Usability Engineering

Front Cover
Elsevier, Nov 11, 1994 - Computers - 362 pages
Written by the author of the best-selling HyperText & HyperMedia, this book is an excellent guide to the methods of usability engineering. The book provides the tools needed to avoid usability surprises and improve product quality. Step-by-step information on which method to use at various stages during the development lifecycle are included, along with detailed information on how to run a usability test and the unique issues relating to international usability.

* Emphasizes cost-effective methods that developers can implement immediately
* Instructs readers about which methods to use when, throughout the development lifecycle, which ultimately helps in cost-benefit analysis.
* Shows readers how to avoid the four most frequently listed reasons for delay in software projects.
* Includes detailed information on how to run a usability test.
* Covers unique issues of international usability.
* Features an extensive bibliography allowing readers to find additional information.
* Written by an internationally renowned expert in the field and the author of the best-selling HyperText & HyperMedia.
 

Contents

Chapter 1 Executive Summary
1
Chapter 2 What Is Usability?
23
Chaper 3 Generations of User Interfaces
49
Chapter 4 The Usability Engineering Lifecycle
71
Chapters 5 Usability Heuristics
115
Chapter 6 Usability Testing
165
Chapter 7 Usability Assessment Methods beyond Testing
207
Chapter 8 Interface Standards
227
Chapter 9 International User Interfaces
237
Chapter 10 Future Developments
255
Exercises
269
Bibliography
283
Author Index
341
Subject Index
351
Copyright

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About the author (1994)

Called the world's leading expert on Web usability by US News and World Report, Jakob Nielsen today serves as user advocate and principal of the Nielsen Norman Group. In the course of a career in which he held influential positions at Sun Microsystems, Bellcore, and IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center, Nielsen founded the "discount usability engineering" movement for fast and cheap improvements of user interfaces and invented several usability methods, including heuristic evaluation. He holds 58 US patents, many of which focus on ways to make the Internet easier to use. He has written the Alertbox column on Web usability since 1995 and is the author of Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity and Usability Engineering, plus eight other books.

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