Judge: Roberto Hortal Role: Head of Digital at EDF Energy
Do you have a favourite app & website in terms of the design and user experience?
I have recently discovered Lark. It is deceptively simple in design but the conversational interface at its core creates a surprisingly engaging experience.
On the web, I am a big fan of the Gov.uk service design manual and the impact it’s having across the entire range of highly transactional government websites.
Judge: Matt Lindop Role: Head of Experience Design at Whitbread Hotels
Do you have a favourite app & website in terms of the design and user experience?
CityMapper is hard to beat: powerful functionality combined with a delightful experience. There’s hardly a week that goes by when I don’t rely on it, and no other service comes close to it as utility – but it’s also fun.
Judge: Matt Zarandi Role: Head of Design & UX at AOL
Do you have a favourite app & website in terms of the design and user experience?
Love Spotify. It has great consistency across devices/platforms and seamless integration with a lot of other products through some great partnerships.
It’s incredibly easy to use and 99% of the time it has what I’m after or can recommend something that fits the bill. The fact my mum can use it also speaks volumes!
I also love Norwegian Air. Great site and app and I’ve yet to have a bad experience when booking with them.
The national awards recognising excellence in customer centred design, the UXUK Awards, has officially introduced VR as an award category. Reflecting Gartner’s forecast that head-mounted displays will grow by a factor of 10 in 2016.1 Forrester, another leading research firm, made a modest estimate of 52 million units sold over the next 4 years. The technology is continuing to expand mainstream following mass market investments by Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, Oculus Rift, HTC and more. Last week, Sony, Nintendo and Google made further announcements on new research into products for VR, adding to the notion that competition will be fierce in the rapidly growing space.
FutureLearn Wins Best User Experience 2015
According to Gartner Research director, Brian Blau “Film producers and sports leagues will augment their traditional content through HMDs (Head Mounted Displays) to enhance their customer experiences by creating interactive attractions, movies, and sporting events that make the content more personal and meaningful”2
“Effective UX design directly correlates to the success of VR technology. Thus it is important to highlight and recognise user-centred design within this area!” UXUK Judge, Jon Dodd (CEO, Bunnyfoot).
The awards officially opened today for submissions. It attracts organisations from all sectors and includes categories:
Best User Experience
Best Entertainment and Leisure
Best Not-For-Profit
Best Public Sector
Best Transactional Experience
Best Effect on Business Ggoals
Best Innovation
Best Student Project
Best Information Experience
Best Education or Learning Experience
Best Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality / Internet of Things
The UXUK Awards has recognised top talent from students to big brands including The BBC, easyJet and NatWest. User Experience, or UX, has become a mainstream remit for all organisations as it consistently and directly converts customer satisfaction and bottom line results at a significant level.
The awards are now running into it’s 4th year. The winners will be announced at the ceremony in central London on the 10th of November. Spaces for the UXUK Awards event are limited and therefore primacy is given to entrants, with those shortlisted being priority attendees. However, non-entrants are welcome to apply for the free tickets to attend.
1, 2 Gartner Press Release, Gartner Says Worldwide Wearable Devices Sales to Grow 18.4 Percent in 2016, http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3198018