Newsletter No. 163
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FreePint
"Helping 69,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.com/
ISSN 1460-7239 15th July 2004 No.163
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IN THIS ISSUE
-------------
EDITORIAL
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Peter Kaiser
FREEPINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
JOBS
Content and Vendor Manager
Business Strategy Market Analyst
TIPS ARTICLE
"In the Groove at the Grove -
A review of the Perfect Learning Conference"
by Hazel Hall
BOOKSHELF
"Staying Legal: A Guide to Issues and Practice Affecting the
Library, Information and Publishing Sectors"
By Shivaji Shiva
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Usability - ignore it at your peril!"
By Sarah Agarwal
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
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CIBIT offers you a framework for organising your capital
of the future: knowledge!
The Knowledge Management (KM) Masterclass gives an overview from
different perspectives on how KM can work for your organisation, with
an emphasis on practical outcomes. The Masterclass involves 8 days and
will start on 14th October in Birmingham in the UK. For more details
see <http://www.cibit.com> or contact us at email <info@cibit.com> or
by telephone +44-1495-77488.
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>>> NEW: VIP No.8, July 2004, Now Available <<<
> VIP, the monthly business information publication, has a comparative
review of Gale's Virtual Reference Library and xreferplus.
> VIP Eye keeps its current-awareness eye on new developments.
Testimonials from current subscribers now available at:
<http://www.vivaVIP.com>
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>>> ABOUT FREEPINT <<<
FreePint is an online network of information searchers. Members
receive this free newsletter twice a month: it is packed with tips
on finding quality and reliable business information on the Internet.
Joining is free at <http://www.freepint.com/> and provides access to
a substantial archive of articles, reviews, jobs & events, with
answers to research questions and networking at the FreePint Bar.
Please circulate this newsletter which is best read when printed out.
To receive a fully formatted version as an attachment or a brief
notification when it's online, visit <http://web.freepint.com/>.
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EDITORIAL
US businesses are throwing away an estimated 38 billion dollars in
wasted time due to inefficient and defective research tools. 71
percent of business executives are frustrated with consumer search
engines. This, according to a study published last month by FIND/SVP,
has resulted in the launch of the new search engine 'Find.com'
<http://www.find.com>, which combines free content from search engines
and business web sites with premium content on a pay-per-view basis.
Issue 8 of VIP puts this new search engine for business professionals
through its paces, looking at functionality, sources, strengths and
weaknesses. VIP this month also publishes a comparative review of
Gale's Virtual Reference Library and xreferplus; vital reading if you
are already investing in one of these products or thinking of doing
so. You can see samples and find out more about VIP and its sister
publication VIP Eye -- the twice-monthly email newsletter that aims
to be first to let you know about new product developments in the
business information world -- at <http://www.vivaVIP.com/>.
Topicality and immediacy is something we also aim for in the FreePint
Newsletter, and today we have what is probably the first report from
the Perfect Learning Conference, a brand new UK-based conference
attended by around 120 senior information professionals. Hazel Hall
gives her impressions.
Our other article today sends out the message that among all the
jargon of web design and development, there is nothing so important as
the plain common sense of usability testing. It's stunning to read
just how often this is overlooked in costly IT projects. Sarah
Agarwal's article takes a plain talking approach that notes how the
Usability Professionals Association (UPA) and well known usability Web
gurus like Jakob Nielsen can always use input from information
professionals. Nielsen is all over the press: FreePint were ahead of
the game, interviewing him back in November 2002
<http://www.freepint.com/go/n125>.
I would like to raise a debate on usability at the FreePint Bar. What
are the different usability approaches that those with a library
science background bring to Web site development? How do these
approaches compare to usability professionals with backgrounds in
other disciplines such as human/computer interaction, information
design or psychology? I wonder how many new roles and job titles there
are for IT-savvy librarians in Web site usability? There are some
interesting starting points for debate at the UPA web site at
<http://digbig.com/4bkas>. Please post your thoughts and comments
in reply to my posting at <http://www.freepint.com/go/b29358>.
