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Staying on top of all the great, useful ux-related info out there can be challenging, especially during really busy times.

I'd love to hear from other UXers:

1) Which is your top go-to source for ux information? i.e. if you had to pick just one during a really busy day, which would it be? - a twitter ux list you’ve compiled? an aggregator like igoogle, netvibes? something else?

2) What process have you found works best/most efficiently for you? e.g. putting a set time aside prior to the start of your workday to sift through news? Intermittent ‘information snacking’ at intervals throughout the day, aggregating it somehow?

There are many great resources for ux-related news and information out there, including some great ones that have been listed in response to previous questions on this site, e.g. Good UX resources, UX, IXD audio podcasts to follow, UX Folks worthy of Following in Twitter? What I'm hoping for with the above questions is to identify people's top 'pick and preferred process.

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4 Answers

up vote 6 down vote

Personally I have found that having a well organized RSS feed list is the best way to go. I use the Google web based Reader, "Google Reader", rather than a desktop application. This way I can keep track of my feeds through my phone or computer. I have a specific "UX" Group of RSS feeds that currently contain the following feeds:

Adaptive Path - http://feeds.feedburner.com/adaptivepath Agile UX - http://feeds2.feedburner.com/AgileUx Cooper Journal - http://feeds.feedburner.com/cooper-journal Finch Fresh Thinking - http://feeds2.feedburner.com/Finch Jeff Patton's Holistic Product Design & Development - http://agileproductdesign.com/blog/apd_blog.rss JND.org - http://www.jnd.org/index.xml Johnny Holland - It's all about interaction - http://feeds.feedburner.com/JohnnyHolland paper & pencil - http://feeds2.feedburner.com/PaperAndPencil The Web Usability Blog - http://webusability-blog.com/feed/ Top Questions - UX Exchange (This site) - http://uxexchange.com/feeds UIE Brain Sparks - http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/feed/ Usability Post - http://www.usabilitypost.com/feed/ UX By Design - http://uxbydesign.org/feed/ UXmatters - http://www.uxmatters.com/index.xml

These are all fantastic feeds so it is really hard to pick a favorite, but if I had to I would have to say Johnny Holland is my favorite as of this post.

I like to spend at least 30 minutes a day to pour through the feeds. I "Star" (mark as a favorite) the feeds that I want to read but don't have time for at that moment. Then when I get some time I go back to the stared feeds and read through.

The key is to keep up on the feeds or else they will pile up. 30 minutes a day should do it. Usually great for night time reading to you give you time to stir things over in your head as you go to bed or so that you can refer to what you read when you are fresh in the morning.

This is a great question. I think all of us really need to be on the bleeding edge of what is going on out there with regard to UX. It literally changes everyday.

Good Luck!

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up vote 2 down vote

I will talk to the process side of your question.

Jeremy above says "It literally changes every day". I think this is true... but then again, there are some aspects that really honestly do not change, and usually these are the things that are hugely important. E.g. being customer (user) centric, seeing the bigger business picture, delivering something relevant and of value, and so on.

I consider myself very lucky as I work client side so am not moving around lots of different industries. Still I think more and more it's important that UX people bring "domain knowledge" to the party. In most businesses now, there is usually a team or even >1 team with "web knowledge". Get enough people together and they will talk about UX type issues. You can't expect to start a project with a company like that - even if you /your team has lots of UX experience - and think you know the business. This is a problem I have seen many times when working with agencies - some people presume to think they know better than the MD!

Coming back on track - I try to focus myself on a few key "learning goals" rather than try to know everything at once. At the end of the day it is not reasonable to think you can know everything! At the moment I am getting into brands, experience economics and authenticity. This is a big enough topic to keep me occupied and to inform what I have on my plate for the next 6 months. Oh, and also how to employ social media to derive business value. But that one's easy :)

In my view, setting yourself some clear goals and being focussed on achieving them is a much more fulfilling strategy than trying to "boil the ocean" and failing.

HTH, DJ

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up vote 2 down vote

I tend to get my UX news and articles through a mix of RSS feeds and Twitter. Quite a few are web design sites/blogs, but frequently overlap into UX.

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up vote 1 down vote
  • uxexchange.com
  • commadot.com
  • smashingmagazine.com

I have about 30 more feeds in my google reader. Some post once a month, others three times a day. Start building your collection.

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