Digital Divide: The Three Stages

The 'digital divide' refers to the fact that certain parts of the population have substantially better opportunities to benefit from the new economy than other parts of the population. Most commentators view this in purely economic terms. However, two other types of divide will have much greater impact in the years to come.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2006). Articles>Usability>Accessibility>Online

Evaluating Our New Look and Moving Online: Seeing Is Believing    

The editorial advisory board and I have been asking our readers' opinions about the journal's redesign and the directions this publication should take in the future. We've also commissioned usability studies and carefully examined the technologies available for online publication. In this editorial, I'd like to share what we've learned and the directions in which we hope to move during the coming year.

Hayhoe, George F. Technical Communication Online (1998). Articles>Publishing>Online>Usability

Faster Factfinding With Digital Libraries?  

This paper covers the usability testing of a prototype digital library. The library holds technical manuals for scientific instruments. Findings show test subjects can locate desired documents faster with this digital library than a corresponding paper library. However, the same subjects can locate desired information faster in a paper document than a digital one. Finally, most subjects reported they would prefer to using the online library of technical documents over the library of paper ones.

Barnett, Mark R. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Usability>Documentation>Online

Fear and Loathing of the Help Menu: A Usability Test of Online Help    

A usability test of online Help for a Windows-based database-searching application showed that test subjects avoided the Help menu for as long as possible. When finally obliged to use Help, they read the information carelessly and bailed out quickly, even without finding the necessary information. On the other hand, the test subjects did use dialog-box Help and pop-up Help for tools. The article identifies three qualities and two requirements that are apparent in dialog-box Help and pop-up Help for tools but which are not shared by the Help menu. It suggests that these qualities and requirements may make any Help access method that contains them attractive to users. It then goes on to examine dialog-box Help, pop-up Help for tools, and several other Help access methods, that use these qualities and requirements.

Grayling, Trevor. Technical Communication Online (1998). Articles>Usability>Online

Focus Groups in Usability: From Face-to-Face to Screen-to-Screen Dialogue  

Electronic focus groups became a popular alternative to face-to-face groups in user research in recent years. They are largely known for the benefits of anonymity, accurate discussion tacking, and low cost. At the same time, the quality of results generated by on-line focus groups remains uncertain. The paper explains five fundamentals of the focus group technique, such as content, context, representation, facilitation and interaction. It reviews different stages of focus group development and provides recommendations for facilitating each stage. The paper discusses the potentials and limitations of electronic focus groups, provides practical tips for facilitators, and compares them with face-to-face groups.

Gorlenko, Lada. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Usability>Online>Focus Groups

In Defense of Print

The reduced reading speed on computers can be compensated by good hypertext design that allows the user to read less information and to find it faster. A typical example is online help and documentation: because the information is right there on the computer, there is no need to spend time finding the hardcopy manual, and because of good search tools and hypertext links between related information, users can go directly to the one or two sections that contain the answer to their problem. After all, Nielsen's first law of computer documentation is that users don't read it. The second law is that if they read it anyway, it's because they are in deep trouble and need the answer to a specific problem. Thus, somebody reading a manual won't really read it cover-to-cover, so online presentation makes perfect sense.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1996). Articles>Documentation>Online>Usability

Keep Online Surveys Short

To ensure high response rates and avoid misleading survey results, keep your surveys short and ensure that your questions are well written and easy to answer.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2004). Articles>Usability>Methods>Online

Mapping the Expanding Landscape of Usability: The Case of Distributed Education    

As the environments in which we use technology become more complex and more diverse, we need to extend and expand our notion of usability to include a broad spectrum of users and user activities. We take as an example the case of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's distributed education program for human-computer interaction (HCI). While HCI is the subject matter for the courses, the courses themselves present a challenging case study in HCI usability.

Grice, Roger A. and William Hart-Davidson. Journal of Computer Documentation (2002). Articles>Usability>Education>Online

Measuring Online Experience: It's About More Than Time!

Users' specific online activities, their knowledge of computers and the Internet, and how they feel about being online could differ significantly. In order to obtain a more robust measure, researchers may want to consider how and what users think, feel, and do online when they assess level of experience. In this article we explore each of these areas and present a new measure of measuring online experience.

Rogers, Bonnie Lida. Usability News (2003). Articles>Usability>Testing>Online

Notes on Moving from a Character Cell to GUI

For things like order-entry or general form input, some of the attributes of windowing applications can get in the way. If you are designing a windowing application for frequent form-based input/modification, you want really good keyboard capabilities, an absence of windows popping around, a minimum of keyboard mouse transitions, etc. The guidelines for Windows design don't really deal well with form design and high-frequency data input and modification.

Wilson, Chauncey E. Usability Interface (1998). Articles>Usability>Online

Portable Devices Can Cause Usability Problems

Take a moment and think about the various portable Internet devices available. You see everything from wireless hand held devices, to web-enabled pagers, to cellular phones with email access. The list goes on and on. Every day you can scan the technology headlines and read about several new Internet technologies being announced. Think about the nature of these portable Internet devices: they probably are not very usable.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (1999). Articles>Usability>Online>PDA

Remote Online Usability Testing: Why, How, and When to Use It

Traditional, one-on-one usability testing is a great technique for uncovering usability issues on a website. Unfortunately, in-person usability testing isn't always feasible due to tight schedules, tight budgets, and elusive target users. So what's a usability crusader to do when in-person usability testing is impossible?

