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| | The Usability of Open Source Software |
 | | In some ways the relatively new problem with OSS usability reflects the earlier problem with commercial systems development: initially the bulk of applications were designed by computing experts for other computing experts, but over time an increasing proportion of systems development was aimed at non-experts and usability problems became more prominent. | | | Usability experts are not interested in, or incentivised by the OSS approach in the way that many hackers are. | | | Improvements in the usability of open source software do not necessarily mean that such software will displace proprietary software from the desktop; there are many other factors involved, e.g. |
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http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_1/nichols/index.html
(9282 words)
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| | Website Usability Consultants. Web User Experience Experts. UK & Ireland |
| | The usability of a website refers to the ease with which the average user can perform a task and/or find information on that site. | | | In 2001, UIE (Usability Interface Engineering) tested 15 of the largest commercial web sites and discovered that users asked to find specific information succeeded only 43% of the time. | | | Depending on where you are in the "life-cycle" of your site, there are various solutions we can implement to tackle your usability problems. |
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http://www.michaelheraghty.com/usability.html
(460 words)
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| | Demystifying Usability |
| | Problem: Because usability involves the understanding of complex, dynamic, state dependent cognition it is virtually impossible to model user behavior with a bot, agent or algorithm. | | | Usability research is largely qual-itative, or driven by insight (why users don't understand or why they are confused). | | | In terms of the usability industry, the problem with proprietary methodologies is that they are often inaccurate or distorted versions of the truth. |
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http://experiencedynamics.blogs.com/site_search_usability
(15606 words)
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| | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Usability: Usability Basics |
| | Usability engineering involves several methods, each applied at appropriate times, including gathering requirements, developing and testing prototypes, evaluating design alternatives, analyzing usability problems, proposing solutions, and testing a site (or other interface) with users. | | | Usability specialists gather all the notes, consolidate and analyze them, and together with the designers and developers consider the problems they saw and how to solve them. | | | The goal of usability testing is to ascertain what will help users accomplish their tasks and what may impede them. |
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http://usability.gov/basics
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| | Amazon.com: Usability Engineering (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive Technologies): Books: Jakob Nielsen |
| | Usability is arguably the mostimportant aspect of any design project, and an aspect too often ignored by many software and Web site designers. | | | Both are eminently efficient and usable, but are also wonderful examples of visual blandness -- nearly devoid of the human and aesthetic factors that contributes to a depth of personality and a richness of sensory stimulation. | | | This clear and intelligent guide to the science of usability engineering has helped enhance the potential of computers to work with end users more efficiently. |
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http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0125184069?v=glance
(2212 words)
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| | Usability First: Usability in Website and Software Design |
| | Usability usually refers to software but is relevant to any product. | | | Usability First™ provides information and resources for key issues related to usability in website and software design. | | | We believe that helping people do their work in an effective and enjoyable way should be the top priority in design because if a product is not usable, people will not use it. |
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http://www.usabilityfirst.com
(170 words)
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| | Open Directory - Computers: Internet: Web Design and Development: Web Usability |
| | Their goal is to make computer systems more usable. | | | Usability First - Diamond Bullet Design offers their experience and knowledge on website and software usability. | | | Usability Must Die - Examines what's wrong with the usability movement, with some humour, and experiences from the coal face of software design. |
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http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Web_Design_and_Development/Web_Usability
(2877 words)
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| | InfoDesign: Understanding by Design - News Usability |
| | "Usability studies tend to focus entirely on software, ignoring the impact of hardware design and features on a system's usability. | | | The idea behind is simple: There are many usability experts who want to contribute to software projects. | | | "A usability overview of one of the larger open source software projects: the 2.6 version of the GNOME desktop and developer platform. |
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http://www.informationdesign.org/archives/cat_usability.php
(4957 words)
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| | KDE Usability Project - KDE Usability Project |
| | The KDE Usability Project is an initiative to apply usability principles and practices to the K Desktop Environment. | | | Our goals are to help educate developers about usability in the development cycle, provide usability feedback about software through user tests and interface reviews, and promote KDE Usability throughout the Open Source Software community. | | | Working within the existing design goals of a system, usability efforts aim to make the implementations of these designs easier to use, faster to learn, more consistent and obvious, and generally more ergonomic for their target audience. |
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http://usability.kde.org
(384 words)
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| | MIT IS&T: Usability @ MIT |
