#32829
Thirty Usability Issues To Be Aware Of
In this article we present 30 important usability issues, terms, rules and principles which are usually forgotten, ignored or misunderstood. What is the difference between readability and legibility? What exactly does 80/20 or Pareto principle mean? What is meant with minesweeping and satisficing? And what is Progressive Enhancement and Graceful Degradation? OK, it’s time to dive in.
Smashing (2007). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#32830
Ten Principles Of Effective Web Design
This article focuses on the main principles, heuristics and approaches for effective web design — approaches which, used properly, can lead to more sophisticated design decisions and simplify the process of perceiving presented information.
Smashing (2008). Design>Web Design>Usability
#32831
10 עקרונות לעיצוב אתר אינטרנט אפקטיבי
שימושיות ותועלתיות, ולא ההיבט הויזואלי, קובעים את ההצלחה או הכישלון של אתר האינטרנט. מאחר והמבקר באתר הוא האדם היחיד המבצע את פעולות הקלקה עם העכבר באתר, וכתוצאה מכך מחליט על מה שהוא רוצה, עיצוב מכוון-מבקר מהווה כיום גישה סטנדרטית לעיצוב אתרי אינטרנט מצליחים ובעלי גישה רווחית. אחרי הכל – האם המבקרים לא יוכלו להשתמש באתר, אין לו סיבת קיום.
D-Webs (2008). (Hebrew) Design>Web Design>Usability
#32861
Secret Benefits of Accessibility Part 1: Increased Usability
Web accessibility has so many benefits that I really do wonder why such a large number of Websites have such diabolically bad accessibility. One of the main benefits is increased usability, which, according to usability guru, Jakob Nielsen, can increase the sales/conversion rate of a Website by 100%, and traffic by 150%.
Moss, Trenton. SitePoint (2004). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability
#32865
Seven Screen Reader Usability Tips
Simply ensuring that your Website is accessible to screen reader users is, unfortunately, not enough to guarantee that these users can find what they're looking for in a reasonably quick and efficient manner. Even if your site is accessible to screen reader users, its usability could be so poor that they needn't have bothered stooping by in the first place.
Moss, Trenton. SitePoint (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability
#32866
I have a few late model screen readers and I also have simple audio recording tools. I'll use them to get you closer to what these screen readers actually say. I'll start a collection of recordings so you can hear for yourself what these tools say.
Easton, Bob. Access Matters (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability
#32869
Weaving Usability and Cultures: Tools of Inspiration
Accessibility tools are not the most glamorous of playthings. More often than not, you make do with a toolbar across your browser; a set of guidelines, or, at best, heuristics; and, if you are lucky, a screen-reader. To the uninitiated, they appear highly technical and unwelcoming. Someone said to me recently it took working alongside a person with very little sight for a couple of hours to transform the meaning of the great wad of guidance she’d been handed about making websites accessible. Suddenly it seemed like an important venture, rather than a test of patience.
Light, Ann. uiGarden (2005). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#32870
用于提高亲和性（accessibility）的工具并不是好玩儿的玩具。常见的亲和工具（或叫辅助工具），一般来说，是你在设计时的一条足以横跨你的浏览器的工具栏，或是一整套设计指南，或是读屏软件。这些东西对于没有从事过亲和性工作的设计人员来说，显得非常的专业却不受欢迎。最近有个人告诉我，她和一个严重弱视者一起花了几个小时的时间，将她所拿到手的一大堆有关如何提高网站亲和性水平的指导原则转化成实际的设计。突然一下子我感觉亲和性的设计不只是一个对耐心的考验，而更像是一个重要的冒险。
Light, Ann. uiGarden (2005). (Chinese) Articles>Web Design>Usability
#32897
When Legibility, Readability and Usability Intersect, Then We Reach Our Target Audience
If we want to reach our target audiences when presenting text-based information, we as content specialists (designers, programmers, writers, and project managers) need to constantly consider usability. We must move crucial concepts of legibility, readability, and usability to the forefront of our design practices else we will unquestionably lose our audience.
Webb, Suzanne. Content Matters (2006). Articles>Web Design>Typography>Usability
#32898
To Speed or Impede: Considering Page Response Time In Relation To Web Design
What is the single-most important element to consider when developing a web page design strategy? Issues of navigational ease are generally an area of concern to both users and designers alike. Most users will not spend much time navigating a page that is not well organized. Color and animation are also issues of some significance. "Flashy" web pages with easily readable fonts and wonderfully coordinated colors can make browsing enjoyable. One aspect of design that isn't always so explicitly apparent to both the user and designers alike is the page response time-- just how long it takes for the web page to be "rendered" or displayed in the browser. Response time is quite possibly one of the most important issues to consider when designing a web site.
Smith, J.C. Content Matters (2006). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#32900
Usability and Branding: How to Make or Break Usability Conventions to Create Brand Identity
It has long been acknowledged in the study of usability, that the usability of a product affects the associated brand identity. While study of usability is universal to any product design, it has sprung up with the advent of the world wide web. It is becoming more important of individuals and institutions to establish a strong on-line identity for themselves or their products.
Content Matters (2006). Articles>Web Design>Marketing>Usability
#32902
Interface Design for Children’s Searching and Browsing
Elementary-age children are among the largest user groups of computers and the Internet, so it is important to design searching and browsing tools that support them. However, many interfaces for children do not consider their skills and preferences. Children are capable of doing Boolean searches, but have difficulty with the sequential presentation of hierarchical structures used in many category browsers. Based on previous research, we believed a simultaneous presentation of a flat category structure might better support children. We conducted two studies of searching and browsing with these two types of category browsers. Our results suggest that a flat, simultaneous interface provides advantages for both Boolean searching and casual browsing. These results add to the understanding of children’s searching and browsing skills and preferences and suggest guidelines for other interface designers.
