Articles and Resources for Usability and Usability Testing.

Efficacy of Usability

Usability is a general term that encompasses everything having to do with "ease of use." That is, how easily people can use any product's controls or displays such as a: tool, computer display, automobile, aircraft, etc. Usability also refers to the study of methods, measurement, and principles of a product's efficiency, elegance, and usefulness. In the computer industry, usability often refers to the ease of use in terms of the human-computer interaction. The clarity, intuitiveness, seamlessness, and elegance of an application or website interface design.

The idea behind usability is to design products with the user in mind. Putting the user first in the design process results in greater efficiency, learning time, and satisfaction. This process is often referred to as an optimized "user experience."

To achieve an optimized user experience requires a systematic approach to usability in the design process. This is accomplished through expert empirical usability testing where naïve users can be observed to determine what works and what does not work. Changing the design parameters to accommodate the results of usability testing permits an optimized user interface design.

The goal of optimized usability is to make a product easy to understand, easy to use, and easy to learn. The outcome of good usability is a greater likelihood of user acceptance. User acceptance is often the difference between a product's success or failure in the marketplace. Users can often reject a well engineered product with great functionality if they are unable to understand, learn, and easily use that product.

Usability Expert Services

Usernomics can assist your company in making your products usable: easy to learn, easy to use, aesthetically pleasing, and marketable. Our Usability and Usability Testing experts can systematically ensure optimum usability for both hardware and software products. Their expertise covers a wide range of products including web-based and application software, consumer products, communication systems, and vehicles such as automobiles and aircraft.

Usability and Usability Testing Articles & Resources

As a service to our professional community, we are pleased to bring you a great starting place for locating articles and resources about usability and usability testing.

Scroll down or click on one of the following topics:

• Usability Quote of the Day
• Usability - General
• Usability Tools
• Usability Guidelines
• Accessibility
• Usability Articles
• Usability Blogs

See User Interface Design for additional links to major UI sites.

