78 karma · joined April 26, 2013
On using Zoom for user testing, I think that's down to having to do remote research. I actually just did some tests over Zoom last week: had a call, had the user run through certain tasks while they screen shared, and chatted with them. It worked decently well for not being able to be there in person with them.
Totally agree that the web should be an interconnected place that builds off of itself!
These can definitely be used as a reference, but our aim is to also make them useful (for mostly younger designers) as a way to practice skills/methods. Project-based learning is very effective and this gives people a way to do that. It's not as good as learning on a real job with real data/requirements/etc, but the idea is that you can at least get some exposure to practicing some crucial skills.
There are LOTS of other countries represented in the survey, I'd suggest downloading the raw data to check it out (it's free).
For example, thinking about how a particular user flow would work for a specific relevant persona/JTBD is useful for design decision making. It helps you see things from a user archetype's eye, rather than through your own designer eyes or through the eyes of "the user" which isn't specific or helpful.
This is all assuming, of course, that you're building personas correctly, which in my experience is rarely done.