http://tc.eserver.org/publisher/Usability_Professionals_Association A listing of works published by Usability Professionals Association in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Usability_Professionals_Association http://tc.eserver.org/33429.html http://tc.eserver.org/33429.html Changing people's attitudes and behaviors for the good could help us to make this world a better place. And turning this world into a better one is one of the key drivers for most of the usability people I know. Most of them don't advocate usability for the money; they want to help make things and consequently life easier. http://tc.eserver.org/33343.html http://tc.eserver.org/33343.html Five questionnaires for assessing the usability of a website were compared in a study with 123 participants. The questionnaires studied were SUS, QUIS, CSUQ, a variant of Microsoft’s Product Reaction Cards, and one that we have used in our Usability Lab for several years. Each participant performed two tasks on each of two websites: finance.yahoo.com and kiplinger.com. All five questionnaires revealed that one site was significantly preferred over the other. The data were analyzed to determine what the results would have been at different sample sizes from 6 to 14. At a sample size of 6, only 30-40% of the samples would have identified that one of the sites was significantly preferred. Most of the data reach an apparent asymptote at a sample size of 12, where two of the questionnaires (SUS and CSUQ) yielded the same conclusion as the full dataset at least 90% of the time. http://tc.eserver.org/33249.html http://tc.eserver.org/33249.html The Code of Professional Conduct of the Usability Professionals' Association expresses the profession's recognition of its responsibilities to the public, clients, employers, and colleagues. The Code guides members in the performance of their professional responsibilities and express the basic tenets of ethical and professional conduct. http://tc.eserver.org/33250.html http://tc.eserver.org/33250.html The goal of the 2000 Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) Member Profile and Salary Survey was to gather information that would enable the association to understand the make-up of the membership in order to ensure their needs are being met. http://tc.eserver.org/33251.html http://tc.eserver.org/33251.html This year, for the fi rst time, we've included results by employer as well as information on the types of technique in use today and a breakdown of salary by experience. Members of the Usability Professionals Association are, of course, entitled to the raw data so that they can conduct their own analysis. http://tc.eserver.org/33254.html http://tc.eserver.org/33254.html Most people looking for the first time at the results of the UK Chapter's recent salary survey will rush to find out where they come on the overall pay scale. But the survey asked far more than just 'how much do you make' and because it was widely publicised and open to all, the results have some interesting things to say about the state of our industry. http://tc.eserver.org/32980.html http://tc.eserver.org/32980.html Just as a romantic poet might choose to pen an ode to a single rose as opposed to the entire garden, perhaps we should look to the simplest elements of usability for inspiration. Perhaps it’s time to recognize the contribution of a single humble helper. Yes, it’s time for an ode to Balloon Help. You may smile, but it can be argued that Balloon Help is not only one of the most ubiquitous implementations of modern technological performance support but it is also one of the most underappreciated. http://tc.eserver.org/32893.html http://tc.eserver.org/32893.html The following is what has been collectively pulled-through as the main points from Ella Tallyn's and Jon Pettigrew's respective presentations. These points should serve as introductory guidelines for UCD with children. http://tc.eserver.org/31993.html http://tc.eserver.org/31993.html Discusses the importance of usability testing as a final check on ballot layout and instructions text. Many of the problems in the report would likely have been caught with even an informal test. The report highlights a usability testing kit for local election officials, the LEO Usability Testing Kit. http://tc.eserver.org/31994.html http://tc.eserver.org/31994.html The election calendar is very tight, with legally mandated deadlines and other constraints, all conducted in the public view. The UPA Voting and Usability Project wanted a way to fit usability testing into that schedule, and give election officials a way to do what they all want: run excellent elections. http://tc.eserver.org/31995.html http://tc.eserver.org/31995.html Calculators can play important roles on websites. They are especially popular for financial sites, where they can help users calculate mortgage payments, retirement needs, interest earned, and so on. They also appear on other sites, where users can calculate things as varied as their BMI (body mass index), carbon footprint, life expectancy, or gas mileage. http://tc.eserver.org/31630.html http://tc.eserver.org/31630.html On May 3, 2008, something extraordinary happened: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities went into effect. The goals of the Convention are lofty: it insists that all persons with all types of disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms and sets out eight guiding principles and obligations to meet them. http://tc.eserver.org/31631.html http://tc.eserver.org/31631.html Do usability engineers make good managers? It depends. It's a profession that highly values its practitioners, is famous for its consultants and gurus, and also attracts its share of introverts. http://tc.eserver.org/31632.html http://tc.eserver.org/31632.html What has UPA done to