| | Who We Are, Contact Us The members of the MIT Usability Group are colleagues aiming to foster usability practices within the Information Technology community at MIT. | | | Build an awareness of human factors and usability principles, in order to provide the MIT community with products they can easily integrate into their work lives. | | | "The usability of an interface is a measure of the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with which specified users can achieve specified goals in a particular environment with that interface." |
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http://web.mit.edu/is/usability
(649 words)
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| | CiteULike: Tag usability |
| | posted to computing design games hci pervasive usability by yish as | | | IT-adoption and the interaction of task, technology and individuals: a fit framework and a case study. | | | posted to 3d and computer database digital environments evaluation experience games mediated presence query storage usability user by markakramer as |
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http://www.citeulike.org/tag/usability
(963 words)
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| | A List Apart: Articles: Usability experts are from Mars, graphic designers are from Venus |
| | Unless usability experts are willing to admit that a 250K streaming flash file may indeed be the best solution for a branding site’s core page, those same experts may find themselves expounding in exile on Mars while the rest of us humans intuit the neo-web experience. | | | Usability/ Information Architecture == the masculine == the left side of the brain == doing == math/science == the rational == logical action == the articulatable == Mars. | | | But usability gurus, heed ye the words of hippy sage Joni Mitchell as she describes the mechanics of human interaction: |
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http://www.alistapart.com/stories/marsvenus
(1617 words)
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| | UPA - The Usability Professionals' Association |
| | In addition, it includes three peer-reviewed articles on the organizational preservation and re-use of usability testing knowledge, usability of computer games and information architecture and labeling issues in mobile usability. | | | We've gathered the best presentations, articles, white papers and tools on the ROI of usability and ways to make the case for usability and user-centered design in your project. | | | Say thank you to those who support usability: nominate them as a Friend of Usability. |
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http://www.upassoc.org
(400 words)
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| | Web / Design / Usabilty - WebReference.com |
| | IBM usability guru Venessa Donnelly gives a more structured approach to usability using methods borrowed from the software development world. | | | If you are making a new Web site or even working on an old one, usability should be playing a big role in your development. | | | Help get your usability and software engineers on the same page with this New Rider's publication. |
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http://www.webreference.com/authoring/design/usability
(746 words)
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| | WebWord |
| | It was found that the usability expert evaluation and testing provided both novel and useful data for game development. | | | That’s usability as an attribute versus usability as a method. | | | They are a useful reference for developers and other usability specialists as well as provides a public appearance for what the project does. |
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http://www.webword.com
(1647 words)
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| | Bohmann's Usability News |
| | However, usability is horrible since users (and vendors) are forced to use a payment process filled with pop-up windows and text written with small fonts. | | | And I worry about the quality of formal education in human computer interaction and usability engineering. | | | Some of the questions that usability researchers needs to answer are: |
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http://bohmann.dk/observations
(2106 words)
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| | Technorati Tag: usability |
| | Professional Engineering Psychologists Userthink's professional engineering psychologists will have a solution for you - whether you need a full-scale usability study, a simple heuristic evaluation, or a custom solution. | | | Quantitative/Qualitative User Research Since 1987 Alucid Solution has specialized in lab testing, field studies, usability, group discussions, technical writing and user-centered design training. | | | A couple of independent articles published today make essentially the same point: developing a clear design vision and understanding of requirements... |
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http://www.technorati.com/tag/usability
(519 words)
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| | Usability Quiz - Just Fun |
| | The most important factor leading to the development of usable software is: | | | The single best predictor of a software application's usability is its: | | | After determining what you want your application to do, the best next step in software development is to: |
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http://www.humanfactors.com/downloads/usabilityquiz.asp
(188 words)
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| | Usability News (news headlines) for all the latest news in usability and human-computer interaction (HCI) |
| | Serco Usability Services is running a two-day course for anyone interested in usability evaluation techniques that can be used for improving the usability of products and systems during development. | | | FACT offers you an unforgettable experience of interactivity and usability, proving that direct communication with a computer, without a keyboard, mouse or even the joystick is now possible and lots of fun! | | | Dinesh Gajbhiye argues that Web usability does not start from designing a user friendly Web application; it starts with registering a domain name for your website. |
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http://www.usabilitynews.com
(552 words)
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| | Usability Week 2006 Conference: Nielsen Norman Group |
