http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Usability/User-Experience A listing of the most recently indexed works about Articles and Usability and User Experience 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/User-Experience http://tc.eserver.org/35598.html http://tc.eserver.org/35598.html I’m part of the AEC User Experience Team at Autodesk. Our goal is to design a great user experience for our customers, but just what does that mean? Our definition of user experience focuses on all the touchpoints that current or new users have with our product. For example, the downloading of software trials is often the beginning of one’s user experience with a product. If you have to fill out forms that ask for too much information, (should “cell phone number” be a required field on a trial download form?) or present you with too many obstacles, the likelihood of a positive user experience will be low. Your interactions with technical support, documentation, the product, and even other products that you use, are all aspects of the user experience. http://tc.eserver.org/35573.html http://tc.eserver.org/35573.html Every programmer and user interface designer eventually comes to this point: You can’t decide how a specific part of your user interface should behave. It’s easy, of course. Just make it a preference, and everyone will be happy. http://tc.eserver.org/35595.html http://tc.eserver.org/35595.html User Experience and usability practitioners are on a continuous hunt for problems that plague our users. This seems straightforward – find problems from testing, user forums, observation, and other methods, prioritize the problems, and generate solutions that eliminate the complaint. However, some events that we call problems in one context may not be problems in another. http://tc.eserver.org/35352.html http://tc.eserver.org/35352.html There seems to be this idea going around that usability testing is bad, or that the cool kids don’t do it. That it’s old skool. That designers don’t need to do it. What if I told you that usability testing is the hottest thing in experience design research? Every time a person has a great experience with a website, a web app, a gadget, or a service, it’s because a design team made excellent decisions about both design and implementation—decisions based on data about how people use designs. And how can you get that data? Usability testing. http://tc.eserver.org/35307.html http://tc.eserver.org/35307.html From 0.1 seconds to 10 years or more, user interface design has many different timeframes, and each has its own particular usability issues. http://tc.eserver.org/35230.html http://tc.eserver.org/35230.html I live and breathe user experience design, and yet it took me two years to get myself the device referenced by almost every single presentation about user experience since 2007… Apple’s iPhone. My reasons were very specific and perhaps boring, but what is interesting is the perspective this wait has afforded me. Since it was released, the iPhone has grabbed an astonishing share of mobile Web traffic, been regarded as a “game-changer” in both the design and business worlds, and has even been referred to as the “Jesus Phone.” Now that I’ve owned one for two weeks I’ve developed a different perspective. The iPhone is surprisingly difficult to use, but it sure is fun! And that is why it’s a game-changer. http://tc.eserver.org/35092.html http://tc.eserver.org/35092.html A product is actually a service. Although the designer, manufacturer, distributer, and seller may think it is a product, to the buyer, it offers a valuable service. In reality a product is all about the experience. http://tc.eserver.org/35082.html http://tc.eserver.org/35082.html Usability is the combination of effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction with which the users accomplish defined goals in a given environment. User-centered documentation matches the users' mental model, thereby helping the users find information they want quickly and easily in their hour of need. The list of documentation usability criteria is fairly subjective at this time, and various opinionated discussion groups have contributed to this. Usable documentation is based on a deep understanding of the users' tasks, and this understanding can only be gained through interviewing representative users. Applying information architecture techniques, the content within documentation should be properly chunked so that the users can assimilate the information properly. Procedural guides should have a well-defined and searchable index that enables users to connect key application terms to their correct context. User-friendly documentation is always succinct, but never at the expense of omitting critical/useful information. It should be developed using a structured process so that it starts with the big picture and gradually adds lower level of details, addressing the needs of every unique group of users. Finally, the documentation must be tested among a representative group of users, and their feedback should be incorporated to make sure that it has met all of the major usability criteria. http://tc.eserver.org/35052.html http://tc.eserver.org/35052.html Marketing departments – especially in IT – like to speak in