I hope today's articles get you thinking.
Thanks for reading.
Annabel Colley
Editor, FreePint
<annabel.colley@freepint.com>
FreePint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2004
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>>> Latest reports and training from FreePint <<<
New one-page order form listing all FreePint reports
on marketing for info-entrepreneurs, copyright, freedom of
information, data protection and license negotiation.
Download your copy at:
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Peter Kaiser
* <http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/rover-images/images.html> - An
archive of all the images from the Mars exploration rovers. The
landscapes are immediate and thrilling, especially in large formats.
* <http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/vote/list100.html> - National
Public Radio programs about "the 100 most important American musical
works of the 20th century". Excellent on-line listening, history and
music.
* <http://www.archive.org/movies/movies.php> - Thousands of films --
ephemera and documentary clips dating back to the late 1800s, from
documentaries to television commercials. Free to copy and watch.
Wonderful complement to the Smithsonian's collection.
* <http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/djs_lab/demos.html> - Inattentional
blindness is pan-human, fascinating and important topic which can't
be adequately described in words: you must see the demos. Don't miss
the gorilla. You'll be astounded.
* <http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/> - Absolutely the best CD audio
ripping software, free for a post card. Convert WAV to MP3 with
RazorLame, also free. Your fifteen favorite albums on one CD-R!
Peter Kaiser is a writer, editor, and IT consultant who lives in
Switzerland and once taught at the Columbia University School of
Library Science.
Submit your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at
<http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>.
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* Sue Hill Recruitment team - experts in Information recruitment *
Alan Phee - Sales Information recruitment at all levels within the UK
Francis Muzzu - expertise in Legal Information & public libraries
Nicola Franklin - records & business information specialist
Lee-Anne Dickerson - in-depth knowledge of knowledge management
Alex Wilson-Campbell - temporary specialist for all sectors all jobs
Call 020 73787068 <jobs@suehill.com> <http://www.suehill.com>
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FREEPINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
With a name like 'FreePint', it's easy to forget that this is actually
a truly international community. We're reminded of this regularly by
the global nature of research requests at the Bar. Information
researchers generally have much more knowledge about the availability
of documents in their own country than in others. For instance, an
enquirer in Western Australia is asking about access to court
documents here in the UK <http://www.freepint.com/go/b29342>.
I have to admit to finding this 'investigative' side of information
very exciting. Like the range of useful advice give to someone trying
to find out the aliases a person may be using in Canada
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b29009>. Perhaps you know of a service
offering international address verification for individuals
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b29161>?
Of course, it's the more routine information work which is most
common, where the skill is in knowing which sources and publications
are available where. Information brokers have stepped in to help
locate a database source for the Harvard Business Review online, with
general tips on source database identification
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b29191>. Those handling reference-type
enquires may want to check out the in-depth review in this month's
VIP, which compares Gale's Virtual Reference Library with xreferplus,
and also reviews Find.com <http://www.freepint.com/go/b29338>.
As usual, the last couple of weeks have seen a mixed bag of other
enquiries at the Bar. Has anyone successfully used 'forms' in Acrobat
for gathering data? I, like the enquirer, have never managed to use
the feature properly, so I hope someone can help
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b29300>. Do you have a favourite UK search
engine that you could recommend < http://www.freepint.com/go/b29353>?
Perhaps you know of some research to help a business case for a
nine-day fortnight <http://www.freepint.com/go/b29356>.
The Student Bar is starting to quieten down for the summer, but
perhaps you could point to some research into the affect of blogs
and instant messaging on students' reading skills
<http://www.freepint.com/go/s4155>? Or maybe you have advice for
someone completing a Masters in Information Systems who can't decide
what type of roll to go for <http://www.freepint.com/go/s4152>?
