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.'

Study: Mobile Web sites need Improvement
Source: CNET, 13 October 2008
 
A new study suggests that the usability of many mobile Web sites still needs improvement.

Better Usability makes Online Backup more Appealing
Source: UN, 11 October 2008
 
Repeat after me: "Backup via the Internet is for everybody."

IBM Task Modeler version 6 now Available
Source: Unknown, 10 October 2008
 
The latest release of IBM Task Modeler is now available for download. This includes many new features to support efficient and collaborative task analysis and synthesis.

Caroline's Corner: Design to Read - Designing for People who do not Read easily
Source: Caroline Jarrett, 9 October 2008
 
Reading is a skill many of us take for granted. Chances are that if you’re reading this, you’re one of the lucky ones who read easily.

Bill Buxton to change Microsoft from within
Source: The Register, 8 October 2008
 
"Last year Steve Ballmer said to 85,000 employees 'If you don’t change and you don’t go in this direction, we’re dead, and I don’t want to die.' I wanted to go hug him when he said that."

New Report: Innovative Marketing in the Digital World
Source: E-consultancy, 7 October 2008
 
A new report from E-consultancy provides a distillation of ideas and suggestions provided by digital marketing experts.

Linking Industry with Academia
Source: unknown, 6 October 2008
 
Customer experience research consultancy, fhios, based in London, has just launched an innovative internship programme, aimed primarily at postgraduate students.

Online Travel Booking: What influences Consumers?
Source: Webcredible, 4 October 2008
 
What influences consumers when booking a holiday? How can travel companies offer the best user experience?

Getting the Word out
Source: UN, 3 October 2008
 
I SAID, I'M ON THE TRAIN... Voice recognition technology can now translate all those pesky garbled voicemails into manageable text messages.

Mobile hardware outpaces Software and User Capabilities
Source: ComputerWorld, 2 October 2008
 
The main issue dissuading users from employing all the capabilities of their mobile devices is the complexity involved in operating them.