Author Paul Boag

December 29, 2021 — Scoping, estimating, and running digital projects can often feel like an exercise in futility. In this article, Paul Boag explains why you need to start breaking your projects down into manageable phases and why that’s the best way to achieve significant benefits. Read more…

July 23, 2021 — Many web design agencies consider it a badge of honor that they win work exclusively through word-of-mouth recommendations. In this article, Paul Boag explains why that is entirely the wrong attitude and what to do about it. Read more…

March 5, 2021 — Our lives as UI designers have never been easier with a host of amazing tools at our disposal. In this article, Paul Boag explores some of the useful tools that he keeps close at his work. Read more…

June 4, 2020 — Getting a client or stakeholder to approve a design concept can be challenging. However, testing can make it easier, as well as ensuring you have the right solution. Read more…

May 13, 2020 — Arguing that dark patterns are unethical is not enough on its own. We will also need to make the case to clients and colleagues that they are damaging to business. Read more…

April 21, 2020 — Creating a compelling landing page involves a combination of clear focus, persuasive copy, considered design and relentless testing. Without all four your page will fail. Read more…

March 6, 2020 —

The web has become a noisy place with millions of companies trying to get users’ attention. No wonder many of them apply increasingly desperate techniques to encourage users to act on their websites. We’ve seen an explosion of dark patterns attempting to manipulate users into handing over personal data or make a purchase. Jump to table of contents.

However, these manipulative techniques come with hidden costs in customer service, maintenance, support, return processing fees, and social media backlash. They cost a fortune and hurt business irrevocably. Download a free PDF sample (17.3 MB) (ePUB, Kindle).

How, then, do we encourage users to act? If dark patterns are not the answer, then what is? How do we increase clicks without shady tricks? These are the questions that Click! answers.

In the book, you’ll learn how to:

• measure conversion effectively
• build a user-centric sales funnel
• address objections and reduce risks
• build trust and overcome skepticism
• persuade people well without alienating them
• boost business KPIs sustainably
• apply quick wins to help business today
• establish long-term strategy for better conversion.

304 pages. High quality hardcover + eBook (PDF, ePUB, Kindle). For designers, marketers, entrepreneurs and product owners. Written by Paul Boag. Designed by Veerle Pieters.

December 8, 2017 — When designing a website, it’s important to focus on better understanding the folks who will visit the website. If you haven’t allowed user feedback to influence the design and content of your website, then it’s probably time you did. Paul explains why. Read more…

August 29, 2017 — One of the biggest fallacies of our industry is that good work speaks for itself. It is a self-delusional lie that those with a good reputation tell themselves to explain their success. I will let you in on a secret; I am not that amazing at my job. Don’t get me wrong; I am good. But I am not a leading mind in our industry or anything. But, people often talk as if I am. Read more…

August 8, 2017 — Have you ever read a post that has left you feeling wholly inadequate because you know you can’t live up to the high standards they layout? Well, that is how I feel when I read posts about how much to charge my clients. Read more…

July 28, 2017 — To help you avoid making similar mistakes and wasting valuable years of your life, Paul Boag shares his lessons learned and hard truths at the start of his career. Read more…

June 13, 2017 — We have all been there. That dreaded moment when after weeks of work we have to present our progress to key stakeholders, and they mercilessly tear it apart. It feels inevitable, but usually, we can avoid these situations. Read more…

April 18, 2017 —

Many companies will say they care about the user experience. They even know it is important. And yet, every day we are surrounded by companies treating customers with utter disrespect, both offline and on. They sell their data and waste their time. They leverage dark patterns and demonstrate complete indifference.

This is why we are releasing a new book today called “User Experience Revolution,” a practical battle plan for placing the user at the heart of your company. Companies desperately need to change, and the book shows you how to help them do that. Get the book now.

March 14, 2017 — Editor’s Note: Making big changes doesn’t necessarily require big efforts — it’s just a matter of moving in the right direction. We can’t wait for Paul’s new book on User Experience Revolution (free worldwide shipping starting from April 18!), and in this article, Paul shares just some of the little tricks and techniques to bring around a big UX revolution into your company — with a series of small, effective steps. It feels like everywhere I turn somebody is saying that user experience is the next frontier in business, that we have moved beyond the age of features to creating outstanding experiences. But for many of us who work on in-house teams, the reality feels a million miles away from this. Getting management to understand the importance of user experience seems so tough. Even colleagues don’t seem to see the benefit. For those of us in-house, how are we going to get to this golden age of user experience design that people keep promising us? Read more…

June 11, 2015 — Dealing with ROT can feel intimidating on a large site. In fact, it can feel impossible. But it isn’t. Often it is just a matter of putting some processes in place to deal with it. Read more…

January 16, 2015 — “Stories have defined our world. They have been with us since the dawn of communication, from cave walls to the tall tales recounted around fires. They have continued to evolve, with their purpose remaining the same: to entertain, to share common experiences, to teach and to pass on traditions.” Read more…

December 30, 2014 — It is not unusual for web designers to lose money on a project as a result of the client endlessly iterating on the design. After a few bad experiences, we start to exclude the client from the process. We limit their number of iterations and avoid consulting with them. Read more…