Finally, if you have any comments, suggestions or feedback about
anything we do, then there is now an anonymous 'Suggestion Box' on
all sites across the network. It's on the 'Contact' page, and
FreePint's can be found at <http://www.freepint.com/contact.htm>.
We've been doing what we do for a while now, and we'd really value
your thoughts on what we could be doing better or differently.
William Hann <william.hann@freepint.com>
Founder and Managing Editor, FreePint
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The FreePint Bar is where you can get help with your tricky research
questions, for free! <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
Help with study for information-related courses is available at the
FreePint Student Bar <http://www.freepint.com/student>.
Twice-weekly email digests of the latest postings can be requested
at <http://web.freepint.com/>.
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>>> Content feeds from FreePint and VIP <<<
Find out more about the content feeds available
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FREEPINT JOBS
<http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
The FreePint Jobs Update is being circulated widely every two
weeks. This free newsletter now has 2,000 direct subscribers and
is posted at the Bar and in the Bar Digest (circulation 11,000).
To see the Jobs Update No.76 and read the new 'Jobs Advice' section,
visit <http://www.freepint.com/go/b29183>. To subscribe, modify your
account at <http://web.freepint.com>.
Here are some of the latest featured jobs:
Content and Vendor Manager
Lead content management strategy and integrate BIS with this
bank's overall info strategy, use your CMS and vendor mgt skills.
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j3344>
Business Strategy Market Analyst
Market Analyst with 5 years experience to drive forward the business
strategy of expanding niche organisation in Financial Services field.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j3346>
NB: There are 18 other jobs in the current edition of the Jobs Update
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b29183>.
[The above jobs are paid listings]
FreePint Jobs -- the best place for information vacancies.
* VACANCY SEARCHING -- Free search and sign up to the Job Update.
* VACANCY RECRUITING -- Complete the form and advertise a vacancy
for GBP195 <http://www.freepint.com/jobs/submit/overview.php3>.
50% discount for registered charities. 10% discount for agencies.
Find out more today at <http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
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<http://www.freepint.com/advert.htm>
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TIPS ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/150704.htm#tips>
"In the Groove at the Grove -
A review of the Perfect Learning Conference"
By Dr Hazel Hall
[A review of the Perfect Learning Conference, The Grove, Hertfordshire
29th-30th June, 2004, <http://www.perfectinfo.com/learningevents.htm>
by Dr Hazel Hall, School of Computing, Napier University, Edinburgh]
At the end of June around 120 information professionals, drawn mainly
from the corporate sector, with a strong representation from financial
services and law firms, gathered for the Information Professional
Learning Conference at The Grove <http://www.thegrove.co.uk>,
Hertfordshire. The conference was organised by Perfect Learning. The
sponsors were LexisNexis <http://www.lexisnexis.com>, Alacra
<http://www.alacra.com>, FT <http://www.ft.com>, Euromonitor
<http://www.euromonitor.com/>, Intelligent Resources
<http://www.intelligentresources.com>, Standard and Poors
<http://www.standardandpoors.com>, OneSource
<http://www.onesource.com>, ISI Emerging Markets
<http://www.securities.com/>, People First and Solutions. City
Information Group <http://www.cityinformation.org.uk> was the
conference partner.
The format, designed in response to market research conducted amongst
Perfect Information's customers, comprised a mixture of formal
conference papers and breakout sessions, with one panel debate at the
end of the second morning. Opportunities to network were provided
between sessions at meals times and breaks, at the conference dinner,
and around a small product exhibition to which some of the conference
sponsors contributed. Here friendships were made and renewed, and much
"invisible" work conducted.
