http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Usability/Management A listing of the most recently indexed works about Articles and Usability and Management 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/Articles/Usability/Management http://tc.eserver.org/34511.html http://tc.eserver.org/34511.html The authors give a detailed account of their assignment to create a content management system (CMS) for a large office and how paying close attention to workplace culture and behavior affected their design of an effective CMS. http://tc.eserver.org/33872.html http://tc.eserver.org/33872.html More than likely your content management system (CMS) will have many usability problems if you just use it “out of the box”. Having been involved in a number of projects tasked with implementing a these types of systems—including content management systems for websites, intranets and wikis for knowledge management—I’ve noticed that there are a number of key areas of the user interface that frequently need fixing from a usability point of view. http://tc.eserver.org/33454.html http://tc.eserver.org/33454.html Agile methods aim to overcome usability barriers in traditional development, but pose new threats to user experience quality. By modifying Agile approaches, however, many companies have realized the benefits without the pain. http://tc.eserver.org/33358.html http://tc.eserver.org/33358.html Talking to a CEO about usability can be wonderful or terrifying. The difference between raging success and total failure comes down to understanding exactly what the CEO needs to know and then adjusting your usability message to fit. This article explains how to understand various contexts, and in turn, how to position your usability message. http://tc.eserver.org/32937.html http://tc.eserver.org/32937.html In the information economy, the longevity of an organisation is based as much on the sophistication of its knowledge management practices as it is on traditional differentiators such as the strength of its products, the talent of its employees, and its marketplace reputation and partner relationships. Simply speaking, as actionable and insightful information becomes the currency of an organisation, there are few other ways to tap into any latent potential lost in the office corridors. http://tc.eserver.org/32355.html http://tc.eserver.org/32355.html Engineering design tasks require designers to continually compare, weigh, and choose among many complex alternatives. The quality of these selection decisions directly impacts the quality, cost, and safety of the final product. Because of the high degree of uncertainty in predicting the performance of alternatives while they are still just sketches on the drawing board, and the high cost of poor choices, mathematical decision methods incorporating uncertainty have long held much appeal for product designers, at least from a theoretical standpoint. http://tc.eserver.org/30771.html http://tc.eserver.org/30771.html Every web site is conceived and designed keeping in view a particular purpose to serve. The aim of web site may vary: some web site intends to showcase products or services of the company it belongs to, some provides information to its target audience, or some just exposes its company on the web in a brand building exercise. This is to note that whatever be the nature of web site, web copy plays it own crucial role in furthering the interest of the site. It is imperative that web content is easy-to-read, easy-to-find, and easy-to-understand. http://tc.eserver.org/30442.html http://tc.eserver.org/30442.html Featuritis or creeping featurism is the tendency for the number of features in a product (usually software product) to rise with each release of the product. What may have been a cohesive and consistent design in the early versions may end up as a patchwork of added features. And with extra features comes extra complexity. http://tc.eserver.org/30195.html http://tc.eserver.org/30195.html Computing the net present value (NPV) lets you estimate the most profitable level of usability investment. For big projects, expensive usability can pay off. http://tc.eserver.org/29905.html http://tc.eserver.org/29905.html Defining usability requirements at the beginning of the project increases the chances that the end product will meet the users' goals and create a satisfying user experience. Unfortunately, such requirements are often not considered with the same priority as functional or other technical requirements. This presentation defines usability requirements, proposes guidelines for creating measurable requirements, and elaborates the components of a well-constructed usability requirement. http://tc.eserver.org/29751.html http://tc.eserver.org/29751.html Organisations around the world have already made their first forays into personalisation, however many more organisations are questioning what to personalise and how to go about it. So who is using personalisation and how effective is it? http://tc.eserver.org/29752.html http://tc.eserver.org/29752.html The functionality of the content management system (CMS) is obviously a key deciding factor when purchasing a new product. Equally important is the usability of the CMS. http://tc.eserver.org/28645.html http://tc.eserver.org/28645.html Sizing UCD projects presents special challenges to usability practitioners and consultants. Each project and UCD methodology comes with its own set of variables that makes it difficult to accurately estimate resource requirements and completion times. http://tc.eserver.org/28644.html http://tc.eserver.org/28644.html There are two basic alternatives for structuring a usability/UCD group within an organization: members of the group can be centralized in a single department, or, members can be distributed among development teams. http://tc.eserver.org/28034.html http://tc.eserver.org/28034.html As a usability professional, there are many reasons why you might speak with your CEO or other senior leaders. For example, you might need funding for a new