psychology

Josh Clark shares nine principles to guide high-performing teams to deliver faster/better/cheaper in an era of shrinking budgets.

The unlikely pairing of capitalism and wellness has insidious effects, Liza Kindred writes. There are parallels for UX here, too.

Tijmen Schep coins a phrase to describe the chilling effect of the reputation economy on the expression and exploration of ideas.

The best technologies disappear into the environment to minimize distraction from the content or experience at hand. Yet we design for distraction, and we call it engagement. When you say “engagement,” I now hear “theft of attention.”

Designers often conflate device context with user context—or worse, with user intent. “This is mobile, so they’ll never want to do that.” ”This is mobile, so it’s aimed only at users on the go.” Friends, this is hooey.

When behind-the-scenes systems replace common sense and customer expectations. A parable at the coffee stand.

My latest scheme to improve productivity and creative flow: Screw around. Waste time. Make stuff. Banter. Play.

The Louvre lifts a photo ban, and visitors go insane. A small change in the rules can spark dramatic behavior shifts, not always for the better.

A new bike-sharing program in Paris suggests that a modest fee buys good behavior.

The Paris Marathon prompts your correspondent to ponder what makes creative people tick in adversity.

A creative totem distracts you from the mundane and everyday just long enough for your mojo to kick in and save the day.

Audio-obsessed museum visitors prefer to listen to their audio guides rather than look at the art, revealing a lesson in interface design.

Don Norman despairs that simple doesn’t sell, and the blogosphere reacts. What makes simplicity so difficult?

When designer’s block strikes, hit up Mother Nature. You’ll be surprised what you might learn.

A Rembrandt painting captures the odd psychology of software development.