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11 September 2001
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What's New  10 December 2001
INTERESTING PERFORMANCE SUPPORT TOOLS AND SYSTEMS
A new section of EPSScentral.
PortBlue provides Web-based software for rapidly codifying and disseminating complex expert knowledge. PortBlue's software is designed to capture, synthesize and deliver expertise, frameworks, decision logic and analytical tools that are typically applied in business decision-making and business process management.

Comments on PortBlue from Stan Malcolm (stan@performance-vision.com): stan@performance-vision.com):

“At least based on the demo, finally someone has come up with some rigorous analytical software for business decision-making.  Akin to what we did with the AMP Facilitator at Aetna 10 years or more ago, these folks seem to have taken the notion much further with a range of processes and analytical techniques supported.  

(For those not aware of the AMP Facilitator, it captured Aetna's business planning process: seven steps to define Mission, CSFs, internal & external environmental scan, gaps, objectives, action steps, and implementation & monitoring plan.  It was very early performance support at the management/executive level, was rigorous in its analytical approach, and toyed with groupware notions.  It was shown at the very first EPSS conference in 1991.  Despite an awful interface by today's standards, it still demonstrated the essence of performance support: managers coming to the software with little or no knowledge of Aetna's decision-making process left with a `competent' business plan.  Learning was inevitable, but not the point: performance on the work task was the point.)

Thanks to Gloria Gery for making me aware of the product.” - Stan
Comments on Expert Choice by Paul M. Wlodarczyk (Paul.Wlodarczyk@usa.xerox.com):

“Our organization is actively evaluating decision support tools for use in our business investment process -- the capital budgeting process we use for selecting business development projects such as technology investments, process improvements, and people development.  The tricky part about the investment process is that we are not just choosing between, say, alternative technologies for solving a single need, such as choosing the best LMS or database engine or authoring tool.  Instead, we may need to choose among several very large projects, some long-term projects, and a number of smaller projects, each of which affects our four lines of business differently (Knowledge/Development Services, Translation/Language Services, Publishing Services, and Creative Media Services).  

Given limited financial and human resources, we can't do all of the projects, so we need a basis for trade-offs.  If we always do the short duration / low cost projects (which typically favor sustaining current profitability), we under-invest in new business development.  On the other hand, if we spend only on the large projects, our current customer satisfaction may deteriorate, and we lose market share.  Large projects also tend to be focused on a single line of business disproportionately, so they are political hot potatoes.  The projects all have diverse resource and investment requirements, payoff schedules, and risk levels.  

What we need to do is to decide which *portfolio* of projects gives us the most progress towards our near- and long-term business goals, such as profitable revenue growth, growth of market share, improved customer satisfaction, and the like.  This process is generally referred to as investment portfolio management.  In order to do that, you want to choose the best *combination* of projects that jointly makes the best use of limited resources by making the most progress towards your goals.  To do this, as an organization (group of decision makers) you need to assess the relative importance of the business goals, then how much each project contributes to each of these goals.  

Of all the tools we reviewed I was most impressed with Expert Choice, mostly because of its focus on the front end of the process - the assessment of the business goals.  In my opinion, this is where most portfolio management fails.  Of course, individual decision makers will not agree on what is more important - near-term customer satisfaction or long-term revenue growth.  (That depends upon the compensation model, among other things.)  Expert Choice helps you take this diversity of opinion into account.  It helps you perform consistency checks so that you're sure that everyone knew what you all meant when you said "technology leadership" was a business goal (if used correctly it replaces all of these vague goals with measurable outcomes).  Once you state and rate all of your business goals, you begin to evaluate your investment options to see their impact on these goals.  If the goals change over time or even instantaneously (e.g. the CEO decides that your new corporate goal is SG&A reduction), you can re-jigger your analysis without throwing it all away and starting from scratch (something you would need to do without a decision support tool).  

This split between business goals analysis and option assessment is quite powerful, and was not available in many of the tools we evaluated.  Other tools did this but too often were focused on assessing technical options (software selection or software requirement tracking).  For assessment of investment options, Expert Choice combines my favorite decision analysis tools in an integrated fashion.  These include modeling probabilities for uncertain outcomes, computation of expected values, use of log-values for weighting options, "dollarizing" non-financial outcomes, etc.” - Paul M. Wlodarczyk
Ed Note:  The Expert Choice software is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process which was discussed in a previous EPSScentral Reader.  See Tom Saaty's books The Analytic Hierarchy Process Series: The Logic of Priorities/Analytical Planning and The Analytic Hierarchy Process Series - Decision Making for Leaders.
This link takes you to the EPSScentral bibliography.


