Today is World Usability Day!

Today the usability community is sponsoring over 225 events in over 40 countries to raise awareness about usability, and to train professionals in the tools and issues central to good usability research, development and practice.

It's great to see the activities in which the CUA Central community is participating. Refer the link below to have a sneak preview on the CUA Community Events.

http://cua.humanfactors.com/profiles/blogs/what-are-you-doing-for-world

Prototyping in XHTML

So what does it mean to prototype with XHTML?

Essentially, it’s the process of using the XHTML itself, and related technologies, to evolve and define your design solution.

And what does an XHTML prototype look like?

While, as we’ll see, that depends on where you are in your prototyping process, an XHTML prototype generally looks like any other web page built with XHTML, with some links or features perhaps being non-functional.

In other words, anything you can build with XHTML, from consumer websites to enterprise applications, you can also prototype with XHTML. As we’ll see, there are numerous advantages to this approach compared to designing with wireframes or other prototyping tools.

Here's a nice article by Anders on same and talks about the same in detail.

Article Link: Prtotyping in XHTML

Source: Boxesandarrows.com

Beware of over-consistency: Amazon.com

An example of the Your / My conflict (if there a conflict) can be
seen on Amazon. If you select the "Your Account" link it takes you to a section sub-headed "Where's My Stuff". However, below it there are links such as "Change your name", "Forgot your Password?" etc.

Do people think it that:

(1) If "Your" is used then it should be consistent across all
links?

(2) or it is possible to have "Your" as the parent link and "My" as child links

Is there a conflict within Amazon or does it make perfect sense?

So the Moral of the story is: beware of over-consistency.
"Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds" - Emerson

Quick Turnaround Usability Testing

A new methodology for Quick Turnaround Usability Testing (QTUT) is being designed by usability practitioners that minimizes the time needed to complete usability testing.

Step wise activity that completes the process quickly is mentioned below:

Step 1: Sales & Kickoff
Step 2: Recruitment
Step 3: Preparation
Step 4: Testing
Step 5: Analysis & Reporting

A nice read that elaborates this approach for performing usability testing with minimal time for projects that demand quick release.

Refer to this article link for more insight: Quick Turnaround Usability Testing

Five Second Usability Test

The five second test is a simple usability test that helps you measure the effectiveness of your user interfaces.

Follow the url to test: five second test - A simple online usability test