Articles

Jakob Nielsen

Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D., is a retired principal and co-founder (with Dr. Donald A. Norman) of the Nielsen Norman Group. Jakob established the "discount usability engineering" movement for fast and cheap improvements of user interfaces and invented the heuristic evaluation method.

Articles and Videos

  • The Internet Desktop

  • Improving System Usability Through Parallel Design

    In parallel design multiple designers independently of each other design suggest user interfaces. These interfaces are then merged to a unified design. In a case study, measured usability from version 1 to version 2 was improved by 18% when using traditional iterative design and by 70% when using parallel design.

  • In Defense of Print

    Paper remains the optimal medium for some forms of writing, especially for long works like a book. It is an unfortunate fact that current computer screens lead to a reading speed that is approximately 25% slower than reading from paper. We have invented better screens and it is just a matter of time before reading from computers is as good as reading from paper, but for the time being we have to design our information for the actual screens in use around the world.

  • Seductive User Interfaces

    Because computers are no longer used exclusively for utilitarian tasks, we should use systematic methods to design products that are not just efficient but also attractive to users.

  • International Usability Testing

    When working on a product intended for use abroad your best bet is to conduct international usability testing. You may need to engage a translator or even a local usability consultant, depending on the complexity of the test.

  • Relationships on the Web

    Welcome to 1996. What will be the key to web-site survival this year? My bet is the establishment of relationships between the site and its users.

  • Guidelines for Multimedia on the Web

    Multimedia is gaining popularity on the Web with several technologies to support use of animation, video, and audio to supplement the traditional media of text and images. These new media provide more design options but also require design discipline. Unconstrained use of multimedia results in user interfaces that confuse users and make it harder for them to understand the information. Not every webpage needs to bombard the user with the equivalent of Times Square in impressions and movement.

  • How Much Bandwidth is Enough? A Tbps!

    In the long term we will need about a million times more bandwidth than a T1, as shown by the following list of requirements for the perfect user interface.

  • Who Should You Hire to Design Your Web Site?

    You need to hire someone to design your Web site. What should you look for before signing on the dotted line? Let's look at a few different types of consultants.

  • Directions for Online Publishing

    Online publishing of newspapers, magazines, and books is really a meaningless concept. We have to leave the legacy publications behind as we invent the world of online publishing.