Monday, August 28, 2006

We have moved!

This blog will be maintained on the WordPress platform in the future @ knowledgelearning.wordpress.com. See you there!

posted by juneH @ 8/28/2006 10:28:00 am 0 comments

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Web Usability Book List

NIELSEN, DR. JAKOB, 2006. Books About Usability. FreePint Newsletter, 211. Books are useful for learning about usability, because it is:

  • Related to humans thus changes slowly
  • Only possible to reveal deeper insights through in-depth text

Recommended books:

  1. “Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction” by Ben Shneiderman and Catherine Plaisant (Addison Wesley, 2004) ~ 672 pages text book that summarises knowledge on how people use computers ~
  2. “Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works” by Janice Redish (Morgan Kaufmann, 2006)
  3. “Designing Visual Interfaces: Communication Oriented Techniques” by Kevin Mullet and Darrell Sano (Prentice Hall, 1994) ~ explains the principles required to understand visual design within an interactive context ~
  4. “Maximum Accessibility: Making Your Web Site More Usable for Everyone” by John m. Slatin and Sharron Rush (Addison-Wesley, 2002) ~ written from the angle of customers who actually have disabilities, with real browsing-using-screen-reader case studies ~

The original newsletter can be accessed through the title link.

posted by juneH @ 8/22/2006 06:58:00 pm 0 comments

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Is Networking on your schedule?

It is on mine. I share with you some practical strategies I found:

  • Form strategic topics to discuss with everyone you meet at an event
  • Introduce yourself i.e. name (e.g. hello, I am so-and-so, you are?)
  • Ask why they attend i.e. their purpose of coming to the event
  • What do they think of the event?
  • Discuss anything else that crops up after these first three questions
  • If they are interested, ask them what is their main project at work currently
  • Ask if they have any personal project going on and what is it
  • Give them your details and request them to update you with their projects (even if you aren’t particularly interested)
  • Thank them and tell them it is nice to meet and talk to them and hope to see them again
  • Always answer your own questions after the other party has told their story as it is a normal practice to share in conversation
  • Set targets such as ‘I will give my email address to one participant at the event’.

posted by juneH @ 8/17/2006 08:52:00 pm 0 comments

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Bad English?!

If a library visitor was racist and accused you of bad English, try this: "Since you think my English is bad, I am sorry you will have to ask my colleague to help you because I do not want to mislead you". Or if you are flying solo: "I am sorry my English is bad for you, I am afraid I cannot help you because I do not wish to mislead you by any chance".

posted by juneH @ 8/05/2006 02:44:00 pm 0 comments

Friday, July 28, 2006

Bored interviewer?

Finish what you are saying Before the next question, ask the fidgeting one "What do you think about my statement, sir (madam)?" Try it and let me know the result! Read the book recommended to me by my kind interviewer, Sweaty Palms, if you have a chance.

posted by juneH @ 7/28/2006 02:31:00 pm 0 comments

Sunday, July 23, 2006

What am I reading?

SHEPHERD, ELIZABETH, and YEO, GEOFFREY, 2003. Managing Records: A Handbook of Principles and Practice. London: Facet Publishing. See the content page on the web link from the title above.

posted by juneH @ 7/23/2006 08:50:00 pm 0 comments

Monday, July 17, 2006

Website Development

Like any good project, start with the objectives for having a website. Tangible goals are ideal, e.g. to reduce 20% of telephone enquiries. Before embarking on the physical act of developing a website, find out who your target audiences are. I share some guidelines for preparing easy-to-use web content (based on the Usability.gov site by the Web Communications Division in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs):

  1. Select only what the audiences need
  2. Organise the content logically for the audiences - Break the text into manageable pieces / chunking using short paragraphs, lists, tables, pictures, examples - Use many headings to aid skimming and scanning - Write useful headings e.g. questions, sentences, phrases, action phrases, imperatives - Use the headings as introductory hyperlinks and a group of headings into an introductory list of hyperlinks - Write content visually
  3. For website with users who read on the Web and print to read - Layer the information i.e. summarise the information in an easily-accessible Web form and put link to the printable versionOffer a separate printable document i.e. offer a document in HTML and PDF formats

Further notes on Writing Content Visually:

- Use blank space well e.g. fragments, lists, tables, and examples to strike the balance - Cut out words - Keep paragraphs and sentences short - Use fragments e.g. don’t repeat words from the FAQ question in the answer - Use the users’ words and avoid jargon - Use bulleted lists - Use numbered lists for steps in a procedure - Use tables - Give examples - Meet users’ expectations for the way information is displayed e.g. write address on separate lines like an address - Use icons or small pictures to enhance the wordsInclude pictures and other graphics when appropriate

posted by juneH @ 7/17/2006 01:02:00 pm 0 comments