Articles by Randolph G. Bias

Dr. Bias is a professor in the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin, a visiting scientist with the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, and principal with The Usability Team. He thinks usability/UX is the third leg (along with functionality and schedule) of the design/development stool.

The Tortoise and the (Soft)ware: Moore’s Law, Amdahl’s Law, and Performance Trends for Human-Machine Systems

Abstract Human interaction with computing and communication systems involves a mix of parallel and serial processing by the human-computer system. Moore’s Law provides an illustration of the fact that the performance of the digital components of any human-computer system has improved rapidly. But what of the performance of those human components? While we humans are […] [Read More]

Empirical Evaluation of a Popular Cellular Phone’s Menu System: Theory Meets Practice

Abstract A usability assessment entailing a paper prototype was conducted to examine menu selection theories on a small screen device by determining the effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction of a popular cellular phone’s menu system. Outcomes of this study suggest that users prefer a less extensive menu structure on a small screen device. The investigation […] [Read More]