About Nielsen Norman Group

		About Nielsen Norman Group Nielsen Norman Group (NNG) is a consulting and research firm, specializing in user experience and usability: how to make user interfaces that are easy, pleasant, and efficient to use. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley (see contact information), has consultants across the USA, and offers its services world-wide.

History		Both Jakob Nielsen and Don Norman have a long history of work in the design of products and computer systems from the very early days, starting even before the graphical user interface, the Internet, or cellphones. Both have held high ranks in industry (Nielsen as Distinguished Engineer at Sun Microsystems and Norman as Vice President of Advanced Technology at Apple). Both have taught in academia, both are widely known for their books and lectures, and both have received honors from the most relevant professional societies. It is no accident that these two pioneers in the field should have gotten together. Nielsen Norman Group was started in October 1998, when both Nielsen and Norman found themselves dissatisfied with the state of design and seeking for ways to tackle the problem globally. Don was trying to decide what to do when he read a New York Times article stating that Jakob had just left Sun Microsystems. He picked up the telephone and the rest is history. In 2000 Bruce Tognazzini, who worked with Norman at Apple and with Nielsen at Sun, joined the Group as a Principal. Tog has a long history in this field, being one of the very first human interface designers at Apple, a popular speaker, and author of best-selling books. Since these early days NNG has assembled a team of world-quality experts. See also: NNG's first decade.

What We Do		NNG works on the full range of user experience platforms: websites, intranets, email, social media, applications (both mobile apps and traditional software), consumer devices, services, and many others. Our specialties are human behavior and valid methods for studying users; we don't limit ourselves to any single industry or device. By hiring us you benefit from this broad experience and associated fresh perspective and new insights, as opposed to the limited "me-too" advice one often gets from somebody who works on the same thing over and over again. Research: We continuously research design trends around the world, across industries, companies, and user types. The reports we write boil down a surfeit of data to simple design guidelines that anyone can follow. These guidelines help motivate designers and managers, and teach them about how people act and react to specific design elements. Teach: Our experts travel around the world teaching an evolving variety of seminars about making the Web and other products easy to use. Our annual Usability Week conference is one of the only events to present the same world-class seminars on multiple continents as a matter of course. We also present a large number of inspiring keynote addresses each year at other conferences and internal company meetings. Research, design, and recommend: We work with our clients to examine their design ideas, their existing designs, their competitors, their industries, and how all of these relate to design trends and predictions. Through research, analysis, and discussions we help clients derive the best possible strategy, approach, and the actual information architecture and interface that best suit them and their users. Advise company management: Quite often, problems with product or services derive from company organizational issues. Everything must be in synch, from design and market research through development and delivery, sales and service. Even the packaging and out-of-box experience matters. Norman serves as an executive advisor to companies and serves in this capacity on company boards. Tog serves as an expert witness drawing upon his experience in the graphical user interface (GUI) field since 1978.

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