“Hear from World Usability Day 2005 event leaders the impact their programs had on their community and what’s on tap for 2006! Everyone was asked to introduce themselves, tell us about their World Usability Day event in 2005, the impact it had on their community and what their plans are for 2006.” (UPA World Usability Day – Nov. 14, 2006) – courtesy of keithinstone

“Don’t run your studies for the benefit of the people in the observation room. Test to discover the truth about the design, even when user tasks are boring to watch.” (Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox)

“Using a linear diagram to plot data from website traffic logs can lead you to overlook important conclusions. Sometimes advanced visualizations are worth the effort.” (Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox)

“Optimize Web pages for 1024×768, but use a liquid layout that stretches well for any resolution, from 800×600 to 1280×1024.” (Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox)

“The relative popularity of a site’s pages, the number of visitors referred by other sites, and the traffic from search queries continue to follow a Zipf distribution.” (Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox)

“When collecting usability metrics, testing 20 users typically offers a reasonably tight confidence interval.” (Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox)

“Post-conference page with links to speaker slides and resources.” (The Usability Professionals’ Association)

“Newsletter usability has increased since our last study, but the competition for users’ attention has also grown with the ever-increasing glut of information.” (Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox)

“User testing shows that business-to-business websites have substantially lower usability than mainstream consumer sites. If they want to convert more prospects into leads, B2B sites should follow more guidelines and make it easier for prospects to research their offerings.” (Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox)

“This study assesses the usability of homepages of three leading Chinese retail banks from a user’s perspective. For comparison, three western banks are selected, one each a leading retail bank from Australia, the UK, and the USA.” (Ming Zhao – Apogee) – courtesy of danielszuc

“The Usability Body of Knowledge (BoK) project is dedicated to creating a living reference that represents the collective knowledge of the usability profession. Preliminary work has started, but there is more to do. This website introduces the subject areas that will eventually be included in the Usability Body of Knowledge and a preview of what to come.” (About Usability BoK)

“Over the last several years, entry-level salaries have dropped, while pay for experienced usability staff has been more stable.” (Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox)

“An organization that reaches the managed usability stage still has far to go to reach usability nirvana. Attaining these higher maturity levels requires many years of effort.” (Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox)

“Have you ever wondered if your colleagues or clients really understand usability? Too often, standards or guidelines substitute for really engaging our business, technical and design colleagues in a discussion of what usability means. By looking at usability from five dimensions, we can create a consensus around usability goals and use that definition to provide the basis for planning user centered design activities.” (Whitney Quesenbery – uigarden)

“As their usability approach matures, organizations typically progress through the same sequence of stages, from initial hostility to widespread reliance on user research.” (Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox)

“B2B sites often have overly complex pricing structures or can’t show prices at all. To help prospects with early research, list representative cases and their prices.” (Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox)

“The fads and big deals that get the press coverage are not important for running a workhorse website. To serve your customers, it’s far better to emphasize simplicity and quality than to chase buzzwords.” (Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox)

“Would we be able to create one site for all enquirers, or would we have to create specialized sites to meet the needs of different user groups? What happens when a site has to appeal to a wide range of people? How do you sort out their different usability requirements? Will they conflict, and if so, how do you prioritize them?” (Whitney Quesenbery – UXmatters)

“Offering clear content, simple navigation, and answers to customer questions have the biggest impact on business value. Advanced technology matters much less.” (Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox)

“The truth about Google? It isn’t simple. (…) I am sick and tired of hearing people praise its clean, elegant look.” (Donald A. Norman – uiGarden.net)