Usability Engineering (Interactive Technologies)

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   従来の家電製品や産業機械の操作インタフェースは、シンプルな機能をシンプルな操作で実現することができた。しかし、Webサイトにおいては、機能が複雑になってきているにもかかわらず、ユーザーが使いやすいインタフェースの解決手法はまだ定まっていない。

   本書は、Webユーザビリティの第一人者であるヤコブ・ニールセンが、ユーザビリティ エンジニアリングについてまとめた解説書である。内容が時代に対して早すぎたのか、原書『Usability Engineering』の翻訳本は、一度絶版になっていたが、今回再版されることとなった。本書のおもな内容は、「概論」、「ユーザビリティとは？」、「ユーザーインタフェースの世代」、「ユーザビリティエンジニアリングのライフサイクル」、「ユーザビリティヒューリステック評価」、「ユーザビリティテスト」、「テスト以外のユーザビリティ評価手法」、「インターフェース標準」、「国際的なユーザーインタフェース」などとなっている。

   ユーザビリティの具体的な評価手法や問題点だけでなく、本格的なユーザビリティテストを行えない場合の評価手法にまで言及している。巻末の付録には、ユーザビリティエンジニアリングの重要点を理解するための練習課題が収録されており、研修の教材へ応用できる。また、ユーザビリティに興味がある幅広い読者層におすすめできる。（大塚佳樹）

Product Description

Written by the author of the best-selling HyperText & HyperMedia, this book is an excellent guide to the methods of usability engineering. The book provides the tools needed to avoid usability surprises and improve product quality. Step-by-step information on which method to use at various stages during the development lifecycle are included, along with detailed information on how to run a usability test and the unique issues relating to international usability.

* Emphasizes cost-effective methods that developers can implement immediately
* Instructs readers about which methods to use when, throughout the development lifecycle, which ultimately helps in cost-benefit analysis.
* Shows readers how to avoid the four most frequently listed reasons for delay in software projects.
* Includes detailed information on how to run a usability test.
* Covers unique issues of international usability.
* Features an extensive bibliography allowing readers to find additional information.
* Written by an internationally renowned expert in the field and the author of the best-selling HyperText & HyperMedia.

Amazon.com Review

An authoritative text by one of the premier researchers in usability engineering in the 1990s, Jakob Nielsen's Usability Engineering provides a landmark guide to software design that has helped bring this area of research into the mainstream of computing. "Usability" is the measurement of how easy or difficult it is to be productive with a piece of software. It often looks at the user interface--what elements appear onscreen and how efficient, confusing, and/or intuitive they are for beginning, intermediate, and advanced users. "Usability engineering" is the formal study of usability. It grew out of research on human factors, which looked at the way people interact with their environment.

The best thing about this book is its concise, cut-to-the-chase approach when defining usability and ways to measure and improve it. As the author notes, in the old days of computing, documents that attempted to define usability might have over 1,000 rules. The author offers just a handful of guiding principles for creating better software that apply even today. (Published just before the Internet revolution, this book's principles still hold true for Web designers, as well as those who create more traditional applications.)

Throughout this text, the author argues for the benefits of improved software usability. With software use as with all things, time is money and making more efficient interfaces translates into lower personnel costs and more productivity. The book also does a fine job of integrating usability design into the software development process, with guides for planning, working with end users, and running tests with users (whether on videotape or in person). The 50-page bibliography attests to the author's previous research on usability.

For anyone who needs to create better, more efficient software, Usability Engineering can help. This clear and intelligent guide to the science of usability engineering has helped enhance the potential of computers to work with end users more efficiently. In the new century, software developers will undoubtedly seek new advances in usability, in part because of the groundwork laid by books like this one. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Usability basics, measuring usability, types of users, history of user interfaces, the usability engineering lifecycle, design techniques, heuristics and hints for improving usability, testing, managing user tests, assessing usability, interface standards, internationalization, and Computer-Aided Usability Engineering (CAUSE) tools.