Userfocus Usability Newsletter, November 2008

Welcome to the November edition of the Userfocus usability newsletter.

Message from the Editor

There are many things to celebrate about Barack Obama's election victory, but one that occurs to me is the inspirational power of a vision for change. Create the right vision and you can inspire people to do amazing things.

It may be somewhat more prosaic, but the field of user experience is also an important vehicle for change. And next Thursday — November 13th — is World Usability Day. This is a day to raise awareness of usability and to encourage people to create products and services that are easier to access and simpler to use. You can take part in World Usability Day by visiting the World Usability Day web site.

But not until you have read this month's article...

Feature Article: Writing the Perfect Participant Screener

"Know thy user" is the first principle of usability, so it's important that you involve the right kind of people in your usability study. These 8 tips for screening participants will show you how to recruit articulate, representative users for your research, quickly filter out the people you don't want and help you avoid the dreaded "no show". Read the article in full: Writing the Perfect Participant Screener

Usability Training: Now Booking

Web accessibility for developers and designers, December 2 2008, London

For developers and designers who need to create accessible web sites, "Web accessibility for developers and designers" is a 1-day seminar that shows delegates how to design accessible web pages and how to evaluate web pages for accessibility. This seminar provides a practical path through the legislation, describing what you need to do to meet the minimum requirements, how to retrofit inaccessible pages and how to make sure new content is accessible. More information about this training course: Web Accessibility training.

Web Usability Training, January 27-28 2009, London

For web designers who want hands-on experience with usability tools and techniques, "Web Usability" is a 2-day immersion seminar that shows delegates how to boost sales and conversion rates, increase usage and improve customer satisfaction. Unlike shorter introductory courses, this in-depth workshop covers the entire design and development lifecycle. More information about this training course: Web Usability training.

How to carry out a usability expert review, February 17 2009, London

For people in design teams who need to spot usability problems in prototypes and finished products, "How to carry out a usability expert review" is a 1-day seminar that teaches delegates cost-effective methods to evaluate designs. Unlike courses in usability testing, this seminar teaches delegates how to find and fix usability problems without involving end users. More information about this training course: Expert review training.

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