| | Experts with over half a century of combined usability experience take you through fundamental principles and methods, help you create a sound usability plan, and teach you the skills you need to successfully execute that plan. | | | Day two details the latest research relating to content usability. | | | Gain insight into essential user behaviors, explore pivotal guidelines, and discover how understanding information foraging, navigation and search options, and content usability can help you build a website that’s easier and more enjoyable to use. |
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http://www.nngroup.com/events
(550 words)
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| | Daring Fireball: Ronco Spray-On Usability |
| | That’s a market where software usability is not a key feature. | | | But it’s when Raymond begins proposing “solutions” to the problem — where “the problem” is the larger issue of open source software usability in general, not just the specific case of CUPS printer configuration — that things get hilarious. | | | The gist of it is that what seemed like the obvious way to go about the task was in fact completely wrong, and worse, there was no indication from the system that he wasn’t on the right track. |
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http://daringfireball.net/2004/04/spray_on_usability
(2710 words)
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| | Usable Web |
| | Usable Web is a stale collection of links about information architecture, human factors, user interface issues, and usable design specific to the World Wide Web. | | | Technology (20 links): Web technologies and their impact on usability. | | | Profession (14 links): What you need to do as a web usability professional. |
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http://usableweb.com
(216 words)
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| | INF 385P - Homepage |
| | Intro Usability Class: I have graded your final projects, but I have NOT added all the comments I wish to offer you. | | | Also I promised you a short summary, “Usability in one page(.doc).” Herewith. | | | Day 4 ppt I (Needs Analysis:Design through Discovery) and Day 4 ppt II (User Needs and User Profiling) by Phil Kortum, Bob Bushey from SBC are available online! |
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http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~i385p
(359 words)
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| | Advanced Common Sense - Usability Workshops |
| | A live usability test, so you can see the whole process in detail and understand how easy it really is. | | | In this day-long workshop, I'll do my darndest to teach you how to think about your site's usability problems in a useful way, and how to make low-cost/no-cost testing an everyday part of your design process. | | | Given the right training and encouragement, most Web teams can do a lot of valuable usability problem solving themselves. |
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http://www.sensible.com/workshops.html
(516 words)
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| | STC Usability Web Site |
| | Chauncey Wilson looks at trends in usability and user experience design and helps practitioners prepare to broaden their skills beyond traditional usability and design activities to more strategic thinking. | | | This web site is a forum to share information and experiences on issues related to the usability and user-centered design. | | | Join the STC Usability and User Experience Community when you renew your STC membership |
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http://www.stcsig.org/usability
(346 words)
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| | jessett.com usability |
| | A lot of what you consider to be important when regarding usability will depend on your target audience and purpose of your site. | | | Users want to find the information they are looking for - if they don't find it quickly, they will look elsewhere. | | | If you think about usability before embarking on a new design project, and incorporate it into the design in the development stages, it will both look good and be useable. |
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http://www.jessett.com/web_sites/usability/index.shtml
(117 words)
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| | UsableNet - What is usability? |
| | Website usability is determined by user satisfaction, ease of learning, user ability to remember an organization and its functionalities, user effectiveness, efficiency and likelihood of errors while performing the tasks the site has been designed for. | | | For example, finding the information needed or completing the e-commerce operation. | | | Sites that are not usable score poorly in: |
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http://www.usablenet.com/accessibility_usability/usability.html
(160 words)
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| | Forum Nokia Usability -- Delivering successful mobile applications |
| | The word "usability" also refers to methods for improving ease-of-use during the product development. | | | They describe in brief the most interesting issues in wireless development with end user in mind. | | | Usability is the measure of the quality of a user's experience when interacting with a product or system - whether it is a web site, software application, mobile technology, or any user-operated device. |
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http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/0,6566,23_30,00.html
(298 words)
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| | Macromedia - Usability Topic Center |
| | Usability testing is critical to successful software and web development efforts. | | | Create user profiles and scenarios to design a site that meets their needs. | | | Read how usability testing influenced the development of Pet Market. |
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http://www.macromedia.com/desdev/topics/usability.html
(277 words)
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| | Welcome to Usability News - 8.1 2006 |
| | The SURL team specializes in software/website user interface design research, human-computer interaction research, and usability testing and research. | | | is a free web newsletter that is produced by the Software Usability Research Laboratory (SURL). | | | Make sure you receive our next issue of Usability News! |
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http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usability_news.html
(126 words)
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| | Software Usability Research Lab |
| | Our current focus is Web site usability, information retrieval on the Web, the usability of Web site maps, and Web menu selection techniques. | | | is a service division to the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Laboratory at Wichita State University, which solicits contracts from industry to conduct software usability analysis and research. |
