The page contains links on issues that address Management Strategies, Teamwork, and Case Studies. The links under Management Strategies present information that assist in applying usability engineering to software products. The links under Teamwork provide project and staff organizational paradigms for applying usability engineering to software. The links under Case Studies are studies, surveys, and observations involving software usability.

Management Strategies
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Guerrilla HCI: Using Discount Usability Engineering to Penetrate the Intimidation Barrier Cost-Justifying Usability

This paper discusses the concept of "discount usability engineering ". This is a technique for managing the user interface design process utilizing three basic phases: Scenarios, Simplified thinking aloud, and Heuristic evaluation. It gives an example where sets of account statements were redesigned utilizing the technique.

Guides on Usability European Usability Support Center

This paper is a technical guide that describes how user-centered design methods can help produce systems which are easy to use and match the real needs of users. It also talks about how the full benefits of user-centered design can be achieved by increasing the maturity of the systems development process. A discussion is also presented describing how making systems more usable have substantial economic and social benefits.

Making Software Manageable Software Engineering Institute

Watts S. Humphrey discusses how the Personal Software Process (PSP) helps aids in managing software projects to improve quality and planning.

Organization Overviews and Role Management: Inspiration for Future Desktop Environments Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory Center for Automation Research

Catherine Plaisant and Ben Shneiderman describe what they believe to be the next generation of graphic user interfaces that emphasis the user's roles, colleagues, and tasks more than documents.

Overview of the People Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM) Software Engineering Institute

This paper provides an introduction to the People Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM), the definitions, and concepts. The structure of the model, which is based on the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), allows for work force improvement in conjunction with software process improvement.

People Capability Maturity Model Software Engineering Institute

This paper provides the details to assist an organization in implementing the People Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM). The key practices for each key process area are defined to assist the organization in determining where they reside on within the five maturity levels.

Professional Awareness In Software Engineering Tom DeMarco

Tom DeMarco provides a whimsical view of various management approaches and the types of environments and cultures they create in an organization.

Roles, organization, and support: Building usability into the design process Human Factors and the Web conferences

Jae H. Roh, Carolyn Romano, and Julie Ratner describe how to incorporate usability methods into the design and development processes of web sites.

Strategic Directions in Human Computer Interaction School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University

This paper presents a brief history of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and then introduces future areas for strategic HCI research.

The IDEAL Model: A Practical Guide for Improvement Software Engineering Institute

Jennifer Gremba and Chuck Myers introduce a model, which was based on the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), for continuous process improvement. It provides a disciplined approach for software engineering improvements, the management of those improvements, and a long-term strategy for to build upon the improvements implemented.

The Software Horizon: The beauty of metaphor Forbes Magazine

Guy Kawasaki in Forbes Magazine August 26, 1997, describes a strategy of making interfaces better through the use of appropriate metaphors in the development of icons.

Top 10 Mistakes of WEB Management Nielsen Norman Group

Jakob Nielsen talks about common mistakes in WEB pages including number (9) "Confusing Market Research and Usability Engineering".

Teamwork
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An Introduction to Team Risk Management (Version 1.0) Carnegie Mellon University

This paper defines the organizational structure and operational activities for managing risks throughout all phases of the life-cycle of a software-dependent development program such that all individuals within the organizations, groups, departments, and agencies directly involved in the program are participating team members.

All Together Now! Making Group Decisions Software Engineering Management Group

Beth Schmitz discusses the pitfalls of group consensus and some possible safety nets to ensure true consensus.

Effective Listening Skills R. J. Associates

This paper discusses ways to to improve listening skills, specifically on the job. The contrast between hearing and really listening can be as different as night and day. And in a business environment, not listening effectively to customers, employees, and peers can mean the difference between success and failure.

Gliding through Application Development Beyond Computing Magazine

Mark Mehler says software developers and their end-users are teaming up to ensure usable products are built. The end-user provides the domain knowledge the developer lacks.

Information Technology Resources Board - Lessons Learned Information Technology Resources Board

This paper discusses "Lessons Learned" based upon assessments of Federal information systems projects. It address a broad cross section of mission-critical initiatives at various stages in the project life cycle, from conceptualization to product or service delivery. This paper is organized into seven core areas, including "Organization".

