The List of Reasons Ease of Use Doesn't Happen on Engineering Projects

For many projects ease of use is never a stated project goal. It may be an assumption among managers or developers that the project will result in something easy to use, but if it’s not a first order goal of the project, tradeoffs can never been made in favor of ease of use (and can implicitly be made against ease of use). Often the lack of a clear statement of ease of use occurs because the team managers or leaders are unfamiliar with how to make ease of use operational in the development process, and one way to avoid this issue is not to make it an explicit goal.

Berkun, Scott. ScottBerkun.com (2003). Articles>Usability>Engineering

Shuttle Columbia: The Perils of Powerpoint

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) that was empowered to investigate the causes of the loss of shuttle Columbia found that NASA often used viewgraph and PowerPoint slides to present complex information that was used to render important technical judgments. These technologies, however, had the effect of obscuring key information and hampering effective decision-making.

Dombrowski, Paul M. ATTW Bulletin (2005). Articles>Usability>Engineering>Microsoft PowerPoint

Strategies for Integrating Usability Engineering and the Product Development Process  

Usability engineers receive training in principles and techniques of usability engineering, but are often not prepared for the realities of the workplace. This paper presents strategies for integrating usability engineering and the product development process that have been gleaned from personal experience as well as advice. The strategies are organized into six categories: (1) educating yourself about the organization, (2) educating the organization about usability, (3) making yourself known to the “right” people and groups, (4) building an infrastructure for usability engineering, (5) taking a serviceoriented approach, and (6) demonstrating valueadded aspects of usability.

Muehleisen, John R. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Usability>Engineering