A list of resources, articles and do-it-yourself materials for those interested in usability and the user experience.
General
- Affinity diagramming: A simple but powerful technique for grouping and understanding information.
- Facilitation techniques: Tips for running successful workshops.
- Pre-publication checklist: A simple quality control checklist.
- Reading list: A selection of books on usability and related topics.
- Writing Usability Reports: Clear communication when reporting is crucial.
- Handling logged data: How to log and manage large data sets.
- Website Redesign: A case study illustrates suggested steps to take during a redesign.
- Designing for Children: A brief set of guidelines on designing for children.
Design
- Scenarios: A powerful and simple technique for describing user interactions.
- Paper prototyping graphics: A simple low-tech collection of user interface elements for paper prototyping.
- Documenting a user interface: How to communicate your design.
- Card sorting: Exploring how users group items, to help develop a usable structure.
- Participatory design: Conducting design sessions with all stakeholders is higly efficient.
Evaluation
- Conducting Walkthroughs: A simple paper-based multi-participant variation of usability testing.
- Usability Testing Materials: Schedule, guidelines and script – materials you can use when conducting tests.
- Conducting Usability Reviews: How to conduct a usability review (or heuristic evaluation).
- Web Evaluation Materials: Checklists for evaluating websites and online stores, and a sample report.
- Structure evaluation: A simple process for evaluating website or other information structures.
- Usability Testing: The gold standard in usability evaluation, usability testing is a relatively simple technique.
- Usability Testing Mistakes: Usability testing can be simple, but beware of some common pitfalls.
- Usability Review Materials: A simple format and severity matrix for use when conducting a review.
- Voice Interaction Evaluation Checklist: A checklist for evaluation voice user interfaces.
Articles
- The Myth of the Stupid User: If users are “stupid”, then we need to design accordingly.
- Usability for Technical Communicators: Technical communicators are well placed to engage in a usability role.
- Humans – A Designer’s Guide: The quirks and characteristics that present such a fascinating challenge to the designer.
- Apprehending the obvious: Why do organizations fail to take action based on what they already know?