Cómo Hacer Más Accesibles los Gráficos SVG

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) es un lenguaje de etiquetado que nos permite la descripción con XML de gráficos vectoriales en dos dimensiones. En este artículo se resume brevemente como los gráficos SVG pueden ser más accesibles siguiendo las directrices del W3C.

Fernandez, Francisco Jesus Martin and Oscar Martin Rodriguez. Nosolousabilidad.com (2002). (Spanish) Design>Accessibility>Graphic Design>Usability

Competitive Usability

Many online services on the Internet are about to enter the third stage of market maturity, where the key competitive differentiator will be usability. While many existing services are going to face costly re-designs if they what to meet the demands of the third stage, new Web projects have the opportunity to overtake competitors by making usability top priority.

Olsen, Henrik. GUUUI (2002). Design>Web Design>Usability

The Complexity of Simplicity

Though many business strategies and publications continue to trumpet the power of simplicity in the design of digital products, for lots of companies and product teams, simplicity doesn't come easy.

Wroblewski, Luke. UXmatters (2006). Design>Usability>Methods>Minimalism

Componentes Problemáticos de Interacción Web

A continuación se exponen los que, desde mi punto de vista, considero componentes problemáticos a la hora de hacer uso de ellos en nuestras webs.

Hassan Montero, Yusef. Nosolousabilidad.com (2002). (Spanish) Design>Web Design>Interactive>Usability

Composition and Usability

Since the advent of the Web, we've seen a myriad of design schemas evolve--from the simple navigation/content style of site to the cluttered portal. And as this evolution has progressed, so did the war between UI designers and usability experts. On one side, there are usability experts who want to make every website look exactly like Yahoo because users know Yahoo and so they will automatically know how to use the site. On the other side, there are UI designers who want to design entire sites in Flash and Shockwave just because it's cool. Overly dramatic? Well, yes, maybe a little--but it's not entirely a false analysis. Many UI designers that work with usability folk complain that their creativity is hampered, whereas many usability gurus complain that designers are confusing a site's user with their visual semantics. But are the goals of UI designers and the usability folk that far apart?

Cecil, Richard F. Digital Web Magazine (2000). Articles>Usability>Web Design

Computing Is About People, Not Machines

An IBM Ease of Use poster with the message Computing is about People, Not Machines.

IBM (1999). Design>Presentations>Posters>Usability

Concise, Scannable, and Objective: How to Write for the Web

Studies of how users read on the Web found that they do not actually read: instead, they scan the text. A study of five different writing styles found that a sample Web site scored 58% higher in measured usability when it was written concisely, 47% higher when the text was scannable, and 27% higher when it was written in an objective style instead of the promotional style used in the control condition and many current Web pages. Combining these three changes into a single site that was concise, scannable, and objective at the same time resulted in 124% higher measured usability.

Morkes, John and Jakob Nielsen. Alertbox (1997). Design>Web Design>Writing>Usability

Conducting Usability Studies at User Group Meetings  

In this day and age, getting closer to your user base is imperative for creating user-centric documentation. This paper discusses how the Technical Publications group at Mentor Graphics tapped into their annual User Group meeting (MUG) to conduct usability studies. We cover: Convincing management of the ROI of participating in the User Group meeting; establishing relationships with meeting organizers; defining proper "protocol" for interacting with users and other meeting attendees; planning for and dealing with equipment setup; recruiting users to the usability lab; considering and acquiring incentives for usability lab participants.

Yaspo, Catherine and Sarah E. Leritz-Higgins. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Usability>Testing>User Centered Design

Conducting Usability Tests to Upgrade Your Web Sites  

Usability testing can be planned and executed at various levels of complexity to enhance your Web site throughout stages of development. Include usability testing in the front-end planning and set Web site usability goals. Test early prototypes and then test again to quantify improvements. Assemble a team to plan the testing even if it is just two people. If you follow a planning and testing checklist, you should be rewarded with valuable data to analyze and upgrade your Web site. The process and outcome can enhance your company¶s reputation or improve your credibility as an information designer or developer.

Lester, Susan M.J. STC Proceedings (1999). Presentations>Web Design>Usability

Considering Product Usability Along with Information Usability  

In this progression we will examine ways that technical communicators can improve both information usability and product usability. The presentation will center around two major points.

