GUI Bloopers: Don'ts and Do's for Software Developers and Web Designers
This book cuts right to the core of the most common interface problems, offering real-world advice to the computer software programmer.
TABLE OF CONTENTS GUI Bloopers: Don'ts and Do's for Software Developers and Web Designers
How This Book Was Usability Tested
Why test the book?
This book places great importance on testing the usability of products as early as possible in the development process and as often as is feasible along the way. Indeed, the book lambastes developers who don't usability-test their products before releasing them into the marketplace. It would therefore have been hypocritical of me to write and publish this book without making an effort to test its usability on people who are representative of the intended (hoped for) readership.
Reviewing is not usability testing
When this book was initially proposed to the publisher and while it was being written, outlines and drafts of it were of course sent to designated reviewers to evaluate and comment upon. The reviewers were, in general, experienced user-interface professionals. Some were professors and industrial researchers; others were user-interface designers or usability testers working either for companies or as consultants. All of the reviewers were well familiar with the process of reviewing book drafts from years of experience reviewing other books and articles, and having their own books and articles reviewed. Getting input from people who are peers or even superior of a book's author is standard practice for technical books. However, this sort of reviewing does not constitute a valid usability test of this book, for two reasons:
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The reviewers normally solicited by the publisher are not really the intended readers of this book. The primary intended readers are software developers who often work without professional user-interface support. A second group of intended readers are...
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