Tag: David Dick

Jun 12

Talking Usability: The Path to Become a Usability Experience Professional

The Nielsen Norman Group has published a report called “User Experience Careers: How to Become a UX Pro, and How to Hire One.” The report is free, but it is copyrighted so please do not distribute the file or host it elsewhere. You can download the report here. User Experience Careers is based on a survey of usability experience professionals conducted in 2013. It is compilation of professional advice based on experience gained over the years from Usability practitioners. I bring this report to your attention because the Usability SIG has never provided career-oriented information, and I believe it is helpful for you to make a career decision.

Mar 10

Talking Usability: The 80:20 Rule and Product Design

What percentage of features and functions do you think you use on your smartphone or any application on your PC? If you are like most people, you probably use only 20%. Jim Bird published an article called “Applying the 80:20 Rule in Software Development” in which he applied the Pareto principle to software and concluded that 80% of the users use 20% of the features. His theory made me think about my own observations of people and products.

Nov 11

Talking Usability: When Technology Engages Users, They Are Motivated to Use It

When we are determined to do something (such as learn to swing dance, play the guitar, or earn a degree), we will overcome obstacles and challenges to achieve our goal. Persistent setbacks might discourage us, maybe slow us down, but we won’t give up because we are determined to succeed. We rely on instructors and mentors to teach us these skills, and our motivation helps us to press on. We know that the reward for our efforts is the ability to swing dance, play the guitar, or earn a degree, and we are proud of our accomplishment.

Oct 15

Talking Usability: Usability for Left-Handed People

At the Communities reception at the Summit somebody spoke about the difficulties of left-handed people using household appliances, technologies, and software. If you are left-handed then you probably have problems using everyday things because they are designed for right-handed use.

Aug 13

Talking Usability: Why Mental Models Are Important to Usability

A friend purchased a smartphone to replace her aging cell phone. She used the smartphone for one thing—to make phone calls. The other features and functions of her smartphone are unknown to her because she does not know they exist and does not know how to use them. She is easily confused by new technology because she won’t read the user guide. She relies on assumptions of how things should work and is frustrated when her assumptions prove incorrect. Eventually she “figures it out” on her own and rejoices with her new-found knowledge.

Jul 17

Talking Usability: What I Learned Testing Software

I work on a small project team that has just enough people to keep the project somewhat on schedule. When the quality assurance manager asked for help to test software—I volunteered. My manager was delighted and disappointed that I volunteered to test software because he believed that testing software would take me away from my primary job—writing a user guide. As it turned out, testing software helped me to learn the system’s workflows and logic, which helped me to write the user guide.

Jun 05

Talking Usability: Is the Future Glass?

I am co-author of Web Services, Service-Oriented Architectures, and Cloud Computing: The Savvy Manager’s Guide. In the book, I describe how a Glass-type of device would be used for facial recognition, translating items in a menu, translation, and getting directions to a restaurant to name a few examples. At the time the book was written (2011 and 2012), a wearable technology was on the drawing board and not yet available to the public. Glass was the kind of technology you read about in Popular Science. Envisioning the possibilities for using Glass meant that nothing was impossible—everything was possible. The only limitation to what was possible was technology. Surprise—it’s here: Glass.

May 14

Talking Usability: What I Learned as a Competition Judge

I was in a meeting with a client reviewing my user guide for use in training users on a new system in development. The client asked why my user guide did not have the same layout and design as the legacy user guide. Before I answered, my mind flashed back to earlier this year when I was a judge in the Society’s international publication competition, better known as the STC International Summit Awards.