Intro
Those of you wanting to start or further your UX career and live in the South East of England should come to the UX Career Clinic in Brighton on 13th September where I'll be one of the guest mentors offering help and advice alongside representatives from American Express, Clearleft, Ribot and many other greats.
Where else would you get great career advice from all these talented people ;-)
User Interface
Visual indicators to differentiate items in a list
Interesting study looking at the most effective use of visual cues.
How default settings rule the world
This article demonstrates the importance that 'defaults' have on our usage of products.
Research
The Next 100 Things You Need To Know About People: #119 — Games Can Enhance Brain Flexibility
Interesting article from an interesting lady (I'm a big fan) about the effect of gaming on your cognitive abilities.
Most common family types in America
Who are you designing for or servicing in the family home?Interesting look at new definitions of the family/household structure.
Strategy
7 Rules driving the psychology behind great product design
An indepth look at how to achieve that 'in the zone' status with some real practical usage examples.
Die dashboards die! Why conversations will reinvent software
An interesting look at redesigning Google Analytics with a conversational UI. Would certainly help the vast majority of inexperienced users.
Careers
Google has A solution for the UX design education gap
"Google, which along with the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) has developed a BFA in User Experience Design, one of the first four-year undergraduate degrees to be offered in the field."