Universal usability refers to the design of information and communications products and services that are usable for every citizen. The concept of universal usability is closely related to the concepts of universal accessibility and universal design.
#21014
Beyond Accessibility: Treating Users with Disabilities as People
With current Web design practices, users without disabilities experience three times higher usability than users who are blind or have low vision. Usability guidelines can substantially improve the matter by making websites and intranets support task performance for users with disabilities.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2001). Design>Accessibility>Web Design>Universal Usability
#26031
Some organisations still take a function-centric approach to their online transactions with customers. Functionality is king, and interactions with the customer are seen as secondary.
Usability by Design (2005). Design>Web Design>Usability>E Commerce
#11906
At the risk of repeating an old saw, when you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Our hammer has been the Web browser. It has been crippling the software industry for the past eight years and it will kill productivity at any company that introduces major enterprise applications on its intranet. Should we get rid of the browser? No, no more than we should get rid of the hammer. The browser is a useful tool. It needs to cease being the only tool, and it could use some improvement.
Tognazzini, Bruce and Jakob Nielsen. eWeek (2001). Design>Web Design>Usability
#23906
Beyond the Buy Button in E-Commerce
The best way for e-commerce sites to increase subsequent orders is to treat customers well after they place their initial order.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability>E Commerce
#27411
Beyond the Five-User Assumption: Benefits of Increased Sample Sizes in Usability Testing 
It is widely assumed that 5 participants suffice for usability testing. In this study, 60 users were tested and random sets of 5 or more were sampled from the whole, to demonstrate the risks of using only 5 participants and the benefits of using more. Some of the randomly selected sets of 5 participants found 99% of the problems; other sets found only 55%. With 10 users, the lowest percentage of problems revealed by any one set was increased to 80%, and with 20 users, to 95%.
Faulkner, Laura. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments and Computers (2003). Articles>Usability>Testing
#26091
Focus groups are popular amongst marketing professionals for good reason. They are relatively quick to organise and the feedback is instantaneous. A wide range of views can be assembled from people from a wide range of backgrounds. When focus groups go well, the data can be extremely useful in identifying profitable design routes. Plus any technique that gets companies closer to their customers can't be all bad.
System Concepts (2005). Articles>Usability>Methods>Focus Groups
#26944
Beyond the Universal User: How to Design for the Universe of Users 
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.
Bowie, Jennifer L. Texas Tech University (2003). Presentations>Web Design>Usability>Personas
#23603
Beyond the Universal User: How to Design for the Universe of Users
Current 'user-centered' design methods place great value on design for the user. In this, I examine how investigation methods for user-centered design like usability testing and field methods are often only used to design for the universal user and not the universe of users. I critically explore the universalizing of the user that occurs during these investigation methods. I then address the problems with designing for a universal user and finally present ways to design for the universe of users.
Bowie, Jennifer L. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Usability>Testing
#19290
Usability testing is a powerful tool in identifying problems and issues that users may have with a website or software application. But for all its benefits, traditional testing does not necessarily give a complete picture at how effective a site or application is in terms of meeting business goals.
Farrell, Tom. Frontend Infocentre (2001). Articles>Usability>Testing>Methods
#26823
Beyond Usability Testing: User-Centred Design and Organisational Maturity
What lies beyond usability testing? User-centred design, based on ISO standards. We discuss this approach and the organisational maturity needed to put it into action.
Philip, Ross and Rourke, Chris. Mercurytide (2006). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design
#22717
Beyond Web Usability: Web Credibility
If you've been developing websites on Mars for the past few years then you'll be forgiven for not knowing about web usability. You'll still be creating splash intro pages, having pages with massive download times and using more images than you can shake a stick at. Well, back in Earth these days have long gone and today web usability rules the web development world.
Moss, Trenton. Webcredible (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability
#28761
What does 'bias' mean in usability testing? Is it bad? good? in between? What are sources of bias in usability testing? Which one(s) should we worry about most? How do we know our methods are any good? Especially when we all do things differently?
Snyder, Carolyn. STC Proceedings (2007). Articles>Usability>Testing
#29941
Blah-Blah Text: Keep, Cut, or Kill?
Introductory text on Web pages is usually too long, so users skip it. But short intros can increase usability by explaining the remaining content's purpose.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2007). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Usability
#18438
When we come to accessibility of web design, we will say that accessible web design is a sign of good web design. A lot of the information on the Web is not accessible to people with disabilities because of poor design. While many web site managers and developers accommodate various browser constraints, most of them do not realize that they are developing sites that people with disabilities have difficulty in navigating, or in many cases, cannot navigate at all.
