http://tc.eserver.org/authors/Dick,_David_J. A bibliography of works by Dick, David J. in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Dick,_David_J. http://tc.eserver.org/34702.html http://tc.eserver.org/34702.html A review of "Web Application Design Patterns" by Pawan Vora. http://tc.eserver.org/34442.html http://tc.eserver.org/34442.html Web Application Design Patterns by Pawan Vora provides practical user interface design guidance for developing web applications by offering a "working" starting point that designers can adapt and refine to develop creative solutions. He condenses best practice methods, along with research and solid experience to create a useful reference about designing web applications. http://tc.eserver.org/31035.html http://tc.eserver.org/31035.html Short deadlines force project teams to quickly design, test, and release the product with little or no design documentation. If these documents are written, they generally are not well-written and are not comprehensive. The fact of the matter is that most project teams do not have enough staff to design the product, let alone write and manage documentation. This situation creates an ideal opportunity for technical writers to assist the project team in more ways than writing a user guide. http://tc.eserver.org/30642.html http://tc.eserver.org/30642.html GUI Bloopers 2.0 describes common user-interface mistakes found in today's software products and services, and provides design rules and guidelines to avoid them. Johnson describes the design decisions that lead to misuse of controls, poor navigation, prose-riddled labels, bad design and layout, faulty interaction, and poor responsiveness. GUI Bloopers 2.0 is well illustrated with hundreds of examples from real products and online services, and stories from his own experience. http://tc.eserver.org/30638.html http://tc.eserver.org/30638.html Creating a product that has a logical information structure is critical to the success of the product. A good structure helps users find information and accomplish their tasks with ease. Card sorting is one method that can help us understand how users think the information and navigation should be within a product. http://tc.eserver.org/30077.html http://tc.eserver.org/30077.html Is your documentation and training a solution for complex product design? Whether designing software, hardware, documentation, online help, or a telecommunication network, a strategy for usability is essential to user-friendly design. Every organization has a product life cycle but not every organization is user-focused because of absence of a usability process. Where do you begin? This paper describes two ISO standards that I have used as a strategy for usability, and accompanies a presentation that demonstrates how to put the standards to practice. http://tc.eserver.org/28584.html http://tc.eserver.org/28584.html The Persona Lifecycle describes the value of personas, and offers detailed techniques and tools to conceive, create, communicate, and use personas to create [great] product designs. John Pruitt and Tamara Adlin provide examples, samples, and illustrations for persona practitioners to imitate and model. It is important to emphasize that the use of personas is a method that compliments other user-centered design techniques, including user testing, scenario-based design, and cognitive walkthroughs. http://tc.eserver.org/28586.html http://tc.eserver.org/28586.html The Washington D.C. Usability Special Interest Group teamed up with the local Usability Professionals Association to present a panel discussion about usability in healthcare. Did you know that rising costs, an aging population and pressure to adopt new technologies increasingly strain the healthcare system? At the same time, patients and their families have ever-more access to health information, and many want healthcare to become more patient-centered. http://tc.eserver.org/28495.html http://tc.eserver.org/28495.html Learn about the career path of usability professionals from three speakers who have extensive experience in the usability profession, including managers of usability departments and independent consultants. http://tc.eserver.org/27811.html http://tc.eserver.org/27811.html User Interface has been on sabbatical, but I am happy to announce that we have returned. Starting with this issue, the newsletter is online and ends our traditional newsletter format. http://tc.eserver.org/26405.html http://tc.eserver.org/26405.html Belgium is renowned for scrumptious chocolates, Trappist beers, canals of Bruges, Flemish painters, cathedrals, and the metropolitan city of Brussels. But few people know about the champions of usability. http://tc.eserver.org/25388.html http://tc.eserver.org/25388.html Do you believe that localization of a product is essential to ensure usability and customer satisfaction? http://tc.eserver.org/23864.html http://tc.eserver.org/23864.html If you want to learn about paper prototyping from a renowned practitioner then I highly recommend Paper Prototyping by Carolyn Snyder. Snyder advocates paper prototyping because it’s easy to design (requires minimal drawing skills), cheap to create (needs only paper and markers), and offers and opportunity for developers and users to evaluate design concepts. If you wonder where the beginning of the design process starts, it begins when great minds meet and brainstorm ideas, and drawing is a natural approach to illustrate them. http://tc.eserver.org/23877.html http://tc.eserver.org/23877.html The first Usability SIG survey was conducted in 1996. I thought that 2003 was an ideal opportunity to survey our members again. Due to cost constraints, the survey was only available for 30 days. Of the 1600 members, 85 responded to the survey. That might be considered a low response, but statistics show that a response rate of over 5% is considered good. Yes, we read every reply. The Usability SIG team reviewed the results and have a strategy to make improvements. The following are samples of the responses received. http://tc.eserver.org/23872.html http://tc.eserver.org/23872.html The useful features of digital cameras are not enticing enough to trade for the simplicity of the non-digital design that meets the fundamental goals of the majority of users. As for me, I have learned my lesson with digital cameras. I will keep my user-friendly, old fashion, but reliable non-digital camera. http://tc.eserver.org/23867.html http://tc.eserver.org/23867.html The Usability SIG is always interested in new ways to put publish our newsletter on the Web. When an upgrade to Macromedia’s Contribute 2.0 included a new program called FlashPaper, we decided to give it a try. http://tc.eserver.org/23859.html http://tc.eserver.org/23859.html What is the best way to thank helpful users for participating in a usability study? Carl Myhill asked this question to a popular discussion group of the Usability community. The following are some of the replies. http://tc.eserver.org/23854.html http://tc.eserver.org/23854.html How many times has a vendor’s help desk operator told you that the solution to a problem is either an upgrade or a patch? Those of us in the IT industry are familiar with this reply because that’s the advice our own helpdesk operators tell our customers. If corporate profits depend on improving product design, and selling upgrades, there is no profit in supporting old software and creating patches. The profit is in selling new and improved products. Some questions you need to consider before buying a software upgrade. http://tc.eserver.org/23853.html http://tc.eserver.org/23853.html Did you ever wonder why some products are well designed and easy to use and others are not? The answer is simple—decision makers and budget holders make decisions with little thought of how they reduce usability. Here then are the top ten decisions that reduce usability. http://tc.eserver.org/23780.html http://tc.eserver.org/23780.html The Intranet brings together Web sites owned by departments, divisions, and individuals across the organisation. It may link local and regional offices, and employees of diverse cultures and languages. The strategy for designing a Web site requires an understanding of the context of use, user and organizational requirements, produce design solutions, and evaluation of design solutions against requirements. If this appears similar to product design – it is. Content, design, consistency and maintenance are essential to quality. If done well, the Web site contributes to the corporate Intranet community. This article looks at important issues to consider when designing a web site for a corporate Intranet. http://tc.eserver.org/21649.html http://tc.eserver.org/21649.html Offers suggestions for creating an effective corporate intranet. http://tc.eserver.org/19952.html http://tc.eserver.org/19952.html Is your documentation and training a solution for complex product design? Whether designing software, hardware, documentation, online help, or a telecommunication network, a strategy for usability is essential to user-friendly design. http://tc.eserver.org/13707.html http://tc.eserver.org/13707.html The corporate Intranet is an interconnection of users and an organization’s servers and databases. It may be located in one building or multiple buildings, nearby or spread across the world. Think of wiring the Corporate Community. The structure may primarily consist of the organization’s service departments such as Human Resources, Marketing, IT, and Security, and company-wide programs and projects. Where does usability fit into all of this? Poor Web site design, complex tools, inability to locate information, and inconsistent navigation contribute to the frustration of users. http://tc.eserver.org/11816.html http://tc.eserver.org/11816.html People unfamiliar with usability think that it's cosmetic and can be combined with other phases of development when time is available. It's often difficult to educate them, especially if they are more senior than you are and consider it a waste of time. They will not be convinced by statistics from anywhere other than outside the organization. What should you do next? You may be able to say something like 'It seems your only objection is [whatever], so