The Politics of Usability

A guide to designing usable computer systems in industry, this text is written by usability professionals from a variety of non-IT organizations who have dealt with the issues involved in getting started and seeing the project through. The text consists of short chapters which include relevant anecdotes and summaries of the main points. Issues covered include: how to get started; securing funding; selling your message; and determining which sources are available to help. The authors also discuss ways to manage usability once the idea has taken off, including ideas about where usability should "sit" within the organization, how to set up a usability lab and how to manage an expanding international function.