The Discipline

The practice of usability engineering and interaction design.

2006 Jan	Frustration and Hope on the Usability Frontier The web’s inhibition and facilitation of advances in usability (inaugural post)
2007 Apr	Misusability Bad user research and the rejection of UCD
2008 Feb	Empirical Visions Theory, the art of design, and the science of usability
2008 Nov	Apple: I Call BS Skepticism on the iPhone hoopla, and the real secret of Apple’s success
2009 Sep	Chicago School of Design The benefits to research of producing UI designs early in the software development process
2010 May	Stat 101 What every user experience professional needs to know about statistics and usability tests.

Basics

Good principles and techniques used, disused, and misused.

2006 Mar	The Power of Layout Using control position and boundaries to communicate function to your users
2006 Aug	What Have You Done for Your Power Users Lately? Elements to make your apps usable by expert users too
2007 May	Delivery Spectrum Understanding interaction styles to make your UIs richer
2007 Oct	Wasteland Vista What Microsoft did wrong with Vista’s design, and how you can avoid the same fate
2008 Aug	Controlling Your Controls Using disabling, hiding, message boxes, and more to control availability to actions and guide your users
2009 Mar	Designed to Fail Instability and unreliability, and what UX designers can do about it
2010 Jan	Life, the User Interface, and Everything Timeless lessons in usability from the restaurant at the end of the universe

Challenges

Design problems and pragmatic solutions.

2006 Sep	Agents in Control Automation problems in personal computers
2007 Jan	Simple Simplicity Reducing complexity while maintaining capability
2007 Jul	Graphics of Distinction Applying principles of human visual processing to maximize findability and minimize clutter effects in your windows and web pages
2008 May	Expecting the Unexpected Designing for user flexibility, and allowing for the knowable and unknowable
2009 Jan	Beauty and the Beast Finding the right compromise and synergy between aesthetics and function
2009 Nov	Disconnected Designing for intimacy: Beyond today’s social apps
2010 Sep	Achieving and Balancing Consistency in User Interface Design Analytically estimating the impact of inconsistency in order to make design trade-offs.

Visions

Departures from current practices and thinking.

2006 Feb	Task-centered Versus Object-centered UI Structures Designing your UI around tasks versus designing around objects
2006 Jun	Documents and Databases The Scale of Content of Windows in Database Applications
2007 Mar	Object Control Achieving consistency and compatibility between form-based and object-based user interfaces.
2007 Dec	Taking Panes Putting multiple table and page layouts to use to provide user flexibility, simplicity of operation, and task support.
2008 Oct	Coded, Compacted, Contrasting Controls The visual design of controls for better contrast, use of space, and representation of behaviors.
2009 Nov	Putting the G into GUI Using graphics rather than text to represent data for superior user performance.
2010 Mar	Putting the (X,Y) into GUI Realizing the full potential of GUIs by coding data with position.

Browser and Beyond

Designs and issues from the web.

2006 Apr	As Good As 1995 What you need in a web app to match the usability of a thick client
2006 Dec	Links and Other Wrong Controls Why links and buttons are not interchangeable, and what to do with dropdown lists for navigation
2007 Nov	Navigation Structure Diagrams Proposed drawing conventions for depicting a web site for designers, developers, and clients
2008 Sep	Goodbye Back Button Rich web apps, a need for Undo, and rethinking what the Back button should be for and what it should do
2009 May	Web Abuse How bad web design makes it harder to make good designs
2010 Jul	Turn the Page Optimal models of navigation for web apps and a return to single-document interface windows

Menus and Toolbars

Problems with menus and toolbars today, and a new vision.

2006 May	End of the Line for the Menubar and Toolbar? Menus are failing our users (series intro)
2006 May	Menus in the Mist Poor organization and naming in menus
2006 Sep	Toolbar FUBAR Why Toolbars are the wrong tool for the job
2007 Jun	Redundant Menus of Redundancy Making menus and toolbars more usable by treating items as attributes
2008 Mar	Second Place Ribbon How the Ribbon solves some of the problems for the menubar and toolbar, but ultimately not enough of them
2009 Feb	Menu Bank Shot The menu bank: A replacement for the traditional menubar and toolbar

Learning from Lusers

Design lessons from the users below the10th percentile.

2006 Jul	Learning from Lusers What we can learn from lusers (series intro)
2006 Jul	Of Mice and Metaphors How users use analogies to understand software
2007 Feb	Of ‘Puters and Proximity How users use proximity to understand software
2008 Jan	Of Magic and Machines Providing power while minimizing the need to understand software
2008 Dec	Of Technology and Terms Using terms the user understands
2009 Oct	Of Dialogs and Detritus Why users don’t read errors and warnings, featuring the Gallery of Pointless Messages
2010 Jun	Of Windows and Workarounds Sometimes luserhood is a cry for help.

Non-HCI

Human factors outside personal computers software UI.

2006 Nov	PowerPoint Manifesto Making engaging effective presentation slides without gimmicks
2008 Jun	The Revenge of Old Tech Improving the usability of digital devices with lessons from mechanical and electrical technology
2009 Dec	Shoes for the Shoemaker Design ideas for a more ergonomic computer workstation

April 1st

Don’t believe everything you see on the web.

2006 Apr	Wizards Can we trust them?
2007 Apr	Security Bites Better than triple-DES is…
2008 Apr	World’s First Usability Engineer An exclusive interview
2009 Apr	Aliens, UFOs, Conspiracies, Bah! Nonsense about extraterrestrials and the government
2010 Apr	Singularity An historic nanosecond from the future