Usability Resources

Introduction

Resources to Web Usability, Usability Testing, Interface Design and more to design and create user friendly and intuitive user interfaces for web sites and desktop applications.

Computers and the world wide web are not the exclusive realm of geeks and academics anymore. They became mainstream and are used by normal people who are no expects about computer technology and most importantly, have not the attention-span and willingness to invest large amounts of their time to figure out how your application or website works and to use it the way you want them to use it, because it is the way you think is right.

This also means that this space is big business now and should be taken more serious. Competition also increases and doing a better job in ease to use your product or service might provides you with the edge needed to get ahead of the pack and leader in the space.

If your product is hard to figure out and impossible to use without spending an extensive time to learn it and somebody else did, chances are good that you are losing plenty of business to that somebody. Business that you could have, if you would have designed your interfaces in a way to make it as easy and intuitive for the user to "get it".

Here are some resources that will help you with the design and testing of your interfaces and to improve them to make them easier to use.

See also

Website Design Resources for Designers

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Web Usability Resources

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Logo	Description
	UseIt.com - Jakob Nielsen's Website - usable information technology
	SteveKrug.com "Advanced Common Sense" the companion Website for "Don't make me think!" by Steve Krug.
	Usability Effect a resources site about web usability and site design by the usability expert and consultant Kimberly Krause Berg.
	Cre8pc.com - Usability and SEO Blog by Kim Krause Berg
	Usable Web, over 750 links about web usability by Keith Instone. A stale Collection of links about information architecture, human factors, user interface issues, and usable design specific to the World Wide Web.
	Web Statistics and Trends - data, collected from W3Schools' log-files, over a five year period, shows the long and medium-term trends. Browser Statistics Month by Month and JavaScript Statistics.
	WebStandards.org is the official homepage of the The Web Standards Project, which is a grassroots coalition fighting for standards which ensure simple, affordable access to web technologies for all.
	WebXACT free online tool to test single pages of web content for quality, accessibility, and privacy issues. Watch the demo.
	A User Interface Usability Checklist for Ecommerce Websites - 80 Checkpoints to Improve Web Site Traffic, Sales and Usability. Written by Kim Krause, Edited by Bill Slawski (Updated for 2006) (only $6.00)

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Books to Website Usability and Site Architecture


	Don't Make Me Think A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug		Prioritizing Web Usability by Jakob Nielsen, Hoa Loranger Published 2006 - includes considerations of SEO which require compromises wih design that's best for users
	The Big Red Fez: How To Make Any Web Site Better by Seth Godin		Designing Web Usability The Practice of Simplicity by Jakob Nielsen
	Handbook of Usability Testing How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests by Jeffrey Rubin		A Practical Guide to Usability Testing by Joseph S. Dumas and Janice C. Redish
	The Practice of Creativity A Manual for Dynamic Group Problem-Solving by George M. Prince		E-Commerce Usability Tools and Techniques to Perfect the On-Line Experience by David Travis
	The Usability Engineering Lifecycle A Practitioner's Handbook for User Interface Design (Interactive Technologies) by Deborah J. Mayhew