http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Presentations/Usability A listing of the most recently indexed works about Presentations and Usability in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Presentations/Usability http://tc.eserver.org/34569.html http://tc.eserver.org/34569.html An Introduction to Usability Testing and Tips for Effective Usability Testing in India. Created and presented by Abhay Rautela at Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India at Bar Camp Delhi 6 http://tc.eserver.org/34503.html http://tc.eserver.org/34503.html An introduction to usability testing and 15 tips for effective usability testing in India. Created and presented by Abhay Rautela at the Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India during the second day of Bar Camp Delhi 6. http://tc.eserver.org/34012.html http://tc.eserver.org/34012.html An introduction to Usability: What's The Use? by Shaun Fensom from Manchester Digital, followed by a short primer to usability by Paul Rouke, User Experience Director at PRWD. http://tc.eserver.org/34013.html http://tc.eserver.org/34013.html Talks about the importance of usability for internal business systems, specifically around staff productivity and process efficiency. The presentation touches on common barriers to staff productivity, some of the main reasons for these barriers, plus a short video of a manufacturing company who are embracing user-centered design as a way of combating the traditional software development issues on a companies productivity. The presentation also asks business owners a few key questions, such as do you listen to your staff, do you staff waste valuable company time doing repetitive tasks, and do you know what is the on-going cost to your business if you use un-usable software systems. http://tc.eserver.org/34014.html http://tc.eserver.org/34014.html Talks about the importance of usability for businesses communicating with both new and potential customers. Featuring a case study of how a company improved their revenue-per-employee by 95% over a 2 year period, along with some attendee participation, this 17 minute presentation touches on a wide variety of websites and activities, such as lead generation sites, information portals and search engine marketing campaigns. Most significantly conversion rates for e-commerce websites are discussed, where usability can have a remarkable affect on a companies bottom line, if the right decisions are made in making improvements. http://tc.eserver.org/32543.html http://tc.eserver.org/32543.html Most major producers of e-learning are not doing substantial usability testing. In fact, we don’t seem to even have a way to talk about usability in the context of e-learning. http://tc.eserver.org/31761.html http://tc.eserver.org/31761.html The key methods you can employ to create effective presentation slides. http://tc.eserver.org/31678.html http://tc.eserver.org/31678.html An illustrated to Jean-luc Doumont's theory of high-context and low-context cultures and the contrast between their visual rhetorics. http://tc.eserver.org/29534.html http://tc.eserver.org/29534.html A look at how to quantify or measure the benefits of a better user interface built with Ajax. http://tc.eserver.org/29533.html http://tc.eserver.org/29533.html Web developers, designers and community managers have a more challenging role than ever before. They are designing for and facilitating important online activities like communication, collaboration, sharing and socializing. However, it's hard to know how users are really interacting with websites. They can't easily observe users in their natural environments interacting with these systems. How many web developers actually get a focus group of target users in a room and watch them navigate their websites? We're obsessed with helping developers build better user experiences on the web, and we knew there had to be a better, cheaper and faster way than traditional usability testing. http://tc.eserver.org/29356.html http://tc.eserver.org/29356.html This is a summary of a talk on eyetracking for HCI students at Lancaster University in the UK. Feedback showed that students felt more able to conduct eye tracking research after attending the session. http://tc.eserver.org/28824.html http://tc.eserver.org/28824.html How do you review a product for usability, but make that review user-centered? http://tc.eserver.org/28809.html http://tc.eserver.org/28809.html What are hazards and why do we need them? Best practices for key elements of hazards. http://tc.eserver.org/28797.html http://tc.eserver.org/28797.html In this podcast, Karen Bachmann, manager of the Usability and User Experience SIG, provides an overview of the user-centered design process. This is part one of a two part series. http://tc.eserver.org/28796.html http://tc.eserver.org/28796.html This is part two of Karen Bachmann's presentation on Usability. In this part of her presentation, Karen gets more in depth with principles and methods for usability. http://tc.eserver.org/28714.html http://tc.eserver.org/28714.html Jared Spool led the NYC UPA membership in an energetic discussion of user experience successes and failures. Comments ranged widely but centered on three main questions. http://tc.eserver.org/27386.html http://tc.eserver.org/27386.html Discusses how his team of Certified Usability Analysts (CUAs) were instrumental towards making usability