if we can resolve this issue, do you have any other reasons why we shouldn't do usability testing?' This way, you have their agreement to do usability just as soon as you have resolved the issue. http://tc.eserver.org/11817.html http://tc.eserver.org/11817.html I have been asked to document the standards and strategies of usability. Given my company's interest to achieve ISO 9000 certification, I thought of the benefits to have a standard and strategy that conform to an ISO standard. My research led to two standards, ISO 13407 and ISO 9241, which have become invaluable to me. http://tc.eserver.org/11818.html http://tc.eserver.org/11818.html An article in the Washington Post, June 7, 1999, called Terminal Tantrums; 'Computer Rage' Is Widespread, a Study of Users Concludes describes research out of Britain, that we were among the victims of Technology Related Anxiety (TRA), specifically, 'computer rage.' The study reported high levels of PC-related abuse by colleagues 'as a result of frustration' with information technology. The abuses included 'swearing at their PC,' kicking it, and 'bullying the IT department'. http://tc.eserver.org/11826.html http://tc.eserver.org/11826.html Practical experience and training helps me to go beyond usability fundamentals. I have learned about usability from books, news groups on the Internet, and university courses. Putting usability to practice means applying the lessons I have learned to small projects that have minimal impact on systems and services, but provide me with an opportunity to gain experience. http://tc.eserver.org/11812.html http://tc.eserver.org/11812.html In the January issue, David Dick described how ISO standards 9241-11 and 13407 could be used to create standards and strategies for usability in the product life cycle. Another ISO standard that is an integral part of the product life cycle is called ISO 9001. ISO 9001:1994, 'Model for Quality Assurance in Design, Development, Production, Installation and Serving', specifies (quality system) requirements for achieving customer satisfaction by preventing non-conformity at all stages from design through servicing. http://tc.eserver.org/11774.html http://tc.eserver.org/11774.html Time-to-market pressure can diminish product testing time and quality. The results are product recalls, shoddy merchandise, and apologies by CEOs about poor quality. The consequence is the loss of consumer confidence. Don’t these companies realise that there’s no compromise on quality? I’m sure that these companies are ISO 9000 certified or have a Total Quality Management (TQM) program, so what is the problem? Perhaps the problem is not with ISO 9000 or TQM but with the way it is used. http://tc.eserver.org/11786.html http://tc.eserver.org/11786.html Is documentation testing a part of your production process? If not, don't you think that it should be? Generally, Technical Writers work to tight schedules, which often does not include documentation testing because there is no time. Besides, who wants to take the risk of causing a rewrite or correcting product design and not shipping on schedule? Nobody! What is needed is a justification for including documentation testing in the production schedule. In 'Liability for Defective Documentation,' Cem Kaner provides valuable justification for documentation testing to ensure quality. Bad documentation, he says, has a ripple effect on the number of users it impacts such as Product Development, Training, and Customer Support. http://tc.eserver.org/11797.html http://tc.eserver.org/11797.html People familiar with product development understand the dedication needed for any usability effort to be successful. However, people unfamiliar with usability think that it’s cosmetic and can be combined with other phases of development when time is available. How do you convince the skeptics? http://tc.eserver.org/11752.html http://tc.eserver.org/11752.html How many of you use the Internet to order merchandise? Many consumers are choosing the Internet to order merchandise rather than brave the crowds and traffic snarls at shopping malls. I don’t know if you have noticed it, but the order process and ease of use varies from one web site to another. The often-confusing process is enough to make you bail out and shop elsewhere. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, 'E-tailers Try to Keep Shoppers From Bolting at Checkout Point,' (1) usability, technology, and e-commerce issues are stopping shoppers from completing their purchases. The article states that about 65% of shoppers bail out at the checkout point. Poor design has cost E-tailers over $6.1 billion in potential sales. http://tc.eserver.org/11748.html http://tc.eserver.org/11748.html My father taught me valuable lessons that I will never forget. He taught me how to maintain the family car, how to fix household appliances, and how to use garden equipment. Although would show me how to perform the task, he would stress that I read the instructions. His philosophy was based on the belief that instructions are written to teach and to prevent mistakes. What does this have to do with usability?