encourage more useable and accessible government? Quite a lot, it turns out. UPA supports efforts to improve the usability of elections, support plain language, and remove barriers to civic access for people with disabilities through an alphabet soup of projects and events. http://tc.eserver.org/31204.html http://tc.eserver.org/31204.html A world wide expert review competition sponsored by Intuit and Infosys Technologies Ltd. was hosted by the Usability Professionals' Association, Bangalore on World Usability Day, 2007. The purpose of this competition was to expose all to a simple, yet powerful usability technique: heuristic evaluation. It also served to gather data to define heuristic expertise standards at a global level. This is critical as this popular and valuable technique is used by 76% of the usability community (UPA Survey, 2005) and it shows a cost-to-benefit-ratio of 1:48 (Nielsen, 1994). By defining these standards we can ensure that evaluations are of a certain standard. http://tc.eserver.org/31202.html http://tc.eserver.org/31202.html As a company recognized by a number of publications and organizations for its ongoing commitment to a diverse workforce, Wachovia promotes diversity as a business imperative critical to the company's success. On Wachovia's web properties, the company tries to appeal to diverse segments through images of people of different races, ethnicities, and ages, reflecting the company's customer base. However, a recent usability test revealed that working off such demographics alone is not enough to translate diversity, and that building personas is the key to creating, not just representation, but relevancy. http://tc.eserver.org/31203.html http://tc.eserver.org/31203.html The usability of voting systems is something almost all usability practitioners can get excited about. It's interesting, it's important, it's in the news, it's challenging. Sharon Laskowski has been lucky to be in on this effort from the very beginning. Her team at NIST (the National Institute of Standards and Technology) was tasked with doing major research and coming up with standards for these systems through the Help America Vote Act, passed by the US Congress in 2002. http://tc.eserver.org/30873.html http://tc.eserver.org/30873.html Few usability professionals are as well-rounded as Avi Parush. Avi has worked in industry and academia, testing and design, the Old World and the New, with web applications and airplane cockpits, in operating rooms and on the bridges of ships. http://tc.eserver.org/30872.html http://tc.eserver.org/30872.html A dedicated group of industry experts have launched the New Hampshire Usability Professionals' Association (UPA). The goal of the newly formed group is to foster the growth of the user experience community in the Seacoast and Southern New Hampshire regions. The group will provide networking and professional development opportunities for usability professionals and provide an environment for members to exchange information on tips, tools, methodologies, and technologies related to usability. http://tc.eserver.org/30874.html http://tc.eserver.org/30874.html We are proud of the work we did to make World Usability Day 2007 a success. With 156 events in 40 countries and 30 online events, WUD 2007 was a resounding success. On the ground, events were held on six continents. Online events included a panel and several speakers focusing on the theme of Healthcare as well as other important topics. http://tc.eserver.org/30871.html http://tc.eserver.org/30871.html Open source is a software licensing philosophy which believes the human readable code source of a software should be available for the public to freely install, modify, or redistribute. The term 'open source' can also refer to the community and development practices of thousands of free/libre/open source software (FLOSS) projects who subscribe to this philosophy and license their software under one of the many available software licenses. http://tc.eserver.org/29449.html http://tc.eserver.org/29449.html I have judged a fair number of national and international product design competitions (five in the past three years alone) and each has made the same procedural mistake: products are assembled and categorized, judging criterion are devised, reputable judges are assembled, and yet we judges never see or touch the products in person. Instead, we receive a set of written documents describing each product, its intended function, and its design process. Imagine an art contest conducted by email and you get the gist of what's going on out there. http://tc.eserver.org/29450.html http://tc.eserver.org/29450.html You may only get one opportunity in a home visit and good planning and preparation is important. Here are some tips and hints from recent home site visits in both China and Taiwan. http://tc.eserver.org/29448.html http://tc.eserver.org/29448.html Brazil was the site of the seventh International Conference of Ergonomics and Usability, Interface Design, and Human Computer Interaction. Held in the seaside city of Balneario Camboriu in the southern Brazil state of Santa Caterina, the conference was hosted by the Universidade do Valle do Itajai (UNIVALI). I was fortunate to be invited to participate in the conference. http://tc.eserver.org/29324.html http://tc.eserver.org/29324.html How do you carry out usability research in a country where you don't speak the language and where the customs are very different from you own? How can you perform a study where you need to largely rely on an interpreter for communications between you and your participants? And most importantly, how do you translate research findings into a design that is culturally appropriate and yet in alignment with corporate directives? http://tc.eserver.org/29326.html http://tc.eserver.org/29326.html Susan