Usability is an approach to product development that incorporates direct user feedback throughout the development cycle in order to reduce costs and create products and tools that meet user needs. (n.d)
Has some info about international standards for usability and user-centred design.
Usability.gov - some usability basics, draws from many sources of info, not all referenced but a good overview. The usability lessons learned page is worth a look, some good before and after case studies.
Usability 101 by Jakob Nielsen, the five components that define usability - learnability, efficiency, memorability, errors, satisfaction (August 25, 2003). An interview with Jakob Nielsen by Eric Ange of Stone Temple Consulting (September 24, 2007)
Nielsen's "arch nemesis" Jared M. Spool's User Interface Engineering site.
The awesome compilation of usability resources by the University of Minnesota Duluth students/staff. Includes following headings: Benefits and ROI (Why usability?), Children, Chunking, Consistency, Content, Definitions, Efficiency, Error Tolerance, Fitts Law, Flash, Forms, Frames, Homepages, Intuitive, Learnability, Line Length, Link Rot, Liquid/Elastic/Fluid/Fixed Design, Memorability, Open Source Usability, PDF, Pop-Ups (Opening New Windows), Redesign, Scanning/Reading Online, Scent, Scrolling, Security, Senior Citizens, Simplicity, Speed, Splash Pages, Subjective Satisfaction, Teenagers, White Space, Clutter, and Density, Writing, Articles & Related Links (links to usability "gurus" - Neilson, Spool, Friedman/Lennartz, Krug, Horton, McGovern and many others.)
From Smashing Magazine, a good summary of the concepts of usability in this list of 30 Usability issues - rules, principles and definitions. Includes this one I've encountered many times, what a good name for it:
Minesweeping
Minesweeping stands for user interactions which aim to identify the links on a web-site. In most cases minesweeping is a clear alarm signal for usability problems. Usually minesweeping involves the user rapidly moving the cursor or pointer over a page, watching to see where the cursor or pointer changes to indicate the presence of a link. [Usability.gov]
Usability Testing
Information and Design - describes the process of usability testing (could be useful for NED23 assessment task). There is a Usability Toolkit with forms and guidelines for testing from Society for Technical Communication's User & Usability pages. Getting into your user's heads with Gorilla Usability, by D. Keith Robinson (Dec 22, 2002).
Usability@90mph: Presenting and evaluating a new, high–speed method for demonstrating user testing in front of an audience by Paul F. Marty and Michael B. Twidale
First Monday, volume 10, number 7 (July 2005)
A usability information site that is undergoing its own usability testing while under development - Usability Body of Knowledge by the Usability Professionals' Association
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