a routine practice at A.G. Edwards. http://tc.eserver.org/27394.html http://tc.eserver.org/27394.html Usability is more and more critical to online success, but most developers have no formal training in it and most companies have no formal program for it. http://tc.eserver.org/27387.html http://tc.eserver.org/27387.html Discusses how Anthem attained the training, standards, and resources they needed to create a sustained usability effort. http://tc.eserver.org/27395.html http://tc.eserver.org/27395.html Discusses practical usability, The Third Wave of the Information Age, the institutionalization of usability, developing a holistic strategy, measuring success, and getting started. http://tc.eserver.org/27393.html http://tc.eserver.org/27393.html Discusses the effect of drop-off and how usability initiatives reduced drop-off at Staples.com by 73%. This discussion begins with a definition of drop-off and moves into an explanation of the value of drop-off data. Then we delve into the correlation between drop-off and return on investment. Finally, we highlight two examples of Staples.com initiatives that were focused on reducing drop-off by using a systematic process of customer research and redesign. http://tc.eserver.org/27388.html http://tc.eserver.org/27388.html Discusses how you can create and utilize a 'Center of Excellence' dedicated to realizing your company's development and design projects. Learn how you can staff a sustained usability effort. http://tc.eserver.org/27391.html http://tc.eserver.org/27391.html Discuss their initiative to make user-centered design a central part of RBC Royal Bank's Online Banking. http://tc.eserver.org/27385.html http://tc.eserver.org/27385.html Makes the business case for usability, and examines the impact of making usability routine throughout an organization. http://tc.eserver.org/26944.html http://tc.eserver.org/26944.html There are problems with non-user-centered/system-centered design. We must know, understand, and work with actual users so that the people who use the product can do so quickly and easily to accomplish their own tasks. http://tc.eserver.org/26225.html http://tc.eserver.org/26225.html As documentation is more and more built directly into the interface, and as technical communicators move into interface design and usability, it is important to have a theoretical framework within which to make decisions about what kind of information will be conveyed at any moment. We can build on basic principles of cognitive psychology to help us make these decisions. We start from a question: Why should users be aware of the difference between interface and documentation when all they want is to get something done? http://tc.eserver.org/24280.html http://tc.eserver.org/24280.html This Progression focuses on usability and usability research for the novice usability professional. Topics covered include special considerations for testing in a low-tech lab, room, or closet; how to identify usability test issues; heuristic evaluation vs. laboratory testing: when should you use these methods?; focusing on testing documentation; using a SuperTester for early error detection; using field research, and alternatives, in the design process; low-cost, high-return techniques for gathering usability data; questions you should ask when you’re interviewing for a usability position or thinking about trying to create a usability position; selecting participants who accurately represent your target audience; and usability testing as co-design. http://tc.eserver.org/23816.html http://tc.eserver.org/23816.html A presentation about whether an underlying spatial metaphor aids information design usability. http://tc.eserver.org/21875.html http://tc.eserver.org/21875.html The presentation provides an overview of performing ROI analyses and identifies the organizational customers to whom usability professionals should sell. It also offers several detailed examples. http://tc.eserver.org/21689.html http://tc.eserver.org/21689.html View and download papers presented at STC India's learning sessions. http://tc.eserver.org/21524.html http://tc.eserver.org/21524.html Usability testing can make a difference in the product and and the documentation. Seeing is believing. http://tc.eserver.org/19445.html http://tc.eserver.org/19445.html An overview of methods for usability testing and analysis. http://tc.eserver.org/18221.html http://tc.eserver.org/18221.html In this progression, respected usability specialists will moderate tables on subjects of interest to colleagues who have been working in the usability field for some time. These topics will focus on usability test design, data analysis and presentation, and marketing of data. Attendees should plan to contribute their own experiences. This progression addresses the frequently expressed request by Usability PIC members for more sessions on advanced topics in usability. http://tc.eserver.org/18220.html http://tc.eserver.org/18220.html The purpose of this paper is to provide a little background on my position for the progression on usability issues. I’ll present what measures I typically collect, and the differences between performance and preference data. Having this as a starting place may help us to have a useful progression discussion. http://tc.eserver.org/18226.html http://tc.eserver.org/18226.html The need for user-centered design in this era of rapid technological change is reviewed, and