The Usability Engineering Lifecycle: A Practitioner's Handbook for User Interface Design (Interactive Technologies)

Book Description

A commitment to usability in user interface design and development offers enormous benefits, including greater user productivity, more competitive products, lower support costs, and a more efficient development process. But what does it mean to be committed to usability? Inside, a twenty-year expert answers this question in full, presenting the techniques of Usability Engineering as a series of product lifecycle tasks that result directly in easier-to-learn, easier-to-use software.
You'll learn to perform a complete requirements analysis and then incorporate the resulting goals and constraints in a highly structured, iterative design and development process. This process doesn't end with installation but instead begins anew with the collection of user feedback that will guide further development. Also covered are organizational issues related to the implementation of Usability Engineering, including cost justification, project planning, and organizational structures.

* Unites all current UE techniques in a single, authoritative resource, presenting a coherent lifecycle process in which each clearly defined task leads directly the next.
* Teaches concrete, immediately usable skills to practitioners in all kinds of product development organizations-from internal departments to commercial developers to consultants.
* Contains examples of actual software development projects and the ways in which they have benefited from Usability Engineering.
* Deals in specifics, not generalities-provides detailed templates and instructions for every phase of the Usability Engineering lifecycle.
* Pays special attention to Web site development and explains how Usability Engineering principles can be applied to the development of any interactive product.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent book.......2006-03-06

This book is very well written, content-rich and provides a plethora of examples that I can use on the job immediately. What more can a software developer ask for? I would give it 10 stars if the option was available.

Is it just me???.......2005-07-20

Or do other people think there is a need for creativity in user interface design? This book, while very helpful in providing a set of procedures to follow when evaluating users and their particular needs, leaves out the very important concept of the ART of user interface design. I see plenty of recommends for Tufte's trilogy of user oriented design books and for the book "Don't Make Me Think". These books are much more readable, and none of them are nearly so formulaic in their approach to user interface design.

Another problem I have with this book, and with many other computer books, is the size. Why does it take so much to say so little? Is there an editor in the house? There is definitely some good content in this book. I happens to be buried in a mountain of text.

My Bible.......2001-12-28

I have never written a review before, but I am so impressed with this book - it is indispensable. I particularly like the way the information is presented - very readable. Also valuable are the sections that address shortcuts and alternatives for applying techniques in the real world. I often am called to get involved during and after development and have to adapt "perfect world" techniques into very short cycles. This is a must have for people in our profession.

A pratical process with material ; can be integrated in UP.......2000-06-24

This book is great ! Really ! I pratice OO development especially following RUP. This book describe a full Usability process, with activities, guidelines, workload estimation and artifacts. You can directly put it at work, because you naturally see why an activity leads to another. All the book is good, even if it seems heavy (500+ pp), there is no waste of space. As a RUP practitioner, it's very easy to integrate this approach into the RUP and it naturally fits with Use Cases. Believe me: get it !

Must buy for human computer engineers.......2000-01-17

This book gives concrete data on the "how-to" of usability engineering and realistic data regarding the *selling process* of these concepts to management. Additionally, it can function as a "how-to" handbook with its many examples. To name a few, the examples include: pre-evaluation, evaluation and post-evaluation questionnaries, data collection sheets and data analysis and report sheets.

Book Description

Offering an overview of usability, testing, and information architecture for EPOC, WAP, PDAs, handhelds, and handsets, this how-to guide dives into the details about medium-specific issues and design strategies.
* Discusses designing for the current wireless platforms: cellular phones and PDAs
* Covers both stand alone as well as Web-based application design
* Contains a case study of a usability test

Download Description

"Handheld devices cannot be designed simply as copies of their desktop counterparts; they have smaller displays, trickier input mechanisms, less memory, reduced storage capacity, and less powerful operating systems. Understanding the specific challenges of technology on the move is the first step towards designing great products for handheld devices. Handheld Usability is a practical, hands-on guide to designing interfaces for handheld, electronic computing and communication devices, including e-mail pagers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and mobile telephone handsets. This book will give you the skills you need to: Understand the types of handheld devices and their differences Design user interfaces for handheld devices Design user interfaces for the wireless Web (WAP) Prototype user interfaces for handheld devices · Conduct usability tests on prototypes and live, handheld product applications Don't reinvent the wheel! The lack of standardization in interface design doesn't mean that you have to start from scratch every time. This 'plain English' guide will help you to plan your own usability tests as part of the design and development process, and let you learn from insights on design gained from real life experience. With so many handheld devices to choose from, usability can be a very powerful distinguishing factor. Well designed products mean happy users, and satisfied customers become loyal customers. With the help of Handheld Usability you can give the customer what they want, and get it right first time."

