#18789
Winning With Rapid Development: Incorporating Customer Needs into Fast-Paced Web Design 
This paper describes a case study of a challenging but successful rapid-development web project, which incorporated customer-centered design using multiple methodologies. Within ten weeks, we conducted field studies and focus groups, produced paper prototypes of three navigational concepts, conducted a usability test using paper prototypes, and performed heuristic evaluation on the resulting design. Keys to our success include: assembling a top-notch team, running many project phases concurrently, and good, ongoing team-client and intra-team communication.
Sova, Deborah Hinderer and Cory Knobel. STC Proceedings (2002). Design>User Centered Design>Methods>Web Design
#24255
You’re Going to Visit the Users! Now What Do You Do? Lessons in Conducting a User Site Visit
You are ready to visit users and observe how they perform tasks and use documentation. Come work with JoAnn Hackos and Ginny Redish in this demonstration/workshop and learn how to conduct the site visit by observing, probing, listening, and interviewing.
Hackos, JoAnn T. and Janice C. 'Ginny' Redish. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Usability>Methods
#28378
#32165
Qualitative Sampling Methods: A Primer for Technical Communicators 
Qualitative sampling methods have been largely ignored in technical communication texts, making this concept difficult to teach in graduate courses on research methods. Using concepts from qualitative health research, this article provides a primer on qualitative methods as an initial effort to fill this gap in the technical communication literature. Specifically, the authors attempt to clarify some of the current confusion over qualitative sampling terminology, explain what qualitative sampling methods are and why they need to be implemented, and offer examples of how to apply commonly used qualitative sampling methods.
Koerber, Amy and Lonie McMichael. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Research>Methods
#32356
Switching Between Tools in Complex Applications
Usability practice needs a procedure to identify, record, count, and highlight tool switch events for study. This paper describes one that supports the trained observers on which User-Centered Design relies to detect problems and causes, and evaluate design changes.
Schroeder, Will. Journal of Usability Studies (2008). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design>Methods
#32357
Unexpected Complexity in a Traditional Usability Study
This article is a case study of a demonstration project intended to prove the value of usability testing to a large textbook publishing house. In working with a new client, however, the research team discovered that what our client thought were simple problems for their users were actually complex problems that required the users to evaluate potential solutions in a surprisingly complex context of use. As Redish (2007) predicted, traditional ease of use measures were "not sufficient" indicators and failed to reveal the complex nature of the tasks. Users reported high levels of satisfaction with products being tested and believed they had successfully completed tasks which they judged as easy to complete when, in fact, they unknowingly suffered failure rates as high as 100%. The study recommends that usability specialists expand our definition of traditional usability measures so that measures include external assessment by content experts of the completeness and correctness of users' performance. The study also found that it is strategically indispensable for new clients to comprehend the upper end of complexity in their products because doing so creates a new space for product innovation. In this case, improving our clients' understanding of complexity enabled them to perceive and to take advantage of a new market niche that had been unrealized for decades.
Howard, Tharon W. Journal of Usability Studies (2008). Articles>Usability>Testing>Methods
#32541
Communication Tools and Techniques for Virtual Teams 
What do team members need? Purpose and goals defined. Roles defined. Best practice processes developed and shared early within the team development. Cross-functional relationships and collaboration fostered. Culture supporting structure and processes. Reward systems updated to reflect virtual structure.
Bailey, Elizabeth. STC Proceedings (2008). Presentations>Communication>Methods>Collaboration
#32634
Designers of digital products and services like ourselves can dramatically improve our work by generating more concepts early in our projects. In this article, I’ll try to make concept design easier to learn by illustrating three simple tools for generating concepts.
Lombardi, Victor. Digital Web Magazine (2008). Articles>Information Design>Methods
#32679
Effective Content Reuse: Storing Paragraphs, Not Topics, Is Key to Content Management Success
Most content management organizations promote the concept that in order to reuse content you must segment content into topics. This approach works well for technical information because with technical content you are describing concepts, asking people to perform tasks or follow steps, or providing reference material. Consequently, you can reasonably and easily create topics that represent concise ideas, and ultimately, small chunks of content. However, while people might comprehend the benefits that topic-oriented documentation provides, they generally don't grasp the downsides of such an approach.
Trotter, Paul. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Content Management>Methods
#32693
Which Type of Online Manual is Best for You
So, the mandate has come down from senior management to "put those manuals online!" Now what do you do? As you know, there are many types of online manuals—but which is best for your situation? This article discusses the options.
Rosenberg, Nad. TechWRITE (2004). Articles>Documentation>Online>Methods
#32708
Response Rates and Surveying Techniques: Tips to Enhance Survey Respondent Participation
Sufficient response rates are important for surveys. A survey that collects very little data may not contain substantial information. In order to collect successful responses, researchers must take into consideration the audience, the quantity of online surveys in circulation, and the potential for surveys reported as spam. These factors may result in lower respondent interest and acceptance of survey invitations. But there are ways to increase response rates!
SurveyMonkey (2008). Articles>Research>Methods>Surveys
#32709
This guide provides information on writing successful and effective survey questions, creating survey flow and layout, calculating response rates, tips for increasing response rates, and the pros and cons of online surveys. (Plus an appendix of links and works cited for additional help in survey design.)
SurveyMonkey (2008). Articles>Research>Methods>Surveys
#32800
Using Persona Advocates to Develop User-Centric Intranets and Portals
One powerful design tool, personas, can help provide a framework for building Intranets that will satisfy a variety of needs. Effectively developed and used, personas enable Intranet teams to hone in on user needs and build interfaces and user experiences that end-user audiences can and will use.
