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.
#19407
Do's and Don'ts of Effective Web Design: A Summary of the UIU-2002 Research
Every year since 1983, I have reviewed and summarized much of the usability-related research literature that was published during the previous year. This has provided the basis for the popular, annual 3-day User Interface Update Course. My annual two-month 'read and outline' activity provides me with a number of research-based insights into 'what works' and 'what does not work' in usability. I have listed many of these insights in this article. What makes these 'Do's and Don'ts' unique is that they all have recent research to support them.
Bailey, Robert. Web Usability (2003). Design>Web Design>Usability
#10571
In two recent consulting projects, we worked with online documentation developers who wanted to understand the problems users encountered and how their documentation helped solve those problems. To find out, we went and observed users in their own work environments. Although the clients and their software differ significantly, we found similar issues.
User Interface Engineering (1998). Articles>Usability>Documentation
#13515
Documentation Testing Checklist 
Check out this new Documentation Testing Checklist, which offers categories and suggestions to use when testing documentation.
O'Sullivan, Cara. TECHWR-L (2002). Resources>Usability>Tools
#23303
Does Background Music Impact Computer Task Performance?
The effects of music on performance on a computer-mediated problem-solving task were examined. Participants completed the task in anonymous dyads as they were exposed to either Classical music, Punk music, or No Music. Results indicate that those in the Classical music condition performed better on the problem solving-task than those in the Punk music or No Music conditions. However, those listening to the Classical music offered more off-task comments during the task than those listening to No Music. Implications for website designers are discussed.
Phillips, Christine. Usability News (2004). Articles>Usability>Human Computer Interaction>Audio
#13346
Does Computer-Mediated Collaboration Really Improve Group Communication? Our General Findings
As companies continue to expand world-wide, effective communication among project teams and employees becomes a serious challenge. This has not only made it a necessity for businesses to share information electronically, but has also made it essential for organizations to promote team learning and innovation through group collaboration. In fact, as we all know, it is common for business to interact and conduct group seminars in several countries, all at once, via the Internet. For example, several years ago Hewlett Packard conducted collaborative seminars in traditional classrooms. Now however they focus almost exclusively on instructions via an interactive electronic network. As Susan Burnett, of Hewlett Packard points out, 'we are constantly pushing to blur the lines between learning and doing the job' by using information technology (Perelman, 1994, p. 88).
Bernard, Michael, Ta-Tao Chuang and Shahid Ali. Usability News (2000). Articles>Usability>Collaboration
#25239
The study reported here assessed the effects of isolation on attention. Is it true, in other words, that isolating an element in a visual display—moving an element away from other elements and surrounding it with white space—will inspire a greater allocation of attentional resources to the isolated element than to other elements on a page or screen?
Williams, Thomas R., Christopher Mulligan, Kent Koprowicz, Jamie Miller, Christy Reimann and Da-Shin Wang. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Usability>Human Computer Interaction
#27535
Does the Intrusiveness of an Online Advertisement Influence User Recall and Recognition?
This study investigated the effect of the type (banner ad, pop-up ad and floating ad) and state (animated and non-animated) of online advertisements on recall and recognition of the advertisements. It was hypothesized that floating ads, pop-up ads, and animated ads would be easier to recall due to their intrusive nature. Results showed that participants in the pop-up ad and floating ad condition had better recall of the presence of the ad as well as better recognition. Animation did not significantly influence any of these measures.
Shrestha, Sav. Usability News (2006). Design>Web Design>Usability>E Commerce
#21874
Does UPA Need a Code of Conduct?
Many professional societies have developed their own Code of Conduct. Given the high profile lapses in professional conduct and the evolving of the usability profession is it time for us to adopt a code?
Usability Professionals Association (2004). Articles>Usability>Professionalism
#11746
Does Usability Have a Role in Telecommunication?
The theme of this year’s annual conference is 'Global Communication Odyssey.' Wireless phones, the Internet, and e-commerce rely on telecommunication to deliver service to the customer. Our own Alice Preston and David Dick describe the role of usability in telecommunication.
Preston, Alice and David J. Dick. Usability Interface (2001). Articles>Usability>Technology
#28696
Making users suffer a drop-down menu to enter state abbreviations is one of many small annoyances that add up to a less efficient, less pleasant user experience. It's worth fixing as many of these usability irritants as you can.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2007). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#25228
Don't Distract Readers From What They Are Doing
You’ll be on a second or third-level page, well on your way towards achieving the task you have in mind, and suddenly you’ll find your attention being distracted by links, ads and offers unrelated to that task.
Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability
#27727
Don't Force New Windows on Users
A web site should never force new windows on users. If it is necessary as exception to the rule, target="_blank" is the method to use. JavaScript's window.open does not send information about the referrer in IE.