Snowden and Pasco
-----------------
Of the six formal papers, the discussion of "Strategies and techniques
for optimising the organisational role of the information management
function" by Dave Snowden of the Cynefin Centre
<http://www.cynefin.net>) generated most interest amongst the
delegates. Eva Pascoe of zoom.co.uk <http://www.zoom.co.uk> was also a
popular speaker on the theme of leadership, and on how to emerge from,
as well as direct, change. Given the expectation that the conference
would generate ideas that could be transformed into actions, it is not
surprising that both speakers were questioned on how to implement the
imaginative strategies that they proposed.
Breakout sessions discussed practical solutions
-----------------------------------------------
The break-out sessions provided a good opportunity for interaction
between delegates, both in the sessions themselves and immediately
afterwards. Here the operational difficulties of running corporate
information services were voiced and practical solutions sought. For
example, in a session where the facilitator advocated blue-printing as
a framework for content delivery, the debate turned on the complexity
of information service provision, where much of the information
professional's work activities are unique. In another break-out
session, focused on knowledge management, there was much debate of the
term's meaning (and whether it mattered that it was misunderstood),
reasons to invest in knowledge management, and its key ingredients.
Discussion within this group led to some interesting suggestions, for
example on how to integrate information staff into project teams so
that valuable insight is not lost as soon as their work is completed.
Conference Organisation
-----------------------
Delegates were impressed by a clever ploy on the part of the
conference organisers to label the reverse of everyone's badge with
stickers indicating their break-out sessions. There were no lost
delegates wandering the corridors over the two days - something
regularly witnessed at other professional events. Seating at the
conference dinner was similarly impressive. It was not evident how
names had been matched to tables, but everyone appeared to be
delighted with their company for the meal, which included a magician
who roved from table to table. These examples are indicative of the
skill and thoughtfulness that went into the organisation of the
conference.
The mixed format worked well, especially at a venue where all activity
- work, socialising and sleeping - could take place in the single wing
of a hotel. And what a lovely hotel it was! For many delegates it was
also surprisingly conveniently located. For example, those travelling
from Scotland found it more accessible than many central London
locations due to its proximity to Luton airport. A further advantage
of meeting out of town was that delegates felt they could concentrate
on full participation at the conference without the fear of being
dragged back to the office at any moment. Mobile phones were switched
off for much of the time and attention was focused on the proceedings.
The organisers might have taken further advantage of the venue by
extending the second day's activities later into the afternoon. There
was certainly an appetite amongst the delegates to stay longer and
capitalise on the relationships that they had begun to build in the
earlier sessions. For future events, closer attention could be paid to
matching themes and speakers to session format. This is not a comment
on the topics covered, but rather how they were handled. For example,
the material presented in a couple of the less-engaging papers in the
main lecture room would have been better suited to a workshop format.
Those with particular training needs could then have elected to attend
them. This would also have had the advantage of freeing up the main
room for further inspired performances, such as the two mentioned
above, or to give the best speakers longer to present. Similarly, it
was over-ambitious to run a panel session that lasted over an hour in
the main room with the whole cohort of delegates: genuine
interactivity is very difficult to achieve with groups of such a size,
even when supplied with "Who wants to be a millionaire" style voting
pads.
Overall, participants both enjoyed and benefited from their two days
at the Grove. At the conference close there was much talk of "next
time". Will Perfect Learning be running another event in 2005? A
number of informational professionals who were fortunate to attend
this time around do hope so.
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Dr Hazel Hall is Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing at Napier
University, Edinburgh where she teaches modules on knowledge
management and architecture, business information sources, and
intelligence and information delivery
<http://www.bim.napier.ac.uk/~hazel/esis/hazel.html>. Hazel has
completed research and consultancy work with a range of organisations
including KPMG, Sun Microsystems and Scottish Enterprise. She has
published widely in professional journals and books, and at
conferences. She is on the Executive Committee of Online 2004 and
conducts refereeing duties for a number of academic journals and
research bodies. With Steve Borley, she is co-founder of the
newly-established Scottish Information Network, a networking group for
business information professionals based in and around Edinburgh.