November 21, 2014 — Should designers be able to code? This topic never seems to die, with its endless blog posts, Twitter discussions and conference talks. But the developer’s involvement in the design process seems to be addressed very little. This is a shame, because developers have a huge amount to add to discussions about design. Read more…

October 27, 2014 — It was pouring with rain and I found myself driving. I didn’t know where I was going. I just needed out of the house. I needed to escape. After what felt like an age I found myself parked outside my parents’ house, just staring at their front door. Eventually I got out of the car, rang the doorbell and burst into tears the moment my mum answered. Read more…

September 12, 2014 — The internal systems of many organizations have shocking user interfaces. This costs companies in productivity, training and even the customer experience. Fortunately, we can fix this. Read more…

June 20, 2014 — Have you ever wondered how digitally healthy the organization where you work at really is? If you’re a freelancer or work at an agency, well, have you thought about the health of your clients? Read more…

April 25, 2014 — Our users are precious about their time and we must stop wasting it. On each project ask two questions: “Am I saving myself time at the expense of the user?” and “How can I save the user time here?” What is the single most precious commodity in Western society? Money? Status? I would argue it is time. Read more…

March 14, 2014 — I want to let you in on a secret — writing a book is a scary experience. You pour your heart into it and then wait for the reaction when it is published. You can be certain of only one thing: You will be criticized. Read more…

November 25, 2013 — Can you imagine your company having a chief electricity officer? Seems ridiculous doesn’t it, but many large businesses did when electricity first started to power the industrial economy. Electricity is such an integral part of our working life that it is impossible to imagine life without it. Companies just couldn’t operate without power, but it wasn’t always that way. Read more…

July 18, 2013 — “Can you put together a digital strategy for us to review?” Requests like this strike fear into those of us who work on the Web. What do we know about putting together strategy documents? Read more…

July 2, 2013 — In the 1950s, when consumer electronics such as vacuum cleaners and washing machines emerged, there was a belief that household chores would be done in a fraction of the time. Read more…

March 27, 2013 — For most websites, navigation is not particularly challenging. A primary navigation bar, supported by sub-navigation, is often enough. Typically, sub-navigation displays the parent, siblings and children of the current page. Read more…

February 11, 2013 — Spam! Monty Python may love it, but the rest of us are not so convinced. But what is spam? Are you spamming users without realizing it? And is there any place in the world for email marketing? Read more…

December 11, 2012 — Do you own a website? Do you want to be number one on Google? Whatever you do, don’t spend money on aggressive search engine optimization (SEO). I know that sounds like an extreme position to take. However, a lot of website owners see search engine optimization as the answer to their search ranking woes, when things are considerably more complex. Read more…

November 16, 2012 — Which category does your organization’s Web presence fall into? Over- or under-managed? When it comes to the Web, few organizations have found the Goldilocks zone. Their online activities are either under-managed with minimal policies and procedures, or dogged by bureaucracy and internal politics. Read more…

October 5, 2012 — Are we cheating our clients when it comes to mobile? More precisely, are we allowing our desire for mobile work to get in the way of providing our clients with the best solution for their business needs? This is the uncomfortable question we asked ourselves recently when redesigning our agency’s website, and we want to discuss it with the broader Web community: You, dear reader. Read more…

July 18, 2012 — We love to tell users that they have done something wrong. We have error messages for everything from poorly formatted telephone numbers to incorrect logins. But what about our user’s successes, do we celebrate them? Do we tell them they are doing something right? Read more…

June 29, 2012 — Working as a Web designer can suck sometimes. This is especially true when you don’t get to work alongside the client. Unfortunately this scenario is more common than you would think. Many organizations have been carefully structured to keep the Web designer and the client apart. But is that really sensible? Would projects run much smoother without your account manager or boss acting as the middleman? Read more…

June 19, 2012 — There is no doubt about it, I am a hypocrite. Fortunately nobody has noticed… until now. Here’s the thing. On one hand I talk about the importance of having a good work/life balance, and yet on the other I prefer to hire people who do personal projects in their spare time. Read more…

June 4, 2012 — The term “social media guru” has almost become a dirty word within the Web community. In fact, despite most of us being early adopters of social networks such as Facebook or Twitter, we consider social media the purview of marketeers. Read more…

September 21, 2011 — This is not a normal Smashing Magazine post. I’m not going to teach you something new or inspire you with examples of great work. Instead, I want to encourage you to complete a Web design challenge. I believe this will help to address a weakness that exists in many of our design processes. Read more…

August 25, 2011 — Have you ever wanted to take a client by the collar, shake them around vigorously and demand that they take you seriously because you are the expert? Read more…

August 11, 2011 — Are you fed up with hearing about yet another Silicon Valley Web application built with fairy dust and funded by magic pixies? If so, this post is for you. Read more…

August 3, 2011 — Truth be told, I am a philistine. When people talk about recycling, I don’t think of saving the planet. In my earlier post, “Lessons Learned: Productivity Tips For Running A Web Design Business,” I wrote about how we can reuse and recycle what we do in the Web industry to save time and money. Read more…

