Brief: Europeans start to go Broadband

European consumer broadband services continue to grow as xDSL surpasses cable subscriptions, according to a new survey by Forrester Research. Access difficulties notwithstanding, much of the growth has come from the UK, with that market finally getting up to speed and offering compellingly priced services.

'The latest survey shows that almost 6% of Europeans have access to broadband services, up from 4% half a year ago," said Forrester Technographics Analyst Paul
Jackson. 'After a very slow start last year, we have seen a faster-than-expected ramp-up of high-speed services in the UK. With more than 2M broadband consumers, it is now the second-largest broadband community in Europe -- but it is still some way behind the 7M broadband users in Germany."

Adopters say the need to free up telephone lines (64%) and the extra speed (58%) are the top reasons for getting broadband.

Elsewhere, reports indicate that Americans aren't especially eager to ditch their slothful 56K modems for high-speed Internet connections, and penetration there has also been slower than expected. There has been no sudden leap in uptake to the same extent there.

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.

Life in UCD immortalised in fiction: you couldn't make it up
Source: UN, 2 July 2009
 
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
Source: UN, 30 June 2009
 
Tool updates make on-site behavioural data collection easier.

Cell Phones that Listen and Learn
Source: MIT Technology Review, 29 June 2009
 
New software tracks a user's behavior by monitoring everyday sounds.

Top Six Don’ts for Usability Testing
Source: FutureNow Inc., 27 June 2009
 
Six tips for creating quality usability tests to ensure useful feedback from testers.

Usability: ‘Lovely software. But I can’t work it’
Source: FT.com, 26 June 2009
 
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.

And what do you do?
Source: Dexo Design, 25 June 2009
 
How do you describe your job role? Here are the results of a recent 'Preferred UX/UI Title' Poll.

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.