usability.com

I was also part of the Usability Testing and Management class, a.k.a. Making Technical Writing Products that Work for People, at the Institute that Ruth mentioned in her blog. Though the course was jam-packed with information and a hefty assignment over two-day, in-class sessions, the information was invaluable.

My takeaway from "Getting Started" is the importance of winning advocates for your cause. If you are committed to doing excellent work for your group of end users--no matter how small the number--you work will be noticed. Eventually, you will have an opportunity to make a greater impact.

The readings and blog entries this week mentioned several of the references from the usability class (e.g., Nielsen's AlertBox and STC Usability SIG), so I thought I'd share a few others:

The Usability Group - the managing partner of this business, Jeff Rubin, is the author of the textbook, Handbook of Usability Testing, that used in the class. It was very easy reading.
www.usability.com

Usability Professionals Association
www.upassoc.org

Association for Computing Machinery - SIG on Computers and Human Interaction)
www.acm.org

(We were discussing job titles and roles in an earlier class discussion remember? Well, a human factors engineer is right up there with an information architect as far as fancy titles go. Don't you think?)