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Related FreePint links:
* 'Information and Libraries' articles and resources in the FreePint
Portal <http://www.freepint.com/go/p69>
* Post a message to the author, Hazel Hall, or suggest further
resources at the FreePint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/150704.htm#feature>
* Access the entire archive of FreePint content
<http://www.freepint.com/portal/content/>
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>>> FreePint Jobs -- UK information and library vacancies <<<
If you're keeping your eye on the market for information jobs
then subscribe to the FreePint Jobs Update. Twice monthly advice
for job seekers, and all the latest vacancies, sent by email:
<http://web.freepint.com/jobs/>
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FREEPINT BOOKSHELF
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
"Staying Legal: A Guide to Issues and Practice Affecting the
Library, Information and Publishing Sectors"
By Shivaji Shiva
'Staying Legal' is a no-nonsense, accessible set of essays designed to
provide 'individuals now engaged in information work and the knowledge
industries' with sufficient legal background and understanding to
carry out their professions responsibly and legally.
Starting with a broad overview of how the legal system is constituted,
the book goes on to look in greater detail at areas of particular
relevance to the information industry. These include copyright and
other intellectual property rights; fundamentals of contract law and
its applications in information work; agreements including licenses
and codes of practice; an overview of data protection law; and a look
at criminal law and liability. There is also a useful chapter on legal
resources including those available over the Internet.
A particularly useful section for many people will be the final
chapter 'Staying Legal: from awareness to action' which details a
sobering array of scenarios in which the legal risks highlighted by
the book has led to legal action and resulting awards. The chapter
goes on to review the main categories of legal risk and to consider
means of prioritising and managing those risks.
The book is very clearly laid out, and within the overall structure,
each chapter is divided into short, digestible subsections. In this
second edition, the editors are able to ensure that the book is
brought up to date with changes since it was first published in 1999.
This book is likely to be most useful to individuals who have an
interest in the law and are looking for an accessible introduction to
a broad range of legal areas. As its editors make clear, it is not a
legal handbook. If you are looking for a practical legal guide to the
issues that may confront you on a day-to-day basis, this is not the
book for you. However, if you are interested in finding out more about
the legal principle, which underlie the decisions that you make, this
book provides an excellent introduction. The scope of the book is
broad within the constraints of its 272 pages and it will certainly
assist librarians and information managers who need to develop their
understanding of legal issues in order to negotiate with other
professionals in the sector.
In terms of practical guidance, the sections on public access to legal
information and on assessing and dealing with legal risks are
particularly useful. The emphasis in each case is on engaging actively
with the law and developing strategies for ensuring your organisation
is protected from key legal risks.
If read in the spirit in which it is intended, this book will provide
useful first steps towards understanding what is legal. You will need
to contact your lawyer or find a different book if you need guidance
on the more practical aspects of staying legal.
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Shivaji Shiva is a solicitor in the Charity Team at Russell-Cooke
Solicitors. He advises a range of not-for-profit organisations,
including national archives and museums, on issues including
copyright and data protection.
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Related FreePint links:
* Find out more about this book online at the FreePint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/staylegal.htm>
* Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1856044386/freepint0c>
* "Staying Legal: A Guide to Issues and Practice Affecting the
Library, Information and Publishing Sectors" ISBN 1856044386,
published by Facet Publishing
* Search for and purchase any book from Amazon via the FreePint
Bookshelf at <http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
* Read about other Internet Strategy books on the FreePint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/strategy.htm>
To propose an information-related book for review, send details
to <bookshelf@freepint.com>.
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>>> If you have a l.o.n.g URL then shorten it with DigBig <<<
This free service gives you a quick and
convenient way to shorten long Web addresses.
They're then much easier to communicate:
<http://www.DigBig.com/>
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FEATURE ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/150704.htm#feature>
"Usability - ignore it at your peril!"