In 1998, Jennifer Niederst wrote the first edition of this very successful book after she found herself spending way too much time chasing down the solutions to HTML problems. From hexadecimal color specs to mouseover scripts, the answers are all out there, but finding the exact one you need can soak up a whole day. "I wrote Web Design in a Nutshell because it was the book I needed--one place to find quick answers to my questions."

Includes discussions of the Web environment, monitors, and browsers; a complete reference to HTML and Server Side Includes, containing browser support for every tag and attribute; chapters on creating GIF, JPEG, and PNG graphics, and designing with the Web Palette; information on multimedia and interactivity, including audio, video, Flash, Shockwave, and JavaScript; a tutorial and reference on Cascading Style Sheets; and appendices on detailing HTML tags, attributes, deprecated and proprietary tags, and CSS compatibility. This is not a source for programming, scripting, or server functions, but is geared to all levels of expertise, including the lack thereof.

Yikes!  What a title.  But we've all seen these “Idiot” books and they have some merit for the short-attention-span set.  And it's received rave reviews, including:

“New to knowledge management? Already deep in the throes of a knowledge initiative, but hitting the sticky spots? Then this is a must read. As a leader and strategist in two successful implementations Melissie Rumizen obviously knows the realities of bringing this new management focus into an organization. Yet, she brings deep understanding of the principles as theories as one who was in on the new thinking around knowledge and intangibles from the beginning. Everything in this book is tried, true, and respected in the field. The author has synthesized and simplified the best practices and theory from a variety of sources and experiences, laying out the path forward in a clear, direct and good humored style that will make this one of the key guides for successful knowledge initiatives.”
This link takes you to previous articles on this topic linked from EPSScentral.

Health care Web sites show a stunning failure to consider goals and target audiences. Their lack of accessibility results in high costs and frustration. This is particularly disturbing when you consider the material covered.
This site includes outstanding advice, tips, and perspectives on usability.  It is comforting to know that the National Cancer Institute is focused on making its site and organization as usable as possible to those requiring such information and services.

Ted Nelson has, for better or worse, been one of the more influential people in the computer interface debate over the last 30 years. He is a futurist, always way out in front of what can be actualized in hardware and software, but concerned about what will happen once these concepts become reality. His views have always been challenging, but never widely implemented -- so far, anyway. Here, Larry takes a look at Nelson's unorthodox vision of how computers should serve the needs of humans.
When Usability Interface Engineering looked at how interactive design elements (such as rollovers, fly outs, and dropdowns) helped designers get users to their content, we were surprised by our results. It turns out these elements are fighting a basic pattern of behavior: users decide what they will click on *before* they move their mouse. Read the full article to find out more.
Over the last year, User Interface Engineering has been looking at how to get users to find valuable content that they aren't aware of when they first come to a site. This is an important problem when dealing with large sites. The sites are constantly adding content. E-commerce sites add new products. Product support sites add hints for successful use. Intranets add new information to help employees be more efficient. How does a user find out about this?
Do you control technology or does it control you? Jeremy J. Shapiro talks about the power struggle in machine/human relationships and what it means today to be information-technology literate. Shapiro is a faculty member in the Human and Organization Development Program at the Fielding Graduate Institute.

This is the third and fourth parts in a series of five articles on the implementation of usability methodologies in the development of an intranet's information architecture. The series is based on a project developed for an educational institution.

The previous articles were these, in case you missed them:  
This is the second in a series of five articles on the implementation of usability mythologies in the development of an intranet's information architecture. The series is based on a project developed for an educational institution. This article outlines the first stage of our user needs analysis.
This is the first in a series of five articles on the implementation of usability mythologies in the development of an intranet's information architecture. Usability has been a buzzword for Web sites for the last few years, and with good reason. Usability and User Centered design methodologies are crucial to the success of all Internet and intranet projects. Studies have shown that if fixing a usability problem is $1 in the discovery phase of your Web project, the cost of fixing that same problem post-implementation will be between $100 and $160!

