Personas, Participatory Design and Product Development: An Infrastructure for Engagement  

The design of commercial products that are intended to serve millions of people has been a challenge for collaborative approaches. The creation and use of fictional users, concrete representations commonly referred to as 'personas', is a relatively new interaction design technique. It is not without problems and can be used inappropriately, but based on experience and analysis it has extraordinary potential. Not only can it be a powerful tool for true participation in design, it also forces designers to consider social and political aspects of design that otherwise often go unexamined.

Grudin, Jonathan and John Pruitt. Microsoft (2002). Articles>User Centered Design>Usability>Personas

Practicing Persona Development: an In-House Case Study  

As Technical Communicators, many of us were initiated into this industry with the oft-cited cliche, 'know thy audience.' But what does this really mean? To what extent must we 'know' our audience in order to deliver effective information products? The critical questions are, 'what tools and means can I use to sufficiently understand the needs of my audience? Rather than relying on the directives of Engineering and Marketing, how can I discover the true needs of my audience and develop a user-centered design? And how do I hone my skills at gathering and applying this crucial data?' One of the emerging trends in Technical Communications is to develop user 'personas' as a design tool. This paper presents 'real-world' advice and 'best practices' on using the persona methodology to design information products.

Leritz-Higgins, Sarah E. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design>Personas

Preference Does Not Equal Performance

People will swear up and down that they love a particular product. They will tell you that the colors are right, the size is perfect, and the information is exactly what they needed. However, until you watch and test users you will not see how well the product works. You will not find out if they really would continue using the product, in the right amount, at the right time, under the conditions you expected. People have a funny way of deciding when, where and how they will using something.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2000). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design

A Preliminary Report on Two Pilot Readability/Usability Studies  

Companies are beginning to conduct readability studies to determine how to provide customers with usable sites. Results have been inconclusive, conflicting, and often contradicting results of printed text studies. To discover how users use web sites, two pilot studies were designed to examine users, their purposes, and their reading processes. Many results parallel those of previous studies. In addition, new results indicate we need to examine several new variables, including amount of usage, site-specific knowledge, conventionalization, print bias, gender and age.

Boiarsky, Carolyn. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Usability

Preparing for User Research Interviews: Seven Things to Remember

Interviewing is an artful skill that is at the core of a wide variety of research methods in user-centered design, including stakeholder interviews, contextual inquiry, usability testing, and focus groups. Consequently, a researcher’s skill in conducting interviews has a direct impact on the quality and accuracy of research findings and subsequent decisions about design. Skilled interviewers can conduct interviews that uncover the most important elements of a participant’s perspective on a task or a product in a manner that does not introduce interviewer bias. Companies hire user researchers and user-centered designers because they possess this very ability.

Hawley, Michael. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Interviewing>Usability>User Centered Design

Progressive Disclosure

Progressive disclosure defers advanced or rarely used features to a secondary screen, making applications easier to learn and less error-prone.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2006). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design

Rethinking User-Centered Information Development  

Often in the computer industry there is a tendency to provide information about the features of a system. However, customers usually purchase the system based on knowledge of its features, when they receive the product they need information on how to accomplish tasks. Developing task-oriented information requires a shift in perspective from what the computer technology can do, to what your customers want to do with the technology. The resulting information must be usercentered rather than feature-driven. These types of customer requirements demand afresh development approach.

Stertzbach, Lori A. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Usability

Revising Letters to Veterans    

A discussion of the process of making letters for veterans easier to understand.

Daniel, Reva. Technical Communication Online (1995). Articles>Writing>User Centered Design>Usability

Simplicity Costs Less and Works Better

If ordinary people have to use it, make it simple. You'll be doing your users a favour, and saving money too.

Baker, Adam. Merges.net (2001). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design

So What Is User Requirements Gathering?

More than one reader has pointed out that our recent article 'Alternatives To User Requirement Gathering' spent plenty of time illustrating why certain methods were inappropriate for the task of requirement gathering, without actually detailing the correct way to undertake this type of research. In way of compensation, this week we provide some (brief) advice on this absolutely crucial area to successful application or site development.

Farrell, Tom. Frontend Infocentre (2001). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design

Stalking the User: Practical Field Research  

Describes how technical communicators can use field research--observing people in their workplaces, homes, and schools--to gain a better understanding of user behavior.

Rosenbaum, Stephanie L. Intercom (2003). Articles>Usability>Methods>User Centered Design

Strategies for Usability: Putting ISO Standards to Practice  

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.

