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. A summary version containing the lead articles and SIG news is mailed to all SIG members.

October 2004

Print the complete issue  (23 pages)

Newsletter Summary  (4 pages)

Why Game Documentation is Essential to a Satisfying User Experience
By Martin Peterson
Documentation and information organization are an integral part of video game construction. The video game industry may be one of the directions technical communicators will move toward in the near future. More»

What We Learned Evaluating the Usability of a Game
By Shannon Lucas and Denise Fulton
How do you test a game? Rather than look at background issues like differences between games and applications, this article focuses on the methods employed for the usability testing of Ion Storm’s game Thief: Deadly Shadows. More»

Mobile Phone Games Designed for Girls
by Sabine Allaeys
Unlike many game developers, one company creates games primarily targeted at young women and girls. MiniFizz is certainly not just a traditional boys’ game painted pink.  More»

How Usability and Audit Contribute to Product Design
By Rik Manhaeve
It is almost impossible to do business without using information technology (IT) systems, whether or not they are developed in-house. Evaluating the quality of these systems is critical to an organization’s ability to do business using resources in an optimal way. More»

Designing High Fidelity Home Pages
by Steven Streight
A high fidelity home page is one that simply and clearly communicates an accurate, complete, and favorable impression of your organization and its products. An effective home page will also display your intimate understanding of, and desire to fully accommodate, the actual needs and interests of users. More»

Cross-Referencing Step Numbers in Word 
By Gloria McConnell
If you are like most technical writers, your procedures have automatically numbered steps (whether in tables or text). Microsoft Word® provides two relatively simple ways for you to cross-reference a step number. More»

Columns and SIG News

Editorial: Are Games Suppose to be User Friendly?
David Dick, Editor
Should games be designed and evaluated according to the same usability standards as other PC software? 

The Pulse of the SIG: Elections and Hurricanes Don’t 
Intimidate Me!
Karen Bachmann, Usability SIG Manager
Two Presidential Elections and four consecutive hurricanes taught Karen a lesson in usability.

Book Review
Web Application Design Handbook
by Susan Fowler and Victor Stanwick

Review of the Seminar "Moving Forms to the Web" at Usability University
By Allen Rotz

SIG News

• Welcome New Staff to the Newsletter
• News From UsabilityNJ
• Don’t Be Alone When You Attend a SIG Meeting
• Do You Know a Champion of Usability?

Call for Proposals: Special Issue on Accessibility and Technical Communication

Letter to the Editor: How to get started writing book reviews