by Donald Norman  Summary:  Designers of DVDs have failed to profit from the lessons of previous media: Computer software, Internet web pages, and even WAP phones. As a result, the DVD menu structure is getting more and more baroque, less and less usable, less pleasurable, less effective. It is time to take DVD design as seriously as we do web design.
The field needs some discipline some attention to the User Experience, and some standardization of control and display formats.
UVNetworks Inc.'s WebBox 1000 Internet server appliance combines ease of use with the Solaris platform to provide Internet service providers and small companies an inexpensive way to securely host Web sites. However, the WebBox 1000's performance wasn't quite up to par with competing Intel Corp.-based appliances in eWEEK Labs' tests. The WebBox 1000 is the first Web server appliance we've seen that uses Sun Microsystems Inc. hardware and the 64-bit Solaris 8.0 operating system. UVNetworks' software optimizes components in the Solaris kernel for Web services and provides a Web-based interface that makes it very simple to manage, even for users with little UNIX expertise.
This link takes you to previous articles on this topic linked from EPSScentral.


Enrollment in online education classes has climbed nearly 50 percent since last fall in the University of Wisconsin System, to about 3,300 students. A group established by UW, dubbed UW Learning Innovations, is creating entire online degree programs. By next fall, it expects to offer degrees in early childhood education and child-care certification. UW faculty translate their courses for the Internet, which are then accessible worldwide.
Communication follows function: How products communicate to users and why designers should care.  

Ed Note:  Is “Online Learning” the right place for this article?  I think so as elements of learning are at the heart of the issue.

While pay increases inch downward, the future remains bright for e-learning professionals with the right skills.
When Unilever finessed a trio of corporate cultures into one, e-learning helped the blended sales staff produce more than $20 million in additional sales.
So you've decided to try some live, online training. You've bought the product and now you wonder "Where do I begin? How do I design and deliver live, online training when my experience is all in the physical classroom?"  Well, you're not alone. There are many in the training industry today who are looking to live, online training as a way to retain workers, reduce travel expenses, keep employees and customers up to date, and, in general, keep up with the rapid increase of learning that must take place to remain competitive.  To put your mind somewhat at ease, let's begin by saying that it isn't all that different.
This link takes you to previous articles on this topic linked from EPSScentral.
As the public clamored for information after September 11, libraries and librarians answered their call. This paper examines the response of libraries and librarians while noting some unexpected impacts on the profession.
The terrorist attacks of September 11th on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have had profound implications for many aspects of American and global society. This essay explores the many implications for library and information science schools educating the next generation of information professionals. The essay considers an array of opinions by the faculty located in one such school regarding how to reflect on the aftermath of the attacks for basic aspects of teaching, research, and curriculum design in library and information science schools. Topics examined include disaster preparedness and recovery, knowledge management, workplace design and location, technology and the human dimension, ethics and information policy, information security, information economics, memorializing and documenting the terrorist attacks, the role of the Internet, and preservation.
Shareware can help trim strained computing budget
(Article is no longer accessible.)
Tough economic times are upon us. Nearly everyone must be more careful when making purchases, including paying careful attention to the computer hardware and software we buy.  We've lived through some incredibly prosperous times when the cost of computer technology was not a big issue. Many of us spent whatever it took to get the software we thought we wanted, only to find we made some poor choices.  Now that money is tighter, it may be time to take another look at shareware available for downloading online. It could be exactly what you're looking for at a cost you can afford.
ScrollKeeper: Open Source Document Management
(Article is no longer accessible.)
Operating systems are very complex these days, composed of many parts and pieces. Linux, like other Unix-like, free software operating systems, is really just a collection of autonomous and dependent software packages. On my workstation there are about 850 packages at last count. A moderately busy, production Internet server might have as many as 650 packages. And a development server, supporting diverse activities of a complex development team, might have as many as 1,000 packages…
This link takes you to previous articles on this topic linked from EPSScentral.


The best intranets of 2001 emphasize iterative design and standardized navigation, and feature collaboration tools and content management systems.  On average, companies saw intranet use increase by 98% following their winning usability redesigns


The shift from business-to-consumer models of e-Business to an emphasis on value-chain automation can be seen as a reappraisal of network value in favor of inter-process, as opposed to interpersonal, communication. This article surveys back-end, middleware and front-end techniques for getting code and data trapped in discrete networked systems to work together.

