Hi Jay: This is where running more events on Usability in a city and continually educating the market can help.
UPA Singapore have recently re-ignited their Chapter -- http://www.upasingapore.org/ Rgds, Daniel Szuc Principal Usability Consultant Apogee Usability Asia Ltd www.apogeehk.com 'Usability in Asia' The Usability Kit - http://www.theusabilitykit.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Melvin Jay Kumar Sent: Thursday, 1 November 2007 10:45 AM To: Adam Connor Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] When those who know little about Usability offerUsability Services This issue is ooohhh so common in Singapore and the region. I know of so many web design firms who now have with a wave of a hand suddenly have a UCD practice and offer all services from usability testing to analysis to taxonomy development etc...etc....etc... This is happening especially here because, select companies, Government agenices have start to include "usability" as in their RFP's. So all these web design firms cannot submit their proposal without a "usability" component and thus they all have UCD practices in their firm. I know of a company that recruited people who have no experience or knowledge in these areas send them for a "usability analyst" 3 three seminar done by one of the firms you'll definltely know, and then bham! they are usability and UCD experts. They know understand every compoment from interaction design to interface design tc...etc...etc... That is not the worst thing, the worst is that, to get the job, they reduce their rates so low and promise their clients the world.....its just ridiculous sometimes. I could talk about it, but its just funny...ever heard of usability testing for 49.99? ;P Regards, Jay Kumar On 10/31/07, Adam Connor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > In the past few months I've run into quite a few designers, studios, > developers, etc. who have begun offering Usability services to their > clients. However after talking to them for a while it becomes clear > that they really don't know what Usability is (they've never conducted > a usability test, are unfamiliar with many common best practices, > don't have any training, and so on and so forth...). Instead it would > seem that they have picked up on the importance of usability and have > included it in their services to better promote themselves to clients. > > I've also noticed that most of these individuals I've spoken to > mistake Usability for a set of logical conventions. Something like > "button A goes in the top left corner because thats where it would > logically go..." or "module B should look like this because most sites > do it that way..." They forget that while many usability best > practices may conform to logical thinking, the user's expectations are > what matter and if that differs from what you believe is logical, > well... you need to make adjustments. > > So I ask you: Is this the price we pay for growing popularity of > Usability and User-Centered Design? > > Have you noticed other groups doing similar things? > > Does it bother you as much as it does me? > > -adam > ________________________________________________________________ > *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in > Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe > ................ http://gamma.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines > ............ http://gamma.ixda.org/guidelines List Help > .................. http://gamma.ixda.org/help > ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://gamma.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://gamma.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://gamma.ixda.org/help ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://gamma.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://gamma.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://gamma.ixda.org/help
