Articles by Ben Allen

How do you write a blog post for a big organization? While working at GitHub I wrote a blog post about GitHub's commitment to accessibility. "How we're continuing to enable all developers to build".

How do you write accessibility requirements? I presented at a Deque webinar and went through some ideas, including the use of: a design system, component library, and an accessibility acceptance criteria library.

How do you scale accessibility practices across your organization? It's a hard question with many options available. Let's look at this problem through the lens of automation and tooling.

5 products which were great for me and my family in 2019. Let's discuss pros, cons, and feature ideas. I cover everything from laptop bags to learning python.

PyCon is a special event. I say this in the broadest possible context. It's not just a great programming language conference. It's an amazing event in the context of all events I might consider going to. So what makes PyCon so great?

In the Spirit of Unlce Mark's Gift Guide and Almanac, I wanted to share 5 products which gave me great joy during 2018.

I've been in the software development industry since 2004 and I've rarely felt the urge to go to conferences. Meetups have fulfilled any need to listen to and engage with the different communities I belong to.

In recent years I've moved to Cleveland where there is less choice for Meetups …

At the start of 2010 I setup this blog to start a discussion on topics I have a passion for and to learn more about blogging, writing and the web in general. I feel it's appropriate to look back on 2010 and ask "what have I learnt?".

It's a long …

Email is as awesome as it is frustrating. Everyone knows email is an amazing tool until you get too much of it.

I offer 5 tips for managing email and recommend a couple of great tools to help Microsoft Outlook users. This is the process I use every day and …

mint.com has over 4 million users. This popular online tool, which helps you manage your money across banks, has gone from startup to Intuit owned in 3 years. Clearly they are doing something right! I think the mint.com user interface is one of the things Mint is doing …

The diversity of information on the web is only matched by the diversity of people using it. For me, that's what makes the digital user experience profession so fascinating - trying to understand all users of the web and how they engage with it so that you can provide a top …

Remember those books that are sold at Christmas? Those books that attempt to deliver life's wisest phrases while it's readers are firmly seated on the toilet? I remember one which we used to have at home and there was one nugget that has stuck with me. It went something along …

Chicago is a great place for food and drink. It has something for everyone. I love experimenting with restaurants & bars and I've built up a mental list of "places I love". A friend recently suggested I write down my mental list so that people could explore my suggestions and give …

Do you ever hear relatively random words over and over again and then think "Woh! Where did that come from? Why do people care about this all of a sudden?". Here are 3 words I have been hearing a lot recently in and around the user experience field and within …

Fans of Star Wars and the infamous Jedi Mind Trick understand the allure of persuasion. What would the world look like if everyone uttered the magical word "yes" whenever I made a request? If only! Ironing, laundry and cleaning my bedroom would be chores banished to memories of the "the …

Do you ever have a tough time describing user experience and what UX consultants try to do? I've been trying to spread the good word for over 5 years and it still trips me up some times. It's not a case of whether I understand, it's a case of getting …

Netbanker is a site that I rely on. It provides great coverage for all things digital within the financial sector. A few weeks ago they posted an interesting article about how, in their opinion, USAA Makes Mobile Banking Better than Online Banking. A quote that stuck out within that article …

The customer experience you go through when reading a book has not changed for several hundreds of years. The physical paper based book has stood the test of time and the interface a reader has to navigate is simplicity itself. All good - right? Perhaps not - enter the e-book and the …

For all those budding IAs out there - listen up - I have a few tips for you. Perhaps it's just 1 tip but it's a biggie and it's one worth discussing - including some tactics. Let's cut to the chase here:

If you send in a portfolio along with your CV/resume …

Currently putting together a little blog to talk about my experiences & hopefully share some wisdom. Should all be good to go for early January 2010. If you cannot wait until then:

• Follow me on twitter @benjaminallen
• Connect on LinkedIn

Stay tuned folks. Cannot wait to get this up and running …