This article is also included in the EAI section of the EPSScentral Reader.
The nexus of open source development appears to have shifted to Europe over the last ten years. This paper explains why this trend undermines cultural arguments about "hacker ethics" and "post-scarcity" gift economies. It suggests that classical economic theory offers a more succinct explanation for the peculiar international distribution of open source development: hacking rises and falls inversely to its opportunity cost. This finding throws doubt on the Schumpeterian assumption that the efficiency of industrial systems can be measured without reference to the social institutions that bind them.
As companies adjust to the economic slump, the ideological purity of the open-source movement is being diluted by a new era of pragmatism. Linux and other open-source firms typically attract customers with the free software and derive revenue by selling services and support. But that's proved easier said than done, and some firms are changing their business models. The new model often involves a proprietary product built on top of an open-source foundation. That could prove to be the worst of both worlds.
ENTERPRISE APPLICATION INTEGRATION
A new category on EPSScentral.
Enterprise application integration should not be viewed as a destination but rather as a journey. Higher business value can be realized as increasingly complex business processes are automated, standardized, reused and shared.  Yet the costs of enterprise application integration can also be substantial, both from a financial standpoint and in terms of the organizational disruptions that are often involved.


The shift from business-to-consumer models of e-Business to an emphasis on value-chain automation can be seen as a reappraisal of network value in favor of inter-process, as opposed to interpersonal, communication. This article surveys back-end, middleware and front-end techniques for getting code and data trapped in discrete networked systems to work together.

This article is also included in the Portal section of the EPSScentral Reader.
This link takes you to previous articles on this topic linked from EPSScentral.

In the 21st Century, bad user interface design is an endemic problem. And, when it comes to cell phone interfaces, neither text-based nor interactive voice menu systems are immune to the disease. Quite the opposite, in fact!

the window you stare at their ad. This devious ads-on-exit technique has been employed by Windows Application developers for some time now (AOL being a prime example, but others included as well), especially those shareware developers dependent on the cash stream of in-application ads, so it is no surprise to see it happening on the web as well. What is interesting about the web-based technique v. the application technique (which some web sites use for Exit Surveys) is that in order to truly work for an ad (which is loaded near the top of the page and does not have access to the browser's script's onExit handlers), the ads have to keep themselves "Always on Bottom". Of course the question of the day... Is there some productive use of this technique?
CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS, PRESENTATIONS, ETC.


First International Conference on Usage-Centered Design
25-28 August 2002 Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA
A Conference on Usage-Centered, Task-Driven, and Performance-Centered Design
for Software and Web Applications
Conference Theme: Design that Works

Conference Chairperson: Larry Constantine, Constantine & Lockwood, Ltd.
Program Chairperson: James Noble, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Industry Liaison: Helmut Windl, Siemens AG, Germany

Usage-centered design is coming of age as a proven, scaleable, and flexible approach for designing world-class user interfaces. Interest in this and related systematic techniques for user interface design has been growing rapidly around the world.

forUse 2002 will be the first conference of its kind devoted exclusively to usage-centered, task-driven, and performance-centered design for software and web-based applications. The conference will feature keynote and invited presentations by leading figures in usability and user interface design along with a full complement of tutorials and short presentations.

In addition to proposals for regular presentations (1.5 hours), we are also seeking proposals for special sessions (also 1.5 hours), such as panels or demonstrations, as well as full-day tutorials (6 hours) on both basic and advanced topics related to the conference focus. Presenters will get free registration for the full conference, publication in the proceedings, and publicity on the conference Web site. In addition, each regular session will earn a stipend of $500, and each all-day tutorial will earn $1500.

The emphasis throughout the conference will be on practical application and real-world experiences. We are particularly interested in reports by practicing designers and developers describing actual project experiences and lessons learned but will also consider research reports and conceptual papers that emphasize application in the real world.

Presentations should address or be related to one or more of the core topics of the conference. Topics of interest include but are not limited to such things as:

* usage-centered and task-oriented design
* systematic and model-driven user interface design processes, methods, and techniques
* performance-support and performance-centered design
* task models and task modeling
* use cases, scenarios, task cases, and stories in user interface design
* user roles, personas, user profiles, and user modeling
* abstract prototypes and user interface content models
* innovative visual and interaction designs supporting use and work performance
* patterns in user interface design and usability
* product usability, utility, and usefulness in real-world practice
* user interface design, task efficiency, and user effectiveness
* model-driven user interface design
* usability and user interface design in agile and lightweight processes
* usage-centered design and XP (extreme programming)
* integrating usage-centered design with UML and the Unified Process
* programming and software engineering of usage-centered designs
* cost-justification and ROI in user interface design
* making the business case for usability and user interface design
* teaching user interface design
* usability in embedded, wireless, and special applications
* software and paper-based tools for usage-centered design

