Usability for the Web (eBook)

Front Cover 1
Usability for the Web 4
Copyright Page 5
Contents 6
List of Forms 12
Preface 13
Introduction 16
What Is Usability? 17
Why Is Usability Important for Web Sites? 18
Web Usability Problems 19
PART I: PERVASIVE USABILITY 27
Chapter 1. Usability Throughout the Desin Process 28
Web Sites for People 29
Usability Methods 29
The Design Process 30
Project Management 35
Resources: Budget Staff and Schedule 36
How to Succeed at Project Management 44
Comparing Usability Methods 45
Pervasive Usability 50
PART II: REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS 51
Chapter 2. Target Audience and Target Platforms 52
Understanding Your Audience 53
Scenarios 54
Design for Diversity 57
Individual Differences 60
Differences in User Preference Settings 64
International Differences 66
Hardware and Software Differences 70
Walking in Someone Else's Shoes 76
Chapter 3. User Needs Analysis 78
The Objectives of User Needs Analysis 79
Setting Your Objectives 80
Background Research 87
Surveys 87
Competitive Analysis 98
Interviews and Focus Groups 100
Informed Project Objectives 108
PART III: CONCEPTUAL DESIGN 109
Chapter 4.Task Analysis 110
What Is Task Analysis? 111
Task Analysis for Web Site Design 114
Use Cases 114
Hierarchical Task Analysis 116
A Hybrid Approach to Task Analysis 123
Performance Improvements 125
Human-Error-Tolerant Design 130
Chapter 5. Information Architecture 134
What Is Information Architecture? 135
How People Navigate 135
The Process of Developing an Architecture 145
Maintenance and Expansion 157
Organization Schemes 161
Ways to Present Navigation to the User 170
Labeling and Orientation Cues 179
Search Techniques and Search Engine Design 184
Embedding Your Site within the Framework of the Rest of the Web 190
Conceptual Design 192
PART IV: MOCKUPS AND PROTOTYPES 193
Chapter 6. Page Layout 194
The Goals of Your Layout 195
Page Components and Basic Page Layout 197
Some Common Page Structures 198
Page Layout Techniques 199
Page Layout Constraints, Common Pitfalls, and Solutions 212
How Does Page Layout Affect Usability? 225
Chapter 7. Envisioning Design 228
The Goals of Envisioning Design 229
The Fidelity of Mockups and Prototypes 231
Mockups 231
The Mockup Creation Process 235
The Mockup Review Process 247
Prototypes 253
PART V: PRODUCTION 259
Chapter 8. Writing for the Web 260
Writing to Communicate 261
How People Read 271
What to Write About 279
Writing Style 291
How Writing for the Web Differs from Writing for Prirt 296
Text Formatting 309
Getting Your Message Across 316
Chapter 9. Design Elements 318
Goals of Graphic Design for the Web 319
Establishing the Design Parameters 320
Color 324
Typography as a Design Technique 325
Icon Design 329
Designing Online Forms 333
Navigation 340
Interactivity and Multimedia 349
Effectively Integrating Visual Design Elements 352
Chapter 10. Usability in Software Development 354
Usability Problems 355
Web Site Engineering Techniques 358
Engineering Web Site Components 368
Usability of Web Technologies 376
Principled Software Development 379
PART VI: LAUNCH 381
Chapter 11. Pre-Launch and Post-Launch 382
In the Months before the Launch 383
The Challenge of Quality Assurance Testing 384
Quality Assurance Testing before the Site Is Launched 388
The Final Hurdles before Going Live 398
Taking the Site Up 402
Immediately after the Site Is Up 403
Post-Launch Testing and Analysis 408
Launch as a Process 417
PART VII: EVALUATION 419
Chapter 12. Usability Evaluation 420
Types of Evaluation 421
Usability Inspection 423
Group Walkthroughs 434
User Testing 438
Evaluation throughout the Design Process 456
Appendix. Usability Inspection of www.whitehouse.gov 458
References 466
Index 474
About the Authors 497