Dick, David J. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design

Tech-Support Tales: Internet Hard to Use for Novice Users

The Internet is still much too difficult to use for novice users. Specialized information appliances like WebTV reduce complexity but still involve considerable risk of user error.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1997). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Usability

Toward Integrating Our Research Scope: A Sociocultural Field Methodology    

Technical communicators have recently become interested in user-centered design (UCD) for designing and evaluating technical genres. Yet, a critical examination of the field methods of UCD suggests that they suffer from unintegrated scope: an undesirably limiting focus on a particular level of scope (either the macroscopic level of human activity or the mesoscopic level of goal-directed action) in their theoretical underpinnings and data collection and analysis. This focus is often paired with the assumption that this particular level of scope causally affects what happens at the other levels. Both the focus and the assumption are at odds with sociocultural theories of human activity. This article lays out the problem of unintegrated scope and examines it through critical analyses of two field methods used in UCD research. It concludes by proposing an integrated-scope research methodology for UCD research, with roots in both sociocultural theory and the central issues of technical communication.

Spinuzzi, Clay. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2001). Articles>Usability>Methods>User Centered Design

Usability and User Experience Design: The Next Decade  

Predicts that usability practitioners will need new skills to cope with changes in this field.

Wilson, Chauncey E. Intercom (2005). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design

Usability in Practice: Company Profile of Hylotek

Which companies are actually practicing usability, and what does usability mean to them? Who's investing time and money into usability, and what kind of return are they receiving on their investment in the real world?

Giangrossi, Diane. Usability Interface (2004). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design>Case Studies

The User Advocate: Interactive Prototyping, Part 1: Easy PDF Prototyping

I've often observed that once wireframing begins, it's off to the races! In the rush to launch, we sometimes forget end-users. Is there a way to ensure that they get a voice during this always-hectic phase?

Rogers, David J. GotoMedia (2005). Articles>User Centered Design>Usability>Testing

User Experience Design for Working Web Sites and Applications  

As Technical Communicators, we’re often added as members of software and web site development teams merely as an afterthought. Executives, managers, programmers, and other team members frequently view the results of our work—manuals, online help systems, tutorials, and other documents—as 'nice-to-have' additions to products. This pervasive attitude is certainly not healthy for the profession of technical communication... but it’s not good for the applications our organizations and clients produce either. When Technical Communicators working in an e-business unit as user advocates are given more responsibility and more authority over the 'user experience' of a web-based application, for instance, they affect the bottom-line. They increase hits, product buzz, and completed transactions. By moving beyond manuals, beyond help, and into the new role of User Experience Designer, we increase the value we add to services and products and increase our professional status within organizations.

Sisler, Paul and Catherine M. Titta. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Usability

User Skills Improving, But Only Slightly

Users now do basic operations with confidence and perform with skill on sites they use often. But when users try new sites, well-known usability problems still cause failures.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability>User Centered Design

User-Centered Deliverables: Communicating the Right Things to the Right People

As usability professionals working on the Web, it is our responsibility to make sure our clients' sites communicate effectively to their intended audience. We make recommendations about what information the audience needs, how they expect it to be presented and how they’ll need to work with it once they’ve got it. But how often do we consider our own audience, the people we need to make our recommendations happen? Does one set of documentation meet the needs of all members of an interdisciplinary team? Probably not.

Beecher, Frederick. Usability Professionals Association (2004). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design

User-Driven Documentation: From Usability Testing to User Guide  

Rockwell Software is a $90-million company specializing in plant automation software. Offices in West Allis, Wisconsin, and Mayfield Village, Ohio allow technical communicators to work closely with development teams to design, test, and release usable, consistent software and information products. While Rockwell Software’s information development process is a multi-faceted endeavor, this paper focuses on the following three steps we implement to create our information products: interviewing customers to establish information guidelines, conducting usability tests, and writing Getting Results guides.

Butler, Scott A., Jennifer L. Giordano and Myron M. Shawala III. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Usability

Users Interleave Sites and Genres

When working on business problems, users flitter among sites, alternating visits to different service genres. No single website defines the user experience on its own.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2006). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Usability

Using Calculators for User Engagement

Calculators can play important roles on websites. They are especially popular for financial sites, where they can help users calculate mortgage payments, retirement needs, interest earned, and so on. They also appear on other sites, where users can calculate things as varied as their BMI (body mass index), carbon footprint, life expectancy, or gas mileage.

Zhou, Yun and Cliff Anderson. Usability Professionals Association (2008). Articles>Usability>Assessment>User Centered Design

A "Way Last Resort"?

I recently made a career transition from technical writing to usability engineering. In my new position, I have been conducting site visits with customers in the area. During a recent visit, I found an opportunity to query a user, 'Mike,' about using online Help. Join Molly on her first experience watching a user try to work with documentation, an experience both illuminating and alarming.

Malsam, Molly. Usability Interface (2007). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design

What Does Usability Mean: Looking Beyond ‘Ease of Use’  

The definition of usability is sometimes reduced to 'easy to use,' but this over-simplifies the problem and provides little guidance for the user interface designer. A more precise definition can be used to understand user requirements, formulate usability goals and decide on the best techniques for usability evaluations. An understanding of the five characteristics of usability – effective, efficient, engaging, error tolerant, easy to learn – helps guide the user-centered design tasks to the goal of usable products.

Quesenbery, Whitney. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design