key ingredients of a user-centered design process are described: (1) involvement of users, structured by rigorous user input and feedback methodologies, (2) multidisciplinary teamwork, from developing the initial concepts and approach to evaluating and refining the product after its introduction in the marketplace, and (3) focus on competitiveness, on state-of-theart user interfaces and technology. Data supporting the economic value of user-centered design processes is also reviewed. http://tc.eserver.org/18224.html http://tc.eserver.org/18224.html This paper discusses methods for identifying, collecting, and analyzing field data for product design. We present three examples of field studies (one focused on the use of a specific product and two focused on more general user processes) to illustrate how the type of study can affect field methods. In the product-oriented study, observers built an understanding of the work environment by looking at how the users interacted with the product and how the product affected their work, identified patterns of activity, and offered explanations for these activities. In the processoriented studies, observers built an understanding of the work process and made recommendations about how to support it. http://tc.eserver.org/18223.html http://tc.eserver.org/18223.html Two often overlooked sources of data in field studies reside in the physical dimension of the workplace: artifacts and outcroppings. Artifacts are physical objects in use at a site: tools, forms, reports, templates, etc. Outcroppings are noticeable physical traits that mark or characterize the site: size of cubicles, whiteboards and what’s written on them, uniforms worn by certain classes of personnel, etc. These two sources of data can greatly enrich the overall understanding of the site. This paper describes artifacts and outcroppings found in the workplace, what you can learn from them, how to collect data about them, how to analyze the data, and how to report what you’ve learned. The points are illustrated with examples from three case studies. http://tc.eserver.org/14514.html http://tc.eserver.org/14514.html Usability testing has proven itself in improving product usability, but actually planning, doing testing, and interpreting results are not always straightforward. Interpretation of the results of usability testing, changes to improves usability, and general inferences to be drawn from specific tests are extremely difficult to make with accuracy. After working through the practicalities and politics of usability testing itself you must then draw conclusions and support them People who have done a lot of testing will find these problems familiar. http://tc.eserver.org/14519.html http://tc.eserver.org/14519.html Testing documents for usability is critical, but we don’t always get to do it. Even when we do, too often, it’s too little, too late. What we really want are documents that we are fine-tuning in usability testing because they already meet users’ needs, match our users’ mental models, and fit with the way that our users work. http://tc.eserver.org/14512.html http://tc.eserver.org/14512.html This panel repeats the form of our popular panel from the 40th STC annual conference. We enjoy presenting some of the guidelines we have been developing from our years of experience watching the performance of usability test subjects. This year we repeat the theme with new topics from our recent research and a concentration on documentation guidelines. http://tc.eserver.org/14401.html http://tc.eserver.org/14401.html The World Wide Web presents a new medium for conducting user surveys. Using this new medium requires that survey designers pay attention not only to the time honored rules for survey construction and administration, but to new rules stemming from the new web-based technology. This paper will present suggestions and ideas for conducting web-based surveys that are based on actual survey experiences. http://tc.eserver.org/14344.html http://tc.eserver.org/14344.html Have you wondered why some documents succeed when others don’t? Have you been curious about the research behind the guidelines that you use? Are you ready for some new challenges and new ways of thinking about organizing documents for your audiences? Come participate in this demonstration/workshop on applying research to practice. We’ll concentrate on issues about how to help users find what they need in documents, interfaces, and just in time training materials. http://tc.eserver.org/14381.html http://tc.eserver.org/14381.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/14389.html http://tc.eserver.org/14389.html Technical communication journals and conferences over the past decade have consistently covered the topic of quality, but much of this coverage has focused on defining quality in technical communication and describing models of quality for our field. Few have dared to declare a finite set of definitive metrics that could be used across our profession. This paper takes the bold (and yes, foolhardy) step of declaring a set of metrics that could be used universally to measure quality in technical documentation of commercial products. The author is fully aware that this will stir up controversy and dissent, but considers this her contribution to stimulating discussion of the area of specific quality metrics. http://tc.eserver.org/14343.html http://tc.eserver.org/14343.html The success of an organization that publishes product information depends on customer satisfaction. IBM Product Announcement Support representatives share their experiences in achieving very high levels of customer satisfaction. * How we conducted our surveys and feedback sessions: – Actual approaches – Sample surveys and feedback * How we used this feedback to: – Change the content and format of our deliverable dramatically – Offer our customers additional ways to access product information As writers in IBM Product Announcement Support, our mission is to produce high-quality, effective offering information worldwide. Simply put, we publish IBM product announcements on the full range of IBM hardware, software, and services. http://tc.eserver.org/14346.html http://tc.eserver.org/14346.