Nick Gould is CEO of usability and user experience design firm, Catalyst Group. He is @nickgould on Twitter.

The popularity of the “#fail” meme on Twitter is proof positive that the tool is great for pointing out when things are wrong. “Usability” practitioners and those in the related fields of “user experience” or “user interface design” tend to be obsessed with fixing designs that aren't intuitive to use and helping their clients avoid those mistakes. You might be surprised by the range of things that are open to usability critiques: web site designs, ATM interfaces, beta software releases, confusing elevator buttons (all real examples from the Twitter feeds of usability pros). Experts in the field often tweet about their latest projects, conferences they are attending, or just point out their most recent usability outrage.

This is a list of must-follows for anyone interested in usability. It includes some of the usual suspects, as well as a few folks who just have a knack for finding and commenting about useful stuff. Their updates are often amusing, frequently instructive, and usually relevant to a broad range of technical, design, and business disciplines.







Who: Jared Spool deserves a seat in the usability pantheon right alongside Jakob Nielsen. As founder of User Interface Engineering, Spool is best known for coining the term: “scent of information” to communicate the various factors that contribute to a user’s (often unconscious) decision to click on a link.

Why: Jared Spool is unequivocally the most prolific and visible usability “guru” in the Twitter universe. Like many mega-tweeters, his updates often concern non-professional topics – especially relating to his air travel experiences. But Spool is such a sought-after speaker at conferences that following his feed amounts to a weekly alert on where the usability / UX community is gathering.







Who: Joshua Porter’s Bokardo blog has long been a favorite of serious design and user experience practitioners. Porter was part of Jared Spool’s User Interface Engineering before striking out on his own in 2007.

Why: Joshua Porter’s updates, refreshingly free of “snark,” are always reasoned and thought-provoking and his standing in the design community puts him in a variety of interesting conversations with other well-regarded experts. In particular, Porter is a genuine authority on creating effective user experiences for the social web.







Who: Jane Pyle is a Senior User Experience Designer at Genentech in San Francisco who can speak authoritatively on usability as it relates to iPhone application design, branding, and emotional design.

Why: In addition to just consistently posting interesting and relevant updates (including her own opinions) Jane makes this usability tweeters list because her feed is also a great expression of her personality — it’s clear that Jane is passionate about user experience and her unique perspective shines through.







Who: Robert Fabricant is a Vice President at Frog Design, focusing most recently on health issues and other areas where design and user experience can make a real social impact.

Why: It’s easy to forget that, in many situations, an improved user experience is a high-stakes issue that can impact the health or quality of life of millions of people. Robert’s Twitter updates (and his practice, and his speaking engagements) remind us that usability can save lives – not just reduce shopping cart abandonment.







Who: Nick Finck created one of the first design and usability oriented online magazines – Digital Web Magazine – back in 1996. Although the site has ceased publication, all of the excellent content is still available. Currently, Nick runs Blue Flavor, a Seattle-based design consultancy and blogs at nickfinck.com.

Why: Nick is a seasoned veteran of the technology and design business. His updates are practical, thoughtful and informative. Those usability geeks who are also code / Web standards geeks, might especially appreciate Nick’s feed.







Who: Kristina Halvorson is President of content strategy firm Brain Traffic and is a recognized authority about, and overall evangelist for, Web content that is straightforward and professionally crafted.

Why: Content is a too-often underestimated, or misunderstood, aspect of Web usability. Halvorson’s updates are often personal and amusing observations regarding the crucial role that content plays in successful user experiences.







Who: The Interaction Design Association is a relatively new organization that is dedicated to “advancing the discipline of Interaction Design.” Through local chapters, the IxDA organizes events and arranges presentations by leading user experience practitioners. The IxDA forum also hosts some fascinating discussions about a wide range of usability questions and facilitates mentorship for people who are new to the interaction design industry.

Why: On Twitter, IxDA keeps up a steady stream of informational alerts regarding upcoming events and thought-starters for their forum.







Who: W. Craig Tomlin is an independent usability consultant and blogger.

Why: Tomlin’s feed is chock full of usability-related links, blog posts, and videos. Moreover, Craig is a true example of the opportunity for smaller (solo) practitioners to connect with a large audience of interested peers and potential clients through thoughtful and diligent Twitter feed curation.







Who: Jan Jursa collects fascinating and inspiring video from around the Web and displays them on his blog.

Why: Jan religiously tweets whenever a new video is added to his site – as well as pointing out other articles and announcements that are related to usability and experience design. Basically, following @IATV is like keeping tabs on all the most important talks, presentations and techniques being shown around the usability world.







Who: Nielsen Norman Group is the professional affiliation of usability giants Jakob Nielsen, Don Norman, and Bruce Tognazzini. These guys (particularly Jakob Nielsen, through his useit.com “Alertbox” newsletter) deserve a lot of the credit for first popularizing usability-oriented thinking about Web and software design.

Why: Although their feed is largely self-promotional, NNg is plugged in to many interesting projects and deals with a wide variety of fundamental usability issues in its practice. You won’t find cutting-edge thinking here, just good solid research and commentary that every usability or design practitioner should be aware of.

See also: 10 Most Common Misconceptions About User Experience Design