the modern lingo about a product’s innovative “Look and Feel”. While “Look“ refers to the design of the solution, “Feel” means usability, the quality of use. Developers of Content Management Systems and other enterprise IT solutions have to walk a fine line to meet the exacting demands of users in both areas. But in recent years a clear trend has become apparent: There is a drive towards the modern, “cool” product design where at a minimum usability takes a back seat, often to its detriment. http://tc.eserver.org/34459.html http://tc.eserver.org/34459.html The out of box experience (OOBE) describes the users first interaction with a product or service. In the technology sector this first experience invariably involves plugging stuff in, installing some software and crossing your fingers in the hope that the product will work. The problem is that, in far too many cases, it doesn’t. http://tc.eserver.org/34461.html http://tc.eserver.org/34461.html It is important to remember that the experience a person has using a product or service is every bit as important as that product or services usability. http://tc.eserver.org/34407.html http://tc.eserver.org/34407.html Though the relationship between software engineering and user experience is not always an easy one, software engineers and UX professionals share some common goals. Both have a vested interest in producing systems that are useful and usable. This column will explore how we can apply software engineering concepts and practices in the context of user experience design and, hopefully, build greater understanding between the two disciplines. http://tc.eserver.org/33937.html http://tc.eserver.org/33937.html What’s the difference between usability and user experience? For me, user experience is the experience someone has when using a design. Usability is the extent to which the design provides a good user experience. Usability is often misunderstood to mean ‘ease of use’. It’s much more than this though. http://tc.eserver.org/33590.html http://tc.eserver.org/33590.html Welcome to Usability In Practice. This is the first in a series of columns that will focus on the design of the user experience (UX). In the past, user experience was not a high priority for most development projects, but that's changed. Today, end users have a lot of experience with the Web and with software. They want design that's easy to learn and use and that fits their workflow. This column will show you how to deliver such designs. http://tc.eserver.org/33457.html http://tc.eserver.org/33457.html Modern day user experience research methods can now answer a wide range of questions. Knowing when to use each method can be understood by mapping them in 3 key dimensions and across typical product development phases. http://tc.eserver.org/32782.html http://tc.eserver.org/32782.html The technology business is filled with frustration. Trying to hook something up, troubleshoot something, make it do something–on a deadline–is a weekly occurrence for me. But last week, I just about blew my stack. http://tc.eserver.org/32358.html http://tc.eserver.org/32358.html Easy task completion (traditional usability) is not enough in the Web world. Appealing visual site design is not enough. A site visitor needs to not only be attracted to a site and able to figure out how to buy (or register, sign up, etc.)-they need in addition to be able to tell quickly that a site will meet their needs, and they need to want to buy from this site, as opposed to a competitor's site. This is a key aspect of overall Web site success. http://tc.eserver.org/31602.html http://tc.eserver.org/31602.html This article postulates that we cannot address the issue of simplification exclusively by analyzing the physical and computational parameters of technology. Instead, we must understand the goal of simplification in light of the knowledge, tasks, and processing-load demands on its users. We can approach simplicity as an engineering endeavor by controlling the impact on these three usage dimensions. http://tc.eserver.org/31296.html http://tc.eserver.org/31296.html User Centric, a privately held usability consulting firm based in Chicago, evaluated the long-term usability and user experience of the iPhone in 2007. http://tc.eserver.org/30824.html http://tc.eserver.org/30824.html The problem of the perpetual super-novice is the tendency of people to stop learning about a digital product--whether it's an operating system, desktop application, Web site, or hardware device. http://tc.eserver.org/30444.html http://tc.eserver.org/30444.html Satisficing describes the situation where people settle with a solution to a problem that is 'good enough.' http://tc.eserver.org/29457.html http://tc.eserver.org/29457.html This article defines the niche for Technical Communicators / Writers in Usability Engineering. It makes an important observation "Technical Communicator explains the product to users and Usability Engineer attempts to design self-explanatory products. If the design doesn't speak up, Technical Communicators have to overwork." Technical communicators can serve as the 'barometer' of user interface design. http://tc.eserver.org/29358.html http://tc.eserver.org/29358.html Inspired by Don Norman's classic book, 'The Design of Everyday