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An Introduction to Usability – Patrick Jordan
Based on the International Standards Organisation's categories of "effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction," the author determines ways in which usability can be quantified. 'Effectiveness' is the capacity for a product to generate (or enable) output; 'Efficiency' is measured as the level of effort invested in completing an action or task (for example, the author categorizes usability errors as distinguished between a 'slip' and a 'mistake' in user performance and experience. For him, a slip is when a user accidentally performs the wrong action which is readily corrected by the user, whereas a mistake is when a user thinks he is doing the right thing (intuitive action), but is unable to perform his task.
“Evaluating Usability Throughout Design and Development” – Joseph Dumas & Janice Redish
Joseph Dumas & Janice Redish analyze the potential benefits of combining various evaluation methods as complementary tools for usability testing in the context of usability engineering.
Sketching User Experiences (2)- Bill Buxton
Bill Buxton defines "best practices" in designing for user experiences as a combination of both methods and skills relating to ideation: sketching, testing and problem-solving.
Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability. – Steve Krug
Steve Krug explains how we can create better Websites if we just stop wasting time on useless debates within teams and engage in 'usability testing' early on in the development process. His book provides the antidote.
He distinguishes between designers and developers in what they consider to be a 'good' website design. Designers prefer pleasant layouts, whereas developers enjoy a good amount of features. This is also compared to the duality between commercial culture and craft culture. Which is a question of aesthetics versus usability. Ideally, we would want to have both.
How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests – Jeffrey Rubin & Dana Chisnell
Testing has two main objectives: on the marketing level, it aims at improving sales; on a user-centered level, it aims at minimizing user frustrations and maximizing a product's usability. As the authors point out, testing goals inform the design of a product; those work in terms of the usefulness or relevance, learnability, efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction factors.