Hung, Edward. Universal Usability. Design>Usability>Accessibility>Visual Rhetoric
#24114
This Indian usability blog attempts to bridge the gap between user requirements research and UI design.
Pillai, Muthu. Blogspot (2004). Resources>Usability>User Centered Design>Blogs
#19603
In the dusty institutions where usability standards gather to party with each other, ISO 9241 is a bit of a celebrity. It is widely cited by people who would be hard pushed to name any other standard, and parts of it are virtually enshrined in law in some European countries. But as is the fate of many celebrities, all most usability professionals know about the standard is its name. This white paper describes each of the 17 parts of ISO 9241 in detail.
Travis, David. Userfocus (2003). Articles>Usability>Standards
#13048
Blurbs: How to Write Them for Web Pages
On the web, a blurb is a line or short paragraph (20-50 words) that evaluates (or at least summarizes) what the reader will find at the other end of a link. A good blurb should inform, not tease. Usability testing will help you determine the best way to lay out your blurbs, but this document will help you write the content.
Jerz, Dennis G. Seton Hill University (2001). Design>Web Design>Writing>Usability
#28642
Brainstorming is an individual or group process for generating alternative ideas or solutions for a specific topic. Good brainstorming focuses on the quantity and creativity of ideas: the quality of ideas is much less important than the sheer quantity. After ideas are generated, they are often grouped into categories and prioritized for subsequent research or application.
Usability Body of Knowledge (2007). Articles>Usability>Methods>Collaboration
#10574
Many web sites exist primarily to create or strengthen the brand for a product or service. We’re finding that a site’s usability can dramatically affect branding. And the graphical aspects of the site — such as logos or evocative pictures — have much less effect on branding than we expected.
User Interface Engineering (1999). Articles>Usability>Web Design
#18282
Breadcrumb Navigation: An Exploratory Study of Usage
Breadcrumbs serve two purposes: 1) they provide information to the user as to where they are located within the site, and 2) they offer shortcut links for users to “jump” to previous categories in the sequence without using the Back key, other navigation bars, or the search engine. Breadcrumb paths give location information and links in a backward linear manner. Navigation methods, such as search fields or horizontal/vertical navigation bars, serve to retrieve information for the user in a forward-seeking approach. As suggested by Marchionini, systems that support navigation by both browsing and analytical strategies are most beneficial to users since various patterns, strategies, tactics, and moves associated with both types of strategies are normally used.
Lida, Bonnie, Spring S. Hull and Katie Pilcher. Usability News (2003). Design>Web Design>Usability
#28893
A Breadth-First Survey of Eye Tracking Applications
Eye tracking applications are surveyed in a breadth-first manner, reporting on work from the following domains: Neuroscience, Psychology, Industrial Engineering and Human Factors, Marketing/Advertising, and Computer Science. Following a review of traditionally diagnostic uses, emphasis is placed on interactive applications, differentiating between selective and gaze-contingent approaches.
Duchowski, Andrew T. Lunds Universitet (2002). Articles>Software>Usability>Eye Tracking
#27543
A Breakdown of the Psychomotor Components of Input Device Usage
This study investigates the breakdown of the psychomotor components of three different input devices, the mouse, trackball, and RollerMouse™ using the Stochastic Optimized Submovement Model. Primary movement time (PMT), Total Movement Time (TMT), Primary Movement Distance (PMD), and Total Movement Distance (TMD) were examined for each device. Results showed that psychomotor variables related to the primary phase of movement help to pinpoint how performance efficiency is affected by a particular device. For example, the relationship between %PMD and efficiency suggests that a device that affords users an initial accurate movement decreases the need for more or longer corrective submovements, thus reducing movement time.
Slocum, Jeremy. Usability News (2005). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>User Interface>Usability
#31599
Breaking Down the Silos: Usability Practitioners Meet Marketing Researchers
I often find that client companies keep two disciplines locked up in separate silos—usability research within IT and marketing research within the Marketing Services department. This can have a serious impact on the sharing of information relating to customer experience.
Kozatch, David. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Usability>Marketing>Collaboration
#10584
Many usability problems are instances of what we call 'conceptual gaps.' A conceptual gap arises because of some difference between the user’s mental model of the application and how the application actually works.If the gap is large enough, it can stop the user’s work. For example, a user who wants to search the web for free local concerts may not know how to formulate a query that will yield this information. The gap between the search engine’s syntax and the user’s understanding of that syntax may prevent the user from accomplishing their goal.
User Interface Engineering (1996). Articles>Usability>User Interface
#31914
Bridging the Designer–User Gap
Depending on how representative designers are of the target audience, a project might need more or less user testing. Still, usability concerns never go away completely.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability
