Five Steps to Unlocking a Web Site's Potential  

A systematic approach to the application of human factors principles to ensure customer satisfaction.

Israelski, Ed. Human Factors International (2000). Design>Web Design>Usability

Five Survival Techniques for Creating Usable Products

When we ask designers what stage they spend the bulk of their time in when launching a product, the majority of designers answer, the Implementation Stage. However, our research shows that the teams launching the most usable products on schedule and on budget spend the bulk of their time in the Measure and Learn stage.

Perfetti, Christine. User Interface Engineering (2007). Design>Usability>User Interface>Methods

Five Usability Principles for Web Design

Guidelines to keep in mind when designing a site.

Benun, Ilise. Publish (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability

Five Ways to Identify Intranet Usability Issues

Many intranets are under-used. Intranet managers lament the low use and discuss how to get staff to 'use the intranet more', resulting in marketing and promotions activities to increase use.

Maurer, Donna. Step Two (2004). Design>Web Design>Intranets>Usability

Five Ways To Make Sure That Users Abandon Your Forms

Completing a form is rarely (if ever) the goal in and of itself. The goal is to entice the user into a deeper relationship (of some sort) with your web site. Notice that I didn't say that the goal was to complete a transaction or make a sale.

Improving Customer Experience (2006). Design>Web Design>Forms>Usability

Five-Second Tests: Measuring Your Site's Content Pages

On your site, the content page is the user's most frequent final destination. This page contains the information the user came to the site to find. Sites often have hundreds, if not thousands (and in some cases, millions) of these critical pages. How can design teams be confident their content pages are understandable to users? How does a team ensure they've designed content pages that communicate the essential information effectively?

Perfetti, Christine. User Interface Engineering (2005). Articles>Web Design>Usability>User Centered Design

Fixing the Back Button and Enabling Bookmarking for AJAX Apps

With AJAX-based applications still in their infancy there has been a tendency to disgard basic web behaviour in favour of slick functionality. In this article I am trying to rescue two of those ‘lost’ behaviours – bookmarking and the back button, using Javascript.

Stenhouse, Mike. Content With Style (2005). Design>Web Design>Usability>Ajax

Flash: The Pros and Cons

Flash animations have become popular on the Web. But popularity is not often a good measure of useability or effectiveness. So what are the pros and cons of using Flash on a Web site?

HyperWrite (2003). Design>Web Design>Usability>Flash

Focus Groups: How to Run Them

Focus groups are fundamental as an input into any web design decisions - find out how to plan and successfully run them.

Fidgeon, Tim. Webcredible (2006). Design>Web Design>Usability

Focus on User Responses

What do you really want your users to do once you get them to your site? What information do you want to get to them? How do you want to them to use your site? What responses do you want from your users?

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

Formal Definition of User-Centered Design

UCD is a highly structured, comprehensive product development methodology driven by: (1) clearly specified, task-oriented business objectives, and (2) recognition of user needs, limitations and preferences. Information collected using UCD analysis isscientifically applied in the design, testing, and implementation of products and services. When rigorously applied, a UCD approach meets both user needs and the business objectives of the sponsoring organization.

TaskZ. Design>Usability>User Centered Design

Forms vs. Applications

Once an online form goes beyond two screenfulls, it's often a sign that the underlying functionality is better supported by an application, which offers a more interactive user experience.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Articles>Web Design>Forms>Usability

Formularios: Identificación de los Campos Opcionales

Completar formularios en los sitios web es uno de los procesos que requiere normalmente mayor esfuerzo por parte del usuario. No disponer de formularios 'usables' puede ser una de las causas de abandono más frecuente de un sitio web. Para conseguir formularios usables se deben tener en cuenta muchos aspectos. Uno de ellos, es diferenciar de forma fácil y clara los campos obligatorios de los opcionales[1]. En este artículo se muestran y valoran lo diferentes métodos que utilizan para ello las webs de banca de particulares españolas. El trabajo de campo realizado ha consistido en revisar los procesos de ejecución de transferencias y de registro de nuevos clientes (si lo hubiera) de los sitios web de los siguientes trece bancos: Patagon, Cajamadrid, Cam, Uno-e, eBankinter, CaixaCatalunya, BancoPopular-e, Santander Central Hispano, BBVA, La Caixa, El Monte, Ing-direct, Banesto.

Nosolousabilidad.com (2002). (Spanish) Design>User Interface>Usability

forUse: the Newsletter of Usage-Centered Design

forUse is an electronic newsletter published by e-mail approximately 9 times a year. forUse covers new developments in usage-centered design. Regularly features include: tips and techniques on design, modeling, and management, questions and answers on technical issues in usage-centered design, plus news and upcoming events. Subscribers get early notice of new papers and publications, and the newsletter features complement material on the Web site.

