Usability Engineering: Process, Products & Examples, 1st edition

For an introductory, one-semester course in Usability Engineering.

Written in an accessible, conversational style, this comprehensive introduction is crafted to support a project-based course emphasizing the development process. The authors provide detailed coverage of fundamentals without unnecessary depth or breadth, aiming to foster an understanding of the goals and process of usability engineering. Students gain valuable hands-on experience that will serve them in future careers.

• Focus on the process and the stages of development of a usability engineering project:

–       Uses examples from a typical class project throughout to illustrate the user interface development process.

–       This medium-scale development example is presented in sufficient detail for instructors to be able to use as a model for their own term projects.

• Coverage of the entire usability engineering lifecycle:

–       Emphasizes select techniques and methodologies.

–       Helps students understand the activities and goals in the usability engineering process rather than a particular methodology.

• Projects can use a variety of development environments, with no specific programming language or development environment used in the text.

• Examples throughout the text that apply to a number of settings, including the Web – but are for the most part not Web-based to give students experience with the kind of projects they might encounter in their careers.

• A number of chapter exercises solidify the points of the chapters.