Kate Towsey

Research is key to good product design. So including people with disablities in your research makes sound business sense - after all, they make up 20% of the population. Not sure where to begin? OzeWAI's Inclusive Research foundational workshop will give you the confidence and competence to start your inclusive research practices. https://lnkd.in/gi9dxR3C

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We don't need to speculate about if LLMs are "reasoning" we built them as information processing tools, and they are doing what they were designed to: giving outputs that are high-probability given the input. At their core they are trained (like vines, not dogs) to process the self-information (Shannon information) in strings of text; they are probability machines. Reasoning is a different process for knowing than probability. The frequency of similar correct associations in the training data absolutely impacts the ability of any "self-learning" model to give correct outputs. That's not to say the creation and use of this sort of probability model isn't an innovation with myriad useful applications, but if we keep allowing our discourse to take seriously the notion that any "AI" is thinking, or doing logical reasoning, we're going to do a lot of harm with them. Harm from the outcomes of inappropriate implementations, and also harm from the invisibility of workers tasked with making our machines perform the myth we're creating. Here's a thorough but approachable paper showing the effects the probabilities of the task, the input text, and the correct output text have on LLM performance: https://lnkd.in/e-vZxpQW

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I wanted to spend some time considering the business case for accessibility. I remember reading somewhere that people, on average, tell five other people about an experience they have. Consider this scenario. I decide I want to head to sunny Queensland for a holiday. I need to book accomodation and find a site that is accessible and easy to use. Because I didn’t spend all of my energy trying to navigate the site, the accomodation is booked in no time. I tell five friends and family about my experience and they subsequently use the same site to book their holidays. They tell five people, who tell five people. You get the picture. It is important to remember that telling five people isn’t restricted to people who are blind so potential to gain business because of this experience is across the population at large. Now let’s look at a scenario that actually happened. I needed to purchase more 4Cyte for my retired Guide Dog. I use a site called 99petshops.com.au which does a nice job of listing product prices from low to high. I found the product and the lowest price (if factoring in shipping) was on the PetPA site. I was able to successfully choose the size of the product I was after and add it to my cart but unfortunately I was not able to check out. Some of the issues I encountered included: 1. heading levels that were not presented in a hierarchical order, affecting ability to understand relationships of items on the page. 2. links that are images with no alternative text and 3. a “cart” button that I could not seem to activate with a screen reader. From what I could ascertain during the limited time I was on the site, they used ARIA in a creative way. My screen reader automatically made an announcement when somebody purchased a product. I can see the marketing value in this, but it unfortunately added to the busy nature of the page. Generally speaking, I have limited time to navigate barriers and it is my policy to explore comparable options if access is an issue. How could sites presenting these issues be designed in a way promoting access? 1. Add text to image links. Image links can be useful when there are language or learning barriers. 2. Add alternative text to the images or hide them to a screen reader, depending on the context. 3. Make sure that all elements of the page can be accessed by a keyboard. 4. Work with designers within your sector who create accessible designs. 5. Carry out market research and get feedback on the usability of the page. 6. Enjoy the profits as people share their positive experiences and business increases.

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My newest article on my publishing Substack shows authors how to get a strong start at gathering reviews from your release team and through pro reviewing sites. https://lnkd.in/gF7dA_7r

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Here are the headlines from this week's Journalology newsletter to help you quickly get up to speed with recent events in scholarly publishing: ➡️ ​Australia's Chief Scientist, Cathy Foley, has written a discussion document about implementing open access in Australia. She’s proposing a public access policy, but will publishers go for it? ➡️ ​Two members of the UK Day One think tank have proposed that the UK's block grant for APCs should be repurposed. They want £10m to go towards supporting preprint servers and post-publication peer-review platforms, and the other £30m to be a cost saving. ➡️ ​The EU has written a scoping report for an open access publishing service (Open Research Europe; ORE). If ORE is developed further, will researchers use it more? ➡️ ​Wiley announced its first quarter results. It will spend $130m on accelerating its Research Publishing platform and modernising its infrastructure (public infrastructure projects: please take note of the number of zeros in $130,000,000). ➡️ ​Taylor & Francis is launching a new series of journals under the "Critical Insights" brand. That could be an uphill battle, but they now have a superstar on their journals management team (yes, I'm talking about you Meredith LeMasurier) so I wouldn’t bet against them. There's a common theme here: if you build it, will they come? --- Other stories include: ➡️ ​Faked data prompts retraction of Nature journal study claiming creation of a new form of carbon ➡️ ​Editor resigns as publisher blocks criticism of decision to retract paper on gender dysphoria ➡️ ​No more hunting for replication studies: crowdsourced database makes them easy to find ➡️ ​NISO Approves Working Group to Develop a US National PID Strategy ➡️ ​​ChronosHub successfully goes live with first publisher on newly launched unified user experience less than a year post-acquisition ​➡️ ​Swiss medical association accused of forcing publishing subsidiary into insolvency Click here to read this week's issue: https://lnkd.in/eu-fcCd9 And click here to subscribe: https://lnkd.in/d-XDp_hW #scholarlypublishing #academicpublishing #openaccess

