November 19, 2006 by Greg Schuessler.

I was reading some design and usability Websites today and came across an interersting article by Matthew Magain titled “Usability Double-whammy!”. 

“Do you need to be an expert, with academic credentials to be able to apply this stuff [usability]?”, he asks.  My reply would be no you do not need to be an expert, however when working with a design and usability specialist you can bring years of experience and specialized knowledge to the table. 

I agree that IT professionals should learn usability best practices, however with all of the specialties in IT it is always smart to bring on an expert from the field when working on a larger project. 

In the end, the article Usability Double-whammy! seems to me to be more of an advertisement for their product, however it sure doesn’t hurt if IT professionals have a baseline of knowledge when it comes to usability.

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November 19, 2006 by Greg Schuessler.

St. Louis design and usability professionals and University of Missouri-Rolla professors and students participated in the 2006 World Usability Day which was held at the St. Louis Science Center on November 14, 2006. 

Participants tested their skills at setting various alarm clocks, provided usability feedback about the Science Center Web site and experience other interactive displays.

World Usability Day promotes the value of usability testing and user-centered design. 

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