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/14353.html http://tc.eserver.org/14353.html Indexes are essentially user interfaces for product documentation and trade books. Determining the quality and usability of indexes requires many of the same considerations as determining the quality and usability of user interfaces for software products. The time and resources spent on indexing represent the most cost-effective investments companies and publishers can make. Unfortunately, the truth is that very few companies and publishers devote a sufficient amount of time and resources to developing indexes. http://tc.eserver.org/14349.html http://tc.eserver.org/14349.html Usability experts will lead a progression for technical communicators or managers who may have some usability responsibility. In this progression, session participants with some knowledge of usability principles and practices will expand their knowledge of usability. http://tc.eserver.org/14367.html http://tc.eserver.org/14367.html Prototyping is one of the most powerful tools for gathering information, testing assumptions, and ensuring a useful, usable docunent. You can develop a more effective paper manual or on-line document by creating and testing a prototype early in the development process. In a traditional prototyping methodology, the writer creates a sample chapter or screen, the client reviews it, and any testing that is performed typically takes place late in the project. There’s a better way: a team develops the prototype and works with users to test it early in the project. http://tc.eserver.org/14345.html http://tc.eserver.org/14345.html Paper (low-fidelity) prototyping is a popular and useful method for gathering input on the usefulness of a user interface while the sofnvare product is in the early stages of development. Coded user intetiace (high-fidelity) prototypes givepotential users a better idea of the$nished product, but can be time consuming to create and diflcult to change. Using HTML (medium-fidelity) prototupes, we can quickly code polished user interface prototypes to use in customer sessions. These web-basedprototypes, which combine the strengths of both low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototvpes, can also be easily modtBed during the customer session, allowing customers to see and interact with their proposed changes. http://tc.eserver.org/13940.html http://tc.eserver.org/13940.html People have a limited amount of cognitive resources. Coping with the increasing amount of information presented via a software interface strains a user’s cognitive resources. If a person has to use documentation, whether on-line or paper, additional cognitive resources are consumed, often overloading the user. Using several windows or multi-media elements can compound the problem. Unfortunately, as Wickens (1992) states, humans are unable to manage excessive cognitive strain and they respond by getting frustrated, committing errors, shedding tasks, or reverting to known methods. http://tc.eserver.org/13939.html http://tc.eserver.org/13939.html The conventional techniques for task analysis derive the basic tasks that make up user actions. However, in the complex-problem solving environment, attempts to describe step-by-step actions break down because no single route to a solution exists. Although individual tasks can be defined, task-analysis normally results in the tasks being divorced from context. However, to support complex problem-solving, the design must place the information within the situation context and allow users to develop and maintain situation awareness. http://tc.eserver.org/13945.html http://tc.eserver.org/13945.html Design of information used for technical communication of complex products should consider how learnable that information is, and strive to deliver materials that are inherently learnable.The speed of information interchange and the demands of the workplace and school curricula require increasingly minimalist approaches to the material that is made available. People are frustrated by long learning times, and new users of software tools demand rapid absorption of tool capabilities. In addition, many readers of technical information are people for whom English is not their native language.Methods and practices that worked in the period when people were willing to commit to hours of study to understand a topic, or days of practice to master a tool, no longer work in a world based on ?internet time.? To assist our understanding of these trends in learning, this paper addresses three key areas related to learnability: proposing a definition of learnability, showing where learnability and usability intersect, and providing a basis for learnability based on some attributes of human beings. http://tc.eserver.org/13685.html http://tc.eserver.org/13685.