Customer Reviews:

The worst usability book ever..........2006-01-10

I truly cannot recommend this book to anybody who has any knowledge about UI design. Not even if you don't have experience in designing for handheld devices. This book has nothing to offer for you. If you are just starting to study usability, there are far better books out there.

I bought this book when it came out due to fact that there are no books about handheld usability. I had high hopes that it would provide new information about the area. Instead I found out that it was merely a copy paste book, which had nothing to offer. Many of my colleagues read the book also and none had anything good to say about the book.

Scott Weiss probably noticed that there are no books about the subject and decided to make money. With a price as high as 60$ he is probably succeeding.

Was helpful for my final year dissertation.......2004-01-10

This was the only book specific to handheld/mobile devices that discussed usability testing.

It is divided into short, concise sections that are easy to read and understand. The sections form a good basis on how to approach designing and testing a system. It has some very good pointers. The only thing was that it was too short!

The book was very, very helpful but it wasn't long enough and doesn't provide working examples. It just tells you the points that you should be considering when you are building a usable system. It doesn't go too in depth on any of the sections either.

Essential.......2003-10-14

Zipf's law states that common words are very common, and that uncommon words are combinations of uncommon words. For example if you start typing the letters `th' then you are probably trying to write the word `the' rather than `theologian'. Applying this simple insight to mobile phones gave us predictive text entry, where a small dictionary allows the phone to guess the word that the user is most likely trying to enter. For example if you press the keys `82' while entering a text message on a modern phone, the phone will predict `the' as your word. This invention allows QWERTY-snobs like me to approach the speeds of Finnish teenagers in tapping text messages on a mobile phone.

Such innovation is just amusingly clever on a PC, but on the small screens of handheld devices, it is essential. A good user interface converts a small device from a limiting gadget to a useful tool. European consumers' `wapathetic' response to WAP-enable phones was due to over hyping by the telecommunications industry, but also poor usability of the devices.
So a textbook on the topic is certainly appropriate.

Handheld usability defines handheld devices as highly portable machines that can operate with no cables and can be operated within one's hand. In addition, they must either allow the addition of applications or support internet connectivity. So the book's focus includes handheld computers (such as Palm-powered machines and Pocket PCs) and mobile phones (with WAP, i-mode or email connectivity) but excludes devices such as music players.

Naturally the discussion includes details of devices that are obsolete. Such is usually the case with any discussion of the details in information technology. But the principles are timeless and the practices will remain practical.
Perhaps the most useful chapter is the one on prototyping. Weiss' advice is that this should be done with a pen and several pieces of paper. For example the designer would draw the first screen on the paper. The user would then say what he or she expects to see on interacting with each element of the "screen". During this feedback, the designer would draw the next screen, and again ask the user what he or she expects. This technique is of course cheap but I was surprised by its effectiveness. No doubt Weiss' clients also found it useful.

If your team is designing applications for handheld devices, consider hiring Weiss. If you cannot afford that, buy his book. You cannot afford not to.

Review appeared in British Medical Informatics Today, Issue 41

Too bad.......2003-03-05

Don't buy this book.
I cannot find any usabiltiy testing technique in this book. Just explain what PDA and Palms are and all thing we already knew. Alsom appendix is too long.
I don't want to know Palm history. Why author explain detail about each funtion of Palm or PDA?
Save your money!

You'll find better elsewhere, and nowhere........2003-03-05

I am an experienced interface designer who has never designed for a handheld. So, when I faced a new project that would be deployed on a handheld, I looked here to further my education. This is the only book I could find that is specific to handhelds.

When I was considering this book I read seven glowing reviews, and one total pan. The pan got it right. This book may be more useful for someone who knows very little about interaction design, usability testing, prototyping, and all that, and who isn't interested in gaining more than a superficial understanding of these topics. (If you are new to usability design, you'll find a much better place to start with Mayhew's "The Usability Engineering Lifecycle: A Practitioner's Handbook for User Interface Design.") If, however, you are a usability professional looking for insight on how you need to think differently now that your screen is the size of a Post-it note, wait for the next book to be written. I could have written this book, and the sum of my handheld experience is that I own a Palm and a cell phone.

