Author Paul Boag

November 19, 2024 — Discover how AI is reshaping web design, boosting productivity in design, coding, UX, and copywriting while amplifying human creativity in a new article by Paul Boag. Read more…

September 3, 2024 — Designing for digital products requires a different mindset than traditional websites. It’s all about continuous adaptation, refining, and iterating as user behavior and needs evolve. Paul Boag reflects on the key differences, including how the frequency of usage impacts your design approach and what you can do about it. Read more…

August 16, 2024 — Discover effective pricing strategies for digital projects. Learn how to balance fixed pricing, time and materials, and value-based approaches while managing client expectations and scope creep. Read more…

July 29, 2024 — Many UX professionals often find themselves working alone, and usually face more projects impacting user experience than they can handle. In this article, Paul Boag explains how UX teams can be transformed into a significant driver of customer-centric innovation within organizations. Read more…

June 24, 2024 — The biggest mistake you can make in UX design is to launch a website or app and then walk away. Monitoring and improving after launch will benefit users and your metrics. Nothing will bring bigger gains. Read more…

June 9, 2023 — Unleash the power of creative limitation! Learn how constraints aren’t barriers but instead stepping stones to innovative design. Find out how to challenge unproductive restrictions and leverage the rest to your advantage. Read more…

March 23, 2023 — Content matters! Unfortunately, when it comes to informational websites, content quality is often poor. There is no magic answer to fix that. However, there are practical techniques you can use to improve the copy on your websites and ensure your users find the content they are looking for. Read more…

March 10, 2023 — Instead of telling you once again what the best practice is and adding to your imposter syndrome, let’s concentrate on some practical approaches to user research that we might be able to fit into our existing projects without being left disillusioned. Read more…

January 31, 2023 — Throughout a customer journey (particularly in B2B), there will be interactions that are primarily between two people rather than a human and an interface. In this article, Paul Boag explains why you cannot improve the user experience without considering the entirety of the UX journey. Read more…

April 14, 2022 — Whether you work in-house or run a digital agency, there are occasions when you will consider hiring freelancers to supplement your team. Today, we’ll take a look into a platform known as Upwork and the best ways in finding the the right freelancers as well as integrating them into your team. Read more…

April 5, 2022 — Whether you work in-house or for an external agency, we all share one challenge — dealing with stakeholders, be they your boss, colleagues, or clients. In this post, veteran web designer Paul Boag shares his approach to getting things done in even the most challenging organizations. Read more…

March 4, 2022 — If users cannot find the answers to their questions or are not exposed to critical messaging, they will not act, and your website will fail. To prevent that from happening, you need an effective information architecture. In this article, Paul Boag provides you with a process to ensure you have precisely that. Read more…

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 — Word-of-mouth recommendation is an incredibly desirable way to win work. It requires zero marketing efforts and typically converts at a higher rate as your agency has been recommended. However, you should never rely on word of mouth alone. 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 — With so many great tools available, there really shouldn’t be any excuse for not testing with users these days. It is fast, easy and cheap. But we don’t even need to limit ourselves to testing. These tools also make user research and visualization easier than ever before, making them ideal all the way from discovery through prototype to post-launch optimization. Our lives as UI designers have never been easier with a host of amazing tools at our disposal. In this article, Paul Boag wants to explore some of the hidden gems he uses to test the interfaces he is involved in creating. 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. In this post, Paul Boag will explore some of the advantages testing design concepts can provide to us as designers, and demonstrate that you can do it cheaply and without slowing down the delivery of the overall project. Let’s begin! 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. That’s what Paul Boag has also written in his new Smashing book, “Click”. In this post, he will put together a compelling argument you can present to stakeholders to help them understand why dark patterns are a bad idea. However, before we do that, let’s agree on a definition of dark patterns. Read more…

April 21, 2020 — A landing page is a standalone webpage created to support a specific marketing campaign or targeting a particular search term. They are where users “land” when they click a link in search results, email or an ad. In this article, Paul Boag will show you how to create a compelling landing page, which 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 — The way many of us create content-driven websites isn’t quite optimal, and we need to do something about it. 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 Boag explains why. Read more…

August 29, 2017 — Success means many things to many people. However you choose to define success, it will require other people’s cooperation. It will involve landing the right job, winning the right kind of work and being able to charge enough money for your services. It would be great if that were all defined by the quality of your work, but it’s not. There is another factor at play here; your reputation. Think of reputation as a currency. A currency that you can spend to advance your career, win new clients or ensure projects run that little bit easier. It a currency that you can spend to achieve your version of success. People should respect ability, not reputation. But most clients don’t know what good looks like and so have to fall back on how other people talk about you. Read more…

