The Effect of Typeface on the Perception of Email

This study investigated the effect that a font has on the reader's perception of an email. Based on a previous study by Shaikh, Chaparro, and Fox (2006), a sample email message was presented in three fonts (Calibri, Comic Sans, and Gigi). The three chosen fonts represented a high, medium, and low level of congruency for email messages. The least congruent typeface (Gigi) resulted in different perceptions of the email document and its author. However, no significant differences were found between the moderately and highly congruent fonts.

Shaikh, A. Dawn, Doug Fox and Barbara S. Chaparro. Usability News (2007). Design>Typography>Online>Email

The Effect of Website Typeface Appropriateness on the Perception of a Company's Ethos

This study investigated the effect of website typeface appropriateness on the perception of the site's company. Results indicate that typefaces that are high in appropriateness should be used for websites. Neutral and low appropriate typefaces significantly decreased the perception of the company as judged by professionalism, believability, trust, and intent to act on the site.

Shaikh, A. Dawn. Usability News (2007). Design>Typography>Usability

The Effects of Contrast and Density on Visual Web Search

This study evaluated the effects of white space on visual search time. Participants were required to search for a target word on a web page with different levels of white space, measured by level of text density. Screens were formatted with one of four types of graphical manipulation, including: no graphics, contrast, borders and contrast with borders under two levels of overall density and three levels of local density. Results show that search times were longer with increased overall density but significant differences were not found between levels of local density. Only the use of contrast was found to be significant, resulting in an increase in search time.

Weller, Donnelle. Usability News (2004). Design>Web Design>Visual Rhetoric>Search

The Effects of Line Length on Reading Online News

This study examined the effects of line length on reading speed, comprehension, and user satisfaction of online news articles. Twenty college-age students read news articles displayed in 35, 55, 75, or 95 characters per line (cpl) from a computer monitor. Results showed that passages formatted with 95 cpl resulted in faster reading speed. No effects of line length were found for comprehension or satisfaction, however, users indicated a strong preference for either the short or long line lengths.

Shaikh, A. Dawn. Usability News (2005). Articles>Web Design>Typography>Usability

The Effects of Perceptual Grouping on Text Entry Performance

One of the primary challenges confronting designers of mobile computing devices is the issue of efficient text entry. One potential solution is to group multiple letters onto single keys, similar to the T9 keyboard currently used on telephones. Two experiments examined the effects of perceptual grouping on soft keyboard transcription rates. Results from Experiment 1 showed significantly slower transcription rates for QWERTY keyboards with grouped keys. Results from Experiment 2 showed various levels of perceptual interference due to the different Gestalt grouping effects. These results indicate that perceptual grouping can negatively affect text entry performance, and placing multiple letters onto single keys reduces the speed at which users can transcribe words.

Hamblin, Christopher J., Michael Bohan and Alex Chaparro. Usability News (2004). Design>Usability>Human Computer Interaction>PDA

Entering Text Into Hand-Held Devices: Comparing Two Soft Keyboards

With the increasing demand for smaller more mobile devices (e.g., PDAs, pen tablets, etc.), manufacturers have been forced to consider alternative methods of input (other than a standard keyboard) such as pen-based input via handwriting recognition or on-screen, soft keyboards.  However, meeting the need for high-efficiency input in these physically constrained environments has proven to be a challenge for designers and researchers, particularly given the fact that they are designing for a “walk-up” market where consumers want to be able to begin using it without extensive practice.

Bohan, Michael. Usability News (2000). Articles>Usability>Design

Ergonomic Mice: Comparison of Performance and Perceived Exertion

This study reports a psychophysical comparison of four ergonomic mouse-type devices to the standard mouse. It was hypothesized that muscle activity transferred from the distal to proximal limbs for some of the ergonomic mice may result in increased load on the shoulders and declines in target acquisition performance. Results revealed a potential tradeoff between performance and safety with the devices as participants performed the best with the standard mouse but reported more wrist exertion with this device.

Scarlett, Deborah. Usability News (2005). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>User Interface>Usability

Evaluating the Usability of Educational Websites for Children

This study examined the usability of educational websites for children. Children ages 7 - 11 performed seven search tasks with one of three websites. Overall, participants, especially those less than 10 years of age were not very successful. Terminology, number and organization of links, location of information above the fold, and length of individual pages all influenced performance on the tasks.

Naidu, Shivashankar. Usability News (2005). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Children

Evaluation of Websites for Older Adults: How "Senior-Friendly" Are They?

