Have you read Steve Krug’s newest book, Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems? I was honoured when Steve asked me to read it in manuscript form, but – just between you and me – IContinue reading… Asking questions about internet behaviour
Category: Design
Usability – and what usability means for a form
Thanks to KANA Europe for inviting me to join their customer conference. This was the presentation I gave, on usability and forms. Usability and forms, KANA Europe customer summit from Caroline Jarrett #forms #formsthatwork #usability
The ‘back’ button: how to manage it on web-based forms
Developers are often concerned about what will happen in web-based forms when people use the ‘back’ button. For example, users may fill in part of a form, then click ‘back’, not realising they may lose the data they have justContinue reading… The ‘back’ button: how to manage it on web-based forms
Avoid being embarrassed by your error messages
An error message made it to Top Tweet status on Twitter in 2010. ““An unknown error message ‘APIEpicFAIL’ was received from the device”. The only user option: click on OK. When Duncan Campbell tweeted about this message, he commented sarcastically: “CouldContinue reading… Avoid being embarrassed by your error messages
Designing usable online forms
Designing usable online forms was a discussion group I led at ‘Building the Perfect Council Website’, a Headstar and Socitm Better Connected conference. Designing usable online forms BCPW10 from Caroline Jarrett View the slides as a PDF: Designing usableContinue reading… Designing usable online forms
Design to read: guidelines for people who do not read easily
These guidelines are co-authored by Janice (Ginny) Redish, Kathryn Summers, and Caroline Jarrett. Orignally published in the June 2010 issue of UXPA User Experience, our work originated in the ‘Design to Read’ project. Design to read project archive This article onContinue reading… Design to read: guidelines for people who do not read easily
Online forms: saving work or causing stress?
E-forms have benefits, but so do paper forms. To have a successful e-forms project, you need to choose the appropriate level of e-form. This 2010 talk to the International Professional Communication Conference also describes several indicators of e-forms project success.Continue reading… Online forms: saving work or causing stress?
The question protocol: how to make sure every form field is necessary
What is a question protocol? A question protocol is a tool for finding out which form fields are required. It lists: every question you ask who within your organisation uses the answers to each question what they use them forContinue reading… The question protocol: how to make sure every form field is necessary
Tips for designing complex forms, UPA2010
From tax returns to lasting power of attorney, some forms present both designers and users with a huge number of challenges. In this presentation to the 2010 Usability Professionals’ Association Conference, I highlight some of the pitfalls of designing complex forms –Continue reading… Tips for designing complex forms, UPA2010
Embedded links and online reading accessibility
At the 2010 Society for Technical Communication conference in Dallas, Whitney Quesenbery and I were interviewed about the feasibility of removing links embedded directly within paragraphs. These have been described as “exit points” that confuse and disorient low-literacy readers. The interview wasContinue reading… Embedded links and online reading accessibility