By Sarah Agarwal
Users are not a 'nice to have' item
====================================
I was recently invited to take part in two events. One was to give a
user-centred perspective to the national JISC portals programme
<http://www.jisc.ac.uk>. The other was to do a presentation on usability
at the UKOLN Public Library Web Managers Workshop
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/events/public-workshop-04/>.
At both of them, the user perspective (a.k.a. "the soft side") was
very welcome, well attended, appreciated, etc. etc. There was, as
always, a slight sense of excitement as my contributions represented
"something a bit different" from the 'real' issues of the events. Yet
the evidence is that most people in the not-for-profit sector are
producing websites and applications without any real understanding of
whether they are actually needed or wanted, or presented to people in
a way that they can be used successfully. And this is where I get
flummoxed. How can this not be the main issue? If one aims to provide
a service to people via the web, surely it's fundamental to make sure
it's relevant, useful and usable. Isn't this arguably the most
fundamental issue of all?
So why don't web managers do this sort of thing? Why is it seen as
'nice to do'? Firstly, because the people who fund the projects rarely
demand that user consultation is a condition of funding. Secondly,
because the same people are often more interested in being seen to
sponsor sexy, technically exciting projects than ones for which
there's a genuine requirement. Thirdly, there seems to be a reluctance
to charter the unpredictable territories of user requirements - what
happens if your target audience thinks your interface sucks? User
consultation is rarely good for the ego.
So, what is usability? There are loads of formal definitions, but it's
basically about spending time with the intended users of a website or
application to make sure it does what they need it to, in a way they
find reasonably easy. Usability and accessibility are closely linked,
though accessibility is more of a technical and ethical guidance
framework.
General usability guidelines
============================
These are very useful for people who are new to the topic and
appreciate a simple checklist to compare their website with. These are
some of the easily understandable ones, which are supported by
research:
* Sun Microsystems' 'Writing for the Web' guidelines can be used to
ensure that users can read content on a site with ease
<http://www.sun.com/980713/webwriting/>.
* Stanford Web Credibility Research has produced ten guidelines to
ensure that websites are seen as credible and trustworthy
<http://www.webcredibility.org/guidelines/>.
* The National Cancer Institute has lists of design guidelines, where
each one is accompanied by an indication of the supporting research
<http://www.usability.gov/guidelines/index.html>.
* The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative's guidelines are frequently
relevant to usability as well as accessibility, and are the
standards recommended by UK government. Ironically, however, they
can be hard to understand
<http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html>.
However, these are not substitutes for actually talking to users.
Finding users
=============
When doing any usability work with users, it may seem obvious to point
out that the users should be representative of the target audience. It
is essential to communicate with real users, as they are the only
people who can reliably contribute data to enable a website to meet
their requirements.
By far the easiest way of locating users is to go through
communications previously received, such as emails, phone calls and
visitors. Alternative sources can include professional and trade
organisations, asking complementary organisations, posting to email
lists, asking local colleges and schools, etc. It may be necessary to
encourage users to take part by paying them a fee or, for surveys,
entering them into a draw for a prize.
When it comes to usability testing websites (i.e. getting users to run
through a site and give you feedback) the good news is that you only
need between 5 and 10 users to identify the majority of usability
issues. Most people find this hard to believe until they've done a
usability testing session and find the same problems coming up again
and again.
Gathering users' requirements
=============================
On many projects, the method of gathering requirements for a system is
often limited to a quick email around a few individuals and some high
level discussions with managers. Politically, consultation with
managers can be important. Yet, these are rarely the end-users of the
system, and it is with the real users that a website will succeed or
flounder.
At this stage, usability professionals do something called 'task
analysis', which gives a picture of what people need a system for and
how they are likely to use it. This can be a bit tricky to get right,
take a look at <http://www.adaptivepath.com/services/taskanalysis.php>
for a description of how it's done.
This is probably the most 'technical' of all the critical usability
processes, and where you'll benefit most from employing a specialist.