Gough, Dabney and Holly Phillips. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Articles>Usability>Methods>Online

Remote Usability: Insight into New Tools

A review of software packages for moderated usability testing in a native environment via a telephone/web interface.

Madaio, Mike. Usability Professionals Association (2006). Articles>Usability>Testing>Online

Seven (Plus or Minus Two) Things to Remember About Producing Online Documentation  

Producing online documentation requires a new view of a technical communicator's roles, skills, and responsibilities.

Titta, Catherine M. and John E. Johnson. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Online>Usability

UniFace: Internet-Based Software for Remote Usability Testing of Icons

The Graphical User Interface (GUI) of software usually consists of huge number of icons. Though the intention is to improve the usability of software, not all interface designers are able to test and evaluate the comprehensibility of icons. Increasing exposure to unevaluated icons causes cognitive fatigue to users and slows down the intuitive learning. Users from diverse geographic locations, cultures and religions are very likely to interpret and understand these icons differently. As software products are designed to address universal needs, testing and evaluation of GUI across the globe or at least, wherever the product is likely to be used becomes important. Creation of dedicated usability labs in various locations for usability testing is not a viable proposition. A software tool named 'UniFace' for remote usability testing of icons is designed capitalizing on far-reaching capability of Internet. UniFace extends the usability lab onto the desktop of every user.

Katre, Dinesh S. HCeye (2004). Articles>Usability>Testing>Online

Usability of Online Education in a Diverse Community  

This study explored the usability of an online tutorial in a diverse community of users at a major Midwestern university. The analysis of data revealed a significant difference between American and international users in such usability components as learnability, memorability, and number errors; however, no difference was found in the users' satisfaction rate. The difference in usability may suggest that the online product's effectiveness is largely dependent on background of the audience; therefore, online education may require additional adjustments to fit the needs of a diverse community.

Rybas, Sergey. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Education>Online>Usability

Usable Online Documentation: A Look At Recent Research  

Online documentation often seems to be a panacea for our difficulties in providing usable documentation. Scholars and practitioners alike provide a steady stream of new ways to apply, structure, categorize, choose, and develop online documentation. However, empirical evidence, either for or against many of these ideas, is still lacking, leaving us guessing about which concepts will truly help our users and which will be technical communication's Edsels. Recent studies show conflicting information about the key usability factors in online documentation, but do offer some hints of where to begin. This article will help technical communica- tors apply theory by summarizing recent empirical studies about online documentation usability.

Ray, Eric J. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Online>Usability

What Happened to Usability Interface

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.

Dick, David J. Usability Interface (2006). Articles>Publishing>Online>Usability

When to Develop a Wizard

Development teams sometimes ask us about adding a wizard to their application. Should they use a wizard or a cue card? Isn’t a wizard just a patch for a bad interface? We conducted a usability study of several wizards in popular software and have some ideas about which situations can best be solved with a wizard.

User Interface Engineering (1997). Articles>Usability>Online

Why People Can't Use eLearning

Unusable interfaces will cost eLearning companies billions of dollars in lost revenues because many people won’t be able to use their products. The US eLearning market has a projected value of $11.5 billion by 2003 while the European market is expected to be worth $4 billion by 2004. However, poor usability will contribute to disappointing results for many eLearning companies, for the following reasons.

Quinn, Anthony. Frontend Infocentre (2001). Articles>Education>Online>Usability

デジタルデバイド：3 つのステージ

経済的要因による格差は、たいした問題ではないが、ユーザビリティと活用性の格差は、膨大な数の人たちをインターネットの潜在的利益から引き離している。

Nielsen, Jakob. Usability.gr.jp (2006). Articles>Usability>Accessibility>Online

The Effects of Line Length on Reading Online News

This study examined the effects of line length on reading speed, comprehension, and user satisfaction of online news articles. Twenty college-age students read news articles displayed in 35, 55, 75, or 95 characters per line (cpl) from a computer monitor. Results showed that passages formatted with 95 cpl resulted in faster reading speed. No effects of line length were found for comprehension or satisfaction, however, users indicated a strong preference for either the short or long line lengths.

Shaikh, A. Dawn. Usability News (2005). Articles>Typography>Online>Usability

Reading Electronic Text

Reading text from electronic displays has now become a routine behavior in the workplace and elsewhere. As the computer replaces paper documents, the problems of reading text from electronic displays becomes increasingly evident. A decline in performance in display reading performance can be as high as 40 percent or more when compared to the same text read from paper. This report provides a review and analysis of recent studies of reading from electronic displays. Factors examined include not only display variables such as flicker, spatial resolution and image quality, but also the effects of autoscrolling, single and multiple word sequential presentation, color, font characteristics, and other factors. Of particular note are the effects of display presentation methods on text legibility and comprehension. Conclusions and recommendations for user interface design are provided.

Lee, A.T. Beta Research (1996). Articles>Typography>Online>Usability

Paper and Online Documentation Trade-Offs

This article explains the relative merits of paper and online documentation from a usability perspective. First, we look at the different types of user. Then we look at typical paper documentation and online documentation with respect to these user types. Finally, we present the relative merits of paper and online documentation for different user types.

Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2007). Articles>Documentation>Usability>Online

Kindle Content Design

Writing for Kindle is like writing for print, the Web, and mobile devices combined; optimal usability means optimizing content for each platform's special characteristics.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2009). Articles>Document Design>Usability>Online