Thirty-six websites designed for older adults were evaluated as to how well they complied to 25 'senior-friendly' guidelines recommended by the National Institute of Aging. Results indicate that a majority of the sites complied to guidelines related to basic navigation and content style but not for text size, text weight, or site map availability. Implications of compliance to these guidelines on user satisfaction and performance are discussed.

Hart, Traci A. Usability News (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Elderly

Evaluation Toolbox for Aviation Technical Publications

This article describes the Evaluation Toolbox (Chaparro et al., 2004) - an aid to understand the process of evaluating the usability of aviation maintenance documentation -- from the initial development stage through the final pre-publication stage. This toolbox provides techniques to help technical writers better understand their users and to evaluate their documentation more effectively and efficiently.

Rogers, Bonnie Lida, Chris Hamblin and Alex Chaparro. Usability News (2005). Articles>Documentation>Assessment>Usability

Examining Legibility of the Letter "e" and Number "0" Using Classification Tree Analysis

This study investigated the legibility of onscreen typefaces and the influence of individual character features on correct identification. Specific attributes of alphanumeric characters and symbols shown to be the least legible were measured and analyzed using a statistical method called classification tree analysis. Results from this analysis for the letter "e" and the number zero are discussed.

Fox, Doug, Barbara S. Chaparro and Ed Merkle. Usability News (2007). Design>Typography>Online>Usability

Examining the Legibility of Two New ClearType Fonts

This article introduces six new ClearType fonts developed by Microsoft. Legibility of two of the serif fonts, Cambria and Constantia, is compared to the traditional serif font Times New Roman. Results show that the legibility, as measured by the number of correct identifications of briefly presented characters, was highest for the new font Cambria, followed by Constantia, and then Times New Roman. Old style digits, such as 0,1, and 2, used in Constantia resulted in confusion with the letters o, l, and z. Times New Roman symbols were confused with both letters and other symbols.

Chaparro, Barbara S., A. Dawn Shaikh and Alex Chaparro. Usability News (2006). Design>Typography>Fonts>Online

Examining Tolerance for Online Delays

In this study, user tolerance for delays for three common WWW tasks, including information retrieval, purchasing, and downloading a text file was examined. These tasks were selected since the file sizes differ significantly among the three tasks, so it was expected that tolerance may be higher for those tasks with smaller file sizes. For example, tolerance for delays would be higher for downloading a text file than purchasing or information retrieval, since users may have an expectation that the task should take longer so they may be more willing to wait. End-users may be more tolerant of delays while purchasing online, since information must be exchanged to process the transaction, whereas information retrieval does not require information exchange.

Selvidge, Paula. Usability News (2003). Design>Web Design>Usability

Examining Web Design Conventions Across Site Types

This study examined the viability of a Category-Based Usability Theory, which indicates that usability of websites should be accounted for on the basis of the category the website is in. While Web design experts have provided general design guidelines, it is believed that with different site types, design guidelines may differ.

Patel, M.R. Usability News (2003). Design>Web Design>Usability

Eye Gaze Patterns while Searching vs. Browsing a Website

This article discusses users' visual scan paths of web pages containing text and/or pictures while conducting browsing and searching tasks. User performance on three usability tasks on an e-commerce website is described. Results show that users follow a fairly uniform scan path when browsing through pictures, and a more random path while specifically searching through them. Additionally, users appeared to follow Nielsen's 'F' pattern (2006) while both browsing and searching through text-based pages.

Shrestha, Sav and Kelsi Lenz. Usability News (2007). Articles>Usability>Testing>Eye Tracking

Finding Information on the Web: Does the Amount of Whitespace Really Matter?

It has been a long-held notion that the use of open space or 'whitespace' adds not only to the attractiveness of the design of a written publication, but adds to the functionality as well. For example, it has been stated that whitespace plays the crucial role of 'directing the viewers attention to the regions where important information is provided and allowing the global structure of the composition to assume a meaningful configuration' (Mullet & Sano, 1995, p. 126). It is contended that Whitespace 'gives the eye a place to restIt can help to organize the material on the page. It can tie successive pages together by repetition of identifiable areas' (White, 1974, p. 48). However, it has been asserted by Web usability researcher Jared Spool that these assumptions should not apply to Web design.

Bernard, Michael, Barbara S. Chaparro and R. Thomasson. Usability News (2000). Articles>Usability>Web Design

Half Web Searchers Enter One Query, Look at One Page of Results

Over 66% of searchers examine fewer than five results with more than one in three Web searchers viewing only on one document in a given session. Users' search strategies are not those believed traditionally effective, but a close analysis reveals they work well on the Web.

