As a user experience designers we are regularly in situations where our design decisions will make significant effect on the end users of the web site, application or generally any user interface or service we design. Apart from the need to understand business case and idea – probably the most important is to understand who are users of our interfaces?

Sample Data has been available to us from Expression Blend 3, but now with Blend 4, Silverlight 4 and Expression Blend 4 SDK there is new control – PathListBox enabling you to create list box looking however you want them to look – not just rectangular. This allows you to create nice radial, spiral and many other types of layout.

Another Eurosong is behind us. This year, Germany was winner with Lena and her song Satellite. Again, interesting patterns have emerged during voting and some really interesting relations between countries can be described. Here’s the set of interesting voting infographics.

Rarely passes a day when I don’t get invitation to some product demonstration, technology showcase claiming to be a presentation about UX. In most cases – developers show new UI controls, tech, code and claim to be „talking about UX“. I say stop trivializing – and learn the facts!

Windows Phone 7 is a brand new mobile platform from Microsoft introduced this year at MIX 10 conference. Since then different resources have been made available. Here, I’m gathering all you need to start designing and developing new mobile experiences. Go to Windows Phone 7 development and design ultimate guide.

Microsoft’s .toolbox website plans to teach you Silverlight, Expression Studio and UX design principles and fundamentals. You can choose from two available tracks (Design Scenarios and Design Principles), learn a lot, collect badges and brag about that. And you get all that in a nicely designed and packed website.

Moody’s Wall Street Analytics has asked us to help them find UX Designer for a full-time, salaried position. If San Francisco looks appealing to you, and even more importantly if you are great UX designer, looking for challenges in the financial sector – then this might be your dream job. Expression Studio skills are strongly preferred.

From the visual and aesthetics aspect, web design trends in 2010 will be shaped by the influences from 2009. In this article 5 major trends regarding the web design are covered. From oversized headers which are serving as new kind of splash screens to minimalism which is being supported by typography. See what’s to come in 2010.