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/13691.html http://tc.eserver.org/13691.html A learning product can take many forms, including wizard, coach, online Help, Web-based documentation, printed book, computer and paper-based tutorials, etc. The best way to determine the appropriate learning product(s) for your system is to conduct a needs analysis or survey of your users. A needs analysis is typically focused on a specific system or product, while a survey is more comprehensive, and can examine factors such as how your users learn. Each learning product has advantages and disadvantages, and is geared towards users with specific levels of expertise. http://tc.eserver.org/13687.html http://tc.eserver.org/13687.html This Progression explores usability issues and techniques for the novice usability professional. Topics covered include: how to identify usability test issues; usability issues for visual communication; the importance of starting your project with a usability test; rating the importance of user tasks; low-cost, high-return techniques for gathering usability data; selecting participants who accurately represent your target audience; effective usability testing for the Web; conducting a heuristic review; creating scenarios to direct design and development; “toys” of the trade; and special considerations for testing in a low-tech lab, room, or closet. http://tc.eserver.org/13675.html http://tc.eserver.org/13675.html We know that testing for usability is an important part of developing and producing usable information. But very often, when push comes to shove, the time that we have allocated in our schedules for usability testing gets used for other, more pressing, activities, and the money we have set aside for testing seems to disappear. http://tc.eserver.org/13458.html http://tc.eserver.org/13458.html This paper represents an international study of IBM customers in the U. S., England, and Germany to see what effect the layout of a technical document has on usability for an audience of Americans and Europeans. The results indicate that while Americans and Europeans want most of the same usability features, they do not agree on all features. Communicating effectively with readers from different countries requires that writers work closely with international readers who represent the readers of their document; interview people who represent their audience; work with a document designer before starting the first draft; and test the draft document on representative users. http://tc.eserver.org/13306.html http://tc.eserver.org/13306.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/13285.html http://tc.eserver.org/13285.html The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 cites 43 million Americans as having disabilities. Despite the progress the ADA represents in improving equality of opportunity for those with disabilities, much remains to be done—as evidenced by the fact that only 27.8% of working-age people with work disabilities have jobs, compared to 76.8% of those without disabilities. The statistics are even bleaker for minorities. The STC Special Needs Committee was formed in May 1999 to help members with special needs achieve their potential by making available to them information about products, services, and literature that can assist them in their career activities. Three of STC's six guiding ethical principles have high relevance to special needs: legality, professionalism, and—above all—fairness. http://tc.eserver.org/13283.html http://tc.eserver.org/13283.html A transition from being a last minute resource to participating in product design and contributing to overall quality is occurring for many technical communicators. This move is not always easy; there are often many hurdles. With increased awareness of resources such as usability experts, multi-disciplinary teams, and customers, technical communicators can smooth the way and gradually get in at the ground floor. http://tc.eserver.org/13282.html http://tc.eserver.org/13282.html You’ve just created a new Web-based business application, or perhaps you’ve redesigned an existing one. You need to introduce users to the site and help them become familiar and comfortable with the new organization and navigational techniques. They need the information quickly and concisely. What do you do? You give ‘em a guided Web tour…. http://tc.eserver.org/13253.html http://tc.eserver.org/13253.html “Metaphor Stacking and the Velveteen Rabbit Effect” includes a description of metaphor stacking and the use of a metaphor stack in the design of an interface, as well as a description of the “Velveteen Rabbit effect.” It also includes an analysis of the benefits of applying these concepts to interface design and some basic guidelines for doing so. http://tc.eserver.org/13185.html http://tc.eserver.org/13185.html Online technical documentation can be used as an effective job aid if designed properly. However, in many instances designers put the paper documentation online without concern for usability. To design an effective online technical reference system, technical communicators should understand how users interact with the legacy system and how they will interact with the