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.
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Jakob Nielsen has published 200 Alertbox columns on the Web since 1995; in addition to promoting usability, the column's readership statistics validate the practice of archiving content.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2003). Articles>Usability>Web Design
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A blog from Bangalore based on everything related to the user experience and interaction.
Monteiro, Percy. Blogspot. Resources>Usability>User Centered Design>Blogs
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Alternative Interfaces for Accessibility
The key difference between user interfaces for sighted users and blind users is not that between graphics and text; it's the difference between 2-D and 1-D. Optimal usability for users with disabilities requires new approaches and new user interfaces.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2003). Design>Accessibility>Usability>Universal Usability
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Banner ads are not a particularly useful way of getting people to 'click', but inserting a plain vanilla link just might be.
Baker, Adam. Merges.net (2001). Design>Web Design>Marketing>Usability
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Alternatives To User Requirement Gathering 
Of all the disciplines that go together to create a 'usability strategy', user requirement gathering is undoubtedly the most frequently misunderstood. Many product managers or webmasters will believe that they already know their users, perhaps because they have conducted some form of market research, or have a formal complaints and customer feedback programme in place. However, these techniques, discussed below, although similar in aspiration, should not be relied upon as a replacement for a full user-requirement gathering programme. That isn't to say that they do not have their uses of course, but rather that in terms of assisting in application or site design they can be unhelpful or even misleading.
Farrell, Tom. Frontend Infocentre (2001). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design
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Altruistic vs. Narcissistic Web Sites
Users are repulsed by web sites that are narcissistic, egotistic, corporate-speak, hard to understand, and difficult to use. Users are attracted to and enjoy web sites that are altruistic, user-prioritized, user-focused, easy to understand, easy to use, and full of fresh, relevant content.
Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2004). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Usability
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The purpose of this article is to openly display my disgust with Amazon and to discuss the implications. On Monday, 11-June-2000, I ordered a gift certificate from Amazon.com. I was going to use the certificate for Father's Day, however Amazon failed to send the certificate in time. So, I drove to Barnes and Noble, bought some books, and bought a gift certificate. Amazon just lost $82.62.
Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Design>Web Design>Usability>E Commerce
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Amazon: No Longer the Role Model for E-Commerce Design
Many design elements work for Amazon.com mainly because of its status as the world's largest and most established e-commerce site. Normal sites should not copy Amazon's design.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Design>Web Design>E Commerce>Usability
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Analysing Everyday Interaction
Inspired by Don Norman's classic book, 'The Design of Everyday Things', I started to collect my own examples of bad designs to analyse according to interaction design principles. Here are just a few.
Poole, Alex. Alex Poole (2004). Articles>Usability>Interaction Design>User Experience
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If you run a Web site, you're probably already thinking about tracking and analyzing the traffic it gets. Knowing how many pages are accessed, when, by whom, and for what purposes can mean the difference between simply having a Web site and building a sound Web strategy. Understanding how people use your site can help you--and your sales and marketing team--generate more traffic. If you can track your audience, learn which pages and resources are most popular, and identify technical problems and system bottlenecks, you can deliver a better experience. And that's the best way to keep people coming back to your site.
Aviram, Mariva H. Builder.com (1998). Articles>Usability>Assessment
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Analyzing and Reporting Usability Data
The Just-In-Time (JIT) method of data analysis has the virtue of immediacy, rapid turn-around, and team involvement; however there are several disadvantages. First, this type of analysis is problem-focused, rather than goal-focused. Long lists of problems are generated, but there is no clear relation to specific usability goals. Second, developers may not be able to fix things immediately so the context of the problem may be lost when it is time to fix the problem. Third, the JIT analysis requires that the entire development team observe the testing sessions since problems may occur that are the responsibility of different developers.
Wilson, Chauncey E. Usability Interface (1997). Articles>Usability>Testing>Reports
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Analyzing Card Sort Results with a Spreadsheet Template
This article explains how to quickly derive easily-read, quantitative results from a card-sort activity by entering data into a spreadsheet template that is adaptable to any set of cards and categories.
Lamantia, Joe. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Articles>Usability>Methods>Card Sorting
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This paper focuses on the interaction between test participants and test facilitator in two variants of the think-aloud method. In a first, explorative study, we analyzed think-aloud transcripts from two usability tests: a concurrent think-aloud test and a constructive interaction test. The results of our analysis show that while the participants in both studies never explicitly addressed the facilitator, the think-aloud participants showed more signs of awareness of the facilitator than the participants in the constructive interaction test. This finding may have practical implications for the validity of the two methods.
van den Haak, Maaike J. and Menno D.T. de Jong. IEEE PCS (2005). Articles>Usability>Testing>Methods
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This paper discusses the use of automated data collection to learn from hundreds of beta-test users of a web-based industrial product database how successfully the product met their needs. The collected data consisted of web server log data, opinion data from online questionnaires and follow-up interviews, and user profile data from telerecruiting and online registration was also collected. In the Proceedings of the 1998 Usability Professionals' Association Conference.
