From the User Experience Trenches…websites, mobile, IVR – we’ll cover it all!
As a User Experience Expert who lives usability on a daily basis, I thought it would be beneficial to provide the CMA community with some valuable ‘must reads’ – they are all free online posts. Books available for download on user experience (UX) & usability tend to be outdated at best. I promise that my recommendations will always be worth your time and certainly will make an impact on your user experience! I will try to post a blog update every two weeks as the world of UX moves almost as fast as lightning!
So, for January 2008 here are my ‘must reads’ to help you make your digital experiences more consumer friendly and therefore more profitable – one click at a time… enjoy!
Website Usability in a Nutshell
Using a variety of best practice case studies, this paper, “A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Obvious: Web Usability 101” outlines three key design practices for usability and suggests how they can positively impact a company’s bottom line. It also provides concrete guidelines on how to test for website usability on a shoestring budget. The 20 page report is designed to be read and digested in under 20 minutes.
News sites, Large and Small, Can Measure Usability
Through a variety of methods, newspaper professionals can enlist consumers in evaluating their websites' designs. This is a great read if you have a heavy content-based website.
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/080117stewart/
Airline Websites Tested for Usability
A new report from www.webusability.es looks at the usability of several airline websites, including leading budget airlines and two national carriers. A great read for anyone who works on a travel-based website or has a shopping cart!
Also take time to download a brief two page document showing two example usability problems found on many websites. It offers problem descriptions and better yet – solutions!
Searching for Better On-Site Search Usability
This article examines why, not every site needs, nor should have, an on-site search feature (AMEN!) but also why those that do must be sure that the search isn't just an after-thought (PREACH!).
Yours in user-friendliness,
Tara O’Doherty
PS – if you come across any hot reads (only the good stuff please) that you think I should include in my next post do email me at: tara.odoherty@momentum.com