July 26, 2011 — In recent years there has been a move away from generalist Web designers to specialists such as content strategists, user experience architects and front-end coders. Where once there was a single job, there are now many, with ever-narrower spheres of responsibility. Read more…

July 20, 2011 — It didn’t work out as you expected, did it? The freelance life was supposed to give you more time with the family and free you from that incompetent boss. Read more…

May 6, 2011 — “How did you do that?” My colleague Leigh sounded impressed. He had been working with a problem client for weeks trying to get design approval. Then I came along and was able to get signed-off in a single conference call. “Can you teach me how you did that?” he asked. I mumbled something about years of experience, but the truth was I didn’t have a clue. It just seems I can find design approval easier than most. Read more…

February 4, 2011 — Here’s a question for you: would you agree that creating a great user experience should be the primary aim of any Web designer? I know what your answer is… and youʼre wrong! Okay, I admit that not all of you would have answered yes, but most probably did. Read more…

September 6, 2010 — If you work as part of an in-house Web team, you have my sympathy. If that in-house team is within a large organization, then doubly so. Being part of an in-house Web team sucks. Trust me, I know. I worked at IBM for three years and now spend most of my days working alongside battle-weary internal teams. Read more…

June 27, 2010 — Whether freelancers, small agency founders or website owners, too many of us work alone. The downside of the digital revolution is isolation. The Web allows us to do alone what previously would have required a team of people. It also frees us from the constraints of geography, allowing us to work from home. But while these are benefits, they also leave us isolated. Read more…

February 19, 2010 — Meet John the client. John runs a reasonably large website. He is a marketer who considers himself smart, articulate and professional. That said, he doesn’t know much about Web design, and so he needs your help. John comes to you with a clear set of business objectives and asks for a quote. But what happens next leaves John confused, frustrated and extremely unhappy. Read more…

October 11, 2009 — Whether you are getting a client to sign off on a website’s design or persuade a user to complete a call to action, we all need to know how to be convincing. Read more…

August 9, 2009 — I have reached the conclusion that most organizations have a blog simply because they feel they should. Many marketing departments fail to “get” blogging and have poorly visited blogs with few comments. Because their blog fails to perform, they conclude that blogging is an ineffective marketing tool and either remove it entirely or leave it to languish. Read more…

May 12, 2009 — Which is more important,driving traffic to your website or encouraging as many people as possible to see your content? Believe it or not, they are not one and the same. Too often, we as website owners live and die by Web analytics applications. We fret about bounce rates, unique visitors and dwell time. Read more…

March 5, 2009 — Choosing a content management system can be tricky. Without a clearly defined set of requirements, you will be seduced by fancy functionality that you will never use. What then should you look for in a CMS? Read more…

February 11, 2009 — We all make mistakes running our websites. However, the nature of those mistakes varies depending on the size of your company. As your organization grows, the mistakes change. Read more…

February 3, 2009 — Twitter is the new big thing. With everybody from Britney Spears to Barack Obama now on Twitter, it is safe to say the social networking platform has gone mainstream. For many users worldwide Twitter has become a crucial tool for maintaining contacts, exchanging opinions and making new connections. But what does this mean for the service, and how can we, website owners, actually use it for our purposes? Read more…

January 1, 0001 —

The web has become a noisy place with millions of companies trying to get users’ attention. No wonder many of them apply increasingly desperate techniques to encourage users to act on their websites. We’ve seen an explosion of dark patterns attempting to manipulate users into handing over personal data or make a purchase. Jump to table of contents.

However, these manipulative techniques come with hidden costs in customer service, maintenance, support, return processing fees, and social media backlash. They cost a fortune and hurt business irrevocably. Download a free PDF sample (17.3 MB) (ePUB, Kindle).

How, then, do we encourage users to act? If dark patterns are not the answer, then what is? How do we increase clicks without shady tricks? These are the questions that Click! answers.

January 1, 0001 — Many companies try to create a great experience for customers. But few are willing to make the changes required to deliver on that promise. In fact most don’t even realize just how bad their experience can be. Read more…

January 1, 0001 — Nothing is more frustrating than stubborn management entangled in dated workflows and inefficient processes. That’s why we created “Digital Adaptation”, a new practical book on how to help senior management understand the Web and adapt the business, culture, team structure and workflows accordingly. Read more…

January 1, 0001 —

Many companies try to create a great experience for customers. But few are willing to make the changes required to deliver on that promise. In fact most don’t even realize just how bad their experience can be.

Do you feel like the only person at your company who understands what a huge competitive advantage a good user experience provides? Are you frustrated that your management team doesn’t see the value of creating great user experiences? Do you struggle to convince colleagues to approach projects from a users perspective?

January 1, 0001 —

Nothing is more frustrating than stubborn management entangled in dated workflows and inefficient processes. That’s why we created “Digital Adaptation”, a new practical book on how to help senior management understand the Web and adapt the business, culture, team structure and workflows accordingly.

The web has changed the rules of business. The best practices of the industrial economy no longer apply in the digital age. What was once safe ground is no longer so, and organizations need to adapt.