A List of the top 10 best and most popular usability blog posts I wrote in 2009

As this year moves quickly to a close I thought it might be helpful to list the 10 best and most popular usability posts I wrote during 2009.  By best and most popular, I mean blogs that received the most re-tweets.

So, here are the top 10 of my best and most popular usability posts, ranked in descending order, enjoy!

1. 24 Usability Testing Tools – A detailed list of 24 usability testing tools, including pros, cons and pricing for each.
2. 7 Controversial Usability Predictions for 2010 – My seven controversial usability predictions for 2010. I have seven somewhat controversial usability predictions for the year 2010 I think you might be surprised to read.
3. 15 Valuable Usability PDFs You Never Heard Of – Here’s a list of 15 valuable Usability Papers in PDF form that you might not have heard of, but should know and can use.
4. 3 Pillars of Web Site Success – There are three pillars that comprise the foundation of any successful web site, including your web site. This is a brief overview of these 3 pillars, which are the requirement of a web site to be;  Findable, Trustable, Usable.
5. Be a Usability Zombie – Usability and zombies go together like Halloween and candy corn. Why? Because zombies do management techniques that you should copy and mimic.
6. eCommerce ROI: Why Usability ALWAYS Beats Advertising – The Return On Investment for eCommerce usability will always beat online advertising, because of the principle of amortized improved conversion.
7. eRetail and Usability: THE Perfect Definition – Use this funny yet perfect definition of usability in the eRetail space to get your CEO to do usability testing on the web site, to improve conversion and sales.
8. Main Navigation Types and Usability: Part 2, Vertical Navigation – This is part 2 of a series of articles on main navigation and usability. This article covers vertical menus.
9. 12 Really Useful Usability Books – A list of 12 really useful usability books worth reading, and re-reading that are on my bookshelf in my office.
10. Guest Blog, Susan Weinschenk: Top 10 Attributes of a Usable and Persuasive Web Site – What are the most important attributes of a web site that make it both usable and persuasive? Why do some web sites succeed in making us click while others result in abandonment? Guest blog author Susan Weinschenk reveals the answers.

If you don’t see your favorite usability blog post written by me in the above list that’s okay, just add a comment with a link to your favorite!

I wish you a very happy and healthy New Year!

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Fortune names BJ Fogg one of the next generation of management gurus.

In what should be considered earth-shaking news for usability practitioners everywhere, one of the most remarkable researchers of human computer interaction has been labeled a “next generation management guru” by Fortune magazine.

Why is this big news? Because BJ Fogg’s research has been required reading for any serious usability practitioner for years, and his research into the use of persuasive technologies directly impacts usability and how best practices are applied on web sites, and now on mobile devices such as cell phones. I can’t help but feel that if the Fortune magazine readers, business kings and queens of industry and part of the establishment, are now paying attention to someone we usability practitioners pay attention to, then that’s a clear indication that usability and the art of persuasion using technology will get even more serious attention from businesses in the near future.

But, I hear you thinking, “Well, that’s all fine for BJ Fogg, but what does that have to do with me? I’m just a regular usability practitioner, ya’ know?”

Ahhh, but it DOES have to do with you!

First, it can’t hurt to refresh your memory on some of the more critical findings Fogg and team have identified from a usability best-practices perspective. I’ve listed a few of my favorite studies below, please feel free to add yours if they’re not there.

Second, by taking this information and using it to persuade your business leaders or clients that Fortune is really on to something here, you can maybe, just maybe, get more attention on your usability projects than you used to, and might, just might, find yourself with a host of new usability projects!

So, here’s a few suggestions just off the top of my mind for how to make this news help you promote usability in your organization. Collect them, trade them or even better, add your own ideas or suggestions!

1. Be sure to forward the Fortune article to your boss or clients, and any marketing folks you may know. Nothing gets attention from business leaders faster than a mention in a well respected publication such as Fortune, or Business Week, or the NY Times, etc.

2. Brush up on BJ Fogg and the research his lab is working on. Do visit the Stanford Persuasive Technology lab website and read every page carefully, perhaps twice. There’s plenty of information there and it can’t hurt to brush up on not only the past research, but the latest Facebook and cell phone research they’ve been working on too.

3. It couldn’t hurt to spend time reading BJ Fogg’s book, “Persuasive Technology, Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do” if you’ve got some down time.

