All About Users

A blog from Bangalore based on everything related to the user experience and interaction.

Monteiro, Percy. Blogspot. Resources>Usability>User Centered Design>Blogs

Alternative Interfaces for Accessibility

The key difference between user interfaces for sighted users and blind users is not that between graphics and text; it's the difference between 2-D and 1-D. Optimal usability for users with disabilities requires new approaches and new user interfaces.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2003). Design>Accessibility>Usability>Universal Usability

An Alternative to Banner Ads

Banner ads are not a particularly useful way of getting people to 'click', but inserting a plain vanilla link just might be.

Baker, Adam. Merges.net (2001). Design>Web Design>Marketing>Usability

Alternatives To User Requirement Gathering

Of all the disciplines that go together to create a 'usability strategy', user requirement gathering is undoubtedly the most frequently misunderstood. Many product managers or webmasters will believe that they already know their users, perhaps because they have conducted some form of market research, or have a formal complaints and customer feedback programme in place. However, these techniques, discussed below, although similar in aspiration, should not be relied upon as a replacement for a full user-requirement gathering programme. That isn't to say that they do not have their uses of course, but rather that in terms of assisting in application or site design they can be unhelpful or even misleading.

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

Altruistic vs. Narcissistic Web Sites

Users are repulsed by web sites that are narcissistic, egotistic, corporate-speak, hard to understand, and difficult to use. Users are attracted to and enjoy web sites that are altruistic, user-prioritized, user-focused, easy to understand, easy to use, and full of fresh, relevant content.

Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2004). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Usability

Amazon, You Just Lost $82.62

The purpose of this article is to openly display my disgust with Amazon and to discuss the implications. On Monday, 11-June-2000, I ordered a gift certificate from Amazon.com. I was going to use the certificate for Father's Day, however Amazon failed to send the certificate in time. So, I drove to Barnes and Noble, bought some books, and bought a gift certificate. Amazon just lost $82.62.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Design>Web Design>Usability>E Commerce

Amazon: No Longer the Role Model for E-Commerce Design

Many design elements work for Amazon.com mainly because of its status as the world's largest and most established e-commerce site. Normal sites should not copy Amazon's design.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Design>Web Design>E Commerce>Usability

Analysing Everyday Interaction

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.

Poole, Alex. Alex Poole (2004). Articles>Usability>Interaction Design>User Experience

Analyzing Usability of a Beta-Version Web Site Through Server Logs, User Profile Data, and Online Questionnaire Responses  

This paper discusses the use of automated data collection to learn from hundreds of beta-test users of a web-based industrial product database how successfully the product met their needs. The collected data consisted of web server log data, opinion data from online questionnaires and follow-up interviews, and user profile data from telerecruiting and online registration was also collected. In the Proceedings of the 1998 Usability Professionals' Association Conference.

Kantner, Laurie and Larry Rusinsky. Tec-Ed, Inc. (1998). Articles>Web Design>Usability

Application of Theory: Minimalism and User Centered Design  

In the discipline of software and information development, minimalist design is not just doing with less (less features, words, widgets). It is selectively choosing what to include or eliminate with the purpose of making it easier for the user to quickly learn about a product in a natural and painless way and to start using it to do real work. User centered design fits well with minimalist theory because it incorporates user feedback throughout the development cycle. It is the best way to find out what customers actually do with your product and learn first-hand how you can help them with their goals. My team applied both these theories to our task of designing and building a set of samples for a Web development product. This paper shares our struggles and successes.

Lou, Mary Mazzara. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Usability>User Centered Design>Theory

Applying the Behavioral, Cognitive, and Social Sciences to Products

People trained in the Behavioral, Cognitive, and Social Sciences (BCSS) seldom play a critical role in the development of new products. Yeah, they do user testing and sometimes take part in the design, but seldom take part in specifying the product in the first place. Moreover, when economic times get tight, they are among the first to be let go. Why the failure? I place the blame squarely upon BCSS itself: students are badly prepared for the demands of a product-driven industry. Faculty are equally ill-prepared, and therefore unable to make a difference -- assuming they would even be interested in doing so.

Norman, Donald A. JND.org (2001). Design>Usability

Are Standards-Compliant Websites Better?

The adhoc way in which much of the web was developed has created a dilemma for web designers: should websites comply with standards, ensuring accessibility, or break the rules and work with older browsers? At this moment, the answer is simple: Websites should work with older browsers.

Baker, Adam. Merges.net (2001). Design>Web Design>Standards>Usability

Are the Product Lists on Your Site Reducing Sales?  

