What if You Cannot Test All Documents for Usability?

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jan 1995

What if You Cannot Test All Documents for Usability?

John M. Clegg Bell (Canada)

Abstract

Time and money limitations normally make it impossible to do usability testing on every document, particularly by the method of controlled observation of users performing set tasks. I describe approaches that are intended to make the feedback from testing useful to more writers than just those who wrote the tested documents, and that gradually improve the corporate wisdom available to writers. Methods of approaching these goals include judicious selection of what to test and how, special empirical studies on issues of general importance, improving the quality of a company's prescriptive rules, and better ways of making new knowledge known and available to writers.

Journal: Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published: 1995-01-01
DOI: 10.2190/cfyd-myq3-b84m-c5w9
Open Access: Closed
Topics: technical communication

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

McGovern (2007)

Training Teachers and Serving Students: Applying Usability Testing in Writing P…

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

Cites in this index (1)

Harris (1991)

A Do-it-Yourself Usability Kit

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

Also cites 4 works outside this index ↓

10.1109/47.44538

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10.1109/47.44535

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10.1145/3166.3170

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10.1109/47.44539

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CrossRef global citation count: 4 View in citation network →