HCI Tools Online
Introduction
This report contains pointers to hci tools found on the internet. The list is comprehensive and as complete as possible within the time constraints. By tools, what is meant is a direct help in the development of an interface, including guidelines, methodologies, and software tools. These tools are primarily divided into four categories: interface design, interface usability, web design, and web usability. These categories reflect more the tasks of designers and developers rather than the divisions of information. (Usability is a subdivision of design (and evaluation) and the web is a subarea of interface design.) These task categories are further divided into the types of tools mentioned: guidelines, methodologies, and software. Resource lists are also included in the interface design and interface usability categories since they are the sources of many of the tools in this report. For each tool there is a title, the url for the web site, and a brief description.
Interface Design
Guidelines
First Principles of Design
http://www.asktog.com/basics/firstPrinciples.html Tognazzini's first principles of design.
IBM Design Guidelines
http://www.ibm.com/ibm/hci/guidelines/web/web_design.html IBM Ease of Use design guidelines using the UCD process for product development.
Apple Human Interface Guidelines
http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/mac/HIGOS8Guide/thig-2.html Guidelines for Mac OS 8.
Ameritech GUI Standards and Guidelines
http://www.ameritech.com/corporate/testtown/library/standard/std-guix.html Interface guidelines based on bridging the gap between the traditional style guides and the human-computer interaction literature.
Methodologies
UMD Methodologies for Development
http://www.otal.umd.edu/guse/methodologies.html Descriptions and pointers to several methodologies for different aspects of interface development.
Requirements Engineering
http://www.ucc.ie/hfrg/projects/respect/urmethods/methods.htm A list of methods for user-orientated requirements specification. The methods are categorized by both software lifecycle timing and by special needs groups. The descriptions include benefits, limitations, costs, and how to get it.
Contextual Design Methodology
http://www.incent.com/connection.indx/techniques.html,
http://www.incent.com/ Step-by-step details of contextual design methodology.
Tools
IBM UCD Workbench
http://www.ibm.com/ibm/easy/design/lower/f050100.html A set of tools that simplify and expedite carrying out User-Centered Design in the development of products and applications. Currently, two tools are available for use outside IBM: UCD Satisfaction Survey and UCD Questionnaire Resources.
MR Toolkit
http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~graphics/MRToolkit.html A set of software tools for the production of virtual reality systems and other forms of three-dimensional user interfaces.
User Interface Software Tools
http://www-cgi.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/bam/www/toolnames.html A comprehensive list of software tools for UI development.
UIMS and UIB Tools
http://amin.soongsil.ac.kr/~shyeam/hci/hci-home.htm A list of software tools for UI development.
CLARET
http://archive.uwaterloo.ca/~tcarey/HCIforTL.html A research project to develop new learning systems architectures and supporting technologies for interactive multimedia case studies of organizational processes and design artifacts.
CADRETel
http://archive.uwaterloo.ca/~tcarey/cadretel.html A knowledge-building support environment to support learning that takes place in knowledge building communities and to support the environment in which the community interacts.
Resource Lists
ACM SIGCHI HCI Resources List
http://www.acm.org/sigchi/hci-sites/RESOURCES.html An extensive list of resources.
HCI Resources: Guidelines, Styleguides, Standards
http://www.ida.liu.se/~aslab/groups/um/hci/guidelines.html An extensive list of HCI-related guidelines, styleguides, and standards.
Dot Paragon Tips and Tools
http://www.dotparagon.com/resources/hci.html A list of HCI resources.
Interface Usability
GuidelinesTen Usability Heuristics
http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html Jacob Nielsen's ten usability heuristics.
Participatory Heuristics
http://members.aol.com/MMuller393/phe/phe.html Michael Muller's extension of Jacob Nielsen's ten usability heuristics.
Sun Usability Guidelines
http://www.sun.com/usability/about.html#methods Itemized items for the software development cycle.
Resource Guide for Accessible Design of Consumer Electronics
http://trace.wisc.edu/docs/accessible_consumer_electronics/guide.html Design guidelines for consumer electronics.
Methodologies
Usability Methods Toolbox
http://www.best.com/~jthom/usability/usable.htm A list of methods used in the HCI development process. It is divided into four sections: inquiry, inspection, testing, and related, which includes prototyping. All topics in each section are organized around four questions: "What is it?"; "How do I do it?"; "When should use this technique?"; and "Who can tell me more?"
Usability Evaluation Methods
http://www.cs.umd.edu/~zzj/UsabilityHome.html Methods divided into three categories: testing, inspection, and inquiry.
Resource Lists
ACM SIGCAPH Guidelines
http://www.acm.org/sigcaph/links/#GUIDELINES SIGCAPH list of guidelines for accessible interfaces.
Web Design
GuidelinesWeb-Site Design Audit
http://www.eng.buffalo.edu/~ramam_m/au_fr.html Website design guidelines in ten categories organized in a question & answer format.
Yale Web Style Guide Site
http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/index.html Web site design guidelines that combine traditional editorial approaches to documents with graphic design, user interface design, information design, and the technical authoring skills required to optimize the HTML code, graphics, and text within Web pages.
Ameritech Web Guidelines
http://www.ameritech.com/corporate/testtown/library/standard/web_guidelines/index.html Website design guidelines including working principles, examples, and checklists.
Others
There are numerous other sources of website guidelines.
Tools
There are numerous tools for building web sites and pages.
Web Usability
GuidelinesUsability Heuristics
http://webreview.com/wr/pub/97/10/10/usability/sidebar.html Keith Instone's analysis and application to website design of Jacob Nielsen's ten usability heuristics.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WC3 guidelines for making Web content accessible to people with disabilities.
Microsoft Guidelines for Website Usability
http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/management/planning/improvingsiteusa.asp Microsoft's guidelines for website usability and appeal based on usability and marketing research and research in the broader software-research community.
Tools
Accessability Prompt Toolkit
http://aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca/ Software that prompts HTML authors to write accessible documents.
Bobby
http://www.cast.org/bobby/ A web-based tool that analyzes web pages for their accessibility to people with disabilities.
Resource Lists
Usable Web
http://usableweb.com/ Keith Instone's collection of resources for web usability and more.