Developing prototypes
=====================
The leap from understanding users' needs and goals to creating a
system is a huge and difficult one, due to the complexities that are
inherent in predicting new ways of doing things, which is basically
what happens when new systems are constructed. However, rather than
worrying about how to construct a whole new system that will be usable
and useful, it is much easier to construct some quick prototypes
(which can be in HTML or on paper) of how the new site may work. These
can be tested, iterated and re-tested with users in the same way that
'live' sites are tested.
It is likely that a graphic designer will be employed to create the
new prototypes. If so, the designer should be fully versed in the W3C
WAI guidelines [2] and should have an understanding of, and empathy
for, usable design. The government's Quality Framework for UK
Government Website Design [3] gives some good advice on how designers
can be evaluated and how the commissioning process should work.
Two examples of paper prototypes can be seen at
<http://www.cs.usm.maine.edu/~welty/cos368/topics/prototypingB.htm> and
<http://www.gdoss.com/images/lmf_paper_prototype.gif>.
User testing
============
User testing is the most popular usability technique, and you can do
it yourself with effective results. The most common way to carry out a
test is to ask a group of users to complete a set of tasks on the
website, e.g. 'find a newspaper article', 'find a contact phone
number'. This raises the issue that the test organiser needs to know
what tasks and goals users commonly want to complete on the site,
which in turn demonstrates how usability techniques work together -
the tasks identified in the requirements gathering phase can be used
to test against.
Once the tests are complete, the results can be collated and the
problems graded according to the impact they have on users' capacity
to complete their tasks. This grading will help to prioritise changes.
MIT libraries have carried out several usability tests and the
documentation is indexed at <http://www.jkup.net/terms-studies.html>.
A clip of a usability test can be seen at
<http://www.usermetrics.net/index.cfm?page=115>. Much
useful information about how to conduct tests and interpret the
results can be found at <http://www.usability.gov>.
Some other techniques
=====================
Log analysis
------------
Analysing site statistics can give some useful ideas about what users
are looking for and how they are behaving on the site. This can be
used to get ideas about user behaviour. They are not a substitute for
user consultation. An example of log analysis for New Zealand Digital
Library is available at
<http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~stevej/Research/PAPERS/dl98logs.pdf>.
'Competitive' review
--------------------
Users can be asked what they think of similar sites, and this can be
done by informal chats. If there is an opportunity for collaboration
with complementary sites, the results of usability tests and
evaluations can be shared (within the limits of the Data Protection
Act). However, as each website is different, there are clearly
limitations to the usefulness of this technique.
Conclusion
==========
Trying to make sure that websites and applications are useful
and usable for their users is not a 'nice thing to do', it's straight
up common sense (though it's not common). Particularly in the not-for-
profit sector, where the information available can make a real
contribution to people's lives, it's disingenuous to ignore them. It's
relatively easy and cheap - massively cheaper than making a system
that is ineffective. In my experience of doing usability consultation,
service teams who are party to such activities are deeply appreciative
of what they find out, and become instant devotees of usability
exercises.
More information
================
'The web is bad and it's getting worse' by Jack Schofield. The
Guardian, 2002
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4378023,00.html>.
Research into the importance of user involvement in successful
projects
<http://www.standishgroup.com/sample_research/chaos_1994_2.php>.
A good overview of usability from the French company, Axance
<http://www.axance.com/08english/08english_00homepage.htm>.
References
==========
[1] Why you only need to test with 5 users. Jakob Nielsen. 2000
<http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html>
[2] Web Accessibility Initiative. W3C <http://www.w3.org/WAI/>
[3] Quality Framework for UK Government Website Design; Usability
issues for government websites. July 2003. Office of the E-Envoy,
Cabinet Office <http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/Resources/WebGuidelines>
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usability and information science. Employers have included the BBC,
the Environment Agency and a commercial design agency. She has written
and presented on web design, information architecture, usability and
change management issues.
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