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> [Opening the can of worms...]
>
>
>
> Okay, folks, how are usability professionals and technical
> communicators
> different, and how are they similar? From nytimes.
>
>
>
> -- Craig
>
>
>
>
>
> July 8, 2007
>
> Fresh Starts
>
>
> Technology's Untanglers: They Make It Really Work
>
>
> By BARBARA WHITAKER
>
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/barbara_wh
> itaker/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
>
> SOMETIMES there is a huge disconnect between the people who make a
> product and the people who use it. The creator of a Web site may
> assume
> too much knowledge on the part of users, leading to confusion.
> Software
> designers may not anticipate user behavior that can unintentionally
> destroy an entire database. Manufacturers can make equipment that
> inadvertently increases the likelihood of repetitive stress injuries.
>
> Enter the usability professional, whose work has recently developed
> into
> a solid career track, driven mostly by advancements in technology.
>
> Jobs in the usability industry are varied, as are the backgrounds of
> the
> people who hold them. The work can involve testing products in a
> laboratory, watching people use products in the field or developing
> testing methods.
>
> When the federal government was creating its informational Web site
> (now
> known as usa.gov), it brought in usability experts to look for flaws.
> By
> watching users, the site's creators found that people were having
> trouble finding an individual agency's Web site because they did not
> know which department to look under.
>
> "Even people in the Washington, D.C., area didn't know that," said
> Janice Redish, a usability consultant who worked on the project in
> February 2002. "It was an easy fix once we knew it."
>
> Dr. Redish, whose background is in linguistics, is a usability
> consultant specializing in Web sites and software interfaces. In
> 1979,
> she founded the Document Design Center for the American Institutes
> for
> Research to examine how the government could make its documents more
> understandable. By 1985, she had established an independent usability
> laboratory and was testing software interfaces and documentation for
> companies like I.B.M.
>
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/international_bus
> iness_machines/index.html?inline=nyt-org> and Sony
>
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/sony_corporation/
> index.html?inline=nyt-org> .
>
> "It's really a field that has taken off in the last three, four, five
> years," Dr. Redish said. "I think the Web has really made companies
> and
> agencies understand they are in a conversation with their customers."
>
> In some cases, usability research has become very sophisticated,
> relying
> on equipment like eye-tracking software to analyze precisely what
> users
> are looking at on a computer screen. But in most cases, Dr. Redish
> said,
> the work relies on solid observation and interview skills.
>
> Eric Danas, a geophysicist who worked for years in the oil
> exploration
> industry, became involved in usability after seeing how information
> could be tailored to different audiences. He went back to school and
> received a graduate degree in human factors (the study of how people
> interact with technology and other things) and advanced interface
> design.
>
> In 1995, Mr. Danas became a usability expert specializing in software
> design. Today, he works for Microsoft
>
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/microsoft_corpora
> tion/index.html?inline=nyt-org> , leading a "user experience team"
> that
> examines how to make software more accessible.
>
> "The users of our products don't really care about the technology,"
> Mr.
> Danas said. "They just have a job they're trying to do. We bridge the
> gap between what technology is capable of doing and what users want
> to
> achieve."
>
> Many usability jobs are related to computers and the Web. But
> usability
> professionals are also in demand in fields like medicine.
>
> Mary LaLomia, who has a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, is a product
> manager who specializes in usability at Philips Medical Systems in
> Bothell, Wash. As part of the job, she recently surveyed 20 sites
> where
> the company's ultrasound system was being used. She helped examine
> everything from the design of the equipment to avoiding repetitive
> stress injury to how patient information flows through the system.
>
> In response to a growing demand for usability jobs, schools are
> offering
> degrees in areas like human computer interaction, new media and
> accessible Web design. But much of the training for usability jobs is
> happening in the workplace.
>
> "People come into it from many different areas," Dr. Redish said.
> "Anthropology, for example, is a great background for the field
> service
> aspect, going out to a customer's workplace or a person's home." She
> said that linguistics is relevant "because it's all about how people
> communicate."
>
> The Usability Professionals' Association offers tutorials and holds
> an
> annual meeting. The Society for Technical Communication also has a
> group
> on usability and user experience.
>
> General online job boards are a good resource for usability jobs. In
> addition, the usability association lists job postings on its Web
> site,
> and job placement firms like Bestica Inc. specialize in usability
> design
> jobs.
>
> Harvinder Singh, president of Bestica, which is based in San Antonio,
> says that there is a shortage of people to fill usability jobs.
>
> "We're working with companies like Microsoft and Yahoo
>
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/yahoo_inc/index.h
> tml?inline=nyt-org> and having a lot of trouble finding
> user-experienced people," he said.
>
> More companies are dividing the various aspects of the job, he said.
> A
> business might want a usability researcher to go out and talk with
> users
> and examine what they're comfortable with. Then it might employ a
> usability design expert to incorporate the researcher's findings into
> the way a product works.
>
> According to information compiled by the usability association in
> 2005,
> annual pay in the field in the United States started at about $49,000
> and rose to about $120,000. The average salary was $86,500.
>
> Usability position are receiving more visibility within companies,
> and
> high-ranking positions like director of usability are being created,
> Mr.
> Danas of Microsoft said. "From a career standpoint I think there's a
> lot
> of opportunity, and that's getting broader every day," he said.
>
> Fresh Starts is a monthly column about emerging jobs and job trends.
>
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