Customer Partnering: Another Way to Gather User Data  

Information developers have been using user-centered design principles for some time now. Many of the techniques available, however, do not provide the depth of knowledge needed to design more complex information products. Customer partnering sessions take place ofer a period of three or four months, allowing information developers to learn more about customer needs and how information products are used. Customer partnering relationships benefit both the company that funds the sessions and the customers who attend them.

Elser, Arthur G. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design

Customers as Designers

The change to customer-designed products is based on the ability to connect the user interface to the manufacturing backend through a computer. As the product is manufactured, the computer knows what customer it is intended for, what that customer specified, and how to track the product through the manufacturing process so that it can be shipped directly to the desired destination. No inventory (one of the business benefits of custom manufacturing).

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2000). Articles>Usability>Wireless Web

Customisable Websites - The Definitive Guide

Customisable websites have recently become more and more popular - get the lowdown on when and why you should and shouldn't allow users to change pages on your website.

Warsi, Abid. Webcredible (2008). Design>Web Design>Usability>Personalization

Data Collection and Analysis: A Look at Process-Oriented and Product-Oriented Field Studies  

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.

Schulz, Erin Leanne, Judith A. Ramey and Denise Carlevato. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Usability>Methods

Data Collection in the Palm of your Hand: A Case Study

Mobile computing devices, which are commonly known as either personal digital assistants (PDA) or personal information managers (PIM), are an emerging technology that has the potential to be very useful in specific areas of computing.  One area in which mobile computing devices are gaining favor is in data collection, especially in places where larger computers are impractical.  While the use of these devices as a data collection tool is not a new idea (see Drury, 1987), it has been a bit slow to take off.  However, recent advances in this area of technology have allowed the gap in functionality between mobile computing devices and personal computers to be closed to such an extent that these devices may be considered to be as functional in many ways as a laptop or palmtop computer for collecting data.  In fact, the conversion of paper and pencil forms such as surveys, questionnaires, and assessments to these devices may be considered a next logical step in the use of mobile computing devices.

Spain, Kelly and Chad Phipps. Usability News (2000). Articles>Usability>Workflow>PDA

dConstruct 2007 Podcasts

dConstruct is an affordable, one-day conference aimed at those building the latest generation of web-based applications. The theme for this year's conference is Designing the User Experience. The 2007 conference was held in September. This page aggregates recordings of all of the speakers or you can visit the link to download the podcasts.

Catalyze (2007). Design>Usability>Web Design

Deaf and Hearing-Impaired

It is hard to make a hat that fits all heads. If one were made, most people would find it uncomfortable. This fact could be the realistic of the web sites design. Web developers face the same issue creating web pages for more general usage. For those deaf and hearing-impaired people, some special technologies should be applied to ease their web browsing and searching. This report will focus on such disabled characteristics.

Universal Usability. Articles>Usability>Accessibility>Audio

Deceivingly Strong Information Scent Costs Sales

Users will often overlook the actual location of information or products if another website area seems like the perfect place to look. Cross-references and clear labels alleviate this problem.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability>E Commerce

Decision Models for Comparative Usability Evaluation of Mobile Phones Using the Mobile Phone Usability Questionnaire (MPUQ)  

A comparative usability evaluation was performed using various subjective evaluation methods, including Mobile Phone Usability Questionnaire (MPUQ). Further, decision-making models using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and multiple linear regression were developed and applied. Although the mean rankings of the four phones were not significantly different across the evaluation methods, there were variations across the methods in terms of the number of rank orderings, preference proportions, and methods to select their initial preference. Thus, this study provided a useful insight into how users make different decisions through different evaluation methods. Also, the result showed that answering a usability questionnaire affected a user's decision-making process for comparative evaluation.

Ryu, Young Sam, Kari Babski-Reeves, Tonya L. Smith-Jackson and Maury A. Nussbaum. Journal of Usability Studies (2007). Articles>Usability>Assessment>Surveys

Deep Linking is Good Linking

Links that go directly to a site's interior pages enhance usability because, unlike generic links, they specifically relate to users' goals. Websites should encourage deep linking and follow three guidelines to support its users.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2002). Design>Web Design>Usability

Default Thinking: Why Consumer Products Fail

Short Message Service (SMS), or texting, is a typical killer application. It is not only popular but profitable, bringing in significant revenue to network operators. There is even a strong after market selling RingTones, info alerts and crude interactive games. A great technological irony is that such a successful product is so under appreciated. For all of the frenzied SMS marketing discussion, the product has hardly changed over the last few years. Given its success, you would think the industry would put more effort into understanding the value SMS offers to consumers and then produce new services that extend this value.

Jenson, Scott. uiGarden (2005). Design>Usability>User Centered Design

Defining an Effective Electronic Performance Support System

Most businesses have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of information employees require to perform tasks. Traditional approaches to training such as paper documentation, instructor-led training, or computer-based training (CBT) may have been effective in the past, but are not suitable to respond to the rapid changes in time, cost, and delivery of information today’s marketplace requires. At Unisys Corporation we have piloted an electronic performance support system that provides self-instruction for our clients at their point of need.