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http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl
(59 words)
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| | UPA: Page Not Found |
| | Say thank you to those who support usability by nominating them as a Friend of Usability. | | | Order your usability books now from Amazon.com using the link from this site. | | | Design by People for People features 27 essays on usability and design |
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http://upassoc.org/.../about_usability/definitions_of_usability.html
(146 words)
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| | Usability Partners - Usability and User-centred design consultancy - Stockholm, Sweden |
| | Many web sites cause trouble for users, so why is there a mismatch between the views of those responsible for a site and the actual end users? | | | This month we have been written about in Internetworld magazine and readers have been referred to our web site for usability-related articles. | | | On the 6th October Richard Whitehand and Alexander Piatidis from Usability Partners were invited to run a workshop at the Swedish Public Relations Assocation, on the topic of information structuring for web sites and intranets... |
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http://www.usabilitypartners.se
(241 words)
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| | Usability Research |
| | Get involved in the product development process and help us understand your needs by signing up to participate in one of our Usability Research studies. | | | Are you scheduled for a usability study and have a question? | | | Information about the types of studies and lab facilities used for these activities can be found in this section. |
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http://www.microsoft.com/usability/default.mspx
(174 words)
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| | About section page template |
| | A page of tips on talking with users during site visits (how to ask neutral questions) | | | The Usability Toolkit is a collection of forms, checklists and other useful documents for conducting usability tests and user interviews. | | | Another excellent usability toolkit can be found at Gerry Gaffney's Information and Design website. |
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http://www.stcsig.org/usability/resources/toolkit/toolkit.html
(254 words)
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| | Search engine optimization and usability by Cre8pc |
| | Launching in March 2006 - Blog Usability Evaluations | | | casual commentary and coverage on usability, web site design : search engines : search engine optimization. | | | Her ability to get inside the mind of your users and think like a real customer of your site makes for data that is invaluable to improving the quality and conversion rate of your website. |
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http://www.cre8pc.com
(553 words)
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| | useit.com: Jakob Nielsen on Usability and Web Design |
| | Novell tweaks Linux for better graphics, video performance: It's hoping to make the OS more palatable to mainstream computer users | | | An interview with Dr. Jakob Nielsen, usability expert | | | Nielsen Norman Group offers usability reviews, training, user testing, and a conference |
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http://useit.com
(185 words)
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| | usability testing UK, Accessibility Testing Ireland |
| | Then email us with your queries and questions or alternatively, telephone us on | | | Our usability testing and accessibility testing services are based on our extensive experience and success on the World Wide Web, with many companies and organisations, from blue chips to SME's and charities. | | | Elemental Usability provides expert website usability testing and accessibility analysis and testing services throughout the UK and Ireland. |
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http://www.elementalusability.co.uk
(216 words)
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| | austin usability - engineering and testing |
| | Usability Engineering is best achieved by knowing your users. | | | Austin Usability helps companies create the best user interfaces.” | | | Usability engineering and testing provides companies with knowledge of where their users will experience problems BEFORE the product is shipped or the web site goes live. |
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http://perceptivesciences.com/au
(198 words)
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| | The Usability Company Web Usability Consultancy UK |
| | Download this paper and other research papers by The Usability Company. | | | Visit our events section for more information on these and other events in which The Usability Company is presenting. | | | Since its merger earlier this year with WebAbacus, The Usability Company is now part of Foviance, a new type of company which provides a complete range of services and technology to help organisations measure, analyse and enhance the experience they deliver through interactive channels. |
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http://www.theusabilitycompany.com
(371 words)
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| | UPA Job Bank and Job-Hunting Resources |
| | These postings remain on the site for 3 months, or until the position is filled. | | | This survey was conducted by the UK UPA chapter and included 158 usability professionals in the UK The STC Usability SIG maintains a list of links to salary surveys | | | The UPA maintains a listing service for job openings for usability professionals. |
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http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/usability_resources/jobs
(138 words)
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| | Flazoom.com - Developing User-Friendly Flash Content |
| | The journey, a metaphor for developing usable Macromedia Flash | | | The need for this paper has never been more crucial, since many of the most vocal Web critics have recently portrayed Macromedia Flash content in a negative light. | | | The claims that Macromedia Flash content is bad for the Web or that Macromedia Flash and usability are polar opposites are both myths. |
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http://www.flazoom.com/usability
(145 words)
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