Introduction to Volume 4, Issue 2

Welcome to the second issue of volume 4 of JUS! Usability engineering has always been about cost-effectiveness and visible added value. However, with the global economy crisis we are facing now, usability engineering may be one of the first to suffer. In a very timely manner, Tom Tullis shares experience-based and well-informed insights and tips […] [Read More]

Tips for Usability Professionals in a Down Economy

Abstract The usability profession is experiencing the current economic downturn just like everyone else. This article offers ten tips for usability professionals trying to weather this economic storm: Be More Efficient with Your Usability Tests Get More Data with Less Work Deepen Your Usability Skills Broaden Your Other Skills Demonstrate Business Value Keep up on […] [Read More]

Usability of Electronic Medical Records

Abstract Health care costs represent a significant percentage of a country’s GDP. Implementing electronic medical records (EMR) systems are a popular solution to reducing costs, with the side benefit of providing better care. Unfortunately, 30% of EMR system implementations fail, often because physicians cannot use the EMRs efficiently. User experience problems, based on our experience […] [Read More]

Usability Testing with Real Data

Abstract Usability practitioners run the risk of misreading the results of usability evaluations, either identifying false positives when artificial user data interferes with a user’s product experience or overlooking real problems when they use artificial user data. In this paper, we examine a strategy for incorporating users’ real data in usability evaluations. We consider the […] [Read More]

Flexible Hardware Configurations for Studying Mobile Usability

Abstract The main challenges for mobile usability labs, as measurement instruments, lay not so much on being able to record what happens on the user interface, but capturing the interactional relationship between the user and the environment. An ideal mobile usability lab would enable recording, with sufficient accuracy and reliability, the user’s deployment of gaze, […] [Read More]