A presentation on Label placement in forms, at the Technical Communication Summit, the 56th Annual Conference of the Society for Technical Communication, Dallas, US, May 2010. Amongst the time-consuming controversies we look at are left and right alignment, labels aboveContinue reading… Label placement in forms and other time-consuming forms controversies
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Surveys That Work: Using Questionnaires to Gather Useful Data, Seattle 2010
This presentation to the Society for Technical Communication 2010 conference in Seattle, US, compares survey processes and looks at some of the detail of designing surveys – including how to avoid survey error. Surveys That Work: using questionnaires to gatherContinue reading… Surveys That Work: Using Questionnaires to Gather Useful Data, Seattle 2010
Avoid putting a reset button on your web forms
The history of RESET HTML 2.0 appeared in 1995. At that time, I was working in usability of forms – and I still am. But I didn’t have email or an internet connection. So I think it was remarkably niceContinue reading… Avoid putting a reset button on your web forms
Label placement in forms – and other time-consuming controversies
A presentation on label placement in forms, for the Technical Communication Summit in Seattle, April 2010. Amongst the time-consuming controversies we look at are left and right alignment, labels above and below fields, how to handle required fields, colons, andContinue reading… Label placement in forms – and other time-consuming controversies
Don’t put hints inside text boxes in web forms
When you are making a digital form, is it OK to put a hint inside a text box? The short version of my advice: don’t do it! Hint text is rarely effective as a way of helping users, but insteadContinue reading… Don’t put hints inside text boxes in web forms
Designing forms for technical specialists
I had the opportunity to give a talk on forms at the EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) – “EBI provides freely available data from life science experiments, performs basic research in computational biology and offers anContinue reading… Designing forms for technical specialists
Using measurements to develop complex websites
If you are developing a complex website whose users will come to it to carry out complex tasks then you’re likely to want to use a range of data to support your decision-making. This was the situation when I wasContinue reading… Using measurements to develop complex websites
Usable forms
How can we design forms that are easier to read? In this presentation to the Media Trust I highlighted problems in both the ‘conversation’ and ‘appearance’ of some typical forms – and shared tips for improving the experience of users.Continue reading… Usable forms
Why we need a ‘qualification brain’
Why we need a ‘qualification brain’: from product catalogue to dominant narrative – enabling web-enquirers to understand and navigate through a flexible but complex curriculum This paper for the 23rd ICDE World Conference on Open Learning and Distance Education, Maastricht,Continue reading… Why we need a ‘qualification brain’
How to get a job in usability
As I write, it’s the height of summer here in the UK. The solstice has brought long, perfect days and a new crop of recent graduates, judging by the ‘can I have a job’ emails that I’m starting to get.Continue reading… How to get a job in usability