laboratory or testing equipment. You might also need to justify current or future expenses, such as salaries, end user remuneration, or your travel budget. Most conversations are financial in nature. http://tc.eserver.org/28019.html http://tc.eserver.org/28019.html Knowledge gained from usability testing is often applied merely to the immediate product under test and then forgotten--at least at an organizational level. This article describes a usability knowledge management system (KMS) based on principles of pattern language and use-case writing that offers a way to turn lessons learned from usability testing into organizational knowledge that can be leveraged across different projects and different design teams. http://tc.eserver.org/25064.html http://tc.eserver.org/25064.html Web site content must be recrudescent, repositorial, refluent, and rectilinear. What? Here's an innovative treatment of the essential attributes of online text. Find out why great web site content generally has these 14 characteristics that start with a "R". http://tc.eserver.org/23980.html http://tc.eserver.org/23980.html Anecdotal evidence from within the CM industry indicates that CM implementations fail to meet corporate expectations about half of the time. Part of the reason for missed expectations could be poor usability. http://tc.eserver.org/23768.html http://tc.eserver.org/23768.html Proper usability design commonly cuts training costs by 50 percent and increases productivity by 25 percent. http://tc.eserver.org/23637.html http://tc.eserver.org/23637.html This article describes the importance of incorporating usability into all stages of implementing content management, including assessing your needs, assessing your users (of both the content and the content management system), and assessing your content. It questions the emphasis of technology in many of the current discussions about content management, and instead, advocates looking to the field of usability to form the basis of a content management implementation. http://tc.eserver.org/21431.html http://tc.eserver.org/21431.html The single best indicator as to the overall competence of an interaction design team is their plan for user testing. If you are presented with no plan or a sort of vague 'and we'll eventually do some user testing,' you may want to back off and look at other resources. If, on the other hand, you are given a proposal outlining repeated design and test cycles, you are dealing with people who know exactly what they are doing. http://tc.eserver.org/21082.html http://tc.eserver.org/21082.html This is a business case for usability in an organization. It is based on academic research, industrial research, case studies, consulting experience, and common knowledge found in the usability community.  http://tc.eserver.org/20932.html http://tc.eserver.org/20932.html Discussion of a global knowledge management system created in Lotus Notes for Novartis Consumer Health. http://tc.eserver.org/20753.html http://tc.eserver.org/20753.html Describes the motivation behind a Knowledge Transfer Plan benchmarking study conducted by JoAnn Hackos and Comtech. Bradbury wanted to compare Cadence’s publications and training organizations to other organizations’. She has integrated the findings into plans for the new year. JoAnn Hackos describes the benefits of participating in benchmarking activities. They include: peer and professional contact, the exchange of best practices within the field, understanding how other groups deal with the similar issues, and so on. Dr. Hackos introduces her partnerbased model of benchmarking in which companies cosponsor the studies, bringing increased participation at less costs. http://tc.eserver.org/19383.html http://tc.eserver.org/19383.html Details a process for improving the usability, consistency, and organization of user information within businesses that maintain medium to large documentation libraries. http://tc.eserver.org/19028.html http://tc.eserver.org/19028.html Data indicate that usability offers a better return on investment than almost any other business action. When times get rough, usability shines. The benefits are huge. Usability is a weapon that can save you money, improve your competitive position, and improve customer loyalty. Now is the time to invest in the research. http://tc.eserver.org/18918.html http://tc.eserver.org/18918.html Every piece of user research is part of an ongoing research program, even if that program is informal. However, making a program formal provides a number of advantages: It gives you a set of goals, a schedule that stretches limited user-research resources, and results when they're needed most. It also helps you avoid unnecessary, redundant, or hurried research. http://tc.eserver.org/18458.html http://tc.eserver.org/18458.html Ease of use doesn't come from wishful thinking. It comes from conducting systematic usability engineering activities throughout the project lifecycle. This is real work and costs real money, though not as much as some people fear. You can conduct simple forms of user testing in a few days and gain extensive insights into both user behavior and recommended design improvements. Still, before most people will commit to a lifecycle approach to usability, they want to know what it will cost and what they will gain. We set out to find the answers. http://tc.eserver.org/15008.html http://tc.eserver.org/15008.html This paper summarizes recent literature on virtual organizations, as well as Tec-Ed’s practical experience in managing project teams whose members are in different geographic locations, have different skills and responsibilities, and seldom meet face to face. It reviews how we share corporate culture, gain insight into clients, build trust, and develop the professional synergy that enables efficient cooperation and effective results. It also discusses the challenges facing our centralized staff who support workers in regional offices, from troubleshooting unseen hardware and software to keeping corporate archives up-to-date.