Revealed: The world's Top Ten User Experience Gurus

From the econsultancy /Bunnyfoot Usability and User Experience Report 2007:


As part of a recent usability research exercise, respondents named their favourite gurus in the field of user experience, with the aim of producing a Hall of Fame.

For those who haven't seen the Usability and User Experience Report 2007, published this week in association with Bunnyfoot, we can now reveal the top 10 experts in this field - ranked by the number of survey respondents who mentioned their names (or their books).

Our Hall of Fame ....

1) Jakob Nielsen
2) Steve Krug
3) Jared Spool
4) Donald Norman
5) Jeffrey Veen
6) Jesse James Garrett
7) Louis Rosenfeld
8) Jenifer Tidwell
9) Seth Godin
10) Eisenberg brothers

Of course, this isn't meant to be an objective assessment of who is the "best" user experience expert, but it does give an idea of how well established these people are in the field - and how successful they have been in getting their ideas into the consciousness of the wider internet design and marketing communities.

Given that we surveyed more than 700 people with an interest in usability and user experience, we feel this is a pretty good indication of those with the highest-profile personalities.

Jakob Nielsen, interviewed recently by E-consultancy, came top of the list. No surprises there although several respondents explicitly said that they did not rate him.

According to Wikipedia: “Nielsen is a leading web usability pundit, with an expertise based on human factors engineering, but he has earned the ire of graphic designers … for failing to balance the importance of other user experience considerations such as eye appeal.”

In second place - though with half as many nominations - came Steve Krug, a usability consultant and author of Don't Make Me Think, a book which was commonly cited as an excellent reference tool.

Also on the podium, in bronze medal position, was Jared M Spool, founder of User Interface Engineering, a research and consulting firm specialising in website and product usability. He was also one of the authors of the book Web Site Usability: A Designer's Guide.

Associated Link: More details and biographies of the world's top 10 user experience gurus

Six Metrics for Managing UI Design
Source: Russell Wilson, 28 August 2008
 
A proposal of six metrics to be used for managing a user interface design department.

Don't Judge a Form by its Cover
Source: Formulate Information Design, 27 August 2008
 
The saying "don't judge a book by its cover" reminds us that looks are deceptive. It turns out that this idiom applies to forms too.

Beijing Olympics - special State of the eNation report
Source: www.abilitynet.org.uk, 26 August 2008
 
In this special report AbilityNet asked disabled users to try out the Beijing Olympics website in our interaction lab.

It's Who You Know (Or Don't)
Source: Stanford Magazine, 23 August 2008
 
Online social networks are powerful and ineffectual all at once.

Winning Considerations for Interactive Content
Source: UXMatters, 22 August 2008
 
Rich options for interactively presenting content also come with a challenge.

Microsoft sees end of Windows era
Source: BBC, 20 August 2008
 
Microsoft has kicked off a research project to create software that will take over when it retires Windows.

News you can Use
Source: Gerry McGovern, 18 August 2008
 
When the homepage is dominated by news you are not necessarily communicating more.

Feeling Through your Computer
Source: Discoveries and Breakthroughs Inside Science, 16 August 2008
 
A newly designed device lets computer users feel the texture and movement of what they are seeing in front of them.

User interviews - A basic Introduction
Source: Webcredible, 15 August 2008
 
It's surprising how few people have a real understanding of who's using their site.

Helping Visitors find Information
Source: UN, 13 August 2008
 
A new report outlines the key findings from surveys that explored factors which influence the quality of online experience.