Things', I started to collect my own examples of bad designs to analyse according to interaction design principles. Here are just a few. http://tc.eserver.org/28587.html http://tc.eserver.org/28587.html Because many of the local Usability Professionals Association (UPA) members work in internet-related fields, Philadelphia's second Annual World Usability Day looked to broaden horizons by focusing on 'User Experience Beyond the Web.' The pervasive theme of the presentations by Hal Rosenbluth, James Mitchell, and Stephen Wilcox was that we actually have a lot in common. http://tc.eserver.org/28535.html http://tc.eserver.org/28535.html The most effective companies realize that they can't succeed on advertising alone; the customer matters. http://tc.eserver.org/28498.html http://tc.eserver.org/28498.html STC communities have moved from trying to figure out how they will work in the new model to starting to make the kinds of fundamental changes and undertake initiatives that will build value for members. We are starting to understand how to 'play' within and succeed with our new rules. For UUX to undertake new initiatives, we need more members to volunteer. http://tc.eserver.org/28328.html http://tc.eserver.org/28328.html Web sites should be designed to facilitate and encourage efficient and effective human-computer interactions. Designers should make every attempt to reduce the user's workload by taking advantage of the computer's capabilities. Users will make the best use of Web sites when information is displayed in a directly usable format and content organization is highly intuitive. Users also benefit from task sequences that are consistent with how they typically do their work, that do not require them to remember information for more than a few seconds, that have terminology that is readily understandable, and that do not overload them with information. http://tc.eserver.org/27808.html http://tc.eserver.org/27808.html What has long been a struggle for UEX professionals can actually be a great tool to demonstrate the importance of your role. We have found a way, using tools that you may already have, to support the users' needs that can positively impact your company’s bottom line. http://tc.eserver.org/27441.html http://tc.eserver.org/27441.html Emotion is one of the strongest differentiators in user experience namely because it triggers unconscious responses to a product, website, environment or interface. Our feelings strongly influence our perceptions and often frame how we think about or refer to our experiences at a later date. http://tc.eserver.org/27380.html http://tc.eserver.org/27380.html The beauty of a product can influence the users' overall impression or general user satisfaction of the product. Think iPod. But how do you measure that? http://tc.eserver.org/27359.html http://tc.eserver.org/27359.html 'User Experience', often abbreviated 'UX', is the quality of experience a person has when interacting with a specific design. http://tc.eserver.org/26085.html http://tc.eserver.org/26085.html How valid is the assertion that 'attractive things work better'? This article explores the association, if any, between user's perceptions of usability and aesthetics for developed systems. http://tc.eserver.org/24920.html http://tc.eserver.org/24920.html Explains how the new name of the former STC Usability SIG better serves the growing number of technical communicators whose work encompasses the overall product--not just usability or documentation. http://tc.eserver.org/22309.html http://tc.eserver.org/22309.html Physical products, from consumer electronics to cars, are needlessly complex because they're developed by insular companies that continue to ignore the growing usability trend. http://tc.eserver.org/20595.html http://tc.eserver.org/20595.html A description and presentation materials from a tutorial given on OVID at the CHI 2002 and MITE 2002 conferences. OVID is a method to use while performing User Engineering. http://tc.eserver.org/10614.html http://tc.eserver.org/10614.html Developers sometimes ask which aspects of look and feel contribute most to the overall usability of an application or Web site. They are typically surprised when I answer that the 'look and feel' aspects aren't the major contributors at all. Look and feel have been popular discussion topics for many years, and some developers have proposed various schemes purporting to allow an easy swap of one look and feel for another. They were perhaps compelled to this thinking to compensate for an inadequate understanding of their users. Around 1990, I became alarmed by the popularity of design architectures advocating paradigms like the User Interface Management Systems (UIMS) that enable a pluggable look and feel. Many of my colleagues and I felt that look and feel represented only the tip of the iceberg. We felt that the set of concepts users must learn and understand to use a product or Web site effectively is actually the most important factor. http://tc.eserver.org/10064.html http://tc.eserver.org/10064.html The point is not that we should add stories to our sites to ensnare narrative-starved readers. The point is that the reader's journey through our site is a narrative experience. Our job is to make the narrative satisfying.