Dray was one of the first women in the field of usability. Since then, she's started her own company, published and spoken extensively, done important work with a number of professional organizations, and carved a niche for herself in field work and international usability. Through it all, though, her philosophy has remained the same: 'If the user can't use it, it doesn't work.' http://tc.eserver.org/29325.html http://tc.eserver.org/29325.html As Usability people we usually tend to focus on making things easier to use. To allow for good usability and an excellent user experience we integrate user centered design methods and standardized usability processes into our daily work. We are used to doing this; we advocate for it day after day; we even try to persuade our clients and the people around us to do the same because we have a strong belief in it. And without question, making things easier to use is an honorable thing to do, because it generally enhances the overall user experience. However, we as Usability Professionals have the potential to reach beyond! http://tc.eserver.org/28715.html http://tc.eserver.org/28715.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/28726.html http://tc.eserver.org/28726.html When we set out to survey members of the AccessAbility SIG of Society for Technical Communication (STC), we needed an accessible tool to live up to the SIG's name and charter. Free was also a nice price tag. http://tc.eserver.org/28714.html http://tc.eserver.org/28714.html Jared Spool led the NYC UPA membership in an energetic discussion of user experience successes and failures. Comments ranged widely but centered on three main questions. http://tc.eserver.org/28568.html http://tc.eserver.org/28568.html What if we could offer a course or two on usability, on thinking like a user, on design thinking, on the user-centered design process? http://tc.eserver.org/28487.html http://tc.eserver.org/28487.html In all aspects of marketing, the Eastern world is breaking through to the West. More and more businesses are expanding product lines and services into a new market that involves countries in East Asia. Whether a business forms an alliance with a Chinese company to use its resources for a project, or it sells directly to Japanese consumers, it is clear that key media materials should be appropriate for Asian audiences. http://tc.eserver.org/28365.html http://tc.eserver.org/28365.html A review of software packages for moderated usability testing in a native environment via a telephone/web interface. http://tc.eserver.org/28102.html http://tc.eserver.org/28102.html Contrasts the unique aspects of expert reviews and usability testing. The usability goals they address are different. Know when to use which one, and when to use both. http://tc.eserver.org/28055.html http://tc.eserver.org/28055.html A quick overview of the Usability Professionals Association Board--what functions it performs, how it's structured, and who's currently performing what role. http://tc.eserver.org/28013.html http://tc.eserver.org/28013.html This summer marks the anniversary of initial recordings of Design Critique: Products for People with Tim & Tom, a podcast devoted to informing listeners about the advantages of User-Centered Design (UCD). I hope this article may encourage the creation of other podcasts related to UCD theory and practice. Our vision of doing a UCD-related podcast was that an informal, occasionally humorous show combining consumer product critiques, interviews with user experience professionals, and occasional method discussions might fill a void I perceived in the podcasting world. Sometimes the absence of a thing may imply more than its presence would, and I was concerned that this new medium didn't seem to have many regular shows devoted to what user experience professionals can offer the world. A maturing, innovative field ought to be represented in a maturing, innovative medium. http://tc.eserver.org/27792.html http://tc.eserver.org/27792.html During 2005 the Usability Professionals' Association surveyed members of the user experience field to learn: who our respondents are, where they work and what they do; how much they are paid; their satisfaction with UPA. http://tc.eserver.org/27791.html http://tc.eserver.org/27791.html Confidence intervals have been lauded by the APA (American Psychological Association) as the preferred technique when presenting data for any size sample, and this has been echoed in the usability literature as well. http://tc.eserver.org/27398.html http://tc.eserver.org/27398.html The Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA) wishes to express its support for plain language. http://tc.eserver.org/27056.html http://tc.eserver.org/27056.html On March 1, 2006, witnesses testified before the House Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs. Their testimony supported what plain language and usability experts have long known: Clear, concise, easy to understand regulations will save the government (and taxpayers) time and money. http://tc.eserver.org/26782.html http://tc.eserver.org/26782.html After the 2000 election, Design for Democracy worked with election officials in Illinois, Oregon and Nevada to design ballots, polling place signage, registration forms and other election materials. The election design system establishes a visual style, use of color, and an approach to illustrating instructions that make the ballot and polling place more usable. http://tc.eserver.org/26611.html http://tc.eserver.org/26611.html Hurricane Katrina illuminated UPA's sense of community this past month when the UPA Board of Directors acted quickly to attempt to contact our members who are/were located in the significantly affected regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. We received responses from