system once it is converted to an online form. http://tc.eserver.org/13179.html http://tc.eserver.org/13179.html We conducted usability testing of a Web site designed to market the university to perspective high school students. Twenty-six high school juniors, many of them honors students, completed the usability tests. Accessing students through the high schools required adapting the usability testing because of high school policies. While the students were generally positive toward the Web site, they had trouble understanding university terminology and finding key information. They did not recognize the non-standard links, and the search engine did not find the information they were seeking. The article closes with 10 guidelines for practitioners in developing web sites. staff.' The gold links turned green when clicked. In addition, a left-hand sidebar had a series of gold links on a green background: 'About CSU, Apply, Athletics, Colleges & Departments, Events, Libraries, News, Outreach, Research, Contact us, Contents, CSU A-Z, Directories, Search, and Cam-o-Gram.' The Prospective Students link took students to a ne http://tc.eserver.org/13195.html http://tc.eserver.org/13195.html To create usable products you must be user-centred throughout your development process: from setting goals to installation. Two case studies illustrate why this is important. User-centred design is about actively involving users and understanding their requirements. It is necessarily iterative and multi-disciplinary. User-centred design requires commitment from your organisation or your client and yourself. Choosing your activities to match the level of acceptance of usability in your audience will help to create that commitment. http://tc.eserver.org/13178.html http://tc.eserver.org/13178.html Fitting in usability studies while maintaining project schedules is not as difficult a task to master as you might think. As technical writers, we were able to conduct valuable usability testing, without any formal training, in as little as two weeks. http://tc.eserver.org/13175.html http://tc.eserver.org/13175.html Lotus Notes databases can be used in a wide variety of applications. The Information Design group in DuPont has developed Notes databases for groups of a dozen to many thousand users. We find that a multidisciplinary approach to database design works well - combining the talents of information analysts, application developers, interface and graphic designers, usability specialists, and project leaders. Working with subject-matter experts and end-users, we develop databases that deliver business value, in terms of more accessible knowledge and streamlined work processes. I will present a behind-the-scenes look at how we work as a team to deliver useful, usable knowledge bases in a user-centered design process that involves the users in novel ways. http://tc.eserver.org/13145.html http://tc.eserver.org/13145.html This paper describes how the User Centered Design team investigated customers’ out-of-the-box needs and validated the design of the out-of-the-box elements described in the previous paper “Designing the OOBE: A Case Study” by Lee Anne Kowalski in these Proceedings. http://tc.eserver.org/13101.html http://tc.eserver.org/13101.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/13097.html http://tc.eserver.org/13097.html In an effort to establish affordable usability design and testing as part of the product development culture at Unisys Corporation, four Product Information employees in Mission Viejo, California and Salt Lake City, Utah developed a usability class. Working part time over a period of several months, the team developed a class outline; a PowerPoint presentation of the class content; exercises on surveys, paper prototyping, heuristic evaluations, and usability testing; Instructor and Student Guides, and a final examination. The class was added to the curriculum of the official corporate training entity, Unisys University, where it is available for all Unisys employees. This report of the group’s experience may be useful to organizations wanting to get started with usability training despite budget restraints. http://tc.eserver.org/13133.html http://tc.eserver.org/13133.html We describe the challenges of understanding and setting usability requirements for a web site containing a form. We define 'usability requirements.' Ideally, usability requirements should be defined early in a project. In practice, we often find that the first opportunity we have is when we are asked to undertake an evaluation. Collecting the users' opinions of the requirements as part of the evaluation can often prompt the organization into investigating the users, leading to a better set of requirements and, eventually, a better web site. http://tc.eserver.org/13118.html http://tc.eserver.org/13118.html The usability bootcamp is for developers of information technology products who want to implement low-cost usability assessment and customer-focusing tools to ensure that their product development plans meet unmet business needs and contribute efficiently to an overall enterprise architecture plan. http://tc.eserver.org/10633.html http://tc.eserver.org/10633.html An IBM Ease of Use poster with the message Computing is about People, Not Machines. http://tc.eserver.org/10631.html http://tc.eserver.org/10631.html An IBM Ease of Use poster with the message User Friendly, Friendly User.