Light, Ann. Usability News (2003). Articles>Usability>Search

Hotspots and Hyperlinks: Using Eye-Tracking to Supplement Usability Testing

This article discusses how eye-tracking can be used to supplement traditional usability test measures. User performance on two usability tasks with three e-commerce websites is described. Results show that eye-tracking data can be used to better understand how users initiate a search for a targeted link or web object. Frequency, duration and order of visual attention to Areas of Interest (AOIs) in particular are informative as supplemental information to standard usability testing in understanding user expectations and making design recommendations.

Russell, Mark C. Usability News (2005). Articles>Usability>Testing>Eye Tracking

How Important is Visual Feedback When Using a Touch Screen?

From check station point-of-sale devices (restaurants, grocery stores, etc.) to information kiosks, to the cars we drive (navigation systems), touch screens have become the input device of choice.  While the versatility of the touch screen is highly desired, the poor performance it achieves relative to the mechanical keyboard has been something that users have been forced to deal with.  Empirical research studies have found that touch screens consistently produced slower and less accurate performance when compared with keyboards  (Barrett & Krueger, 1994; Wilson, Inderrieden, & Liu, 1995). Schneiderman (1998) outlines the many advantages and disadvantages to using a touch screen.

Deron, Michael. Usability News (2000). Articles>Usability>Design

How Nationwide Tackled Accessibility - The Whole Story

A piece written by Ian Lloyd (Accessify bod) about how accessibility was worked into the project management life cycle.

Lloyd, Ian. Usability News (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility

The Impact of Paging vs. Scrolling on Reading Online Text Passages

In this study, we examined the use of paging vs. scrolling in reading passages, including participants' reading comprehension in paging and scrolling conditions.

Baker, J. Ryan. Usability News (2003). Design>Web Design>Usability

Influence of Training and Exposure on the Usage of Breadcrumb Navigation

Recent studies have shown that while the use of breadcrumb trails to navigate a website can be helpful, few users choose to utilize this method of navigation. This study investigates the effects of 'mere exposure' and training on breadcrumb usage. Findings indicate that brief training on the benefits of breadcrumb usage resulted in more efficient search behavior.

Hull, Spring S. Usability News (2004). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Usability

Is Multiple-Column Online Text Better? It Depends!

This study investigated the effects of multi-column displays and justification on reading performance and satisfaction of an online narrative passage. Participants read a short story displayed in one of six formats (one, two, or three columns, in either a full or left-justified format). Results showed a significant column x justification interaction with reading speed significantly faster for the two-column full-justified text than for one-column full-justified, and significantly faster for one-column left-justified than for one-column full-justified or three-column full-justified text. Post-hoc analyses indicate that the faster readers may have benefited most from the two-column justified format.

Baker, J. Ryan. Usability News (2005). Design>Web Design>Typography>Usability

Is RSVP a Solution for Reading from Small Displays?

In the last five years, we have witnessed a virtual explosion in the number and variety of hand-held devices that use small-screen interfaces (SSIs). These devices, which may include everything from personal digital assistants (PDAs) to cellular telephones, offer the convenience of portable, or even wearable interfaces. This convenience, however, comes at a price; the amount of information that can be displayed on the screen at one time is very small. Moreover, manual scrolling, tabbing, and paging are required to present successive displays of information. This, of course, limits the usefulness of these devices, especially if the information that is viewed is more than just a small amount. These limitations serve as a critical usability concern as more and more consumers use hand-held devices for such things as reading e-mail, browsing the web, and reading documents.

Bernard, Michael, Barbara S. Chaparro and Mark Russell. Usability News (2000). Articles>Usability>Wireless Web

Just How 'Blind' Are We to Advertising Banners on the Web?

The most common medium for advertising on the Web is through the use of banners. This form of advertisement often combines animation, sophisticated graphics, and even audio to endorse product information. Currently, advertising companies test the effectiveness of banners  by calculating their 'click-through' ratio rate (Briggs & Hollis, 1997). This ratio is the number of times an ad appears on a page compared to the number of times an individual clicks on the banner. It has been argued by Nielsen (1997) that click-through ratio rates are typically about 1%, which suggests that 99% of the time Internet users don’t bother to click on advertisements.

Bayles, Michelle. Usability News (2000). Articles>Usability>Web Design