several. http://tc.eserver.org/26612.html http://tc.eserver.org/26612.html Boston's little-known secret is that regardless of how renowned its citizens are for their literacy and tech savvy, we find consumer electronics just as hard to use as everyone else. The World Usability Day planning committee knew that as we raised awareness of usability and its related fields. http://tc.eserver.org/26613.html http://tc.eserver.org/26613.html Curitiba, São Paulo and Belo Horizonte were the three cities in Brazil that had events for World Usability Day (WUD) on November 3, 2005. These events marked the formation of the UPA Brazilian chapter. http://tc.eserver.org/26391.html http://tc.eserver.org/26391.html The lessons for FreshDirect's usability success can be applied to many e-commerce businesses. http://tc.eserver.org/26390.html http://tc.eserver.org/26390.html Many usability professionals are also responsible for the accessibility of the products they work on. We often find that the hardest step in creating an accessibility program is making it a 'way of life,' a goal supported throughout the organization. http://tc.eserver.org/26392.html http://tc.eserver.org/26392.html The Code of Conduct for UPA has been accepted at the September 2005 Board meeting. http://tc.eserver.org/26240.html http://tc.eserver.org/26240.html Jared Spool is usability's 'bad boy.' With his challenging opinions and his theatrical way of presenting them, he has excited and frustrated usability practitioners and thought leaders for many years. Agree or disagree, love him or hate him, you have to give him credit. Jared's is one of the most easily-recognized names in the field. http://tc.eserver.org/26239.html http://tc.eserver.org/26239.html Standards give very specific details about all varieties of design and give insight into the best practices of an item or process. http://tc.eserver.org/26238.html http://tc.eserver.org/26238.html These days, it seems to be the way more and more very busy people are simply saying 'Not right now.' So what do you do about it? Do you leave the ball in their court and just sit around waiting for them to hit it back? Of course not. http://tc.eserver.org/25903.html http://tc.eserver.org/25903.html The name of your company or consulting practice can offer prospects a clue into the work you do, which is especially necessary if it’s not readily understood, but if it bears your name, you’d better have a tagline to do the explaining. http://tc.eserver.org/25902.html http://tc.eserver.org/25902.html We love a good detective novel, so it is no surprise that the sometimes mysterious nature in which market research operates gives us a similar kick. As the great Sherlock Holmes poses the endless questions for his unfortunate sidekick, Watson, it behooves us to do the same in our line of work: What is the ultimate goal of the ubiquitously mysterious end-client? Who will benefit from this study? Who ultimately has the means, the motive and the opportunity to participate? http://tc.eserver.org/25901.html http://tc.eserver.org/25901.html As primary tools in the usability field, heuristic or expert evaluations can be rich areas for methods studies and improvement. Early results of one methods study suggest that performing evaluations in limited segments, with breaks between each segment, may increase the effectiveness of the evaluator in identifying usability problems. http://tc.eserver.org/25904.html http://tc.eserver.org/25904.html Professionals are increasingly working in networked teams where electronic media and asynchronous communication play an important role. So how can communication behaviours in these contexts predict usability? Do efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction in the communication process lead to the same for the resulting documentation? http://tc.eserver.org/25601.html http://tc.eserver.org/25601.html Contemporary user testing methods have proven highly effective at identifying problems in computer interfaces. By directly measuring users’ ability to complete key tasks, practitioners can expediently uncover what are often colossal failures of usability that are otherwise difficult to perceive. User testing, then, affords a strong empirical basis for recommending that designers make changes to resolve the problems found. http://tc.eserver.org/25599.html http://tc.eserver.org/25599.html Negotiation is a part of life, though we may not always think of it in conscious terms. Although this article is written from the perspective of a consultant bidding on a project, the concepts of negotiation apply to many situations where you are trying to reach agreement with someone. http://tc.eserver.org/25600.html http://tc.eserver.org/25600.html The first time I noticed that people tend to say one thing and do another in a usability test was back in 2000. We had been building a new company website and testing it with real users brought us an unexpected problem. All the users liked the new design a lot more than the old one, but nobody could work out how to use it. http://tc.eserver.org/25189.html http://tc.eserver.org/25189.html If you find yourself in a facilitator role and you're beginning to doubt conventional methods, here are a few things that I suggest might help. http://tc.eserver.org/25191.html http://tc.eserver.org/25191.html I traveled to Beijing, China for User Friendly 2004 to meet a few of our usability colleagues there. What I found was a large and vibrant usability community. http://tc.eserver.org/25190.html http://tc.eserver.org/25190.html Southwest Airlines' low-cost methods for formal usability testing. http://tc.eserver.org/25192.html http://tc.eserver.org/25192.html An interview with Lucia Filgueiras, a professor at Escola Politecnica, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. http://tc.eserver.org/25068.html http://tc.eserver.org/25068.html