August 8, 2017 — Pricing isn’t a matter of calculating a rate based on hours spent or return generated. It’s your time, and if people are willing to pay, you can charge whatever you like. Paul Boag has read many posts about the pricing of a project. From value-based pricing, to billing around Agile cycles. These are all great approaches, but in this article, he is going to share with you the rather inelegant approach (which has allowed him to run a lucrative business for the last 15 years) he takes to the subject. It begins by knowing the minimum you have to charge per hour. Read more…

July 28, 2017 — Paul Boag has been working on the web for over 22 years now, and he feels like he wasted many of those years. To help you avoid making similar mistakes and wasting valuable years of your life, in this article, Paul shares his lessons learned and hard truths at the start of his career. Read more…

June 13, 2017 — Wouldn’t life be so much easier if we didn’t need to get other people to buy-in to our work? Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way, especially in digital. What we do involves so many different disciplines working together. We have to get the support of colleagues, stakeholders and management. In this article, Paul Boag will show you that there are things you can do to make life easier. We begin, by planning ahead. Read more…

April 18, 2017 — The “User Experience Revolution” book is a practical battle plan for placing the user at the heart of your company. Companies desperately need to change, and this book shows you how to help them do that. 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! Read more…

March 14, 2017 — Making big changes doesn’t necessarily require big efforts — it’s just a matter of moving in the right direction. In his book User Experience Revolution 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. This is a marathon and not a sprint. It will take time. We need to unite with others around this common aim and vision of the future. We need to work hard to raise the profile of the customer and to approach management with care. Read more…

June 11, 2015 — Publishing is cheap. This seduces you, encouraging you to put more and more content online. But you will soon discover hidden costs. Costs that are crippling larger organizations. 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. If you create a prototype that gives people a sense of how much better the site could be, they are often more amenable than you think. Now is not the time to be timid. Now is the time to confront the ROT. Read more…

January 16, 2015 — Storytelling is not just a tool to engage users. It is also a powerful way to teach organizations more about their customers. Most organizations are reasonably good at gathering data on their users. But data often fails to communicate the frustrations and experiences of customers. A story can do that, and one of the best storytelling tools in business is the customer journey map. Think of the customer journey map as a poster pinned to the office wall. At a glance, people should be able to see the key touchpoints that a user passes through. It should remind them that the customer’s needs must always be at the forefront of their thinking. Read more…

December 30, 2014 — Web designers usually lose money on a project as a result of the client endlessly iterating on the design. After a few bad experiences, we avoid consulting with them. Unfortunately, this often makes interaction with the client even worse, so they interfere even more, creating a vicious cycle. But there is a way that enables you to produce outstanding design and maintain your profit margin! The answer lies in involving the client in the process, rather than excluding them. It involves collaborating with the client to produce a design. In this article, Paul Boag will show you how. Read more…

November 21, 2014 — 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. The truth is that many designers have a somewhat elitist attitude towards design. They believe that only they can come up with good design ideas. Everybody has the ability to make good design suggestions. Admittedly, a trained designer will probably be more effective at finding design solutions. But that does not mean others should not contribute. As designers, we need to swallow our pride and accept contributions from everybody! Read more…

October 27, 2014 — There will be times when it gets tough. They won’t last forever but they will happen. In this article, Paul Boag asks you to remember one thing when those times come… You are not a machine. You might think this all sounds rather depressing but, you know, it isn’t. It is meant as an encouragement, that if you are struggling you are not alone; that there is not something wrong with you, there is something wrong with the industry. Allow yourself to be human by cutting yourself some slack and getting help.  Long hours are not a badge of honor, they are a sign of failure, pure and simple. Read more…

September 12, 2014 — Shocking user interfaces costs companies in productivity, training and even the customer experience. People are fed up with inadequate internal systems. Many of those interviewed had given up on the official software. Instead, they use tools like Dropbox, Google Docs and Evernote. Frustration will only increase as millennials enter the workforce. These people are digital natives, and they expect a certain standard of software. They expect software to adapt to them, not the other way around. In this article, Paul Boag will show you how to fix this. Read more…

June 20, 2014 — As digital professionals, we like to complain that the organizations with which we work are a hindrance. But are they? Exactly how digitally-friendly are the companies we work for? Before Paul Boag helps a client go through the process of digital transformation, he needs to understand where the problems lie. He does this using a digital health check. Below is an outline of the areas that he investigates, the questions he asks and what those questions reveal. Paul’s hope is that this health check will help you better understand the organizations with which you work. Read more…

April 25, 2014 — Paul Boag would argue that the single most precious commodity in Western society is time. People hate to have their time wasted, especially online. We spend so much of our time online these days, and every interaction demands a slice of our time. One minor inconvenience on a website might not be much, but, accumulated, it is death by a thousand cuts. 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?”. Read more…