Average customer rating:

More integrated usability design

Good book if you need to educate your company

How to make doing usability right an institutional feature

Institutionalization of Usability: A Step-by-Step Guide
Eric Schaffer
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Professional
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Cost-Justifying Usability, Second Edition: An Update for the Internet Age, Second Edition (Interactive Technologies)

Understanding Your Users: A Practical Guide to User Requirements Methods, Tools, and Techniques (Interactive Technologies)

Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner's Guide to User Research (Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive Technologies) (Interactive Technologies)

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Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition

ASIN: 032117934X

Customer Reviews:

More integrated usability design.......2004-04-30

A nice management level explanation of the importance of usability design and how to incorporate it organically into the entire iterative design process. Schaffer emphasises finding the right people, starting at senior management, as much as the tasks that the people then do. The 'institutionalisation' in the title refers to this emphasis. He contrasts this with standard usability texts that focus on the methodology instead of the people who have to perform it.

Speaking of methodology, he devotes an entire chapter to it. He shows a figure of the old way, where the design of a technical solution was done first, followed by a design of the interface that would overlay it. He suggests reversing this order. Not bad, and probably valid in most cases. But there is one important case where the old way is still viable. Research. Where it is not certain that a solution exists. By necessity, investigation and implementation of a solution should come first. Because if it cannot be done, interface design is moot. Granted, most of his book refers to a commercial product, so the rejoinder could be that a research situation is outside the book's scope. But just keep this in mind when reading it.

He also includes a very topical section on the challenges of offshore staffings. (Indians, anyone?) It is certainly possible, though not trivial, to integrate such staff into the entire design cycle, in his experience. Of course, some American readers will find this unsettling. But it should not be a surprise. As offshore staff gain in experience, inevitably they will be able to do this.

Good book if you need to educate your company.......2004-04-15

I read and highlighted this book with the promise of my manager to read it after me (or at least the highlighting!). I am hoping the book will move up the management structure and make a difference. I believe the book is somewhat remedial if you have been in the usability world for very long, but if you are trying to influence an organization and educate them as to the value, methodology and how-to of usability, this book will help.

How to make doing usability right an institutional feature.......2004-03-12

The usability of computer interfaces is like art, essential, but difficult to quantify. However, with the proper approach, both can be taught and the best principles of usability can be formalized into a process. Creating such a process is not easy, requiring an ongoing commitment. Schaffer identifies four phases in the process of making usability issues a fundamental component of software design. They are the startup, setup, organization and long-term operations phases.
Like all startup phases when creating a process, institutionalizing usability begins with a change in mindset. This is often a response to a disaster, but the best people are proactive and realize that good usability is good business. As is the case in nearly all areas of software development, implementation of a process requires an executive champion, someone who understands the value and continues to insist that the proper quality be maintained. There is no question that this is the most important precondition to making usability an institutional requirement.
Schaffer steps through each of the phases, breaking them down into specific components. Issues such as standards, staffing, staff training, implementation strategies, planning and tools used in testing are covered in detail. In all cases, he gives detailed explanations of what to do and repeatedly emphasizes that a proactive strategy is generally the best one. I found his charts of boring to cool versus confusing to usable to be amusing and quite accurate.
As the population using computers has shifted from those with a great deal of computer expertise to the population in general, the height of the usability bar has been dramatically raised. Even computer experts are growing more impatient when using computers, expecting things to work quickly, accurately and be visually obvious. Therefore, making things easy to use is now as much a business necessity as the underlying function of the software. This book will teach you the ways to do it right once as well as how to formalize the process so that you do it right every time.