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Usability - General

• All Things Web contains a section on inspection-based user testing that involves the use of a usability checklist.
• Choosing Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Appropriate Research Methods - CHARM This site provides a useful index of the methods and methodologies used in HCI research. The goal is to assist the user in selecting the most appropriate method for a researcher's specific interest.
• Companion Website for Designing the User Interface Ben Shneiderman and Catherine Plaisant book website that includes quizzes, links, discussion questions, and more.
• GUIguy Creating obvious, discoverable, and usable Windows applications and Web sites for business productivity."
• The Guide to Usability for Software Engineering is a collection of pages created by the University of Maryland. The collection is intended for software engineers and usability engineering practitioners to find relevant resources on the Web. A complete Usability Testing Section is part of this site.
• Heuristic Evaluation Jakob Nielsen's online writings on heuristic evaluation.
• Human Interface Technology New Zealand - HIT Lab NZ is a human-computer interface research centre hosted at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. The lab is a partner of the world-leading HIT Lab US based at the University of Washington in Seattle.
• Human Systems Integration Information Analysis Center - HSIIAC provides Human Systems Integration (HSI) information and analysis services in support of research, design, development, test, and evaluation of human-operated systems.
• IBM Ease of Use this site addresses the challenge of creating great user experiences through the discipline of User Engineering, supported by design guidelines, tools and other relevant materials.
• Information & Design has a wide range of usability testing tools, materials, articles, and downloads.
• Interaction Design A description of method for conducting usability studies to understand user reactions to software and hardware products.
• Interaction Design: beyond human-computer interaction An online book where you will find some food for thought, and a variety of resources and activities to support your exploration of interaction design. A novel aspect of the site is the inclusion of some interactivities: your chance to learn about interaction design by doing some interaction.
• Interactive Media Lab (IML) is part of the Human Factors group of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. The lab carries out research on the improvement of user interfaces for information systems. This research includes the design and testing of innovative multimedia environments, and usability testing of existing interfaces and systems.
• The LUCID Framework LUCID (Logical User Centered Interaction Design) is a framework that gives you a context in which to conduct your product, UI design, and usability activities. It also gives you the background and tools you need to manage those activities.
• Microsoft Windows User Experience an indispensable guide to designing applications that run with the Microsoft Windows operating system. More than anything else, the design of your application's interface affects how a user experiences your product. Here you will find recommendations for well-designed Windows-based applications and hundreds of examples of interfaces - both good and bad - to learn from.
• MouseSite - Stanford University a resource for exploring the history of human computer interaction beginning with the pioneering work of Douglas Engelbart and his colleagues at Stanford Research Institute in the 1960s.
• Nooface The purpose of this site is to support the exchange of ideas about next-generation user interfaces, focusing on approaches that go beyond the Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointing Device (WIMP) method on which most current user interfaces are based. The goal is to promote unconventional thinking on how user interfaces might evolve to accommodate new classes of users and devices outside of the traditional PC domain.
• Presence-Research.org aims to offer up-to-date and relevant information and resources on (tele-)presence, i.e. the subjective experience of 'being there' in mediated environments such as virtual reality, simulators, cinema, television, etc.
• Questionnaires in Usability Engineering a compilation of the questions I have heard most often and the answers I gave, should have given, or would have given if I had thought of it first. Jurek Kirakowski.
• SansGUI The SansGUI Modeling and Simulation Environment is our premiere entry to help scientists and engineers develop and deploy simulation programs without writing a single line of Graphical User Interface code.
• Science of Usability More than just a collection of opinions, usability derives from the behavioral and cognitive sciences. Links for more information for exploration into the field and the science of usability.
• Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab - Captology creates insight into how computing products - from websites to mobile phone software - can be designed to change what people believe and what they do.
• Task-Centered User Interface Design goal of this online book is to teach the reader how to design user interfaces that will enable people to learn computer systems quickly and use them effectively, efficiently, and comfortably. The interface issues addressed are primarily cognitive, that is, having to do with mental activities such as perception, memory, learning, and problem solving. Physical ergonomic issues such as keyboard height or display contrast are covered only briefly.
• TaskZ.com executive resource for user-centered design with articles and resources.
• Tips & Tools for Human-Computer Interaction resurce links for articles, discussion, research, etc.
• Trace Center The Trace Research & Development Center is a part of the College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Founded in 1971, Trace has been a pioneer in the field of technology and disability. To prevent the barriers and capitalize on the opportunities presented by current and emerging information and telecommunication technologies, in order to create a world that is as accessible and usable as possible for as many people as possible.
• UPA Voting and Usability Project an interdisciplinary group of research and design professionals, as well as students to increase participation in the civic experience. Topics from election design to emergency and evacuation design to IRS tax education design, D4D is having positive impact on experiences between the government and the governed.
• Usability Glossary a large index of usability terms.
• The Usability Methods Toolbox James Hom's collection of survey of usability methods.
• Usabilitynet a good list of methods, guidelines, and reference material.
• ViewPointz Professional usability testing and return on investment as it applies to user interface design for web-based products and services.
• Voting and E-voting User Experience contains more than 200 annotated resources on voting and electronic voting (e-voting): design, usability, accessibility and security aspects (including verified voting) of both old and new technologies. Includes material relating to kiosk (DRE) systems and remote Internet voting.