Once in a while a client will tilt their head and look at me with one of those smiles. “You want to do expert review and then also usability testing?” they say. “Is this one of those consulting tricks? Why would I need to do both?” It’s a fair question. To the casual observer, usability testing and expert review probably look very similar. http://tc.eserver.org/25069.html http://tc.eserver.org/25069.html I’m not used to writing editorials, but lately I’ve heard complaints from more than a few usability professionals about reviews of their work that were snide, hostile, and lacking in reasonable suggestions and this has moved me to speak out. These complaints deal with a primary activity of our profession: constructive criticism. We are often asked to uncover potential problems with products and processes and recommend design changes that could improve usability – using a tone that is firm and constructive. We are also asked to provide feedback to our usability colleagues in book, proposal, and presentation reviews. I have become concerned that feedback among usability professionals is not always as constructive as the feedback we routinely present to our clients. With the recent introduction of the UPA Code of Conduct, hostile reviews of the work of colleagues could be considered an ethical violation. More about that later. http://tc.eserver.org/24734.html http://tc.eserver.org/24734.html People are increasingly relying on web channels to check on their billing relationship with companies. The problem: Not all billing applications present information that’s easy to navigate and action. http://tc.eserver.org/24736.html http://tc.eserver.org/24736.html Perhaps we should look to the simplest elements of usability for inspiration. Perhaps it's time to recognize the contribution of a single humble helper. Yes, it's time for an ode to Balloon Help. http://tc.eserver.org/24737.html http://tc.eserver.org/24737.html This the first in a series of articles exploring the ways practioners go about making effective prototypes. This article presents just one method - the use of HTML and JavaScript. Amanda has posted requests on several usability lists requesting information about different approaches, and would be keen to hear how you do it. http://tc.eserver.org/24735.html http://tc.eserver.org/24735.html As usability professionals working on the Web, it is our responsibility to make sure our clients' sites communicate effectively to their intended audience. We make recommendations about what information the audience needs, how they expect it to be presented and how they’ll need to work with it once they’ve got it. But how often do we consider our own audience, the people we need to make our recommendations happen? Does one set of documentation meet the needs of all members of an interdisciplinary team? Probably not. http://tc.eserver.org/24738.html http://tc.eserver.org/24738.html The UPA Voting and Usability project works to create a better elections process by improving the usability of ballots and voting systems. http://tc.eserver.org/24006.html http://tc.eserver.org/24006.html Discover creative solutions to inter-personal problems in the workplace using an iterative approach: observation of moment-to-moment interactions to assess the effectiveness of our responses. We will present six options for resolving conflicts, clarifying when and how to use each through case studies, work in small groups, and simulations. http://tc.eserver.org/22753.html http://tc.eserver.org/22753.html Creating models of user behavior has been helpful in predicting basic outcomes of computer usability testing involving human subjects. However, models and methods have been based on a narrow view of computer use; namely, they are not compatible with behaviors resulting from using the Linux operating system. How different could Linux be from other operating systems?! This article provides a few points of comparison. http://tc.eserver.org/22754.html http://tc.eserver.org/22754.html It is easy to find examples of poor usability and many books and sites devote themselves to this. We can learn from mistakes and we can laugh and feel superior about it, but what about learning from great design? http://tc.eserver.org/22751.html http://tc.eserver.org/22751.html Social Networks and Social Software have been gaining a great deal of attention in corporate think tanks and discussion groups around the world. Review of progress in this area and interview with Huy Zing, a self-described, 'seriously addicted online community personality.' http://tc.eserver.org/22752.html http://tc.eserver.org/22752.html An investigation of 1000 UK Web sites carried out on behalf of the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) reveals unacceptably poor (in fact woeful) accessibility. At least 81% of sites failed to meet the minimum accessibility standard, and this figure is likely to be much higher. http://tc.eserver.org/21874.html http://tc.eserver.org/21874.html 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? http://tc.eserver.org/21872.html http://tc.eserver.org/21872.html If you know a user experience that irritates you, don't just site there and grouse about it. Send it in to ThisIsBroken.com, a compilation of bad experiences: products, services, places, and Web designs that don't put the user first. http://tc.eserver.org/21873.html http://tc.eserver.org/21873.html UPA's Voting and Usability project is tracking several important trends toward greater usability in voting technology across the globe: Verified voting, The NIST Voting Symposium, FEC Brochures, Voting Developments in the UK and in the Republic of Ireland. http://tc.eserver.org/21875.html http://tc.eserver.org/21875.html The presentation provides an overview of performing ROI analyses and identifies the organizational customers to