Grice, Roger A. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Usability>Information Design

The Constant Design Balance

Usability is about understanding your users, and designing and testing with and for those users. However, there are other competing needs that need to be considered to ensure product success. In architectural and technical drawings, different layers or transparencies are often overlaid to assemble the complete design solution. A similar "design transparency" approach can ensure that product teams are working towards a common goal, gaining a balanced view, and increasing the chance of success.

Szuc, Daniel and Gerry Gaffney. Apogee (2005). Design>Web Design>Usability

Constructing User-Centered Websites: Design Implications for Content Organization

The designer can construct and place the contents on the website with a good degree of confidence that it will reflect the mental model of the representative user. The placement of the content on the website, however, is critical to a site's eventual success. For this reason, this article is intended to address some of the more important human factors issues in the design of the content within a website.

Bernard, Michael. Usability News (2000). Design>Web Design>Usability

Content with Style

Content with Style will try to find balance between specifics and inspiration and keep you on track with what we feel is a good approach to our daily business: Styling up information for the web!

Content with Style. Design>Web Design>Usability>Blogs

Converting Visitors to Buyers

Converting visitors to buyers can be easily achieved by following some basic rules of conversion.

Townes, Frederick. Webcredible (2007). Design>Web Design>Usability>E Commerce

Correlating Web-User Data

Everything served to a visitor -- from the first page through marketing, sales, and product fulfillment -- generates data about the customer. Web marketers can tap into this 'free' source of profile data for just the cost of converting existing data into a format that can be used by a data-analysis program.

Allen, Cliff. ClickZ (2001). Articles>Usability>Web Design>Log Analysis

Cost-Effective Website Acceleration

This three-part series outlines a common sense, cost-effective approach to Website acceleration according to the two simple laws of Web performance.

Powell, Thomas A. and Joe Lima. SitePoint (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability>Bandwidth

Create credibility for online success

Read about what it takes to create credibility for your online business.

Dixon, Nicholas. Webcredible (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability

Creating a Sales Page That Converts

Anyone can put up a web page, but putting one up that actually sells requires some skill. Discover exactly what you need to do!

Beckert, Loren. Webcredible (2005). Design>Web Design>Marketing>Usability

Creating a Unified Web Site Design for the School of Technology at Purdue University  

The problem with any poorly designed web site is inconsistency. As a web designer or developer, one must create a web site as a finite, predictable universe with a specific set of standards and design specifications. When visitors go to any given page on a site, they should be able to recognize that they’re in the same site. The main focus of this paper outlines how a unified web site design was created for the School of Technology at Purdue University. In developing unified web sites it is important to have visual hints throughout a given site such as consistent typefaces for specific needs, consistent color palettes, and consistent placement and layout.

Miller, Susan G. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Web Design>Usability

Creating a Usable Electronic Newsletter In House

Many organizations are opting to convert existing print publications into electronic newsletters (e-newsletters)—and for good reason. E-newsletters can be developed for a fraction of the cost of their print counterparts and delivered to a global audience instantly. While marketers are discovering the ease of reaching a target audience with e-mail, many e-mail users are frustrated by the barrage of e-newsletters that muddle their inboxes monthly, weekly, or even daily. An onslaught of unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam) has made readers wary of marketing attempts. To reach these wary readers, companies need to create e-newsletters that respond to their audience’s specific needs—namely usability and trust. By following a few guidelines, you can launch a usable and successful e-newsletter.

Lawless, Amy. Usability Interface (2003). Design>Publishing>Web Design>Usability

Creating Good Websites: Usability

Usable Web sites are those which help users to accomplish a goal (e.g. to obtain some information) easily, quickly, and pleasantly.

Marshall, Samuel. Leaf Digital (2001). Design>Web Design>Usability

Creating Usability Awareness in India

A weblog to help create usability awareness in India.

Cua, Vijay. Blogspot (2007). Design>Usability>Regional>India

Creating Usable Forms  

A form is usable when it builds an effective communication bridge between your clients and your data entry staff. A usable form is readable, concise, and contains appropriate pictures and graphic elements. The steps in creating a usable form are the following: (1) Create a prototype. (2) Examine the extremes. (3) Produce the forms. (4) Fine tune the forms.

Archer, Susan. STC Proceedings (1994). Design>Document Design>Usability>Forms

Critic to Creator: Recognizing Good Design

All too often, people in our field focus so much on pointing out the egregious interaction design mistakes that make it to market, we forget to pay attention to the good design that exists. Not only does it make our profession look bad if we are always complaining, but it also makes us less effective.

Calde, Steve. Cooper Interaction Design (2003). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design>Interaction Design