You can increase sales on your site as much as 225% by offering sufficient product information to your customers at the time they need it. One way to do this is to develop product lists that don't require shoppers to bounce back-and-forth between the list and individual product pages.

User Interface Engineering (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability>E Commerce

Are There Users Who Always Search?

Web designers often tell us that they spend a great deal of their limited time and resources working to improve their on-site search engines because, they believe, there are some people who always rely on the search engine to reach their target content. They find further support for this assumption from Jakob Nielsen who, in his book, 'Designing Web Usability,' asserts that more than half of all users demonstrate 'search-dominant' tendencies by going right to the search engine when they first visit a web site looking for content.

User Interface Engineering (2002). Design>Web Design>Usability>Search

Are You Creating a Path of Resistance?

I've been watching people type in web site addresses for a long time now. However, I only started watching people closely about 4 weeks ago. I recorded 75 observations of people typing in URLs in the address bar (I kept a notepad with a running tally). I'll be the first to admit that this was not scientific and, as you might guess, I was acting in a biased manner. Nevertheless, I think the results are somewhat useful as a starting point. I found that in about 20 of the 75 observations, when people typed in a new URL they first tried the address without the 'www'. So, my findings indicate that about 27% of the time, users did not use the 'www'.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (1999). Design>Web Design>Usability

Are You Satisfied with Online Shopping?

How many of you use the Internet to order merchandise? Many consumers are choosing the Internet to order merchandise rather than brave the crowds and traffic snarls at shopping malls. I don’t know if you have noticed it, but the order process and ease of use varies from one web site to another. The often-confusing process is enough to make you bail out and shop elsewhere. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, 'E-tailers Try to Keep Shoppers From Bolting at Checkout Point,' (1) usability, technology, and e-commerce issues are stopping shoppers from completing their purchases. The article states that about 65% of shoppers bail out at the checkout point. Poor design has cost E-tailers over $6.1 billion in potential sales.

Dick, David J. Usability Interface (2001). Design>Web Design>Usability

The Art of Being Human

Site visitors crave the sense that someone is there, within and behind your Web pages, your emails and newsletters. Dealing with the bare technology of online interactions is a cold experience for many, or even most of us. It makes us feel anxious. Technology isn't warm. It has no heart. It neither understands us, nor cares for us. For many Web sites, whether for businesses or organizations, we simply plug in and play the bare technology - the super-duper means of information delivery. All the site visitor sees and feels is the design, the interface, the links and the clicks. The experience is about as warm and human as banking with an ATM machine.

Spool, Jared M. User Interface Engineering (2002). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Usability

The Art of User Interface Prototyping

It takes a certain craft to know how and when to build prototypes of web designs or software designs. This primer of prototyping explains when and how to build them.

Berkun, Scott. UIWeb (2000). Design>User Interface>Usability

As Simple As Possible

The virtues of simplicity are well-known among experienced systems designers. And many of the things that are 'right' with simpler software systems are also applicable to Web pages and site designs.

Sullivan, Terry. All Things Web (1996). Articles>Usability>Web Design

Assessing Web Page Usability  

Assessing Web site usability can be complex, because the medium can be both a document and a 'software product.' Documentation usability testing asks how headings, page elements, and index entries help users find the content they need, and whether that content is useful. Software usability testing asks how well the user inteface supports users’ job-task activity, indicates functionality, provides navigation signposts and program status, and prevents errors. A Web site must meet a combination of these goals—links should lead to the content that users seek, through pathways that users can easily follow without reaching a dead-end or getting lost.

Hinderer, Deborah and Laurie Kantner. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>Usability>Web Design

Assessing Web Site Usability from Server Log Files  

White paper on how to glean usability data from web server log files and how to use that data.

Tec-Ed, Inc. (1999). Articles>Web Design>Usability

Attack of the Back Button

Getting stuck on a web page can be painful. The back button doesn't always work. While there are many ways to escape from web pages, many users don't know the tricks. A company can stop hurting users by doing more testing, using proper development methods, and being aware of the issue.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Design>Web Design>Usability

The Attention Map

Attention mapping is a tool to help you start to plan a visual layout around realistic communication between user and site. It can also be a helpful analysis tool, helping you work out what's wrong about a layout.

Hunt, Ben. Web Design From Scratch (2006). Design>Web Design>Document Design>Usability

Audience Profile Sheet  

A form for coding users' interaction with a written document.

Markel, Mike. Bedford-St. Martin's (2001). Design>Usability>Workflow