Userfocus Usability Newsletter, March 2010

Welcome to the March edition of the Userfocus usability newsletter.

Message from the Editor

One of the things that makes the field of user experience a fun place to work is that you can go home at the end of each day knowing that you've made users' lives a little better — and usually made your company a little richer as a result. But if you work as a usability specialist in the medical field, you can easily save people's lives — by reducing the likelihood of someone making a medical error with your product. In this month's article, Philip Hodgson reviews an important new medical standard in usability that helps cement best practice in the field.

Talking of best practice… We still have some places left on this month's "Expert Review" and "Axure" training courses. If you're looking to improve your own skills, come along and spend a day with us in London.

David Travis

Feature article: Usability for Medical Devices: A New International Standard

A recently published international standard requires manufacturers of medical devices to follow a systematic usability process. To comply, manufacturers of medical devices will need to change the way they design, develop, test and manufacture their systems. Read the article in full: Usability for Medical Devices.

What we're reading

Some interesting usability-related articles that got our attention over the last month:

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Usability Training: Now Booking

How to carry out a usability expert review, March 16, London

For people in design teams who need to spot usability problems in prototypes and finished products, "How to carry out a usability expert review" is a 1-day seminar that teaches delegates cost-effective methods to evaluate designs. Unlike courses in usability testing, this seminar teaches delegates how to find and fix usability problems without involving end users. More information about this training course: Expert review training.

Axure Essentials, March 22, London

For new users of Axure RP Pro who want to create interactive prototypes, "Axure Essentials" is a 1-day seminar that shows delegates how to build wireframes and generate HTML prototypes. his training is designed for those who have little or no knowledge of Axure RP Pro who want to take their first steps in creating prototypes (wireframes). More information about this training course: Axure Essentials.

Advanced Prototyping with Axure, March 23, London

For experienced users of Axure RP Pro who want to develop advanced prototypes, "Advanced Prototyping with Axure" is a 1-day seminar that shows delegates how to prototype rich internet applications (RIAs) and use the advanced features of Axure RP Pro. More information about this training course: Advanced Prototyping with Axure.

GUI Usability, April 20-21, London

For developers designing desktop software who want to make their interfaces simple to use, 'GUI Usability' is a 2-day immersion seminar that gives delegates hands-on experience with several usability tools and techniques. Unlike shorter introductory courses, this in-depth seminar covers the complete design and development lifecycle. More information about this training course: GUI Usability.

User Experience quotation of the month

"Supposing is good, but finding out is better." — Samuel Clemens.

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