Foruse.com. Journals>Usability>User Centered Design>Newsletters

The Four Horsemen of Usability

As of June 2001, four web properties control more than 50% of all the time spent online by U.S. surfers. This means that you can throw away your usability guidelines and follow these companies. They spend millions on usability testing and they are driving standards by sheer market force. You have no choice but to follow their lead.

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

The Fourteen Biggest E-Book Design Mistakes

Roger C. Parker returns with this tutorial to help make your electronic publications attention-getting, attractive, and easy to read... all part of his recent book Design to Sell.

Parker, Roger C. Design, Typography and Graphics (2006). Design>Document Design>eBooks>Usability

Free Stuff and Web Usability

Everyone loves free stuff. Capitalize on this and you can make your site more user-centered. It can also drive up sales, profits, and user satisfaction.

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

The Freedom of Fast Iterations: How Netflix Designs a Winning Web Site

The designers of Netflix.com have a smashing success on their hands, but we didn't find them resting on their laurels. They want to get even better, and for them that means iterate, iterate, iterate. Netflix isn't the only company using a fast iterative design approach. Google has also gained attention for their unorthodox design methods, with many people complaining that they have a huge stable of products, but only a few they've designed well.

Porter, Joshua. User Interface Engineering (2006). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Workflow

From Data Drought to Factoid Flood: Reinforcing the Banks of the River of Communication    

Information, once rare and valuable, is now as plentiful as it is meaningless. The constant accessibility rendered by various 'networking' technologies has led to a veritable glut of information. Deluged with data and flooded with facts, we are drowning in a river of communication with no clear direction or purpose. Media-mesmerized and stimuli-saturated, we are caught up in the murky current, making it increasingly more difficult to keep our heads above water. Whether we sink or swim will depend on how effective we are at controlling and managing the flow, how efficient we are at fishing for essence and meaning, and how adept we are at preserving the ecology between man and this digital morass.

Dahm, Rea Etta M. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Information Design>Usability

From Design Features To Financial Performance: A Comprehensive Model Of Design Principles For Online Stock Trading Sites  

As e-business grows rapidly, interests in design principles for e-business web sites are increasing. A few studies have suggested design principles with concrete design features, but failed to link the features to the performance of an e-business site, such as attitudes of its customers or financial performance of the e-business company. This paper proposes a comprehensive framework that covers from concrete design features to financial performance for online stock trading, which is one of the most important domains of e-business. The proposed model for online stock trading sites consists of three design principles: functional convenience, representational delight, and structural firmness. Through empirical studies, this research found that the convenience, delight and firmness principles were closely related to the level of customer satisfaction, and, consequently, to the level of customer loyalty to the sites. We also identified important design features such as presentation of stock quotes in the homepage for each of the three design principles. Finally, the study results showed that customer loyalty would affect the financial performance of online stock trading companies. This paper concludes with the implications and limitations of the results.

Lee, Youngsu and Jinwoo Kim. Yonsei University (2002). Design>Web Design>Usability

Galleries: The Hardest Working Page on Your Site

Galleries -- the list of links to content -- are your site's hardest working pages. They are the final page that separates those users who find the content they are seeking from the users who won't. A well-designed gallery page will drive users to success every time. A poorly-designed site will only serve to drive users away.

Spool, Jared M. User Interface Engineering (2005). Design>Web Design>Usability

Gateway Pages Prevent PDF Shock

Spare your users the misery of being dumped into PDF files without warning. Create special gateway pages that summarize the contents of big documents and guide users gently into the PDF morass.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2003). Design>Web Design>Usability>Adobe Acrobat

Gathering Input for the Best Possible Prototype  

Prototyping has long been a part of the sofiware development process, but is still an underutilized aspect of documentation design, particularly for online design. Developing a detailed approach to prototyping lets writers design and confirm document usability early in the development cycle. Implementing detailed prototyping in an iterative design cycle ultimately leads to the best possible document for the audience.

Mobley, Karen L. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>User Centered Design>Usability

General Concepts, Universal Design Principles and Guidelines

People who could benefit from more universal designs include many both with and without disabilities. In some cases, people may experience difficulty in using products purely as a result of the environment or an unusual circumstance. Beneficiaries of universal design include: * People in a noisy shopping mall who cannot hear a kiosk * People who are driving their car who must operate their radio or phone without looking at it * People who left their glasses in their room * People who are getting older * People with disabilities * Almost anyone In order to design for the general population, it is important to understand the diversity, problems, tools, and abilities of its members.

University of Wisconsin. Design>Usability>Accessibility>Universal Usability

Get a Free Call to Action!

Every page on your website needs a call-to-action, a what can I do next. Learn how you can do this simply by listening to infomercials.

Claiborne, Scottie. Webcredible (2005). Design>Web Design>Usability