Pleasure with Products: Beyond Usability

Average customer rating:

Great overview of Emotion Design
Not quite cutting edge, but great for design historians

Pleasure with Products: Beyond Usability

Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0415237041

Book Description

The last five years have seen a major paradigm shift in the role of human factors in product design. Previously this was seen as pertaining almost exclusively to product usability, but new recognition is being given to "pleasure-based" human factors. This emphasizes the holistic nature of the experience of person-product interaction. While traditional human factors approaches tended to characterize the user in terms of his or her physical or cognitive processing capabilities, new human factors approaches are concerned with wider lifestyle issues. The quality of a design is judged not only on its fit with a person's cognitive and physical abilities but also depends on how it fits the person's lifestyle and self image -- his hopes, dreams, values, and aspirations. Under the new paradigm, human factors specialists are concerned not only with the interaction design of products, but also with the product's sensorial and aesthetic qualities. Usability may once have been a seen as an added bonus, but consumers now tend to expect a product to be usable and are disappointed if they have difficulties in use. If human factors specialists are to continue to add value to a product, then their contribution must extend beyond traditional usability issues to capture the essence of what makes a product a real joy to use. This book gives an overview of the state-of-the-art in human factors approaches, consisting of specially invited contributions from leading practitioners in both industry and academia.

Customer Reviews:

Great overview of Emotion Design.......2007-02-08

Pat Jordan's book is a classic, well researched framework for researchers in the emerging field of emotion design and usability. The book is easy to read but research based. I am a researcher in this field and I recommend it.

Not quite cutting edge, but great for design historians.......2002-07-17

Though it contains some interesting contributions, this book appears to be somewhat behind the times. However, it does give a good historical overview of the surge in interest in the affective factors of usability at the end of the last century.

Usability and Internationalization of Information Technology (Human Factors/Ergonomics Series) (Volume in the Human Factors/Ergonomics Series)

Average customer rating:

Good Job

Usability and Internationalization of Information Technology (Human Factors/Ergonomics Series) (Volume in the Human Factors/Ergonomics Series)

Manufacturer: CRC
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0805844791

Book Description

Today, more and more Web sites are providing content in multiple languages for targeted countries, and more and more products are being designed for cultural differences in mind. However, the concept of cross-cultural design has not yet become a strong force in the practitioners' and educators' agenda. This book looks at techniques, software, tools, the current state of the art, and future directions that one needs to understand for a successful application of cross-cultural interface design.

Usability and Internationalization of Information Technology provides a bridge between theoretical foundations and practical examples, as well as guidelines for designing information technology for different cultures, languages, and locales. Written by some of the foremost practitioners from the United States, Europe, and Asia, the book is organized into three sections. It begins with a general introduction to the topic and discusses cultural considerations. Part II focuses on some aspects of design, cost justification and international usability evaluations. Part III covers three case studies on international user interface design. An appendix is included at the end of the book, providing a list of books and magazines published in the area of internationalization in the user interface design, project management, software design and development fields, as well as valuable resources, the leading journals, and the non-profit organizations that deal with internationalization.

Customer Reviews:

Good Job.......2007-06-08

not intended for people that don't want to go very deep in to the topic from many directions. if your not that type of reader then its a hard read but if you are then this is probably on of the better books out in the market in the subject. so if you interested in taking you're site to the next level and support or at least know about the options , this is a great start point.

4 and not 5 only because it was a hard read for me, although probably the only good book in the topic out but still is a hard read.

Average customer rating:

The Bible of Usability ROI
you need it
Resource for defining the costs of poorly designed systems.

Cost-Justifying Usability

Manufacturer: Morgan Kaufmann
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0120958104

Book Description

Today's increasingly competitive and fiscally constrained business environment is fostering the need to cut costs and justify expenditures. Usability engineering is not yet universally accepted, nor is it yet an integrated aspect of software engineering, and would-be usability champions need more help than ever to win the funding necessary to introduce and promote usability engineering techniques.
Cost-Justifying Usability is the first book to address pragmatically and in detail the question of how usability engineering professionals and their managers can cost-justify their proposals and efforts. The book offers specific techniques for quantifying costs and benefits, making a convincing and successful business case for investment in usability engineering.
This book comprises a thorough and well-integrated collection of chapters written by experienced and prominent usability experts. Taken together, these chapters provide readers with:
An overall framework for cost-justifying usability engineering programs that can be applied to any context
An examination of the unique factors and issues in cost-justifying usability efforts for three very different types of organizations: vendor companies, international development organizations, and contractor companies
Case studies of successful cost-justification efforts
A look at some special issues regarding cost-justification of usability, including"discount"usability engineering techniques, success factors for introducing usability engineering into development organizations, specialized tools for usability cost-justification, and a look to the future of usability engineering
Practical and effective insight for human factors professionals, interface designers, software development managers, and human factors educators

Customer Reviews:

The Bible of Usability ROI.......2003-01-09

Everyone involved in usability needs a highlighted, or bookmarked iwth post-it notes, copy of this book. Its always powerful to back up how important usability is to others who are unfamiliar with its power, be it your team or a client, and this book shows you how to do figure out the return of investment with dollars, something everyone understands. Overall, it gets the point across by showing readers how to do it for themselves with formulas that are not all that difficult at all, and where to pull numbers from to calculate the ROI.

you need it.......2001-11-26

Bite the bullet, buy the book. in these days of cut budgets, you must be able to justify your worth. There are formulas in this book that anyone designing software or digital products can use-- not just usability geeks. IA's, designers, GUI kids... time to learn the math.

