Built on a solid foundation of current research in the field, Carol Barnum's Usability Testing and Research provides a comprehensive, up-to-date perspective in this increasingly important area of technical communication.

Adopting a practical approach to the field of usability and the techniques for usability testing, this book lays out the subject from beginning to end: starting with definitions of usability, usability testing, and the way in which usability testing fits into a user-centered design process, then progressing through other methods of gathering data, as well as methods for learning about users, tasks, and environments. Following a chapter on ways to test throughout product design, the second half of the book focuses on planning, conducting, and reporting the results of usability testing. The last chapter discusses the usability testing of web sites.