March 14, 2014 — Writing a book is a scary experience. And when it is published, you can be certain of only one thing: You will be criticized. Paul Boag’s book Digital Adaptation will soon be officially released, and he knows a lot of people are going to disagree with what he has written. They are going to argue that he focuses too much on digital and its characteristics and its impact on business, when ultimately digital is just a tool. But… is it just a tool? Read more…

November 25, 2013 — Many large businesses had a chief electricity officer when electricity first started to power the industrial economy. Companies just couldn’t operate without power, but it wasn’t always that way. Over a decade after introducing electricity, many business leaders were still building factories by water, despite no longer needing it to power their machinery. They needed help integrating the new technology into their thinking and that is where the chief electricity officer came in. Read more…

July 18, 2013 — A digital strategy is not as intimidating as it sounds. It is just a document outlining how your client should handle the different aspects of digital from the website and mobile to email. It doesn’t need to cover everything in huge depth, but instead should establish some general approaches to these different areas. This post will provide you with a crash course on where to start and what kinds of things to include. I hope it proves useful. Read more…

July 2, 2013 — Technology enabled us to do more, not less. Tools such as email enable us to communicate more, rather than make life easier. In fact, many people are now overwhelmed by the amount of email they receive. The trick is to process everything out of your inbox. Do that and I promise you will never look at email with the same horror again. Read more…

March 27, 2013 — A persistent primary navigation bar shows top-level pages, allowing users to move between sections. However, there is one class of website for which this traditional form of navigation falls short. It is what Paul Boag refers to as a “mega-site”. Read more…

February 11, 2013 — Most of us have a love/hate relationship with email. Its one of those necessary evils. Nowhere is our relationship with email more confused than when it comes to spam. 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 — How then can an organization’s Web presence receive the oversight it requires, while remaining flexible enough to allow rapid iteration and change? The answer lies in solid Web governance; in particular responsibilities and policies. Read more…

October 5, 2012 — When it comes to mobile, we wonder whether our clients’ excitement and our own desires are hindering our ability to make rational business decisions. We need to ensure that we do not push solutions onto our clients that they do not yet need. 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 — Many web designers never interact directly with their clients. However, allowing designers to work with the client, may lead to better websites, happier clients, and a greater sense of job satisfaction. Read more…

June 19, 2012 — Paul Boag says we can have side projects, a life beyond computers, and get the job done. He believes that personal projects can be fun, good for the career, and also facilitate a life beyond the Web. 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 — The ability to logically justify our designs is a skill many of us lack, and this is the heart of the challenge that Paul Boag brings you. Get ready to face it, and improve the quality of your work. Read more…

August 25, 2011 — Becoming an expert has to be about serving others, doing a better job for your clients, providing more value to your organization, and helping others establish best practices – not about ego. 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 — In this post, Paul Boag shows how to recycle existing work to be more efficient. By taking the time to find shortcuts and work smarter, you make your job more enjoyable and end up working less. Read more…

July 26, 2011 — While many are becoming more specialized, Paul Boag has stoically refused to do so. To be a good generalist who offers valuable services to clients and colleagues takes commitment and a lot of work. Read more…

July 20, 2011 — To relieve the pressure of entrepreneurial life and avoid burning out, freelancers and business owners need strategies. In this article, Paul Boag shares some tactics to be more in control of your business. Read more…

May 6, 2011 — Paul Boag shares his experience on how to deal with clients in the process of creating web projects. Read this article and avoid the endless revisions with your clients. Read more…

February 4, 2011 — Good web design is a balance between UX (creating personas, testing usability, and improving the user experience) and focus on business (its objectives and good calls to action). Read more…

September 6, 2010 — In-house teams face challenges that can be overcome by handling internal stakeholders and the department’s image. Find here techniques to help you lessen the load and enjoy managing your website again Read more…

June 27, 2010 — Too many designers work alone. Even though the Web allows us to work from home, the downside of the digital revolution is isolation. Humans, by nature work best in groups, and you are no exception. Read more…

February 19, 2010 — As Web designers, we communicate and empathize for a living, putting ourselves in the position of users to design around their needs. Why, then, do we seem incapable of empathizing with our clients? 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 — Even though corporate blogging is a way to have a voice online, it is not a traditional marketing tool. A corporate blog can bring visibility and engagement. However, many companies still have terrible performing blogs because they misunderstand their power. Once you release your corporate blog from press releases and corporate news, it starts to be worth the investment. Read more…

May 12, 2009 — There was a time when a website was enough. Now, your website needs to be just one small part of your overall Web strategy. Expecting users to come to you is naive. Instead, take your content to them. 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 — Large organizations like Microsoft and Twitter face unique challenges that can lead to painful mistakes. This article gathers ten of the most common mistakes and misconceptions about their websites. Read more…

February 3, 2009 — Twitter can be used as a marketing tool, but that doesn’t mean it cannot be fun too. Find here great tips and tools to make the most out of Tweeter. 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.