The Top 10 UX Booth Articles of 2016

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Make no mistake: 2016 has been quite a year. Here at UX Booth, we’ve not only seen a lot of growth in new readership (hi, all you newcomers!), but also seen growing commitment and engagement with our existing readership. And boy have we seen some fantastic articles.

In 2016, we published 53 articles. Nearly 1 million folks reading these articles. We’re so excited to continue to facilitate conversations and provide a platform for new and seasoned voices in the community. And we’ve got big plans for 2017, so we’ll see you just around the corner!

In the meantime, here are this year’s top-performing articles. If you had a favorite read that you don’t see on this list, please let us know in the comments or on Twitter! Happy holidays to you and yours!

The Cream of the UX Booth Crop

#1. The New Rules of Form Design
We’ve all heard that when it comes to form user experience, shorter is better. But this guideline fails to account for other factors such as which fields are used, how they’re designed, and how engaging the form experience is. That’s why Mike Madaio showed us the new rules of form design.

#2. Complete Beginner’s Guide to UX Research
UX research—or as it’s sometimes called, design research—informs our work, improves our understanding, and validates our decisions in the design process. In this Complete Beginner’s Guide, readers got a head start on how to use design research techniques in their work, and improve experiences for all users.

#3. Complete Beginner’s Guide to Content Strategy
Ready to get real about your website’s content? In this article, we took a look at Content Strategy—that amalgamation of strategic thinking, digital publishing, information architecture and editorial process. Readers learned where and when to apply strategy, and how to start asking a lot of important questions.

#4. A Usable Guide to Cognitive Dimensions
The 14 cognitive dimensions were created more than 20 years ago and have a special focus in programming languages, but are incredibly relevant to design today. In this article, Fabio Muniz introduced UX practitioners to each dimension and its applicability to the design process.

#5. 40 Hours to Prototype
When her team was given one week to design and test a new product, Monika Adarsh and her team was shocked. Still, they followed the 5 phase design sprint pioneered by Google Ventures, and made it work, and now she shows us how.

#6. Make Design Decisions with a Purpose
With so many fantastic research options for any given project, how do you pick the right one? UX designer Gina Yost used Leah Buley’s book, The User Experience Team of One, to guide her choices, and found that the right research gives purpose to design decisions.

#7. The Three Views of (Information) Architecture
Architects of buildings and of information face an identical challenge: how do you visually display an abstract concept? Dan Klyn introduced us to three views that architects use to showcase structures, and taught us how these translate to IA.

#8. Complete Beginner’s Guide to Universal Design
Universal design reminds us that age and abilities (physical and mental) impact our experiences. In this Complete Beginner’s Guide, readers learned how universal design and its close cousin, accessibility, impact the user experience, and how to implement it in their work.

#9. Complete Beginner’s Guide to Analytics
Analytics is more than just a numbers game. It’s a way of tracking and analyzing user behavior over time. In this article, we explored this intersection of user experience and data, so that budding designers can add productive web analytics to their process. The UX Booth team revised this post this year, so it’s current and fresh.

#10. Searchers and Browsers: the Personality Types of UX
When it comes to navigating a website by browsing (menus) or searching (search bar), it turns out that the two strategies are not created equal. Writer Tucker FitzGerald explained why not.

Honorable Mentions

Using Proto-content for a Better User Experience
Content first is all well and good, but how do you get the content for a design prototype? Author Rob Mills, from Gather Content, walked us through a number of great ways to create, borrow, and make do without proto-content.

Revised: Recommended Books for the UX Beginner’s Library
What books are must-haves for the UX practitioner’s bookshelf? Kristina Bjoran some great books that we should all be checking out.

How to Practice Mindfulness in UX
When we find ourselves creatively depleted, or worse, doubting our competence and the value of our work, no one wins. This is where practicing mindfulness can come in handy, and creative director Yegor Tsynkevich helped.