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Crafting copy that resonates with diverse stakeholders requires skillful balance. By identifying shared priorities and using inclusive language, I bridge differing perspectives, so as to create messages that feel authentic to all parties involved. Read my comment at https://lnkd.in/gyrppvGz

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Remember when businesses had to guess what parts of their websites were most important to track? Those days are (thankfully) behind us. But AI isn't just tracking clicks anymore— it's decoding a whole trail of digital body language. In my latest piece, I explore how the smartest companies are using AI to turn every interaction into intelligence: - Identifying UX breaking points through rage clicks - AI uses real-time user behaviour to design personalised experiences - Machine learning identifies emerging trends and adapts services accordingly Check out the article here: https://lnkd.in/eXVnS_4Y #DigitalStrategy #UX #CustomerExperience #AI

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User Research takes training, discipline and lots of experience to do well. Anything less is just not good enough. The attitude that 'anyone can do user research' is not only damaging the profession, but also undermining the whole ethos and practice of User Centred Design/ UX. Renowned international expert on organisational complexity and knowledge Dave Snowden, and who co-incidentally kindly wrote the forward to my first book, recently wrote: "Trying to drive an organisation via purpose statements, north stars, etc., can be equivalent to climbing a mountain via a fast-flowing mountain stream with waterfalls. It looks like the most direct path, but you might be better placed by zigzagging up to the ridge and following that to the summit. If you don't map where you are and don't know the patterns of the type of territory you are in, you're doomed..... fundamentally, you don't manage complexity or uncertainty by trying to drag people behind leadership-determined goals." It is precisely within this world of complexity, mountains, blocked paths, misguided strategy, and foggy thinking about the practice and values of User Research, that the User Researcher must carefully navigate on a daily basis. That takes a phenomenal amount of skill, talent and determination. And, let's face it, it often takes a lot of guts. Anyone can do user research? Yeah, right. Read the long version here: https://lnkd.in/eCBuhguu #useresearch #ucd #usercentreddesign #Servicedesign #stakeholder #ux #userexperienceresearch #userexperience

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The UX sky is not falling in 2025 - shake it off! Yes there were some painful corrections to the 30 year exponential growth of UX over the last 3 years. If you are new to the field I'm sure it felt like the UX sky did fall, and I'm sorry that happened to you. The sun also rises. And whatever we think of the incoming US administration, broad deregulation of the technology sector leads directly to a surge in new capital investments. Which equals massive new hiring in 2025. Get your resumes tailored and your profiles spiffed. Give hiring folks a couple of days to get their 2025 on, and go get your new job!

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Confronting ableism to build a more inclusive web https://buff.ly/4aSyJaa The accessibility (or lack thereof) of web software starts with the assumptions made in the research process. Many web practitioners work on high-powered computing devices, with high-resolution desktop displays, high-precision pointer devices (mouses), and high-speed bandwidth connections. Because we spend much of our professional time in these environments, we often assume that our users are in similar environments. Moreover, we assume that our users interact with their hardware the way that we do; we assume that users experience the world in the way that we do. Though nearly 60% of global web traffic comes from mobile devices, we assume our way into a web where everyone is sat at a desktop with a high-speed broadband connection, using full color vision to precision-click the interfaces in front of them.Source: Confronting ableism to build a more inclusive web ()

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Check out Allison Ravenhall's insightful talk from A11y Camp on Customer Informed Accessibility in the CommBank app. This session highlights how usability testing with low vision users revealed an issue in our App 5.0 redesign. Some of you might remember Jacob Torres Agudo and Liam Corry's presentation at The Research Society Human Insights conference, where they discussed the research journey behind the new CommBank app home screen (I might of mentioned it a couple of times, did you hear they won an award?). Allison's talk goes deeper into how our testing with low vision users uncovered an unexpected design flaw. Usability testing often gets a bad rap for being boring and low value, but for me, it's some of the most crucial work we do. A lot of the time designs pass with flying colours, but it's those moments when we uncover a usability issue that are truly invaluable. This is especially true when we're addressing the needs of users with accessibility requirements. Enjoy this super informative talk and learn more about the importance of usability testing in creating accessible designs: https://lnkd.in/gKrQTexE #commbanklife #accessibility #a11y #research #humaninsightsconference