Resource for defining the costs of poorly designed systems........1999-08-06

If you are looking for help with quantifying the cost of bad interface design and/or how poorly designed application costs the company money, then this is the book for you.

This book is practical and right on target for helping IT groups and customers understand the importance of systems that allow work to be completed efficiently. The authors do a great job quantifying the cost of poorly design, unusable system.

If you have ever tried to demonstrate to an IT group that it is more costly not to change the system, then this book will give you the strategy for showing how investing in system changes actually costs less in the short term, than in the long term.

Amazon.com

An authoritative text by one of the premier researchers in usability engineering in the 1990s, Jakob Nielsen's Usability Engineering provides a landmark guide to software design that has helped bring this area of research into the mainstream of computing. "Usability" is the measurement of how easy or difficult it is to be productive with a piece of software. It often looks at the user interface--what elements appear onscreen and how efficient, confusing, and/or intuitive they are for beginning, intermediate, and advanced users. "Usability engineering" is the formal study of usability. It grew out of research on human factors, which looked at the way people interact with their environment.

The best thing about this book is its concise, cut-to-the-chase approach when defining usability and ways to measure and improve it. As the author notes, in the old days of computing, documents that attempted to define usability might have over 1,000 rules. The author offers just a handful of guiding principles for creating better software that apply even today. (Published just before the Internet revolution, this book's principles still hold true for Web designers, as well as those who create more traditional applications.)

Throughout this text, the author argues for the benefits of improved software usability. With software use as with all things, time is money and making more efficient interfaces translates into lower personnel costs and more productivity. The book also does a fine job of integrating usability design into the software development process, with guides for planning, working with end users, and running tests with users (whether on videotape or in person). The 50-page bibliography attests to the author's previous research on usability.

For anyone who needs to create better, more efficient software, Usability Engineering can help. This clear and intelligent guide to the science of usability engineering has helped enhance the potential of computers to work with end users more efficiently. In the new century, software developers will undoubtedly seek new advances in usability, in part because of the groundwork laid by books like this one. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Usability basics, measuring usability, types of users, history of user interfaces, the usability engineering lifecycle, design techniques, heuristics and hints for improving usability, testing, managing user tests, assessing usability, interface standards, internationalization, and Computer-Aided Usability Engineering (CAUSE) tools.

Book Description

Written by the author of the best-selling HyperText & HyperMedia, this book is an excellent guide to the methods of usability engineering. The book provides the tools needed to avoid usability surprises and improve product quality. Step-by-step information on which method to use at various stages during the development lifecycle are included, along with detailed information on how to run a usability test and the unique issues relating to international usability.

* Emphasizes cost-effective methods that developers can implement immediately
* Instructs readers about which methods to use when, throughout the development lifecycle, which ultimately helps in cost-benefit analysis.
* Shows readers how to avoid the four most frequently listed reasons for delay in software projects.
* Includes detailed information on how to run a usability test.
* Covers unique issues of international usability.
* Features an extensive bibliography allowing readers to find additional information.
* Written by an internationally renowned expert in the field and the author of the best-selling HyperText & HyperMedia.

Customer Reviews:

Good for user interface pros, too much for developers.......2001-10-09

If your specialty is the user interface, you need to read this book. If you are interested in developing a user interface design process, you should read this. If you are a software developer who wants to know how to build good interfaces, skip it. It is too much about perfecting the design process.

I was looking for 'use this button for x and this widget for y'. In other words, here are the rules for a good user interface. What I got was 'here is the process for studying users and their interfaces, and here is a mountain of statistics to back it up'. No fault of the author, I just mis-understood what I was getting.

Having said that, if you want to make your living studying and perfecting interface design, read this book.