Tverskov, Jesper. Smack the Mouse (2003). Design>Web Design>Usability
#11819
Most usability studies focus on ease-of-learning rather than on long-run efficiency. Ease-of-learning is an appropriate goal for products that are used infrequently, like many commercial Web sites, automatic teller machines (ATMs), or Microsoft PowerPoint. However, ease-of-learning should not be the primary goal for products like corporate accounting and purchasing software or CAD software that are used many times a day, often by 'power users'. For products where most users soon become experts and use the products daily, efficiency should be the primary usability attribute, with ease-of-learning a secondary attribute.
Wilson, Chauncey E. Usability Interface (1997). Articles>Usability>Personalization
#11818
An article in the Washington Post, June 7, 1999, called Terminal Tantrums; 'Computer Rage' Is Widespread, a Study of Users Concludes describes research out of Britain, that we were among the victims of Technology Related Anxiety (TRA), specifically, 'computer rage.' The study reported high levels of PC-related abuse by colleagues 'as a result of frustration' with information technology. The abuses included 'swearing at their PC,' kicking it, and 'bullying the IT department'.
Dick, David J. Usability Interface (1999). Articles>Technology>Usability
#23985
Don't Get Burned by Bad Mapping
The term mapping describes the relationship between a control, the thing it affects, and the intended result. Poor mapping is evident when a control does not relate visually or symbolically with the object it affects, requiring the user to stop and think, 'what's going to happen when I turn this knob?'
Greenwood, Wayne. Cooper Interaction Design (2002). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#20894
Don't Test Users, Test Hypotheses
User testing typically consists of a sort of fishing trip. We lower a lure (the user) into the water (the application or site) and see what critters (defects) bite. This is a valuable and time-tested approach. But when we start fishing for defects, we are left with some tough questions. For instance: When are we finished? How many defects do we need to find before we have fully tested the site or application? If we find a defect, how do we know how severe it is, and by what measure? In iterative testing, how do we compare results from the test of the current version with results from testing earlier versions?
Soudack, Avi. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Articles>Usability>Methods>Testing
#21086
Donation Gravity: An Analysis of Donations Made to the Red Cross through Amazon's Honor System
In light of recent terrorist attacks on the United States, Amazon.com set up a page to collect donations for the Red Cross. Over the course of about two and half days, I recorded the donation activity on that page. An analysis of the data revealed that the average amount of money donated by each person steadily increased (i.e., donation gravity). This manifestation of donation gravity is discussed, along with several usability ideas that can help you design a better online donation web page.
Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Design>Web Design>E Commerce>Usability
#19291
Obviously it isn’t true that download times don’t matter. Presumably the research methods used to arrive at such conclusions are flawed in some way – or alternatively Jared is so keen to convey the importance of other factors than simple speed of download (a noble aim in itself) that he is willing to inaccurately dismiss download speeds as completely irrelevant. Either way, this kind of statement is hardly a good advertisement for the usability industry.
Farrell, Tom. Frontend Infocentre (2001). Design>Web Design>Usability>Bandwidth
#14208
Driving Innovation and Creativity through Customer Data
This article explores the foundations of designing for innovation. Karen Holtzblatt has created contextual inquiry, a practical, customer-centered approach that helps designers develop creative solutions that dominate the competition.
Perfetti, Christine. User Interface Engineering (2002). Articles>Usability>Methods>Contextual Inquiry
#13066
A web-based game, in which you master the usability issues of driving a Mack truck over well-known usability experts.
Urbanev.com (2000). Humor>Usability>Traveler Information>Games
#21084
This article discusses turn signals and how they are used. Turn signals improve safety because they give people time to react and they reduce driving ambiguity. However, they are only effective when people actually use them. Several lessons are applied to web usability.
Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Articles>Usability>User Interface
#11865
Drop-Down Menus: Use Sparingly
Drop-down menus are often more trouble than they are worth and can be confusing because Web designers use them for several different purposes. Also, scrolling menus reduce usability when they prevent users from seeing all their options in a single glance.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2000). Design>Web Design>Usability
#25082
Durability of Usability Guidelines
About 90% of usability guidelines from 1986 are still valid, though several guidelines are less important because they relate to design elements that are rarely used today.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2004). Articles>Usability>History
#19006
I denne artikel ses der på dynamisk hukommelse i relation til usability. Usability har I realiteten altid handlet om metoder (eller heuristikker jf. Nielsen) som skal sikre, at brugeren kan forstå det indhold, som bliver tilbudt på et givent site. Dette er naturligvis vigtigt og relevant, men det er alt sammen underlagt brugerens kontekst, og denne kontekst er igen underlagt brugssituationen.
Quark, The (2002). (Danish) Design>Usability>Methods>Web Design
#24552
Prevent major user annoyance by checking all your web forms: feedback, comment posting, product orders, newsletter sign-up, newsletter opt-in, unsubscribe option, site registration, etc. When a form won't submit, or otherwise fails, after user inputs lots of data, it causes extreme ill will toward your web site, and may be legal violation (UCE laws).
Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2004). Articles>Web Design>Forms>Usability