whom usability professionals should sell. It also offers several detailed examples. http://tc.eserver.org/21871.html http://tc.eserver.org/21871.html One of the most effective and inexpensive tools for educating your market is email. Here's how to use email to keep your visibility high and keep in touch with everyone in your network -- because you never know where the work is going to come from. http://tc.eserver.org/21091.html http://tc.eserver.org/21091.html Acceptance of eBooks improves at Ball State University. Improvement of visual quality and 'no testing' helps a higher percentage of graduate students recommend eBooks for further classroom use. Many students found reading text material "satisfying & easy." More studies planned for the K-12 population. http://tc.eserver.org/21098.html http://tc.eserver.org/21098.html OK, it's trite, arbitrary, western-centric and perhaps even politically incorrect.  But the flipping of the calendar from the year 1999 to Y2K is compelling.  Y2K:  For how many of the past 1000 years would such a term have been meaningful?  That it is, shows how central information technology has become in our thinking. http://tc.eserver.org/21095.html http://tc.eserver.org/21095.html The Common Industry Format (CIF) is a standard method for reporting usability test findings. The format is primarily for reporting results of formal usability tests in which quantitative measurements were collected and is particularly appropriate for summative/comparative testing. The CIF targets two audiences: usability professionals and stakeholders in an organization. Stakeholders can use the usability data to help make informed decisions concerning the release of software products or the procurement of such products. While the CIF is formally aimed for software products, it can be used for hardware usability as well. http://tc.eserver.org/21097.html http://tc.eserver.org/21097.html The goal of the 2000 Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) Member Profile and Salary Survey was to gather information that would enable the association to understand the make-up of the membership in order to ensure their needs are being met. http://tc.eserver.org/21094.html http://tc.eserver.org/21094.html The argument most frequently advanced in the United Kingdom in favour of implementing electronic voting is that it will increase turnout. In the UK, the under-25s tend to avoid voting in elections of any type. Local government and European Parliament elections rank among the worst for turnout (below 40 percent) and demonstrate a continuous downward trend in recent years. http://tc.eserver.org/21092.html http://tc.eserver.org/21092.html Ever feel that the best part of a conference happens between sessions? Ulf Andersson did. So, in the 1970s, he created a format for conference sessions called an 'Idea Market.' Attendees are free to roam from one idea station to the next, until they find a topic that grabs their attention. 'Activators' at each station stir up lively discourse on a variety of subjects in an interactive, fluid session. I had attended Idea Markets at other conferences and thought that they might be perfectly suited to UPA conferences because of the potential for getting practitioners buzzing about a variety of topics. So, I submitted a proposal to conduct an Idea Market at UPA in 2002 as a special type of 'panel' session. The reviewers had a tough time grasping the concept. Fortunately, the panel co-chairs went with it, and the first-ever Idea Market launched successfully. http://tc.eserver.org/21096.html http://tc.eserver.org/21096.html Businesses everywhere are launching internal and customer-focused applications on the World Wide Web, using them as channels to reach scores of employees and customers in a matter of seconds. Prior to launching such applications, many organizations hold a series of usability tests. Everything is tested: from the initial front-end interface, navigational structure, the information architecture, and overall ease of use. Often, though, companies forget to test the one thing that will assure them that their site or application is easy to use: speed. http://tc.eserver.org/21099.html http://tc.eserver.org/21099.html Irish e-commerce is in its infancy and we have made many mistakes, but it is still an exhilarating and exciting industry. webBusters estimates that Irish websites are operating at an efficiency and effectiveness level of only 46%, due to shortsightedness and a failure to properly prepare, plan and test work. In this article Jude Murray of webBusters argues a case for usability in Ireland. http://tc.eserver.org/21093.html http://tc.eserver.org/21093.html It's been two-and-a-half years since we started the Voting and Usability Project. This project started as we all realized with some horror that usability problems in our voting systems could affect the results of an election--effectively disenfranching some voters through the design of the ballot, as Susan King Roth put it in the report on her research. Since then, our interest has expanded into a more general interest in the usability of voting systems and usability professionals can help make voting systems more usable for everyone. http://tc.eserver.org/21090.html http://tc.eserver.org/21090.html I've held several workshops for my company and I've done a mess of workshops at CHI and UPA. Workshops are a uniformly great experience: Put a bunch of usability professionals in the room, propose a topic, and magic always happens. The major benefit of a good workshop is, of course, the training opportunity. In a year when we won't be able to get everyone to the UPA conference, workshops provide us with a low-cost alternative. But that's only the most obvious benefit. http://tc.eserver.org/20926.html http://tc.eserver.org/20926.html Why are style guides so frequently