Hutchinson, Hilary Browne, Benjamin B. Bederson and Allison Druin. ACM SIGCHI (2005). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Children
#32929
Toys 'R' Rushed: A Cautionary Tale
Website critic Lou Rosenfeld is shopping for a baby present, but the website he's using is making his task tougher than it should be. Lou takes on www.toysrus.com.
Rosenfeld, Louis. CIO Magazine (2000). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Assessment
#32930
The Taxman Cometh but Merril Lynch Isn't Ready
With April 15th approaching, Lou needed some basic tax information, but Merrill Lynch's labeling system made the easiest answers tough to find.
Rosenfeld, Louis. CIO Magazine (2000). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Case Studies
#32951
Who Cares How Pretty Web Sites Are?
A few weeks back, I wrote about why I think web standards are difficult to learn. I wrote that because I was spending 80% of my time getting my code into XHTML 1.0 and styling it with CSS so that it rendered consistently across 5 or 6 browsers. What was I doing the other 20% of the time? Creating content, of course. I was putting together what a huge percentage of my site visitors come for. When I thought about it in these terms (time spent), I felt like styling with CSS was a lot of work for comparatively little gain. After all, people will still be able to find the site, read the content, and click on the links, whether or not I’ve styled it.
Porter, Joshua. Bokardo (2008). Articles>Web Design>Standards>Usability
#32952
Why Users Can be Hard to Design For 
To know the mind of others is one of the fundamental problems of being human. Much of our energy is spent trying to do so. For web designers, knowing the mind of users is complicated by having very little interaction with them. It is possible, on some projects, to design and redesign web sites without ever talking to one user.
Porter, Joshua. Bokardo (2008). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Usability
#32954
I’ve thought of a few ways that links can fail users. By preventing these sorts of things (which admittedly, aren’t all that easy to prevent) we can design better links with the hopes of attaining that place where users never get lost.
Porter, Joshua. Bokardo (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Hypertext
#32955
Five Points Concerning Designers Vs. Usability Folks
Web designers and usability folks don’t seem to get along very well. Web designers say that they don’t need usability folks because they design with inherent usability: it’s simply a part of good design. Usability folks, on the other hand, say that everything must be tested. Who’s right? Can both be right?
Porter, Joshua. Bokardo (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#32963
Visual Communication and Web Application Design
In order for a Web application to be "usable", it must be understandable. It needs to communicate, and communicate effectively. When a user interacts with a Web application they have only the visual presentation (the interface) to "tell" them what the application has to offer, and how they can make use of it. As a result, designers must rely on visual communication principles to tell our audience: about the behavior, structure, and purpose of our Web applications. The better at communicating we are, the easier it is for our audience to understand our messages and intentions, and the easier it is for them to use and appreciate our Web applications.
Wroblewski, Luke. Functioning Form (2005). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Visual Rhetoric
#32965
The web design community thankfully seems to be wrapping up the "design vs. usability" argument. In case you missed it, the conclusion was: "Not either/or but both, and it depends."
Hunt, Ben. Web Design From Scratch (2006). Articles>Web Design>Graphic Design>Usability
#32970
Graphic Design can "hijack" usability efforts if the graphic design team is not "on board" with usability. This is probably why these days more and more graphic artists (like the students at the Art Institute of Portland where I am currently teaching a class) are learning about usability and have a sensitivity for its user-centered intentions.
Spillers, Frank. Demystifying Usability (2004). Articles>Web Design>Graphic Design>Usability
#32977
Next Generation Mobile Authoring
Technological convergence, increased connectivity and consumer expectations are merging to create a landscape of opportunity for the next generation of mobile content, services and applications. Success and adoption are dependent on creating usable and useful experiences — positive interactions that are integrated into an individual's actual lifestyle. Emerging technologies providing streaming music, video and entertainment raise the level of interaction and usage to a new level, increasing the complexity of interfaces and heightening challenges to interface designers and usability professionals.
Goto, Kelly. GotoMedia (2006). Articles>Web Design>Wireless Web>Usability
#33012
Learn From Your Customers for Usable Web Applications
Usability consultant Paul Englefield takes you on a journey to demonstrate that listening to your customers is the only way to provide the ultimate usability when designing an e-commerce site or Web-based applications. Through examples, the article weaves user-centered design techniques into the steps of designing an effective business site, focusing on gathering data about your customers' (and their customers') usage behaviors, offers two design models, and demonstrates how to integrate customers' input into the testing and evaluation process.
Englefield, Paul. IBM (2003). Articles>Web Design>Usability>E Commerce
#33076
Intranets: Strategy First, Usability Second
More and more intranet teams are buying into the need for usability. However, usability is not a strategy, and without a clear strategy, usability can become a pointless, wasteful and counter-productive exercise.
McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Usability
#33091
Quantitatively Test the Effectiveness of Your Home Page
Staff should be able to confidently, quickly and accurately step from the home page of the intranet towards the information they require. If staff can’t achieve this without resorting to search, the home page needs to be redesigned. This article explains a quick and effective technique for assessing whether your home page is an effective gateway to site content.
Barker, Iain. Step Two (2006). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Assessment
