Usability Testing and Research (Part of the Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication) (Technical Communication)

Editorial Review:

Built on a solid foundation of current research in the field, Usability Testing and Research provides a comprehensive, up-to-date perspective in this increasingly important area of technical communication. Based on the most current research in the field, this book reflects the most recent developments and studies on this topic available. Sidebars throughout the book catch the attention of the readers and highlight key concepts in the text. A chapter on web testing provides coverage of what is now the hottest area in usability testing. End of chapter discussions and exercises reinforce learning. Frequent examples of planning, conducting, and reporting usability tests present current samples of projects. An appendix on teamwork gives pertinent advice in an area neglected by other texts: building and coordinating cross-functional teams for usability testing. For those interested in usability testing and research.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

Worst usability book I've ever read: bad for students, bad for practitioners.:

I'm frankly startled at the universally positive reviews for this book. As a full-time usability researcher and an alumnus of Apple's human interface technologies team, I felt this to be one of the worst books on usability I've ever read. I could not possibly recommend it for either academic or professional purposes.
I'm going to limit specific comments to just the first 10 pages of this book. Critiquing the remainder would warrant a full dissertation, not an Amazon review.
1) Subpar... more info

Excellent introduction to usability testing:

Most of the existing books about usability testing are ten years old. While these books have a lot to offer a current student of user-centred design and usability testing, some students find them too out-of-date to be taken seriously. This book addresses that issue. The audience for the book is clearly for those who are new to usability and usability testing. However, experienced professionals will find a fair amount of information that is useful to them as well.

The first four chapters form an... more info

A solid textbook on usability testing that includes web:

It's been a long time since we've had a new textbook on usability testing. Dumas and Redish came out in 1993, Rubin in 1994 and although I still use both of them constantly, I've been looking out for a solid textbook that has more awareness of the web in it. Carol Barnum's new book meets that need.

The book opens with chapters on `What is Usability and What is Usability Testing', `Other Methods for Getting Feedback About Product Usability', `User and Task Analysis', and `Iterative Testing for User-Centred... more info

STC Usability SIG review:

I am the Usability SIG Manager for the Washington, DC chapter of the STC (Society for Technical Communication). I wrote this review which was published in the October 2002 edition of the Usability Interface, the quarterly newsletter of the Usability SIG of the STC.

Don�t be fooled by the somewhat unmemorable cover of Usability Testing and Research. Carol Barnum combines research findings with practitioner experience to produce probably the most comprehensive but concise resources on usability testing... more info

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