4. It also wouldn’t hurt to read his latest book, for which he was editor and co-author by the way on “Mobile Persuasion, 20 Perspectives on the Future of Behavior Change.” And in my opinion this is mandatory reading if you work in the Telecom industry by the way.

5. Wanna really impress your boss and/or co-workers? Give one of the above books to them as a Hanukkah or Christmas gift. Well, ok, maybe not. But it couldn’t hurt if they express some interest in the subject I guess! While you’re figuring out what to get your boss or co-workers for a gift, you might as well drop by BJ Fogg’s personal website and see what’s up with the latest Management Guru.

Smart companies have already figured out that humans use computers and websites to buy their products. Really smart companies have figured out that they a vested interest in making sure they do the best job they possibly can to provide a user-friendly experience for users who are using the company’s website to shop for products. With the advent of eCommerce on cell phones (did you know, by the way, that you can check in for your flight on American Airlines using nothing but your cell phone – no boarding pass print-out required?) it’s earth-shaking for us usability practitioners.

Here’s a few of my favorite BJ Fogg and team websites and studies. Please feel free to add yours if you don’t see it listed here:

Mobile Persuasion – Changing people’s beliefs and behaviors with mobile technology.

Stanford Facebook Class – Understanding the psychology of Facebook, and how applications and developers morph and in turn are morphed by users.

BJ Fogg’s Website – Just in case you missed the link above. Find out what BJ Fogg is up to, see his email and phone number, feel free to call him, but don’t expect him to answer your call, at least not right away.

BJ Fogg & Team Blog – Captology Notebook blog.

Stanford Web Creditibility Project Publications – Your one-stop shop for a listing of Stanford creditibility papers.

Prominence-interpretation theory: Explaining how people assess credibility online. Proceedings of CHI’03, Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 722-723. (2003)
Abstract – Four years of research has led to a theory that describes how people assess the credibility of Web sites. This theory proposes that users notice and interpret various Web site elements to arrive at an overall credibility assessment. Although preliminary, this theory explains previous research results and suggests directions for future studies.
ACM Digital Library or the Persuasive Technology Lab Report

How do users evaluate the credibility of Web sites? A study with over 2,500 participants. Proceedings of DUX2003, Designing for User Experiences Conference. (2003)
Abstract – In this study 2,684 people evaluated the credibility of two live Web sites on a similar topic (such as health sites). We gathered the comments people wrote about each site’s credibility and analyzed the comments to find out what features of a web site get noticed when people evaluate credibility. We found that the design look of the site was mentioned most frequently, being present in 46.1% of the comments. Next most common were comments about information structure and information focus. In this paper we share sample participant comments in the top 18 areas that people noticed when evaluating Web site credibility. We discuss reasons for the prominence of design look, point out how future studies can build on what we have learned in this new line of research, and outline six design implications for human-computer interaction professionals.
ACM Digital Library or the Expanded Consumer WebWatch Report

Experts vs. online consumers: A comparative credibility study of health and finance Web sites. Consumer WebWatch Research Report. (2002)
Abstract – Consumers are faced with important decisions about the information sources that they choose to believe for making important health or financial decisions. Do these everyday people know which Web sites are really credible, especially in vital areas such as finance and health? What do industry experts say about the credibility of sites in their fields? And, finally, how do the experts’ assessments compare to how the average person decides which sites to trust? To answer these credibility-related questions, Sliced Bread Design and Consumer Reports WebWatch produced this expert study, titled Experts vs. Online Consumers: A Comparative Credibility Study of Health and Finance Web Sites, in collaboration with Stanford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab (Stanford PTL).
Consumer Reports WebWatch Report

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Here’s a handy tool I love to use, it’s a government web site devoted to Content, and it’s (believe it or not) full of good content.

If usability is all about delivering an easy and satisfying experience to users, then surely good usability implies the core of the experience, the content, be good too. But let’s face it, useful, easy to use and satisfying content is not all that easy to create. Need some tips on how to create and deploy good content? Well, look no further than the United States government, which has an easy-to-use and satisfying web site devoted to content (with some good bits about usability and technology thrown in as well).

The resource is http://www.webcontent.gov/, and I heartily recommend it for both new and experienced usability practitioners.

In webcontent.gov, you’ll find several sections of helpful tips and information, and actually the website itself is a good example of content done well.

