The Usability SIG Newsletter
Usability Interface

Usability Interface is the quarterly publication of the Usability SIG. The purpose of the newsletter is to provide technical communicators with up-to-date and in-depth information on how they can apply usability design and testing techniques to their products. It is mailed to all SIG members.

July 2003 - Moving Information Online

Print all of the articles in this issue  (30 pages)

Newsletter Summary  (4 pages)

Feature Articles

Publishing Chapter Newsletters on Paper or Online

By Scott Wilson, Lanette Cornwell, and G. David Heath
Three Chapter editors recount their transition from paper newsletter publication to online.

Results of the Usability SIG Member Survey  

By David Dick
A summary of the online survey conducted in February 2003.

How the Usability SIG Survey Was Developed  

By Naomi Kleid
Naomi describes how she designed the Usability SIG member survey.

The Harmonics of Usability (pdf)

By Adele Sommers
Adele describes the contributions of Thomas Gilbert, John Bowie, and Genichi Taguchi to software development. This article appeared in the August 2003 (Vol. 42, No. 7) edition of the Performance Improvement journal, and reappears here with permission of the International Society for Performance Improvement. (c) 2003.

Attending an STC Conference on a Shoestring Budget  

By Kathy Bine 
Kathy offers suggestions for attending the 2004 conference

Columns and SIG News

Thoughts on Publishing Our Newsletter
By David Dick
A response to the online survey conducted in February 2003.

The Search for a Well-Defined Usability Discipline
By Karen Bachman
A reflection on the current definitions of usability, the challenges and opportunities we face as a discipline in search of a definition. 

Letter to the Editor: A response to "Crisis in the Profession"  

SIG News

• Scott McDaniel Speaks to the Washington DC Usability SIG
• New Jersey Usability SIG holds Summer Picnic