Web Site Usability Handbook (Internet Series)
TheWeb Site Usability Handbookis for individuals who evaluate  and improve the usability of Web sites. It does not, as the title might imply,  specifically show Web developers how to make their sites more usable.The book explores the growing field of Web usability, with equal emphasis on  theory and practicality, and focuses primarily on measuring usability accurately  and applying it to formal and informal testing. The concept of a usability  toolbox--a collection of tools and techniques--is presented, along with sound  reasoning for the use of each component. The tools vary from index-card sorting  to heuristic evaluation to focus groups. There is some fascinating material also  about the human factors of usability, such as the mechanics of vision and the  idiosyncrasies of human memory.A chapter that's devoted to design guidelines includes some concrete  suggestions, such as "don't overuse emphasis" and "make printer-friendly pages."  This chapter contains no revolutionary ideas; instead, it's a helpful list of  pointers that are worth revisiting from time to time. More elemental are the 10  usability heuristics that are presented in the next chapter and that were  developed originally by usability guruJakob Nielsen. These  high-level concepts demand careful consideration, but can produce impressive  results.TheWeb Site Usability Handbookpresents the framework for a usability  lab complete with video observation, and shows how to conduct objective  usability testing. Many organizations skip the potentially critical development  step of usability analysis; however, if yours wants to be more forward-looking  in Web strategy, this is a good guide for getting it started in usability.--Stephen W PlainTopics covered:User-centered designUsability toolsHuman-factors psychologySensation and perceptionDesign guidelinesHeuristic evaluationUsability lab setupUsability testingWeb  accessibilityUsability statistic analysis--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.