The Five most Influential Papers in Usability

By Jeff Sauro


I compiled a list of papers that have had a large and lasting influence on the field of Usability and User Experience. I then asked Jim Lewis and Joe Dumas, two pioneers in this field for their top five. There was considerable overlap in both the papers and topics suggesting that while there may be some disagreement with the conclusions of the papers there is strong agreement on their impact.

1. Designing for usability: key principles and what designers think. Gould, J. D. and Lewis, C. (1985)
Go to any UX conference and you'll hear the same points as those raised in this pioneering paper: early and continual focus on users; empirical measurement, iterative design.

Two honorable mentions for pioneering work include:

- Al-Awar, J., Chapanis, A., and Ford, R. (1981). Tutorials for the first-time computer user. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 24, 30-37.
This is one of the first descriptions of formative usability testing. Prior to this paper most user testing efforts were more summative (benchmark testing).

- Shackel, B. (1990). Human factors and usability. In J. Preece and L. Keller (Eds.), /Human-Computer Interaction, Selected Readings/ (pp. 27-41).
This paper defined usability as a function of efficiency, effectiveness & satisfaction (the ISO 9241 pt 11 standard). Despite many proposed extensions, we still think of usability in terms of these three aspects.

2. Heuristic evaluation of user interfaces, Nielsen, J., and Molich, R. (1990)
Despite much criticism, Heuristic Evaluation a "discount usability method" still plays a major role in interface evaluation. HE is best conducted with multiple trained professionals (ideally experts in both UX and the domain) and done prior to and in addition to a user-test.

3. Damaged merchandise? A review of experiments that compare usability evaluation methods. Gray, W. D., and Salzman, M. C. (1998).
With the proliferation of discount methods such as Heuristic Evaluation came a number of papers determining which method was "better": User Testing or Heuristic Evaluation? While there were a lot of good insights from these papers, Damaged Merchandise pointed out in detail that the methodologies used to make the comparisons were poorly designed and lead to fallacious conclusions.

Associated Link: Read about and download The Five Most Influential Papers in Usability

Three Things Steve Krug Didn’t Tell You About Usability Testing
Source: George Saines, 2 September 2010
 
Don't make me think. Well, ok, maybe a little bit.

Trace exactly what Users are doing
Source: killerstartups, 30 August 2010
 
A new tool lets you watch all of your website activity, in real-time replays.

Google boosts Usability with Gmail revamp
Source: V3.co.uk, 28 August 2010
 
Long overdue improvements to Gmail may increase its appeal to business users.

Tech4Africa conference runs in Johannesburg
Source: bizcommunity, 26 August 2010
 
A new conference in Africa recognises usability as a central concept to IT uptake.

Top 3 Usability Tips for Building Better Blogs
Source: CMS Wire, 24 August 2010
 
If you're compelled to blog, may as well get it right.

Outdoors and Out of Reach, Studying the Brain
Source: New York Times, 23 August 2010
 
Fascinating account of how heavy use of digital devices changes how we think and behave, and how a retreat into nature might reverse those effects.

Tips for International In-home User Research
Source: System Concepts Ltd, 20 August 2010
 
In-home user research can provide richer, more illuminating information than lab-based studies. Here are some tips for a successful in-home international research.

New Study- Gender differences in Web Usability
Source: Demystifying Usability blog, 18 August 2010
 
Comscore has released a new study (June 30 2010) entitled Women on the Web: How Women are Shaping the Internet.

UX Myths: Usability testing is Expensive
Source: UX Myths, 16 August 2010
 
Many organizations still believe usability testing is a luxury that requires an expensively equipped lab and takes weeks to conduct.

Usability testing may improve hit rate of Mobile Advertising
Source: UN, 14 August 2010
 
A new mobile advertising service is launching in the UK. Will usability testing help it achieve its goals?