Project Management for Mission Critical Systems Information Technology Resources Board

This paper is derived from actual reviews of mission critical Federal information systems projects. It sets out a concise, high-level framework for project management. Within this framework is provided a series of practical suggestions for Federal executives involved in management of mission critical information systems. The section under "People" discusses key issues to consider when assembling team members.

SHARE: A Methodology and Environment for Collaborative Product Development CDR Publications

This paper discusses the SHARE project, which seeks to apply information technologies in helping design teams gather, organize, re-access, and communicate both informal and formal design information to establish a 'shared understanding` of the design and design process.

Student Survival Guide to Managing Group Projects 2.0 California Polytechnic State University

Stephanie Ludi presents lessons learned from her experiences in group projects. Among the items covered are group structure, group dynamics, skills, personalities etc. which can apply to all work groups. There is a special section that applies specifically to student work groups, such as how the group deals with holidays, etc.

Team Building in Asia: 60 Minute Tutorial Asian Pacific Management Forum

This site presents a quick tutorial on how to create teams. While there are some areas directed at the Asian Pacific region, a number of items are general enough to apply to all teams.

Team Development for Object Orientated Programming Software Paths

Nick Grattan presents issues involved in forming a team for an object oriented project. He covers how to classify members object oriented skill level and suggestions for improving their skill level. He also offers some heuristics for forming teams.

Team Management Systems - Studies Team Management Systems

This site contains studies from a rigorous research program that has collected comprehensive research data on over 65,000 managers worldwide. The studies are divided into three sections: International, Industries, and Professions. They are in the format of PowerPoint slides shows.

Teams, Team Management and Computers Smart Business Supersite

Robert Moskowitz compares the old management style of dividing employees among hands-on managers and the new concept of �online-management� of teams.

Use of Teams in Classes Texas A&M University

This presentation discusses the use of teams in classes. Some of the issues that are covered are Why use teams, What do we do in teams, How do we form teams, Impact of Team Development, and Five Issues to be considered in team building to name a few.

Winning Project Teams Russ Finney

This paper discusses what makes a winning technical project team. It analysis some of the factors which seem to be consistently present in successful projects. One of the factors that stands out is the degree of attention that is paid to each team member. The author believes that it can have a distinct impact on the success of the project as well as elevating the confidence of the business client.

Case Studies
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1994 Web Usability Study Nielsen Norman Group

This paper summarizes results of a usability study of several Web sites conducted in the beginning of December 1994. Users were observed as they browsed the Web sites of Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, and Time Warner.

Electronic Commerce on the World Wide Web: A Case Study The Cox School of Business , Southern Methodist University

Blake Ives and Sirkka Jarvenpaa present an introduction to electronic commerce (e-commerce).

Learning and Using the Cognitive Walkthrough Method: A Case Study Approach Departments of Computer Science and Psychology and the HCI Institute Carnegie Mellon University

This paper presents a detailed case study, drawn from many information sources, of a computer scientist learning and using Cognitive Walkthroughs to assess a multimedia authoring tool. The paper also discusses how there has been growing interest in studying different usability evaluation techniques to understand their effectiveness, applicability, and usability.

Study 1: Business Technology Use California State University Dominguez Hills

Larry Rosen and Michelle Weil conducted a study in which 543 people with various backgrounds and positions were administered a questionnaire to access technology use in and out of the workplace. The results of the questionnaire reflect some of the psychological reactions of the interviewees to technology.

Tales of a Web Customer CIO Communications, Inc.

Sari Kalin describes how businesses performing electronic commerce let their customers down. It gives advice on avoiding these pitfalls and why they need to be avoided.

The IDEAL Transition Framework: Speeding Managed Change Book 'Em Case Study Software Engineering Institute

This case study was originally developed as a tutorial on the IDEAL model for an SEI Symposium. It provides the reader with an opportunity to apply the model to a situation and determine the benefits achieved from its use.

The Performance of Information Technology and the Role of Human and Organizational Factors University of Sheffield and System Concepts Ltd.

This paper presents the results a survey in the United Kingdom on the effects of information technology in the workplace.

When GUIs Fail System Concepts Ltd.

This informal study shows that 60% of a system's usability comes from task focus, 25% from consistency and just 15% from presentation of information.

Credits
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This page was created by:

Joe Baumgartner (jbaumgar@eia.doe.gov)
Martin M. Jack (martin@jackcreations.com)
Janet Logan (jll@arinc.com)
Mark Wallace (mark.wallace@mindspring.com)

This page was last modified on 10/25/98.