Joe Dumas, Marilyn Tremaine

This issue features an editorial by Jeff Johnson and Austin Henderson who argue that the usefulness and usability of software is declining. They point out that there is an increasing number of products that have interactive software integrated into them and that the companies that make those products do not have user experience expertise. The […] [Read More]

Jeff Johnson, Austin Henderson

One would think that by now that software applications, online services, and electronic appliances that are poorly designed and difficult to learn and operate would be a thing of the past. After thirty years of CHI conferences, twenty years of UPA conferences, and countless books, articles, and websites about usability and interaction design, shouldn’t all […] [Read More]

Eva Siegenthaler, Yves Bochud, Pascal Wurtz, Laura Schmid, Per Bergamin

Abstract Although reading is the main function of electronic reading devices (e-readers), previous studies demonstrated that a critical factor for perceived legibility is the usability of the device. If users have problems with the handling of a device, they will not like using the device for reading. Therefore, easy handling is a critical factor for […] [Read More]

Erika Noll Webb, Gayathri Balasubramanian, Ultan Ó’Broin, Jayson M. Webb

Abstract In the Oracle Fusion User Assistance group, we are always interested in how to communicate information more effectively to users. In this particular set of studies, we wanted to study the use of comics as user assistance. Comics are easy to create with a number of free, online tools. Two studies examined how comics […] [Read More]