#33059
Human-Centered Intranet Design
The role of the developer is to ensure that their systems don't put undue stress on users simply for the sake of technology. Developing for technology alone helps no one. It may showcase the advances in the industry and impress those in-the-know; but after the oohing and aahing stop, it does little to ease the disconnect between the user and the tool.
Chin, Paul. Intranet Journal (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>User Centered Design
#33084
You can’t usefully deliver information to users that you haven’t personally met. This article discusses the challenges in delivering information to all staff within an organisation, and outlining practical approaches that ensure efforts spent publishing intranet content are not wasted.
Robertson, James. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>User Centered Design
#33105
Top Ten Ways to Lose Your Intranet Users
Intranet developers and content owners are able to grab the attention of their users through momentum. Interest--caused by curiosity, marketing, word-of-mouth, or hype--is raised during initial rollout. And there will always be a surge in your web server's usage logs during this period. But once the novelty has worn off, will your intranet have enough true substance to transform that initial momentum into regular usage?
Chin, Paul. Intranet Journal (2004). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>User Centered Design
#33110
Why are Intranets Structured Like the Organisational Chart?
Many intranets are structured around the organisational chart. It is well known that this method of grouping content is difficult for staff — they can’t find information if they don’t know who is responsible for it. However, it often seems too difficult to move from an organisational-based structure to a more intuitive topical structure. Before moving to a better structure it is necessary to identify why the intranet is currently designed around the organisational chart, and address these issues first.
Spencer, Donna. Step Two (2005). Articles>Information Design>Intranets>User Centered Design
#33112
Five Things to Know About Users
Over the years, we've studied the usability of hundreds of product and web site designs. We've seen designs that were incredibly effective for users and designs that fell tremendously short. One emerging pattern in our ongoing research is that design teams that know a lot about their users are more likely to produce user experiences that are usable, effective, and pleasing.
Spool, Jared M. User Interface Engineering (2002). Articles>Web Design>Usability>User Centered Design
#33113
Thirteen Common Objections Against User Requirements Analysis
Outlines some common objections to doing user research and provides some defense against them.
D'Hertefelt, Sim. InformationArchitect.com (2000). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Audience Analysis
#33138
This is a simple technique that enables one person or a group of people to create a categorisation of objects so that it is understood which objects belong with which other objects. Objects can be anything: menu items, blocks of content, proposed web pages, URLs. This method can be used by practically anybody after a few minutes practice.
European MultiMedia Usability Services (1999). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Card Sorting
#33139
Card Sorting is a technique for exploring how people group items, so that you can develop structures that maximize the probability of users being able to find items.
Gaffney, Gerry. Information and Design (2006). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Card Sorting
#33140
Card sorting is a user testing method for organising data into structure. There’s a lot of information about on what they are, how to conduct them. Problem is, they’re all over the place and mostly they’re written by scientists so tend to be a little difficult to grasp and bogged down in analysis (which can take over your life if you let it!) I’ve decided to document my understanding of how to plan, conduct and analyse a card sort, from a practitioners point of view.
Boulton, Mark. Mark Boulton (2007). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Card Sorting
#33141
Card Sorting, Part 2: Facilitation
You should now have everything ready to conduct your card sorts - cards, users, observers and most importantly a clear objective of what you want to achieve.
Boulton, Mark. Mark Boulton (2007). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Card Sorting
#33142
Card Sorting, Part 3: Analysis and Reporting
In the final part of the article I talk about perhaps the most important part of the procedure - Analysis. This is the part in which you can get the most bogged down. You must be thorough, ruthless and accurate. Card sorting won’t always give you the answer - it may just give you more questions. This is where the analysis comes in.
Boulton, Mark. Mark Boulton (2007). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Card Sorting
#33158
Results of a Study about Online Experience
Users’ “enjoyment” of a site is tied closely to how easily they can find the information they want and stay oriented at the same time. I think this is a given for technical communicators; we know that users want to get answers as fast as possible, and documentation must be navigable.
Gryphon Mountain (2008). Articles>Web Design>User Experience>User Centered Design
#33160
Redesign of the Monash University Web Site: A Case Study in User-Centred Design Methods
This paper presents a case study in user-centred design as applied to the redesign of the Monash University web site. It begins with an overview of user-centred design which is then contrasted with traditional development processes. The case study provides some background information about the project and the choice of methodology, an outline of the user-centred design methods used, and the nature of the multi-disciplinary team responsible for the project.