McQueen, Howard. McQueen Consulting (2008). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Personas
#32805
Card-Sorting: What You Need to Know About Analyzing and Interpreting Card Sorting Results
This article provides general guidelines for card sorting analysis and interpretation. Tips include how to deal with dual group membership, individual differences, effects of semantic clustering, and items in a miscellaneous group.
Hinkle, Veronica. Usability News (2008). Articles>Usability>Methods>Card Sorting
#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
#33137
This is a method for discovering the latent structure in an unsorted list of statements or ideas. The investigator writes each statement on a small index card and requests six or more informants to sort these cards into groups or clusters, working on their own. The results of the individual sorts are then combined and if necessary analysed statistically.
UsabilityNet (2006). Articles>Usability>Methods>Card Sorting
#33143
Five Simple Steps to Designing Grid Systems: Subdividing Ratios
Ratios are at the core of any well-designed grid system. Sometimes those ratios are rational, such as 1:2 or 2:3, others are irrational such as the 1:1.414 (the proportion of A4). This first part is about how to combine those ratios to create simple, balanced grids which in turn will help you create harmonious compositions.
Boulton, Mark. Mark Boulton (2007). Articles>Document Design>Methods
#33144
Five Simple Steps to Designing Grid Systems:
Aesthetics can be measured and more importantly can be constructed. If you want something to be aesthetically pleasing there are steps you can take to make sure it is going in the right direction. Now I'm not saying that 'follow these rules and you will create something beautiful'. What I am saying is that by following a few of these guidelines can go some way into creating something compositionally balanced, which will inherently be more aesthetically pleasing.
Boulton, Mark. Mark Boulton (2007). Articles>Document Design>Graphic Design>Methods
#33145
Five Simple Steps to Designing Grid Systems: Grid Systems for Web Design, Part 1
Designing grid systems for print is considerably more straight forward than designing grid systems for the web. First off,in print, the designer has a fixed media size - the paper size (or packaging, poster, whatever). Let's say a print designer has designed a magazine. The reader of this magazine can't suddenly increase the font size if they find it difficult to read - well they just move it closer to their eyes I guess. This is just one consideration, there are more but I'm sure you get the point.
Boulton, Mark. Mark Boulton (2007). Articles>Web Design>Document Design>Methods
#33146
Five Simple Steps to Designing Grid Systems: Grid Systems for Web Design, Part 2
Fixed width grid design for the web. What is it, how do we do it and how do we implement it? For the purposes of this article, I'm going to be focussing on the theory of creating the grid rather than the implementation. I did mention in the last series that I would cover implementation using CSS, well I'm not going to. There are just so many resources and books available telling you how to create the CSS layouts you need—I'll touch on it, but I won't be going into too much detail.
Boulton, Mark. Mark Boulton (2007). Articles>Web Design>Document Design>Methods
#33147
Five Simple Steps to Designing Grid Systems: Grid Systems for Web Design, Part 3
Flexible vs Fixed. Which one to choose? Why choose one over the other? Well you won't find the answers to those questions here. What I'm aiming to do with this article is to investigate how the theory of grid design can be applied to a flexible web page.
Boulton, Mark. Mark Boulton (2007). Articles>Web Design>Document Design>Methods
#33153
During art college I was subjected to a lecture on the Golden Section (who remembers that lecture, come on hands up?), that ambiguous set of rectangles that is requisite art school discussion. During this lecture I was shown slide after slide of seemingly tenuous links between paintings and sculptures, and this set of rectangles. My lecturer at the time seemed as equally uninterested, droning along in self-imposed boredom. What he failed to convey at the time, has taken me over 15 years to even begin to understand. So what is the importance of these boring rectangles and how do they relate to design?
Boulton, Mark. Mark Boulton (2005). Articles>Document Design>Methods
#33298
Task analysis analyses what a user is required to do in terms of actions and/or cognitive processes to achieve a task. A detailed task analysis can be conducted to understand the current system and the information flows within it. These information flows are important to the maintenance of the existing system and must be incorporated or substituted in any new system. Task analysis makes it possible to design and allocate tasks appropriately within the new system. The functions to be included within the system and the user interface can then be accurately specified.
UsabilityNet (2006). Articles>Usability>Methods
#33299
Task analysis can be defined as the study of what a user is required to do, in terms of actions and/or cognitive processes, to achieve a task objective. The idea is that task analysis provides some structure for the description of tasks or activities, which then makes it easier to describe how activities fit together, and to explore what the implications of this may be for the design of products. This can be particularly useful when considering the design of interfaces to products, and how users interact with them.
European Commission (2004). Articles>Usability>Methods
#33300
Task Analysis and Human-Computer Interaction: Approaches, Techniques, and Levels of Analysis
In this paper we critically review task analysis models and techniques. These approaches to task analysis are discussed in order to develop a richer picture of human activity, while analyzing their limitations, general weaknesses, and possibilities for improvement. We consider their ability to determine the appropriate set of atomic actions in a task, their effect on workers’ motivational needs, their support of users’ cognitive and sociocultural processes, and their effectiveness in supporting interface design. We note that the major approaches have focused on very different levels of analysis, and call for greater integration of these different levels in task analysis theory.
Crystal, Abe and Beth Ellington. University of North Carolina (2004). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Usability>Methods