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I think Shawn Jordison does a great job highlighting the accessibility features in Venngage and how Canva lacks most of these features. It is important to note that the ability to export to an accessible PDF requires a paid Venngage business or enterprise account. Venngage is best for companies that can provide a paid account to their employees. It is a shame that Venngage's Premium account does not offer the ability to export an accessible PDF. A free Canva account can export to PDF but the file needs to be remediated to be accessible. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/gdrR4bXC

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Content standards in design systems support a holistically consistent user experience. They also build collaboration between writers, designers and engineers. https://lnkd.in/gVRepdfi Nielsen Norman Group #contentdesign #designsystems #contentstrategy

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Ex Ordo looks at events data through the lens of the research lifecycle. They describe how this data can help you better understand your society’s community and promote the value of your events, journals and programs. #associations #associationmanagement

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What is a key pillar of your UX research philosophy? One of mine is the Good Better Best framework. As employees and/or consultants we all operate under different constraints — time constraints (“the stakeholder or client needs these insights NOW!”), budget constraints, and recruiting constraints (ex. A hard to reach population or sub population). This holds whether you’re an individual contributor or a people leader of UXRs advising and strategizing. We often have to balance these constraints with the type of study we conduct (ex. Moderated vs. unmoderated study, IDIs vs. a focus group), who we sample, and our sample size. When balancing these constraints sometimes we have to sacrifice the “best” study we would’ve conducted for a “better” study or simply a “good” study. As the saying goes: “The good cannot be the enemy of the great.” The constraints are factors outside our control, and they often strongly influence whether we’re able to think of our study as a Good, Better, or Best type of study. Relatedly, there’s also the issue of “selling” the methodology and research design to stakeholders to get their buy-in and approval. The realistic researcher in me lays out for them the constraints that influenced my approach, and I explain that each study doesn’t have to be the final say on the matter — this study “can be the first bite of the apple” on this topic. What are your thoughts on the Good Better Best framework? Do you employ it in your UXR philosophy?

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When you include Accessibility from the start… 1. You will make navigating your website easier for everybody. 2. You will have more inclusive discussions with your clients. 3. You will work better with your suppliers. 4. You will be able to support a more diverse and inclusive workplace. 5. You remove the need to fix accessibility barriers because they don’t exist. #Accessibility #Digital #Inclusion #BitesizeAccessibility #DisabilityInclusion

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#CoDesign according to the #NDIA #NDIS Doesn't look like #CoDesign. No mention of #UNCRPD in *OUR* (ie #NDIA's) #CoDesign principles. A little hint: the #UNCRPD is *THE* design determinant. #CoDesign *CAN'T* happen without explicit commitment to #UNCRPD. Explains why the #NDIS Bill breaches #HumanRights The #CoDesign Advisory Group - which "provides strategic advice to the NDIA on the implementation of co-design and engagement processes in the disability community" -  hasn't met in 9 months. As I explained in my recent article, #CoDesign has been weaponised. https://lnkd.in/d8VMKkvZ Take a look. #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #RoboNDIS #ClassAction #RoyalCommission robondis.org Mark Toomey Tony Ridley, MSc CSyP FSyI SRMCP Karen Kline Samantha Connor Mark Sweeney Nick Avery Graham Taylor Tara Hannon Muriel Cummins Georgia van Toorn Dr George Taleporos (GAICD, PhD) Shirley Humphris Peter Gregory Jordon Steele-John #BillShorten David Pocock Vinod Ralh Paul Flintoft 👇 👇👇 https://lnkd.in/dKq7mdzZ

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If your company isn’t using AI everyday, your organisation risks dying out because everybody else is tapping on the tech. It’s point-blank facts. Jordan Wilson said it well in a recent episode of the Everyday AI Podcast. 2023 was the year of experimentation. 2024 is the year of implementation. And 2025 is going to be the year of separation. Further along and we could be talking about extinction. Nice mic drop Jordan Wilson. He’s done being nice, and I concur it’s time for companies to realise the truth. #AItrends #AItechnology #Machinelearning And here’s a link to the podcast for your daily dose of AI updates (yes, daily isn’t an exaggeration here!):

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