created, but so rarely successful? All too often, businesses ask for a style guide as a means to create a common look and feel, in the belief that it will solve usability problems and establish consistency between applications – only to be disappointed in the results. Even if such a style guide is followed carefully, the resulting interfaces may not meet usability goals.. This paper explores strategies for creating a style guide that is more than a simplistic rules book. By making the style guide part of the process, it can be used to promote a shared vision, to help the product meet business and usability requirements for consistency and…it may actually be used. http://tc.eserver.org/20647.html http://tc.eserver.org/20647.html Advice about managing stress in the workplace. http://tc.eserver.org/20649.html http://tc.eserver.org/20649.html Lately in some quarters it's cool to bash usability. This is a bit different from the 'Never heard of it and don't need it' kind of opposition many of us have encountered in our careers. The Neo-Usability Bashing (NUB) argument goes something like this: Usability is so '90s, so software-application centered. In this brave new networked world, usability's outlived its worth. On the Web, people aren't 'users' as they were when they were using a spreadsheet or a word processing application, they're 'searchers,' 'game-players,' 'shoppers,' etc. http://tc.eserver.org/20650.html http://tc.eserver.org/20650.html Underneath the carnival excitement of the information revolution I hear a quiet but persistent murmur warning of an emerging technology crisis. Not everything is right in the information economy. http://tc.eserver.org/20646.html http://tc.eserver.org/20646.html The current economic climate is a little like the weather this winter. You just don't know what it will be like from day-to-day. Just as it's been a good idea to be equally ready for a beautiful spring day or a sudden plunge in temperature, the current economy has meant pretty much the same for usability professionals. Whether you're an internal to a company or an independent consultant, no one has escaped the ups and downs of this uncertain business climate. http://tc.eserver.org/19338.html http://tc.eserver.org/19338.html If you've ever kept company with a 5 year-old you have experienced how their incessant desire to understand life results in an unending stream of 'whys?' Over the years I've found myself becoming impatient with my children and grandchildren. So I was surprised to find that 'asking why' in a usability evaluation had a more profound effect on the outcome than I had anticipated. http://tc.eserver.org/20628.html http://tc.eserver.org/20628.html ROI - Return on Investment - is one way of looking at the value of usability to a business. This article was originally published in the Winter 2002 User Experience Magazine as part of 'Return on Investment for Usable UI Design' by Aaron Marcus. http://tc.eserver.org/20629.html http://tc.eserver.org/20629.html Usability is not just about research and labs. It has a real impact on real projects in the real world. This section includes case studies, news stories, facts and examples to help make the case that usability is a critical part of any product development effort. http://tc.eserver.org/20627.html http://tc.eserver.org/20627.html User-centered design (UCD) is an approach to design that grounds the process in information about the people who will use the product. UCD processes focus on users through the planning, design and development of a product. http://tc.eserver.org/20586.html http://tc.eserver.org/20586.html There's been a lot of chatter recently on one of the Yahoo Groups I belong to revolving around the issue of 'we get no respect.' A few people seem to have spent so much time commiserating about their lack of respect, you'd have to wonder just how they get any actual work done. The discussions on this not-so-new theme topic began as a response to Bruce Tognazzini's recent article entitled 'It's Time We Got Respect.' For those of you who are not so flush with unbillable hours to have had time to participate in this lively debate, I'll provide you some background and then get to the heart of the issue I think we, as usability professionals, need to further examine. http://tc.eserver.org/20585.html http://tc.eserver.org/20585.html Last month HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced the availability of a new research-based guide to Web site design and usability. http://tc.eserver.org/20584.html http://tc.eserver.org/20584.html The author wants to know more about ideation frameworks, immersive spaces, and aspirational models. http://tc.eserver.org/20583.html http://tc.eserver.org/20583.html It’s human nature to believe that ‘others may be overpaid, but I never am’. Sure enough, about half of the survey respondents said that they were underpaid and about half said that their pay was ‘fair’. Only one person was said he was ‘overpaid’. http://tc.eserver.org/19351.html http://tc.eserver.org/19351.html Explains the relation between the interaction designer and the design situation. The design situation includes the users, imagined users, customers, current practice, and competitors. The designer needs to be sensitive to and use precision when acting upon the situation. http://tc.eserver.org/19336.html http://tc.eserver.org/19336.html 'Immersibility' is a concept that takes a holistic approach to the quality of the Web user experience. The concept is discussed on www.immersibility.com. The site results from work by agency.com, the Nielsen Norman Group and Gomoll Research & Design. The site also offers a tool called 'the immersibility index' intended to measure, in a holistic manner, the quality of the Web user experience. http://tc.eserver.org/18293.html http://tc.eserver.org/18293.html