I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce
myself. I'm Lisa Halabi, the new addition to the happy gang that
is called The Usability Company (TUC). I hark from a background in
usability and ergonomics. I approached TUC already knowing Marty
Carroll from our shared time spent on the Usability Professionals
Association Committee and Catriona Campbell from various speaking
events. It really is a very small field, but getting bigger by the
day. It was obvious to me that TUC are going places and have a
good reputation in the field.
After a brief orientation I find myself already working on a
large Usability Evaluation for a major central government web
site. Nothing like being dropped running then!
So, it's always a bit daunting when you start at a new company.
It's the little things that can make you look really daft, like
not knowing where the toilets are or how to operate the door's
intercom system. This got me to thinking: it's a bit like
usability really. Technology has the amazing ability to make users
feel incapable or embarrassed, especially when trying something
for the first time. Yet I'm always amazed at the ease with which
people will blame themselves for not being able to do something.
It is human nature to believe that we must be at fault or
that we are in some way below average intelligence if something
doesn't work like we expected. I have a mantra; there are no
bad users, just badly designed interfaces. If a user can't
easily navigate their way around or find what they're after
quickly and efficiently, then the chances are the design is at
fault, not them.
It's a good job I'm so passionate about making things simple
and easy to use. I often find myself getting increasingly
frustrated with new technologies, which just don't seem to work
the way I expect them too. Often they're too complicated and too
much bother to figure out. It just doesn't seem worth it
sometimes. In our busy hectic lifestyles most people don't have
the time to read the manual, look at the help pages or even go for
training. Even if they did, who wants to! Wouldn't it be better if
things were so intuitive and easy to use that they could be picked
up as you go along? Good design is invisible, you don't notice it
when it works, but when it doesn't you soon know about it. My job
is to make technology invisible so you don't even notice how easy
it was. Then I know I'm doing my job well. If you're not thinking
about it, then it's worked.
So I'm happy to be aboard and look forward to working with some
of you in the future.
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