Test-Taking Enhances Learning

People remember much more after reading if they retrieve information about
the text from memory. Quizzes are one way websites can help users remember
more.
		
Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox for January 31:
  > http://www.useit.com/alertbox/learning-recall.html

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Usability Week 2011 conference

  * New York City: February 7-11
  * Hong Kong: February 28-March 4
  * Melbourne: March 7-11
  * London: April 3-8
  * Washington, DC: April 18-22

Full program:
  > http://www.nngroup.com/events

DEADLINES: 
  * This Friday, February 4
  * save $200 on advance registration for NEW YORK
  * Save 10% on early-bird registration for MELBOURNE

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USABILITY REPORTS ON "SAFARI"

We have made several of our research reports available for immediate
Web-based access on the "Safari Books Online" system, including
  * Recruiting Test Users
  * Customization Usability
  * Intranet Design Annual 2009

Safari also has online versions of my latest books, including
"Prioritizing Web Usability" and "Eyetracking Web Usability."

You can find these reports and books by a simple search for Jakob Nielsen
on the Safari site.

Many companies and university libraries have a Safari license so that you
can read this info on your office computer. Even better, some public
libraries offer this as well. For example, here in San Jose, CA, you can
read Safari content from home through the library website using your
library card number as ID:
  > http://0-proquest.safaribooksonline.com.catalog.sjlibrary.org

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CASE STUDIES WANTED: MEASURABLE IMPACT OF DESIGN CHANGES

Please share your improved usability examples, and get a free NN/g report!

Nielsen Norman Group is collecting examples of metrics that quantify and
demonstrate the impact of design changes. If you have a before and after
design and data you are willing to share about that design, please email
Kathryn Whitenton at [email protected]. The information will be used in
our updated version of our report "Return on Investment for Usability
Projects" and in related presentations. If your example is selected, we
will give you a copy of the new report when it is completed.

SUBMISSION
In your submission please include:
*screenshots of the "before" design with a very short explanation of the
design
*screenshots of the "after" design with a very short explanation of the
design
*An explanation of why the change was made
*the before vs. after numbers

Any type of user interface is of interest: websites, applications, mobile
devices, intranets, etc. The design changes may affect the total UI, or
just a single feature, screen, or design element. Also, your design change
may show positive or negative impact.

SAMPLE METRICS
Measures of interest include anything that measures how usage changed.
That often means an improvement, but data that documents negative results
are just as interesting.

Possible metrics include:
 * conversion rate 
 * total e-commerce sales in dollars and/or units 
 * value of average transaction for e-commerce 
 * training time needed to learn a feature or system 
 * sign-up rate for newsletters or other desired action
 * lead-generation
 * time on task and other productivity measures 
 * subjective satisfaction scores 
 * average page views and/or duration of visit per user
 * volume or frequency of return visits 
 * number of times a feature was used 
 * percentage of users who abandon a site at a certain step 
 * number of calls to help desks or tech support 
 * learning or comprehension scores 
 * other usage or impact metrics, including new ones you have invented
yourself

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE
Please email contributions to Kathryn Whitenton at [email protected].
Kathryn can also answer any questions you may have about this project.

Please ensure that you mask any confidential information in your
screenshots.

If your submission is included in our updated report, you will receive a
complimentary copy of the full report, "Return on Investment for Usability
Projects."

DEADLINE: Thursday, March 31, 2011

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