For this special section, we have selected three papers that approach the design of the user experience of self-service systems in an integrated way and show the readership of this journal what methods and techniques can be used in this type of design process. These three papers together give us an in-depth and broad introduction to the challenges of designing for the user experience of self-service systems, while providing us with some exemplary solutions.

Thinking-aloud protocols may be the most widely used method in usability testing, but the descriptions of this practice in the usability literature and the work habits of practitioners do not conform to the theoretical basis most often cited for it: K.A. Ericsson and H.A. Simon's (1984) seminal work. After reviewing Ericsson and Simon's theoretical basis for thinking aloud, we review the ways in which actual usability practice diverges from this model. We then explore the concept of speech genre as an alternative theoretical framework. We first consider uses of this new framework that are consistent with Ericsson and Simon's goal of eliciting a verbal report that is as undirected, undisturbed and constant as possible. We then go on to consider how the proposed new approach might handle problems that arise in usability testing that appear to require interventions not supported in the older model.

A post hoc analysis of data collected from a usability test on the Fluke ScopeMeter 97 (a diagnostic instrument for analyzing electrical signals) revealed that, in doing tasks, subjects were making use of their own internal metaphors (user generated) that were unsupported by the design of the ScopeMeter keys. We investigated the interaction of the user generated metaphors and designer generated metaphors. By examining the effects that the subjects' skill levels and their backgrounds had on employing such metaphors, we began to outline certain characteristics of user generated metaphors. We found that user generated metaphors demonstrate unyielding persistence in the minds of ScopeMeter users, particularly in the higher skilled subjects.

To measure how technical communicators can improve an organization's return on investment, reductions in calls for support, increases in customer satisfaction, or increases in workers' productivity may be measured. The authors describe a project funded by the Society for Technical Communication in which they are studying how technical communicators add value by increasing an organization's return on its investment. A project questionnaire is included.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Many people who are interested in learning about usability testing have trouble finding an entry point into the literature in the field. This briefly annotated bibliography addresses their needs by identifying recent, reasonably accessible articles and books organized in the following categories: general introduction to usability testing; usability testing of documentation (the process and general methods and tools); print documentation (discussions and examples of tests); and online documentation (discussions and examples of tests); the human-machine interface (the process, general methods and tools, and discussions and examples of tests); and textbooks on research design.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>