Sections include:

• Requirements & Best Practices: Mostly around information for those having to create or manage Government web sites, but good information on best practices for just about anyone.
• Usability & Design: One of my favorite sections and full of links to good content on usability issues. Especially of note is the Section 508 content with links to examples of how to create compliant web sites, and best practices for maximizing Accessibility.
• Improving Your Website: Lots of helpful information and tips on evaluating and measuring websites with an eye toward what information will help you improve yours.
• Managing Content: Probably the best section in the site and full of lots of tips on how to keep your content user-friendly, helpful and fresh.
• Management & Governance: A topic not often covered, so a helpful resource for best practices in managing sites, I especially like the policies and procedures section.
• Resources & Tools: Check out the Training & Workshops section, many workshops are government only, but there’s quite a few listed that anyone can attend.
• Getting Started: This has a great source of content about knowing your audience and the various types of research that can be conducted to understand who they are and what they need.

I’ve found little gems like this website can come in very handy when trying to identify best practices or otherwise research content topics. I hope you’ll find it helpful from time to time too!

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Are you interested in getting the latest information on the field of usability and user-centered design? There’s a few conferences and seminars around that you might wish to check out. Here’s a list of a few you might want to consider, just in case you decide to get out of your cube (or home-office) to hob-nob with other usability geeks (I’m of course including myself in that geek category):

HFI Putting Research into Practice Courses:

First and foremost, I am an advocate of the HumanFactors International “Putting Research into Practice” courses. They are 2 day courses that review the latest usability and related research, but then provide the “so what” of what it all means to you and your day to day practice of usability.

User Interface Engineering Events:

Usability guru Jared M Spool and his team wows us with usability insights and best practices. Do you read his blog? I do! Anyway, you can hang-out and hob-nob with the UIE team in the flesh and blood, and a host of other usability practitioners, at the UIE annual User Interface Conferences.

Usability Professionals Association Conference:

I’m a member of the UPA, and proud of it, and you may wish to consider joining if you are also interested in usability and user-centered design. But you don’t have to be a member to register and attend their premier conference, the UPA International Conference.

Other Usability Events:

Here’s a few other organizations that have either conferences or seminars you may want to learn more about. By the way this list comes from that excellent Usability.gov resource I mentioned, see how helpful that site is?

Web Manager University Training Program (formerly Usability University Seminar Series)

Society for Technical Communication (STC)

American Society for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) Conferences

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Conferences

Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Groups (ACM SIGs) Events and Conferences

Society for Technical Communication (STC), Washington, DC Chapter, Calendar of Chapter Events

So, now that you’ve got the information don’t be a loner! Get out there and do the social, er, I mean educational scene and learn about the latest and greatest happenings in usability and user-centered design! Remember, feeding your brain with updated usability research makes you a better and more rounded usability practitioner.

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Usability.gov, a Handy Usability Resource

Did you know there are useful usability tips, templates and user-centered design information available for FREE at a easy-to-use .gov site? The one that stands out in my mind, and there are a few that stand out, is http://www.usability.gov/.

http://www.usability.gov/ is a useful place to find easy and helpful information about usability and user centered design. Intended primarily for Government agencies and contractors, it nevertheless has excellent content for anyone interested in usability.

Usability.gov has an easy and useful information architecture. Major sections walk you though the usability process with a Step by Step usability guide. Sections include; Plan, Analzye, Design and Test & Refine.

Another way to get to specific content is through the Usability Topics sections, which are:

• Usability & Government - A section designed to help Government employees or contractors create or optimize government websites.
• Usability Basics - Provides an overview of usability along with answers to many usability questions.
• Research-based Guidelines - A treasure-trove of almost 300 pages of PDF guidelines on how to design user-friendly web sites including topics on navigation, content, search and plenty more.
• Templates & Examples - Free downloadable templates that can be used to manage just about all aspects of usability, usability testing and user-centered design.
• Usability Methods - A list and definition of various usability and user-centered design methods.

The site also has newsletters, alas the last and only 2008 edition was published in April. There’s an RSS feed, again not used very often at all in the past year or so, and information about meetings and events, which is current.

Advanced usability gurus may not find anything new or different there, but beginner usability practitioners could find it a real help as they begin conducting user-centered design. Even experts should find it refreshing to review the information just to see what’s there and how it’s presented. By the way, for all you who are interested in Search Engine Optimization, you’ll find that the web site itself offers plenty of best practices demonstrated quite well for you too.

Be sure to save http://www.usability.gov/ in your favorites or bookmarks, I’m betting you’ll find it a handy resource to refer to from time to time. Enjoy!

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