This is an interesting UPA conference taking place in Italy this Dec. Check out the program/talks planned!
I will be there for sure! I am particularly interested in the 'managing design in organizations' , and the frame work which will be discussed!

Prices aren't too bad, especially if you are a UPA member.

Check full details here : UPA European Conference

        

Right , first things first I don't know if you guys know about this, but Nomensa have a cool monthly newsletter which has usabiltity news and information. Some of course related to their work but others are more about usability in general.  In this month's news letter they made a list of hot tips for creating accessible links, (list below). Quite useful really!

Sign up to the newsletter here : Nomensa Newsletter

"Creating clear and accessible links on your website can make the difference between a site's visitors becoming frustrated and leaving or spending time easily accessing the information they require. Below are Nomensa's top tips:

1. Each link should use clear and simple language that accurately indicates the page it leads to. Avoiding link phrases like “Click here” and “See More”.
2. Avoid pop-ups and links that open in a new browser window . If this cannot be avoided, a warning should be provided to the user that the link opens in a new window.
3. Provide skip links to allow a user to jump to particular blocks of content on the page. For example “Skip to main menu” and “Skip to content” will help a user to navigate the content on the page.
4. Avoid using keyboard shortcuts. These can often override the default browser functionality and clash with assistive technology shortcuts. If they are absolutely necessary, a numerical naming convention can be used.
5. When the destination of a link is in a different language from the current page, the natural language of a link should be specified using the hreflang=”” attribute. For example <a href=”#” hreflang=”fr”>French.</a>"

        

As most of us know, PDF files are not always seen as web friendly. In fact i have always disliked adding them to a website unless i really had to. Sometimes it's easier to with really big files,  and files i want to avoid people copying and pasting (although this is now easy to do with PDF's). Anyways i found this good post on how to make pdf's more web friendly and how they're not always so bad! ( with good pointers from Nielsen).

Some good points to consider when designing your new website.

Make PDF files web friendly

        

I recently started looking at Usability and SEO ( Search engine optimisation) and looking at the link between the 2 and how they are related to each other.

It's difficult to imagine that some people do not seem to understand how important it is when designing a website or a landing page that it needs to be both optimised (so that it appears in search engine and is found by the intended audience) but that also that it is engaging and easy to use, so that people would return to it. ( which would enhance it's rankings etc).

Having a usable website, which works well, is easy to use, and offers users a good user experience can then enhance return visits, increase conversion rates and improve your company image.

The web analytics collected can then be used to understand how users interact with a website, and by using usability methods we can start to understand why they interact the way they do.

And usability testing does not have to be time consuming or expensive, testing with 6 users can help us find up to 80% of website issues, and using software which is available today ( at less than $50 such as silver back) we can easly and quickly conduct tests to try and capture how users interact with our website and then work on improving it to meet the users needs.

There are no more excuses for usability to not be introduced as part of the design process!

Remember to involve the user!

        

I came across this post today and i was actually very surprised by it! It says that in your email address example "myemail@gmail.com" , you can put a dot anywhere in the user name, such as 'my.email@gmail.com" and it will still be delivered to you, as gmail does not recognise the dots.

i wonder how many people actually know about this??

I am lucky to not receive a lot of spam to my gmail, ( i.e. not as much as i do on Hotmail lol) but some people have told me that they do receive quite a lot of them. Could it be down to this magic dot??

Original Post

        

Althought landing pages maybe viewed as a website in some way. And although some of the same usability principles apply. Some are slighlty different. Here are some good articles on improving the usability of landing pages and helping improve conversion rates

Landing Pages 1

Landing Pages 2

Landing Pages 3

        

I found this article today, it's actually quite an old one but i found it very interesting
It raises some good points on how to conduct usability tests with participants, but i found most interesting some of the old experiments mentioned

Read the article here.

        

I came across this book by accident really, i wasn't even looking to buy a book. But i looked at the various Amazon reviews and based on the 4/5 stars and the user comments i decided it might be an interesting book to add to my collection.

And what can i say? i love it!

It explains things well, it's easy to read through and unlike other books, it actually explains the deliverables of web design projects and the various documents which are usually completed during a project life cycle.

For someone with many years in the industry, this book might seem too simple ( although i think it's still useful).
But for a beginner, i would definitely recommend this book! It describes the methods that are usually applied but also at what stage they are applied and how they fit into the project documentation. And let's face it, projects are full of documentation!

And at about £17 it's not expensive!

Check out the book's website : Communicating Design


Enjoy!

        

I found this blog post by Alex White, about usability and digital agencies. It highlights the issues faced when working for a digital agency and the need for usability testing when creating digital campaigns.

It highlights the typical issues of :No time, no budget and lack of understanding in some agencies but also discusses the need behind usability.

I think in the market today, even though these issues still exist, agencies are becoming more aware of the need of usability testing and the need for inhouse usability expert seems to be growing within agencies. ( you just have to check out the job boards as proof of this)

Read the full article at :  How to become a usability evangelist and why agencies can't afford not to

        

Today i heard of a new usability testing software by Clearleft - Silverback.

It is only for Mac users, so i am unable to test it out at the moment ( as i am on a PC at work) but keen to try it out at home later!

For $49 , i am unsure of how good it really is. But surely it's not about the software, but it's also about how you conduct the testing, how you select the participants and how you collect and use the data?

But any software that can help and without charging thousands, has to be a good thing?

Anyways, i went hunting online for a review of the software and found this cool review. So check it out and then decide if you also would like to try out the 30days trial version.

Full Article: Review of Clearleft's Silverback software - Usability Testing