Handbook of Usability and User-Experience: Methods and Techniques

Handbook of Usability and User Experience: Methods and Techniques is concerned with emerging usability and user experience in design concepts, theories and applications of human factors knowledge focusing on the discovery, design and understanding of human interaction and usability issues with products and systems for their improvement.

This volume presents methods and techniques to design products, systems and environments with good usability, accessibility and user satisfaction. It introduces the concepts of usability and its association with user experience, and discusses methods and models for usability and UX. It also introduces relevant cognitive, cultural, social and experiential individual differences, which are essential for understanding, measuring and utilizing these differences in the study of usability and interaction design. In addition, the book discusses the use of usability assessment to improve healthcare, the relationship between usability and user experience in the built environment, the state-of-the-art review of usability and UX in the digital world, usability and UX in the current context, and emerging technologies.

We hope that this first of two volumes will be helpful to a large number of professionals, students and practitioners who strive to incorporate usability and user experience principles and knowledge in a variety of applications. We trust that the knowledge presented in this volume will ultimately lead to an increased appreciation of the benefits of usability and incorporate the principles of usability and user experience knowledge to improve the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of consumer products, systems and environments in which we live.

Dr. Marcelo Soares is currently a Professor in the School of Design at the Hunan University, China. He was recruited by the Chinese Government's 1,000 Talents program, which aims to invite international experts for the development of China. He is a licensed full professor of the Department of Design at the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil. He was an invited lecturer at the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, and the University of Guadalaraja, Mexico. He was a visiting scholar and lecturer at the University of Central Florida. He holds an M.S. in Production Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was also awarded his Ph.D. at the Loughborough University in England. Dr. Soares is a Professional Certified Ergonomist from the Brazilian Ergonomics Association (ABRGO). He was president of this organization for seven years. He has also provided leadership in Human Factors and Ergonomics Latin America and internationally as a member of the Executive Committee of the International Ergonomics Association. He was appointed as the Chairman of IEA 2012 (the Triennial Congresses of the International Ergonomics Association) which was held in Brazil. His research, teaching, and consulting activities focus on manufacturing ergonomics, usability, product design, and information ergonomics. Dr. Soares has served on the editorial board of several journals including Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science (TIES), Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing, and many other publications in Brazil. Prof. Soares is co-editor of the Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics in Consumer Product Design and the Handbook of Ergonomics in Design: methods and techniques. He has also done significant research and consulting for several companies in Brazil.

Francisco Rebelo, PhD, is Associate Professor at School of Architecture and lead of the Ergonomics Unity in CIAUD, Research Center in Architecture, Urban planning and Design. He holds a PhD (1986) in Ergonomics from University of Lisbon and the aggregation in Ergonomics Design (2002) at the same University. His activity of teacher and research is focused in User-Centered Design of Informational and Physical systems, usability, user experience and gamification. He published more than 200 articles, book chapters and is editor and co-editor of 8 books. Is external adviser of projects the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology and the Portuguese Innovation Agency. He is European Ergonomist and Portuguese representative in the Council of the Centre for Registration of European Ergonomists (CREE). Is Co-Chair of the Ergonomics in Design Conferences in Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics, since 2012. Has coordinated projects financed by the European Union, Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology and companies (i.e. OGMA/Embraer, NOKIA, Siemens, VW, ACECIA, REFER, ADTRANZ, Nespresso).

Tareq Ahram, PhD, is the Lead Scientist and Assistant Research Professor working at the Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering (IASE) at the University of Central Florida. He holds a Master of Science degree in Human Engineering from the University of Central Florida, Master of Science degree in Engineering Management (2004) and Ph.D. (2008) in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida with specialization in Human Systems Integration and large-scale information retrieval systems optimization (search algorithms) and emotional deep learning analysis using text and sensory data feed. Dr. Ahram has served as an invited speaker at several Systems Engineering, design and human systems integration research meetings and workshops and served as program committee member and special speaker at the Department of Defense Human Systems Integration and Human Factors Engineering Technical Advisory Group- meeting 62, 63, and 64 held at NASA Ames - Human Systems Integration Division (DOD TAG). Dr. Ahram received the 2009 U.S. Exceptional Research Scientist Award and the 2013, 2014 IBM Research Faculty Award to support cutting-edge scientific research in data modeling and analytics. Dr. Ahram is currently the executive editor of the Springer Journal of intelligent Human System Integration and the series editor on Advances of Human Factors and Ergonomics AISC computing series.