#21724
The Big Dig: Mining Nuggets of Value 
It is difficult to apply the lessons learned from e-commerce search interfaces to more complex ones, such as those for libraries or technical material. This article provides a guide to tailoring search interfaces to users with a persona-based approach.
McDaniel, Scott M. User Experience (2002). Design>Web Design>User Interface>Search
#29766
Many web sites and applications include a search feature. Often they provide an extremely simple search interface consisting of a single text box and a "Go" button. Sometimes, however, the users' tasks call for more sophistication, and guidelines for complex search interfaces are difficult to find. This paper details four levels of search interface, and it provides heuristics (guidelines) to use when designing complex search interfaces. Different solutions are appropriate, depending on the users' motivation and knowledge of their subject, experience using search interfaces, and search goals. Finally, PubMed serves as a useful example to illustrate how these guidelines can be used to analyze existing search interfaces.
McDaniel, Scott M. STC Proceedings (2004). Design>Web Design>User Interface>Search
#11788
Looking Information about Usability Testing of Documentation
Looking for information about Usability Testing of Documentation? There are many other models available. In a recent presentation to my local STC chapter I identified four main stages for a document's life cycle: Requirements Gathering, Design, Writing, and Maintenance.
McDaniel, Scott M. Usability Interface (2000). Articles>Usability
#29873
Planning Usability Tests For Maximum Impact
Usability tests make products better. Those of us who have seen their results understand their value, but we sometimes have difficulty convincing managers or developers of their worth. The pay-off of a usability test depends on its context. Both the type of test you perform and the timing of that test influence what you can do with the results. At best, you can guide the design of a product or clearly demonstrate its usability. At worst, you can ruin your credibility and have no effect on the product whatsoever. This paper explores what you get from a usability test at each stage of the user interface design process. It also provides advice on selling testings to management.
McDaniel, Scott M. and Laura Snyder. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Usability>Testing
#27810
A report on a presentation by Ginny Redish where she discussed how research from linguistics, as well as cognitive psychology, reading studies, writing studies, and other disciplines could contribute to useful and usable Web sites.
McDaniel, Scott M. Usability Interface (2006). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#21035
Selling Usability: Scope and Schedule Estimates
Describes how to create an effective plan and estimate for usability activities. 'A plan and an estimate,' McDaniel writes, 'will go a long way toward persuading management that user-centered design is a desirable approach to building a user interface.'
McDaniel, Scott M. Intercom (2003). Articles>Usability>Planning>Estimating
#11867
Surrogate Tests: When You Can't Get to Your Users
I recently used this strategy to test an online help database I was building in Lotus Notes. The system that I am documenting is a suite of Lotus Notes programs that allow organizations to apply to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for grant funds. The system helps a user create and track application materials, forward them to others for review, and eventually submit them. EPA uses the system to create and process award documents based on the applications. Both the applicant users and EPA users are all over the country, and though my management approved the usability testing, they did not allocate money for site visits or equipment.
McDaniel, Scott M. Usability Interface (1999). Articles>Usability
#23868
Uncovering True Motivation: The Whys and Wherefore
As a designer of software systems, I believe that the child's spirit of 'why' is something to retain and infuse into our work when gathering requirements, interviewing users, and interviewing stakeholders.
McDaniel, Scott M. Usability Interface (2003). Articles>Usability>Audience Analysis
#21465
What's Your Idea of a Mental Model?
We need a way to document and express mental models that is as simple and robust as personas for user profiles and scenarios for tasks. By laying out users' current mental models and a target mental model, we can clarify our thinking and communication about the user interface's objects, metaphors, and interaction.
McDaniel, Scott M. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Cognitive Psychology
