not. One technique I’ve written about from a product standpoint but which is also used by restaurants is decoy pricing. : http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/neuro-menus-and-restaurant-psychology.htm

: Back in October, a community member submitted Audible.com to darkpatterns.org for using a variant of the Forced Continuity dark pattern. When a user adds monthly billed items to their basket and proceeds into the checkout process, Audible fails to show that the items listed are not a one-off fees, and will in fact reoccur [...]

: As part of a tradition over the last two years (2008 and 2009) it is once again time for the gifts for user experience geeks post for the 2010 holiday season. This list is a collection of items I have come across over the last year that would make the ideal gifts for UX [...]

: I’ve written a lot of stuff over the last few years about information architecture. And I’m working on writing more. But recently I’ve realized there are some things I’ve not actually posted publicly in a straightforward, condensed manner. (And yes, the post below is, for me, condensed.) : http://www.inkblurt.com/2010/11/10/lets-get-something-straight-about-ia/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

: It should already be clear by now that Google is continuously trying to optimize the usability of their search engine (e.g. fading navigation on the google homepage and Google Instant) and this latest implementation, called Instant Preview is no different. : http://www.paulolyslager.com/google-instant-previews-search-results

: A 2 day public training course on 26th and 27th May 2010 in central London. Learn techniques to help you understand your users better and design products which are efficient, effective and satisfying to use. : http://www.system-concepts.com/training/usability-and-ucd/user-centred-design.html

: The co-founder of Kicker Studio (and author of Designing for Interaction and Designing Gestural Interfaces) explains to us that “User Experience” isn’t a discipline, so much as a big tent. We talk about his work on the Mag+ project and he reveals some tricks-of-the-trade about how to get “the long wow” with a product. [...]

: The term “online dating” is misleading. On existing dating sites you don’t date online at all. Rather, you search and email (and possibly IM) online. The date, if it happens at all, takes place in the real world… and is usually unsuccessful.* : http://blog.vkistudios.com/index.cfm/2010/11/4/Online-Dating-Why-the-User-Experience-Sucks-And-Where-the-Future-Lies

: In designing mostly interactive systems (spaces, processes, and artifacts for people to use), I must increasingly stretch the limits of communication tools to explore and document what it will be like to interact with the things I create. Artifacts used in communicating design create an inherent frame of experience between the subjective response of [...]