Well worth a read if you want people to use your software.......2001-08-09

If you are an experienced user interface designer who thoroughly understands what usability is about you probably don't need to read the book (although I would find it strange that you are experienced and did not read this book which is attributed to have coined the term "Usability Engineering").

So who should read the book. Everybody that is going to develop any form of software. No, it won't make you an expert, but it will get you thinking.

On the negative side, some of the examples may some be slightly old (but its a 1993 book!). Sometimes you're also going to feel that you could stress this concept in half the space. However, the information and the thought process behind the information is extremely relevant and is well-worth the effort of reading the book.

If you are new in software development this book is an absolute must. In a sense it helps you develop "a way of thinking" rather than giving any specifics.

However, if you are looking for specifics, Chapter 5 deals with usability heuristics, presenting 10 of them. When looking at the list of 10 heuristics, they may seem obvious, trivial almost. It is quite amazing, however, how often those seemingly trivial things are overlooked or ignored. Just use some programs on your PC...

I think it would be worthwhile any software developers time to read Chapter 5 and think long and hard about what is said - then go back to your software and be honest with yourself. It might be some of the best lessons you'll ever learn.

In lots of ways this book has everything that classics are made of - except occasionally the ease of reading.

Save your money, read this review:.......2001-02-04

If his own principles had been applied to the book it could be reduced to a a few bullet points.

*the web is slow, less is more.

*tell people what a link leads too before they press it, and make sure it does.

*use standard fonts in easy to read colours.

*use standard web conventions where ever possible as they are familiar.

*check for spelling mistakes and grammar errors.

*write concisely and arrange depth of detail in hierarchies, like they do in errr reference books.

*tell the user where they are, and how they got their, um like a path prehaps.

*some people have small screens, some don't even use microsoft browsers, not everyone has the latest plug ins, allow for it.

*don't employ frustrated artists to design your site, use an engineer.

Jakob proudly states he has multiple patents in the field of usability, maybe following this book will infringe them, or maybe he just kept the good stuff for himself.

"Do what I say, not what I do!".......2001-02-01

The title I use is an old portuguese proverb. It is a good description of this book. In page 115 it says: "User interfaces should be simplified as much as possible,...". And then it takes almost 8 pages to explain it. Read it. His advices are pure gold. But don't build your user interface like this book was built: overcrowded with unnecessary details. There's another funny thing about this book. It's about design, mostly graphical. But doesn't talk to much about "creativity".

Excellent primer.......2000-12-04

This book is not perfect, but some of the critique is a bit too harsh. The book is not verbose, it is just user friendly =). I mean, really, the book is a breeze to read, it is clear and not once was I unsure about anything it said. There is only a little more than 250 pages of actual text to read. Then there are excercises which I found helpful. Then there's a long list of references, which some people may find helpful when trying to find more information.

The most incredible part of the book, in my opinion, is the chapter on inexpensive usability engineering methods, that can easily be adapted by small companies without large budgets. They are really worth reading the book!

I believe everyone who wants a career in UI design should read this book first, before proceeding further. Those who are not usability engineers per se, will get all they need from this book (about interface-design), the UI pros will probably want to read other material too, but this is the place to start.

Book Description

The fields of HCI and Software Engineering have evolved almost independently of each other until the last decade, when it became apparent that an integrated and combined perspective would benefit the development of interactive software applications. The chapters in this book are written by prominent researchers who bring to light the major integration issues and challenges, and offer a variety of solutions to bridging the HCI and SE gap, including:

Extending software engineering artifacts for UI specification, such as annotating use cases with task descriptions,
Enhancing object-oriented software engineering notations and models
Possible extensions of HCI methods for requirements gathering through field observations and interviews, deriving a conceptual design model from scenario, task models and use cases and using personae as a way to understand and model end-users,
New methodologies for interactive systems design, as well as approaches complementing existing methodologies.

Usability Engineering: Scenario-Based Development of Human Computer Interaction (Interactive Technologies)

Average customer rating:

Great and applicable for other domains
Horribly Dry and Boring with Little to Recommend
Very well organized

Usability Engineering: Scenario-Based Development of Human Computer Interaction (Interactive Technologies)
Mary Beth Rosson , and John M. Carroll
Manufacturer: Morgan Kaufmann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1558607129

Book Description

You don't need to be convinced. You know that usability is key to the success of any interactive system-from commercial software to B2B Web sites to handheld devices. But you need skills to make usability part of your product development equation. How will you assess your users' needs and preferences? How will you design effective solutions that are grounded in users' current practices? How will you evaluate and refine these designs to ensure a quality product?

