W3C Web Initiative based in Usability Research and Analysis

In an interview with UN during CHI2004, Steven Pemberton, chair of the W3C HTML and Forms Working Groups, described how research into use and the value of usability informed the redesign of the key mechanisms for building websites.

'For the next version of the Web, we analysed how it has been used over the 10 years and found its faults,' said Pemberton. He quoted Forrester research that showed that closely behind 'good content', comes 'usability' in what makes one website more successful than another. Having found the best practice in use, he says the new offerings incorporate these practices as standard. Pemberton is critical of the 'design for design's sake' culture in some places. 'Changes are based as far as possible on research done, rather than sites that don't address research results.'

He explains how forms were being updated to improve the user experience: users here being primarily the authors of websites, but also the website users. By looking at how basic HTML websites have been enhanced by scripts over the years, it has been possible to work out what to encode this time so that good extra functionality is available to everyone. He gives an example: Xforms no longer have to check every entry into fields by contacting the server and then returning the form if an error is detected. They will be more like mini-applications, doing much of the detection work on the end machine. This will speed up processing.

There will be more accessibility, more device independence - and internationalisation will be better catered for. For instance, the new forms will improve on existing ones by detecting non-Roman characters. Existing forms cannot recognise, say, Japanese characters, even at the level of recognising them as part of a valid language. While XHTML has crept in quietly, Xforms offers significant changes to how things are done and now makes the case for upgrading to the XML system.

The visibility of W3C means that there is no need to promote these launches - the Xforms event last month in London sold out in three days; IBM has already taken it up and the whole insurance industry too. Fear of vendor lock-in means that even national governments are coming to talk about implementation.

So there are a range of reasons for adoption, from the functional to the political. But Pemberton is clear. 'We say why we are doing it: we explain how important usability was in the research and hope the message will get through. Some will get more usability then they asked for.'

All change at the top for System Concepts
Source: System Concepts Ltd, 3 July 2009
 
Leslie Fountain has been promoted to joint Managing Director of leading usability consultancy System Concepts.

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Sarah Herman's fictitious book on life in a user-centred design company has hit the shelves and The Guardian's book pages...

Interfaces Magazine - Issue 79: The Education Issue
Source: Interaction Group, 1 July 2009
 
The latest issue of Interfaces is now available as a free download from the Interaction Website.

Two new Behavioural research Tools from Noldus
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Tool updates make on-site behavioural data collection easier.

Cell Phones that Listen and Learn
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New software tracks a user's behavior by monitoring everyday sounds.

Top Six Don’ts for Usability Testing
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Six tips for creating quality usability tests to ensure useful feedback from testers.

Usability: ‘Lovely software. But I can’t work it’
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In a recent survey by Global Graphics, 77 per cent of office workers estimate they lose up to one hour a week because business software is difficult to use.

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Most Doctors cite Usability as critical to Electronic Health Record Adoption
Source: TMCNet, 24 June 2009
 
It's all about 'meaningful use'.

Glossy monitors look good but can hurt
Source: QUT, 23 June 2009
 
A new advisory cites research which suggests high gloss monitors make users sit awkwardly.