Proposals (by email only, submissions@foruse.com) should include:

proposed title
type of session (regular, tutorial, panel, demonstration, etc.)
300-500-word abstract
100-200 author biographical sketch
full contact information for all presenter(s), including all email addresses

Multiple presenters and multiple proposals from the same presenter(s) are
acceptable.  Preliminary decisions on program content will be made early in 2002; the
precise conference planning schedule along with further details will be
released in December.

Watch for more details at www.forUse.com/2002/ .
MORE CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS, AND PRESENTATIONS
Implementing the full e-learning development process from prototyping, creating and building courses to web hosting.  This three-day blended online and hands-on workshop enables participants to experience how to set-up an e-learning program. At the end of the workshop, participants will have completed their mini-e-learning projects.

Nielsen Norman Group's User Experience 2001-2002 conference offers four exciting days, including: Web Usability Today, a full conference day of enlightening short talks from industry experts; one day of exclusive NN/g seminars; and two days of informative tutorials. Each of these days gives you the chance to Match wits with the sharpest minds in usability theory and practice. Soak up seminars, tutorials, and presentations that will help you build smarter interfaces, save your development dollars, ensure successful user experiences. Protect your budget. Pay for only the days you need. The more days you attend, the deeper the discount. Meet, share tactics, trade cards, munch bagels with UI pros. Our conferences draw experienced UI professionals from all markets.

Part One Training: Performance Support Mapping®
Part Two Training: Performance Centered Design Hands-On™

TechKnowlege 2002, February 4 - 7, 2002
Las Vegas
ASTD

Adam's Mark Hotel
Clearwater Beach, Fla.

Training 2002/Presentations 2002, February 18 - 20, 2002
Georgia World Congress Center
Atlanta

OnLine Learning 2002 Europe, March 5 - 6, 2002
London

ISPI 2002, April 21 - 25, 2002
Adam's Mark Hotel
Dallas, Texas U.S.A

Centra Summit, April 30 - May 3, 2002
Westin Copley Place Hotel
Boston, Mass.

World Education Market May 21 - 24, 2002
Liboa Congress Centre
Lisbon, Portugal

ASTD 2002 June 2 - 6, 2002
New Orleans

Hypertext '02 June 11th - 15th, 2002
University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
REPORTS and STUDIES

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  For some time now, Euphoric State University has been trying to get all of its courses online. Many of us here at Euphoric State are not certain why we should have courses online or even if it is a very good idea. The administration knows we spend a fortune on information technology (IT) and is reluctant to see us spend more without an appropriate return on investment. But what value can you put on a student learning a little better or faster?

This document is a high-level overview of the Capability Maturity Model® (CMM®)-Based Appraisal for Internal Process Improvement (CBA IPI) V1.2 assessment method and is an update to the CBA IPI V1.1 Method Description. It provides a brief history of SEI appraisal methods, and establishes appraisals in the context of the IDEALSM approach to software process improvement. CBA IPI is a diagnostic tool that supports, enables, and encourages an organization's commitment to process improvement. The method helps an organization to gain insight into its software development capability by identifying strengths and weaknesses of its current processes related to the Capability Maturity Model for Software V1.1. The method focuses on identifying software improvements that are most beneficial, given an organization's business goals and current maturity level. Brief descriptions of the method activities, roles, and responsibilities are provided. In addition, guidelines are provided for establishing resource requirements for conducting a CBA IPI. The SEI Appraiser Program is examined, including the requirements that qualify persons to lead CBA IPIs.
The two central parts of the Guidelines are the description of a software engineering body of knowledge and a curriculum model. The body of knowledge presents a high-level organization and description of software engineering that supports effective curriculum design and the curriculum model consists of a design architecture, a set of design concepts, and curriculum content guidance. We believe that this material and other guidance offered will provide assistance to faculty in the design and development of quality programs in software engineering and related curricula.
This document is one of several resources created to assist the preparation of a business case for the implementation of Web accessibility. It describes the many business, technical and other benefits to the organization above and beyond the straightforward benefits to people with disabilities that can be realized by applying the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0) to web sites.