Applying UCD 00 Methodologies to an e-commerce site

Joseph Kramer, Carolyn Bjerke, and Didier Bardon
IBM

Audience: intermediate usability specialists
Keywords: method walkthrough, web, usability method implementation or adaptation, combining methods, participatory design, bridge, OVID, OO, web, ecommerce, multi-disciplinary

The presentation describes a multidisciplinary team's effort to redesign a customer-segmented e-commerce Web site. The presentation will focus on gaining insight into the methods used and lessons learned throughout the redesign effort.

The Importance of Making Time for User Research for a Start-Up's First Product Release

Jodi Forlizzi and Margaret McCormack

Carnegie Mellon University, BodyMedia Inc.

Audience: anyone
Keywords: business case study, small devices, usability method implementation or adaptation, ethnographic studies, participatory design, results analysis

The competitive playing field for start-up companies often does not allow for the time to understand how user needs can influence the development of a new product. This presentation describes how qualitative user research successfully informed the design of a new wearable computing product integrated with internet-based services.

Adapting Usability Test Methods to Improve a Novel Data Extraction

John Bosley
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Census

Length: 45 minutes

Audience: anyone
Keywords: business case study, web, usability method implementation or adaptation, lab testing, user/task analysis, discount usability testing

This presentation describes a series of small laboratory and field studies of a Web site, FERRETT, that is an on-line application used to locate, download and manipulate statistical data drawn from one of several on-line Federal survey data sets. Each small study had the goal of identifying usability issues and communicating these to developers as the basis of incremental changes in the site. This gradual approach was necessary because of severe restrictions on development manpower, so it was impossible to make comprehensive changes in the site all at once in a systematic way. It also had the positive goal of providing at least the basic knowledge needed to introduce a Java-based version of the application while having a reasonable degree of confidence in the interface usability. The presentation will illustrate how even limited and sporadic usability testing can help evolve a better Web site design.

Lessons Learned: Redesigning the CancerNet Web Site

Janice Nall and Sanjay Koyani
Usability Office, Office of Communications National Cancer Institute

Length: 45 minutes

Audience: anyone
Keywords: business case study, web, usability method implementation or adaptation, combining methods, data collection, metrics

The National Cancer Institute recently redesigned its CancerNet Web site (http://cancernet.nci.nih.gov). Usability engineering methods were used to create a navigation system and information architecture that is usable, useful, and accessible.

An Approach for the New Millennium: Remote Design and Testing

Carol Righi, Thyra Rauch, and Diane Wilson
Righi Interface Engineering, Tivoli Systems, Firelily Designs

Audience: intermediate usability specialists
Keywords: business case study, web, usability method implementation or adaptation, remote testing, combining methods, possible new method

This is a case study of the design and development of the 1999 UPA conference registration Web site. The most unique aspect of this design effort was that it was performed entirely remotely. Design exploration, design evaluation, prototyping, and usability testing were implemented remotely by a two-person project team. They used e-mail, the Internet, and the telephone to communicate the evolving design to each other, and to a widely dispersed pool of evaluation participants.

How to Develop Computer-Based Instruction for Learning and Profit

Thomas Holzman and Michael S. Miller
NCR Corporation

Audience: intermediate usability specialists
Keywords: business case study, emerging interfaces, usability method implementation or adaptation, cost-justifying usability, user/task analysis, instruction, training

This presentation describes how analyses of business needs, user tasks, and work environment led to an innovative, effective, computer-based instruction system that incorporates audio, video, and speech interface mechanisms.

Designing a Java-based User Interface to a Mainframe System: A Case Study

Caryn Zange Josephson and Delight DeMulling
Renaissance Worldwide, Inc.

Audience: anyone
Keywords: business case study, computer software, usability method implementation or adaptation, combining methods, product lifecycle and usability, Java

This case study describes the process, techniques, and challenges of designing the user interface for a project that used Java to This case study describes the process, techniques, and challenges of designing the user interface for a project that used Java to create a front-end to a mainframe system.

From Storefront to "Webfront": Usability at OfficeDepot.com

Sue Lichtenstein and Joan Broughton
Office Depot, Inc.

Audience: anyone
Keywords: business case study, web, usability method implementation or adaptation, strategic usability, selling usability

Session describes the establishing of a usability team presence, marketing strategies, and usability work done on the e-commerce site OfficeDepot.com as a member of the audience places a live order.

Making the Most of Web Forums and Customer Conferences: Collecting Usability Data from Customers

Kara Pernice Coyne
Iris Associates

Length: 45 minutes

Audience: intermediate usability specialists
Keywords: business case study, usability method implementation or adaptation, possible new method, remote testing, data collection

When designing Lotus Notes, we often want to collect feedback from people who are not yet our customers. However, we also want to learn from current customers and experienced users. Site visits which produce excellent data can be costly and time-consuming. To reach more people and international customers, and to complement contextual studies and lab studies, we found some creative ways to conduct remote evaluations over the Web. We have also used customer conferences to collect usability feedback. This presentation will cover what has worked, what has not worked, and solicit input from the audience about their experiences with these two methods.

Your Tax Dollars at Work- Redesigning the IRS's Customer Service Interactive Voice Response System

H. William Killam and Marguerite W. Autry
UserWorks, Inc.

Length: 45 minutes

Audience: usability professionals with moderate or little experience with interactive voice response systems
Keywords:review of design and testing process for audio system, telephone, interactive voice response system, usability method implementation or adaptation, strategic usability, heuristics and guidelines, comparative studies

This presentation describes an iterative redesign process and comparative usability test for the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Customer Service interactive voice response system (IVR). It's the goal of the presentation to share the experience with a user-centered design approach that included a heuristic analysis, GOMS modeling, pilot testing, and usability system testing and to show lessons learned and design derivations. The presentation will review the unique aspects of design and testing of an auditory-based system for usability professionals who may be more familiar with visually-based systems.

How Usable is FedStats, the Gateway to Federal Statistics

John Bosley, Catherine Gaddy, John Weiner and Marianne Zawitz
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Human Factors International, Energy Information Administration, and Bureau of Justice Statistics

Audience: anyone
Keywords: presentation of design, web, usability method implementation or adaptation, lab testing, cognitive walkthroughs, gateway to statistical information

Describes a laboratory study of the usability of a gateway Web site, FedStats, which provides access to federal statistics at over 100 federal agencies, and relates findings to site design.