Hands-on and interactive, you say? Our September meetup is the place for you. A live demo-led session where you become part of the systems environment. How will it misbehave? What will you see, fin...

The organisers have been busy, and our July event is already in the calendar, so why not add it to yours? The summer meeting is usually a bit quieter, so we are having a summer social. A relaxed an...

We are just a week away from our next Leeds Chapter meeting, where we talk all things side hustles. Visit the link below to read all about it and register. If you haven't yet, you can join the Chap...

Starting last Friday, I have started asking questions to help in my struggling efforts to write a book on how we approach thinking in our craft. My first question was on potential titles, with 'Thi...

A dark pattern is a horrible thing. They are designed in forms and journeys to trick you. It is the practice of prioritising business over user experience by using underhanded means. Instead of helping the user complete their journey, the design exploits cognitive biases to steer them toward choices that benefit the company's bottom line. Here are a few examples. Pre-ticked boxes: This is a classic trick when a box is already ticked for you by default. It assumes you want to agree to something. It could be simple marketing emails, but the worst ones are when the opt-in costs you money. Visual misdirection: This happens when a company uses larger or brighter buttons for the action it wants you to take. The opposite or negative option may be a duller colour or smaller in size. Confirm shaming: This is the emotional manipulation side of dark patterns. Instead of a simple 'No' button, you are forced to click language like 'No. I am happy to pay the full price, or 'Are you sure you want to pay more later?' It is designed to make the user feel foolish or guilty for making a logical financial choice. When you are refining a user story, look closely at the wireframes and acceptance criteria. If you see forced choices or sneaky visual weight, raise a red flag. Quality is not just about checking that the code functions. It is about checking that the software treats the user with respect. Dark patterns might boost short-term numbers, but they destroy long-term trust. 

The excellent meetup A11y North was at the new Leeds headquarters of Channel 4 for Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). An awesome panel discussed all things accessibility and I’ll colle...

From one of my early 99-second talks at Manchester, I asked a series of questions. At Nordic Testing Days (NTD) in Estonia, the same thing happened. After asking four simple questions, I was left w...

An exploration of how epistemology underpins quality thinking, helping quality people examine what they know, how they know it, and how that shapes their quality choices.