Recommendations on recommendations

ABSTRACT

This interactive session discusses the quality of recommendations for improving a user interface resulting from a usability evaluation. Problems with the quality of recommendations include recommendations that are not actionable, ones that developers are likely to misunderstand, and ones that may not improve the overall usability of the application. The session will discuss characteristics of useful and usable recommendations, that is, recommendations for solving usability problems that lead to changes that efficiently improve the usability of a product. To make the session as useful as possible we have deliberately left 2-3 panel seats open for people with demonstrated abilities in writing useful and usable recommendations. We intend to fill these seats through a pre-conference contest.

REFERENCES

• 1: Joseph S. Dumas , Rolf Molich , Robin Jeffries, Describing usability problems: are we sending the right message?, interactions, v.11 n.4, July + August 2004 [doi>10.1145/1005261.1005274]
• 2: Rolf Molich , Meghan R. Ede , Klaus Kaasgaard , Barbara Karyukin, Comparative usability evaluation, Behaviour & Information Technology, v.23 n.1, p.65-74, January-February 2004 [doi>10.1080/0144929032000173951]
• 3: Molich, R., Comparative usability evaluation -- CUE. http://www.dialogdesign.dk/cue.html.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Evaluation/methodology

General Terms:
Human Factors

Keywords:
evaluation, usability comment, usability recommendation, usability test problems, usability testing