USEworthy November 2001
The monthly Newsletter from The Usability Company

Welcome. Our aim is to give a monthly overview of the main events and debates in the Usability world. We also hope to provide a good introduction to the code for those of you new to the concept in the form of a multipart introduction, Usability, an introduction. This month we are highlighting interactive TV and we've got the low down on Jakob Nielsen's latest exploits in the UK. Enjoy.

i-TV the new usability frontier

With the looming government plans to turn off the nation's analogue television signal between 2006 and 2010 i-TV is rapidly becoming a major frontier of usability practice. If, as expected 99.4% of the population is within range of the new digital signals and 95% have access to digital receiving equipment, i-TV is set to become as integral to British life as the telephone. A simple comparison between i-TV and the Internet proves this beyond doubt.

In 2000, Internet penetration in the UK rose dramatically by 12% to 34%. Digital TV penetration is 30%, around 7 million, which could look unfavourable when compared to Internet penetration. However, in less than a year, digital television has been installed in about the same number of households as the Internet has in five years. By 2008, digital television is expected to reach 18.5m households.

With the established presence of just a handful of pioneering retailers offering their services or promoting their wares, this virgin market is bracing itself for an explosive migration of business to the medium. Imminent launches are expected from Virgin Trains, Orange and Egg on top of this, interactive adverts from the likes of Orange, Eurostar, Boots and Britannia will deepen the offering to viewers of ITV Digital.

What role is usability to play in this? Well the answer is quite simple Where the internet evolved from small and personal sites into global brands, the conventions of design evolved with usability. Of course there were mistakes along the way, but the medium could afford this as there were so many operators. i-TV however is a different prospect, where the internet was a village market of stalls and local traders, i-TV is an enormous Mall, where every major retailer will need to consider a presence and where the setup costs can be huge.

Usability in this climate of big names competing in users living rooms requires a service which is usable to every member of a family, and easy enough for those without the tools of a computer or knowledge of digital shopping to master at their first transaction.

Traditionally usability studies involve one user at a time, but as we all know, television is a social medium and debates can begin over something as simple as choosing between Eastenders and Brookside. For this reason the format of testing must be examined and honed quickly and effectively. The frontier is open, and there is a looming rush for the new market, Usability specialists will have a major say in the eventual profile of i-TV and it is up to them to make it as easy to navigate as possible.

The Great Debate

Discount Usability vs. Usability Gurus

In an uncertain climate, the trend amongst agencies of adopting usability as an additional offering has sparked debate across the board in the world of usability specialists. As the various usability bodies in the UK (The British HCI group and UKUPA) mull over the possible introduction of accreditation schemes, an older subject again comes to the fore: when a company needs to look at its usability, who should they call? An established guru or commission a quick fix look at the offering?

Fortunately the majority of British Usability specialists tend to deliver a comprehensive user test of platforms conducted by qualified HCI consultants, but as the market grows and attracts discount practitioners, the issue of accreditation becomes more and more pressing.

Jakob Nielsen in the UK

Jakob Nielsen the guru of web page usability (New York Times) was recently in the UK presenting as key note speaker Internet Magazine's "Building Successful Web Sites" conference at the QE2 conference centre in London. Catriona Campbell CEO of The Usability Company also spoke at the conference where subjects raised and discussed were aimed at introducing SMEs to the importance of usable sites in the pursuit of profit. Jakob Nielsen continued his crusade against "evil" by berating the still common errors of designers and content suppliers on the internet. Nielsen described the worldwide web as "Evil, lazy and Stupid" he cited the pop up ads that mimic error boxes as evil.

Laziness was to be found closer to Nielsen's home, his own page in fact, he berated the chronological arrangement of articles stating that users seldom searched for his articles by date, but by subject matter. Stupidity on the Web was possibly the most commercially hazardous area, businesses consistently neglected to tell users when their trial period on a piece of software would expire and more annoying to Jakob Nielsen, service agencies who gave little indication of price. The conclusions of Usability's Godfather was that Web evolution would soon sort these problems out as their stupidity, laziness and evil would be their own undoing, in his own form of electronic Darwinism, it seems that Nielsen believes, only the usable will survive.

Usability: An Introduction

Part I. In this multipart introduction to Usability we will provide the insider knowledge and resources that will build to give you a complete and practical overview of the usability profession.

This month we provide a list of basic reading for you, with a selection from some of the best usability sites on the web.

Usability is a science which employs a host of advanced methods of testing (often referred to as Human Computer Interaction), from psychological analysis of the relationship between humans and computers to experimental contrast design, all aimed at maximizing the benefits we receive from our various and multiple screen technologies.

Born in an era of military research, usability was the science used to hone machinery such as jet planes to the maximum benefit of the user. As the years progressed, usability was adopted by the telecommunications industry and in turn the computer world.

Today, with online transactions becoming an everyday occurrence, usability has found its place in the development of user friendly and effective interfaces.

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