Tools

• A-Prompt a software tool that examines Web pages for barriers to accessibility, performs automatic repairs when possible, and assists the author in manual repairs when necessary.
• All Things Web contains a section on inspection-based user testing that involves the use of a usability checklist.
• CDTools is an application designed to support customer-centered design. Its integrated module suite makes it easy to analyze, maintain, and share customer field data.
• CSUQ ) The Computer System Usability Questionnaire is designed for use in scenario-based usability evaluation.
• CTTE - ConcurTaskTrees is a way to build a task model and generate an interactor-based architectural model.
• DENIM a system that helps web site designers in the early stages of design. DENIM supports sketching input, allows design at different refinement levels, and unifies the levels through zooming.
• EASy-Hub a site dedicated to the empirical evaluation of adaptive systems.
• The Guide to Usability for Software Engineering is a collection of pages created by the University of Maryland. The collection is intended for software engineers and usability engineering practitioners to find relevant resources on the Web. A complete Usability Testing Section is part of this site.
• Heuristic Evaluation Jakob Nielsen's online writings on heuristic evaluation.
• INCLUDE background information about user-centered design, evaluation methods, design techniques, and resources.
• Information & Design has a wide range of usability testing tools, materials, articles, and downloads.
• Interaction Design A description of method for conducting usability studies to understand user reactions to software and hardware products.
• Interactive Media Lab (IML) is part of the Human Factors group of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. The lab carries out research on the improvement of user interfaces for information systems. This research includes the design and testing of innovative multimedia environments, and usability testing of existing interfaces and systems.
• jjg.net is a visual vocabulary for describing information architecture and interaction design.
• KLM Calculator a calculator for the Keystroke Level Model proposed by Card, Moran and Newell.
• QUIS ) The Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction is a general user evaluation instrument for interactive computer systems.
• SansGUI a Modeling and Simulation Environment for developing and deploying scientific and engineering simulators without writing any Graphical User Interface code.
• SUMI - Software Usability Measurement Inventory a rigorously tested and proven method of measuring software quality from the end user's point of view. SUMI is a consistent method for assessing the quality of use of a software product or prototype, and can assist with the detection of usability flaws before a product is shipped.
• SUS ) a reliable, low-cost usability scale that can be used for global assessments of systems usability.
• The Usability Methods Toolbox James Hom's collection of survey of usability methods.
• Usabilitynet a good list of methods, guidelines, and reference material.
• User Interface Software Tools a large collection of usability testing links by Brad A. Myers.
• WAMMI is a questionnaire designed to evaluate the quality of use of web sites.
• Web-Based User Interface Evaluation with Questionnaires a customizable Web-based perl CGI script to administer and collect data according to a few "standard" user interface evaluation questionnaire forms (QUIS, PUEU, CSUQ, and PUTQ).
• Webmaster Toolkit Online tools for webmasters and web designers.

Guideliines

• Apple Human Interface Guidelines designed to assist you in developing products that provide Mac OS X users with a consistent visual and behavioral experience across applications and the operating system.
• W3C Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines provides a list of all checkpoints from the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, organized by concept, as a checklist for Web content developers.
• GNOME Human Interface Guidelines tells you how to create applications that look right, behave properly, and fit into the user interface as a whole.
• Indigo Magic User Interface Guidelines - SGI This guide is intended for developers of software products used on Silicon Graphics workstations, including software engineers, user interface (UI) designers, and human factors specialists. Its purpose is to help you create products that are consistent with other applications and that integrate seamlessly into the Indigo Magic Desktop environment.
• Guidelines for Designing User Interface Software - MITRE guidelines for design of user interface software in six functional areas: data entry, data display, sequence control, user guidance, data transmission, and data protection.
• Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines - SUN online book provides essential information for anyone involved in creating cross-platform GUI (graphical user interface) applications and applets in the JavaTM programming language. In particular, this book offers design guidelines for software that uses the Swing classes together with the Java look and feel.
• KDE Usability Project is an initiative to apply usability principles and practices to the K Desktop Environment.
• NASA Man-Systems Integration Standards created to provide a single, comprehensive document defining all generic requirements for space facilities and related equipment which directly interface with crewmembers.
• Microsoft Windows XP - Guidelines for Applications will help developers and designers adopt the new look and feel of the Microsoft® Windows® XP operating system.
• Microsoft Windows XP - Guidelines for Applications will help developers and designers adopt the new look and feel of the Microsoft® Windows® XP operating system.
• Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 - W3C gateway to a series of related documents that provide techniques for satisfying the requirements defined in "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [WCAG10].
• Usability.gov Your resource for designing usable, useful and accessible Web sites and user interfaces.
• User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 - W3C This document provides guidelines for designing user agents that lower barriers to Web accessibility for people with disabilities (visual, hearing, physical, cognitive, and neurological).
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 W3C These guidelines explain how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities.
• WEB STYLE GUIDE, 2nd edition - (Yale) Web Style Guide has always been grounded on the functional aspects of design. In this second edition we extend our focus on functionality with additional sections on Web site accessibility, Cascading Style Sheets, and flexible page design.

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