Racine, Sam J., Kristen E. Kralick and Sathya Yesuraja. Usability Interface (2004). Articles>User Interface>Usability>EPSS

The Degree of Usability from Selected DVD Menus and Their Navigational Systems  

The purpose of this research is to investigate the usability of DVD interfaces via their menus and navigation, inspired by Donald Norman who has had a pivotal role in user-centred design and usability. The paper encompasses theoretical aspects of interactivity, usability and DVD technology. A usability test was administered with the DVDs chosen. The results from the usability test were the main focus in this research. Such results were supportive of Norman's claims, as participants experienced varying degrees of usability issues. Furthermore, the findings were used to develop a set of guidelines and recommendations designers could follow. If these were adhered to, it would have significantly alleviated the difficulty the participants had in interacting with the DVDs.

Wood-Bradley, Guy and Malcolm Campbell. SpringerLink (2005). Articles>Usability>Human Computer Interaction>DVD

Delivering Customer Satisfaction: Our Experiences with Responding to Customer Feedback  

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.

Howell Betz, Margaret. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Usability>User Centered Design

Demand Characteristics

Demand Characteristics is a term used in Cognitive Psychology to denote the situation where the results of an experiment are biased because the experimenters' expectancies regarding the performance of the participants on a particular task create an implicit demand for the participants to perform as expected.

Soegaard, Mads. Interaction-Design.org. Articles>Usability>Methods

Depth vs Breadth in the Arrangement of Web Links

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of depth and breadth of web site structure on the user response time.

Mtei, Lianaeli and Panayiotis Zaphiris. SHORE (1997). Design>Web Design>Human Computer Interaction>Usability

Design and Emotion

Emotion is one of the strongest differentiators in user experience namely because it triggers unconscious responses to a product, website, environment or interface. Our feelings strongly influence our perceptions and often frame how we think about or refer to our experiences at a later date.

Spillers, Frank. Demystifying Usability (2004). Articles>Usability>User Experience>Emotions

Design as Communication  

I was having a conversation with the designers, considering their suggestions, accepting some and rejecting others. The designers may not have been there to listen, but their statements clearly required an answer.

Norman, Donald A. JND.org (2004). Design>Usability

Design as Practiced

Design as practiced is considerably different from design as idealized in academic discussions of 'good design.' A few years ago, I made the transition from the university to industry--a deliberate decision on my part to practice what I had long been preaching, and to try to understand the constraints and pressures from the business point of view. How nice it would be, I thought, to be able to see products in the marketplace that reflected my design philosophy. This chapter recounts one stage of my learning process: issues that seem simple from the vantage point of academia are often extremely complex when seen from inside the industry. Indeed, the two sides seem hardly to be speaking the same language. In the course of my experiences, I have come to recognize that industry faces numerous problems that are outside of the scope of the traditional analyses of design. In particular, there are management and organizational issues, business concerns, and even corporate culture.

Norman, Donald A. JND.org (1999). Design>Usability>Industry and Academy

Design Effective Navigation in Ten Steps

Designing your site's navigation can be quite a tricky task at first. You need to research the number of categories you'll account for, where your visitors are most likely to click, the colour schemes that will best satisfy users, and many other aspects. With so many variables, navigation design can seem like a situation in which there's no right answer. Today, we'll discuss the task of designing navigation -- and hopefully give you a head start in creating a navigation system that works the best for your users.

Hastings, Sam. SitePoint (2002). Design>Web Design>Usability

Design for Life Cycle

I was struck by the similarities in the challenges of getting software engineers to consider usability during design, and getting mechanical product designers to consider life cycle issues during design. It occurred to me designers may resist adopting these two design processes for very similar reasons, and that possible solutions may be almost identical.

Hayes, Caroline. Usability Professionals Association (2007). Design>Usability>User Centered Design

Design for Rapid Navigation and Easy Visual Scanning

The philosophy of designing for usability.

Hoffman, Michael. Hypertext Navigation. Design>Web Design>Hypertext>Usability

Design Patterns

A design pattern is a proven design solution to a common design problem documented in a standard format.

. Usability Body of Knowledge (2007). Design>Usability>Planning

Design Process and Evaluation  

There are several usability-related issues, methods, and procedures that require careful consideration when designing and developing Web sites. The most important of these are presented in this chapter, including 'up-front' issues such as setting clear and concise goals for a Web site, determining a correct and exhaustive set of user requirements, ensuring that the Web site meets user's expectations, setting usability goals, and providing useful content.

Usability.gov (2006). Design>Web Design>Usability

Design Research: Why You Need It

Just as important as market research, design research is a necessary ingredient for creating, developing, and delivering a successful product. Marketers need solid market research to guide their decisions about product positioning, revenue potential, and target markets. Likewise, designers need solid design research to guide their decisions about the product's interaction framework, feature set, and overall appropriateness for its users.

Calde, Steve. Cooper Interaction Design (2003). Design>Usability>User Centered Design