Alexander, Dey. AusWeb (2003). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Case Studies
#33164
User-Centered Design for Different Project Types, Part 2
Today's software applications need to be both useful and usable, supporting simple and efficient completion of tasks by the intended user audience. Part 1 of this two-part series on user-centered design defined the essential activities of useful and usable software. Here in part 2, Lynn Percival and Jack Scanlon describe the applicability of these core activities across a range of development project types -- selection and possible customization of a vendor application, evolution and rewrite of an existing application, and creation of a new application.
Percival, Lynn and Jack Scanlon. IBM (2002). Articles>User Centered Design
#33165
User-Centered Design for Different Project Types, Part 1
Today's software applications need to be both useful and usable, supporting simple and efficient completion of tasks by the intended user audience. Much has been written about methodologies for designing software that meets user needs. But little emphasis has been placed on what types of activities are truly essential in achieving these goals. Here in part 1 of this two-part article, the authors tap into their 30+ years of combined experience in applying such techniques to boil the design of useful and usable software down to its essential activities.
Percival, Lynn and Jack Scanlon. IBM (2002). Articles>User Centered Design
#33166
User-centric design's (UCD's) aim is to enhance and improve the user's experience with software or a product. This principle has benefits, but can it translate seamlessly to the commercial Web design process? Do UCD principles result in a customer-centric Web site that satisfies the diverse needs of potentially millions of visitors? UCD complements the process of designing and optimizing a site for conversion, but it was never conceived to address the intricacies of building a persuasive system.
Eisenberg, Bryan. ClickZ (2004). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design
#33167
The Secret of Managing a Successful Website
The Web is about self-service. To achieve success in self-service you need to really understand how your visitors think and behave. If they are to serve themselves they must feel comfortable and confident. That requires getting to know their needs in a comprehensive manner. It requires an ongoing conversation with them.
McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2004). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design
#33220
Are We There Yet? Effects of Delay on User Perceptions of Web Sites
One of the chronic challenges that will be highlighted by emotional design is site download speed. There are many sources of delay in Web site and application delivery.
Straub, Kathleen. Human Factors International (2003). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Emotions
#33222
Fast-Downloading Websites are Still Important
People are impatient on the Web. They are function and task orientated. They want to get things done as quickly as possible. The average person is still accessing the Web over a 56 KB modem. You should therefore have a major focus on 'light' webpages if you want to increase reader-satisfaction.
McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Emotions
#33223
One of the most overlooked aspects of designing a Web site is how users get to it. Separate factions are often devoted to promoting, designing, and maintaining a Web site, and the lack of communication and involvement can lead to apathy or confusion. Too frequently is it assumed that visitors are knowledgeable about the company and Web site, and that they enter through the home page. False assumptions about visitor entry can plague even a well-planned, well-designed site.
Lash, Jeff. Digital Web Magazine (2003). Articles>Web Design>Usability>User Centered Design
#33224
When your Web pages load, you can't afford to let people be bored by a blank page at the outset. This article gives some tips on how to avoid common page loading problems and give users that valuable information they want even as more downloading takes place.
Logvinov, Eugene. IBM (2002). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design
#33234
Where's the Search? Re-Examining User Expectations of Web Objects
In 2001, Bernard determined that users were able to form a schema for the location of web objects on informational websites. The current study investigates whether users' expectations have changed since the 2001 study. Changes were found in the expected location of the site search engine, internal links, and advertisements.
Shaikh, A. Dawn and Kelsi Lenz. Usability News (2006). Articles>Web Design>Search>User Centered Design
#33371
I’d personally love a computer experience which emphasized ‘flow’ and gradual, constant change. No longer would every little change pull your attention away from an important task. Instead, those Mail notifications, system messages and the like could gently change without you noticing, until you decided you wanted to actually look.
Lang, Keith. UI and Us (2008). Articles>User Interface>User Centered Design>Cognitive Psychology
#33436
Persuasive navigation is navigation that persuades a user to do something. That something can be anything that you want the user to do—buy a product, sign up for a newsletter, or download a game. By understanding user needs and matching them up with business goals, you can persuade users to go where you want them to go, making them happy at the same time.
Lash, Jeff. Digital Web Magazine (2002). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Persuasive Design
#33437
The Five Issues that Persuade Visitors
Whenever visitors land on your web site, they consciously or subconsciously deal with five issues until they're satisfied, or better yet, delighted. These five issues will either induce the visitor to take the action you want them to take, or a lack of satisfaction may push them to find a competitor. None of these five issues is easy to measure. None has objective factors that are easily influenced. But all are nonetheless key to converting visitors.
Eisenberg, Bryan. ClickZ (2004). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Persuasive Design