Usability Engineering: Scenario-Based Development of Human-Computer Interaction is a radical departure from traditional books that emphasize theory and address experts. This book focuses on the realities of product development, showing how user interaction scenarios can make usability practices an integral part of interactive system development. As you'll learn, usability engineering is not the application of inflexible rules; it's a process of analysis, prototyping, and problem solving in which you evaluate tradeoffs, make reasoned decisions, and maximize the overall value of your product.

* Written by prominent HCI educators who understand how to teach usability practices to students and professional developers.
* Interleaves HCI theory and concepts with a running case study demonstrating their application.
* Gradually elaborates the case study to introduce increasingly sophisticated usability engineering techniques.
* Analyzes usability issues in realistic scenarios that describe existing or envisioned systems from the perspective of one or more users.
* Emphasizes the real world of usability engineering-a world in which tradeoffs must be weighed and difficult decisions made to achieve desired results.
* Includes a companion Web site which provides additional case studies in a multimedia format, along with a Java application for creating and editing scenarios. This site also provides instructors with sample syllabi, lecture slides and notes, in-class exercises, solutions to textbook exercises, additional project ideas, and links to other HCI resources.

Customer Reviews:

Great and applicable for other domains.......2007-06-02

A very good book mainly focused on Scenario-Based analysis which you can actually use in every other subject and aspects of your life (even if you are choosing between trips). I bought this book as a text book for an HCI subject in VT and it was interesting to follow.

Horribly Dry and Boring with Little to Recommend.......2004-02-01

Man, where do I start? I was actually looking forward to a college class on designing easy-to-use computer applications. Boy did I not get what I was looking for, in large part due to this book.

First off, this textbook is boring as heck. Almost everything is black and white, and the design scheme of the book alone makes one not want to read it. In fact, this book is a poor example of usability in its own right.

So that's the looks. The actual content is not particularly useful either. Instead of giving practical, real-world advice, it spends too much time waxing strong about a stupid model called "scenario-based development," as I remember. This is basically the common-sense and annoying pet theory of the authors.

Finally, the examples and interface illustrations in the book seemed so out of date for a book copyrighted in 2002. Just a thought.

Overall: Reads like an academic book written for stuffy academics. Little practical information on designing good applications is provided.

Very well organized.......2001-12-22

This book is a good reference in many points of the usability process - evaluation, design, and testing. The authors organize chapters in a very structured way that the content is very digestible. At 448 pages, the book isn't meant to be read in a single session, but again, it's a great reference.

Book Description

Computer Science/Computers-Human Interaction Usability Inspection Methods is the first comprehensive, book-length work in this important new field. Designed to get you quickly up and running with the full complement of UI strategies, tools, and techniques, this extremely practical guide offers you a unique opportunity to learn them from the women and men who invented them. With the help of numerous real-life case studies, the authors give you: Step-by-step guidance on all important methods now in use, including the heuristic evaluation method, the pluralistic walkthrough method, the cognitive walkthrough method, and more Proven techniques for integrating usability inspections with other methods now in use An in-depth, comparative analysis of UI versus user testing A cost-benefit analysis of UI as compared to other approaches Program prototypes that provide UI computer support for interface designers An important resource for user interface developers, software designers, as well as graduate students and researchers

Customer Reviews:

A Book of Research, not Ideas.......2003-01-16

This book is academic and a dry read. There are better books out there which address this same material that makes for an easier read. But if you want to read the original work that paved the road for those books and usability now, here it is. Academic research that is usability's foundation!

Very satisfied.......2002-04-05

I bought this book for class and aced the class. I found this book helpfull and inspiring for people in the web usability field of study. Even though this is 1994 book, web usability aticles apply to today world as well.

Disappointing.......2000-09-26

I do usability inspections as part of my job. I bought this book based on Nielsen's reputation and the description of this book here on Amazon.com. I was very disappointed to find that this book was scholarly, not practical. After scanning the book, I returned it for refund.

Solid.......2000-06-16

I bought this book at a discount from a local retailer due to its age. After looking at some of Jakobs new material I was eager to get my hands of some of his previous work. Although I found this book useful, it was not as apporiate as some of his more recent work. Worthwhile all the same.

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