Kantner, Laurie and Larry Rusinsky. Tec-Ed, Inc. (1998). Articles>Web Design>Usability
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An Annotated List of Interaction/Web Design Resources, Books and Websites
This list provides resources about web design, usability, and related topics.
Berkun, Scott. UIWeb (2001). Resources>Bibliographies>User Interface>Usability
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Anthropologists Go Native in the Corporate Village
Anthropologist Elizabeth Briody earned her PhD studying communities of Mexican-American farm workers and Catholic nuns. For the past 11 years, though, she's been studying a different community -- the men and women of General Motors. As GM's 'industrial anthropologist,' Briody explores the intricacies of life at the company. It's not all that different from her previous work. 'Anthropologists help elicit the cultural patterns of an organization,' she says. 'What rules do people have about appropriate and inappropriate behavior? How do they learn those rules and pass them on to others?' Briody is a pioneer in a growing and influential field -- corporate anthropology. What began as an experiment in a handful of companies such as GM has become an explosion. In recent years, some of the biggest names in business have recruited highly trained anthropologists to understand their workers and customers better, and to help design products that better reflect emerging cultural trends. These companies are convinced that the tools of ethnographic research -- minute observation, subtle interviewing, systematic documentation -- can answer questions about organizations and markets that traditional research tools can't.
Kane, Kate A. Fast Company (1996). Articles>Usability>Methods>Contextual Inquiry
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Application of Theory: Minimalism and User Centered Design 
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.
Lou, Mary Mazzara. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Usability>User Centered Design>Theory
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Applying Research to Practice: Helping Users Find What They Need
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.
Redish, Janice C. 'Ginny'. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Usability>Help
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Applying the Behavioral, Cognitive, and Social Sciences to Products
People trained in the Behavioral, Cognitive, and Social Sciences (BCSS) seldom play a critical role in the development of new products. Yeah, they do user testing and sometimes take part in the design, but seldom take part in specifying the product in the first place. Moreover, when economic times get tight, they are among the first to be let go. Why the failure? I place the blame squarely upon BCSS itself: students are badly prepared for the demands of a product-driven industry. Faculty are equally ill-prepared, and therefore unable to make a difference -- assuming they would even be interested in doing so.
Norman, Donald A. JND.org (2001). Design>Usability
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Most usability practitioners don't derive full value from their user tests because they don't systematically archive the reports. An intranet-based usability archive offers four substantial benefits.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Articles>Usability>Methods
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Are Organizations Doing Enough to Improve Customer Satisfaction
Time-to-market pressure can diminish product testing time and quality. The results are product recalls, shoddy merchandise, and apologies by CEOs about poor quality. The consequence is the loss of consumer confidence. Don’t these companies realise that there’s no compromise on quality? I’m sure that these companies are ISO 9000 certified or have a Total Quality Management (TQM) program, so what is the problem? Perhaps the problem is not with ISO 9000 or TQM but with the way it is used.
Dick, David J. and Shelby Rosiak. Usability Interface (2000). Articles>Usability>Assessment>ISO 9000
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Are Standards-Compliant Websites Better?
The adhoc way in which much of the web was developed has created a dilemma for web designers: should websites comply with standards, ensuring accessibility, or break the rules and work with older browsers? At this moment, the answer is simple: Websites should work with older browsers.
Baker, Adam. Merges.net (2001). Design>Web Design>Standards>Usability
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Are the Product Lists on Your Site Reducing Sales?
You can increase sales on your site as much as 225% by offering sufficient product information to your customers at the time they need it. One way to do this is to develop product lists that don't require shoppers to bounce back-and-forth between the list and individual product pages.
User Interface Engineering (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability>E Commerce
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Are There Users Who Always Search?
Web designers often tell us that they spend a great deal of their limited time and resources working to improve their on-site search engines because, they believe, there are some people who always rely on the search engine to reach their target content. They find further support for this assumption from Jakob Nielsen who, in his book, 'Designing Web Usability,' asserts that more than half of all users demonstrate 'search-dominant' tendencies by going right to the search engine when they first visit a web site looking for content.
User Interface Engineering (2002). Design>Web Design>Usability>Search
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Opponents of the usability movement claim that it focuses on 'stupid' users and that most users can easily overcome complexity. In reality, even smart users prefer pursuing their own goals to navigating idiosyncratic designs. As Web use grows, the price of ignoring usability will only increase.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2001). Articles>Usability
