What do you want VU to be?

[Chad Nantais]

Stephan and I were discussing these questions:

-is it clear to potential members that this group's focus is web
usability (rather than conventional desktop applications or product
design)?
-do you agree that web usability should be the focus, or is that too
restrictive?

We welcome your feedback on these questions, since we are in the
"defining" stage.

Thanks,

Chad

--
Chad Nantais
http://myspace.com/chadnantais

[Kevin Snell]

At first glance, restricting it to just web usability makes sense.
However, I would offer up the argument that with the advent of things
like Ajax, conventional usability techniques and approaches are
making their way to the web, especially in web applications (of
course). Discussion of conventional UI/usability certainly could only
help in our discussions of web usability. However, I wouldn't want to
see this discussion group become bogged down in conventional
application discussion. Maybe leaving it open but having some tighter
moderation on non-web usability discussion would be in order? Someone
keeping us on the right "path" so to speak (whatever that is). In
fact, I think our initial discussions may very well be surrounding
ground-work issues such as terminology, overall direction,
directional guidance (if any), moderation, what we expect to get out
of this group, etc.

Just my 2 cents.

On that note, I would like to recommend a book: Steve Krug's "Don't
Make Me Think". The "bible" of web usability. Some of you are
probably already familiar with it but those that haven't read it
should definitely check it out. Heck, it should be required reading
for participation in this group :)

Kevin.

[Chad Nantais]

Thanks Kevin.

I guess a more focused question than my original two would be this:
What do you want from your participation in VU?

To which, I, personally, would answer:
To enhance the usability of my web applications and help others do the same.

To me, the qualities that define a usable web application include:
-responsiveness
-satisfaction
-fluidity
-minimal time/effort needed to learn the interface
-minimal physical strain (eyes, hands) (could argue this is
ergonomics, but it does effect usability)
-fat-free, with no unnecessary frills or obstacles

Kevin, would you swap your "Don't Make Me Think" for my "Prioritizing
Web Usability" by Nielsen (Chapters: http://tinyurl.com/265sq3)?

Chad

[Greg Andrews]

Given that the majority of new app development is web based, it's
inevitable that any usability group would gravitate towards web
usability issues.

-Greg

[Andrew]

Great qualities, Chad.

>
> To me, the qualities that define a usable web application include:
> -responsiveness
> -satisfaction
> -fluidity
> -minimal time/effort needed to learn the interface
> -minimal physical strain (eyes, hands) (could argue this is
> ergonomics, but it does effect usability)
> -fat-free, with no unnecessary frills or obstacles

I wonder, would accessibility fall under this "umbrella" as well?

-andrew

[Chad Nantais]

Yes, Andrew. I would say that accessibility falls under the usability
umbrella. In fact, several industrial designs that were meant to
solve accessibility problems have been adopted by general users for
the very reason that they enhance usabilty (eg. single-handled faucet;
speech recognition).

To me, the essence of usability (web and otherwise) is this:
if all technologies are extensions of our bodies, then these
technologies can be made more effective (usable) by removing "all that
is not" part of such an extension. The most recent example of this
is the iPhone losing the keypad in favour of direct touch manipulation
via the screen.

Chad