Open Source Software (OSS) is a software project where all the source code is freely available, usually according to a licensing agreement baring commercial gain on the source. The contributors to the project are usually part-time computing enthusiasts with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. Usability specialists are not generally part of the development process. http://tc.eserver.org/18159.html http://tc.eserver.org/18159.html Although eBooks have not gained the consumer popularity expected by their developers and supporters, they still have a small base. This article explores their use in the education environment. http://tc.eserver.org/14579.html http://tc.eserver.org/14579.html The benefits of usability include: increased productivity; decreased training and support costs; increased sales and revenues; reduced development time and costs; reduced maintenance costs; increased customer satisfaction. http://tc.eserver.org/14580.html http://tc.eserver.org/14580.html This is a collection of presentations, white papers and other resources on selling usability. Links are provided where they are available. http://tc.eserver.org/13802.html http://tc.eserver.org/13802.html When users perform a transaction or action, their cognition is often split between learning and operating the system or user interface (UI). A well-designed UI allows users to focus the majority of their cognitive energy on learning, and offers no operational complications. This most general principle of usability is often called the 'transparent interface.' The transparent interface is commonly defined as one that maximizes user task completion and minimizes interfering factors, such as unnecessary interface complexity or performance. http://tc.eserver.org/13804.html http://tc.eserver.org/13804.html The problem: we are being asked to do more UCD work, faster, and with smaller staffs. Sound familiar? Thirteen practitioners met in Asheville, N.C. at UPA 2000 to examine the questions of how we can reduce time and costs and still achieve good results. They developed many practical tips and considerations. http://tc.eserver.org/13805.html http://tc.eserver.org/13805.html How do we reduce time and costs and still achieve good results? Thirteen usability professionals joined forces in a workshop to develop answers to this question. The results are presented here in two parts: Four lists of recommendations in areas developed from specific issues. An inventory of techniques that have worked for the workshop participants in the past http://tc.eserver.org/13801.html http://tc.eserver.org/13801.html The UPA Voice is a web-newsletter addressing issues of interest to the UPA membership. UPA Voice is edited by Gia Rozells. You can reach Gia at Gia_Rozells@intuit.com to discuss any issue relating the UPA Voice newsletter. http://tc.eserver.org/13803.html http://tc.eserver.org/13803.html In content-rich web sites, success is defined by the user's ability to locate relevant content quickly and efficiently. To achieve such success, information architects and usability specialists direct their efforts towards developing intuitive and well-organized navigation structures to support user content search tasks. However, the rich content of the site may lend itself to more than a single navigation scheme that might satisfy the navigation demands of the site. In such cases, to decide on the best approach, usability tests are conducted. Observing users navigating through the site provides the critical information needed to finalize the information structure of the site. We used this technique to redesign the navigation of the www.harrisdirect.com web site, an online brokerage web site. This site is very rich in content. In addition to online trading, the site allows users access to a multitude of news, investment research, market research and educational content resources. The inherent inter-relationships of this content enabled us to further improve on the final navigation design by introducing related links in a manner that was derived from the usability test. http://tc.eserver.org/13806.html http://tc.eserver.org/13806.html Twenty years ago radio-station operators faced the same problems web-based companies face today: Too many stations chasing too few audience members and not enough revenue to go around. No one could gain enough market share to make any money. An interesting thing happened several years later. Several 'rogue' stations started doing perceptual studies, music testing and format demand searches to understand what would allow them to create strong and lasting audience demand. http://tc.eserver.org/10538.html http://tc.eserver.org/10538.html Job postings will be removed after 3 months unless you notify the UPA office. A short reference to your job posting on the UPA website will be included in 1 issue of the Common Ground newsletter. To advertise the full job posting in the Common Ground, contact the UPA office at office@upassoc.org for ad sizes and rates. http://tc.eserver.org/10206.html http://tc.eserver.org/10206.html The Usability Professionals' Association was formed to: provide a network and opportunities through which usability professionals can communicate and share information about skills and skill development, methodology used and/or proposed in the profession, tools, technology, and organizational issues; present the viewpoints of the profession to the public and other interested parties; educate the general public and others on the usefulness of the profession; represent the profession before governmental bodies and agencies; provide the methods and means to increase the members' knowledge of the profession through seminars, newsletters, magazines, and other communication tools, and through meetings and conventions; serve the best interests of the usability profession.